Published by Stereo Output Limited, company number 11174059

ISBN number 978-1-9996003-0-3

Copyright © Ashley Hewitt 2018

Ashley Hewitt has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical views
and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright
law.

Thank you to Rej at Single Cell Software for the permission to

profile Caustic so extensively.

Please go to www.stereooutput.com to contact us or follow us on

various social media channels.

Dedicated to Michael Hewitt, Juliet Dover and Natalie Krisman Ð

thank you for your ongoing inspiration and support.

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Preface 1
Chapter 1 Ð What is sound? 6
Chapter 2 Ð Active listening 12
Chapter 3 Ð What is synthesis? 15
Chapter 4 Ð Getting started 18
Chapter 5 Ð An Introduction to Caustic 21
Chapter 6 Ð Single Oscillators 29
Chapter 7 Ð Oscillator mixing & manipulation 39
Chapter 8 Ð Filters 47
Chapter 9 Ð Envelopes 54
Chapter 10 Ð Filter Envelopes 63
Chapter 11 Ð LFOs 70
Chapter 12 Ð Polyphony 77
Chapter 13 Ð Effects 80
Chapter 14 - Delay Effects 85
Chapter 15 - Modulation Effects 93
Chapter 16 - Parametric Equalization 106
Chapter 17 - Compression 115
Chapter 18- Creating a Bass 137
Chapter 19 - Creating a Pad 149
Chapter 20 - Creating a Lead 158
Chapter 21 - Creating Chords 168
Chapter 22 Ð Recreating Sounds 178
Chapter 23 Ð Drum synthesis 190
Chapter 24 Ð Routing matrices 202
Chapter 25Ð Other synthesizers 213

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Chapter 26 Ð Character 218
Chapter 27 - Experimenting with other synthesizers 222
Chapter 28 - Concluding thoughts 231
Appendix A Ð Q&A Exercise answers 233
Appendix B Ð Areas and functions of Caustic 245
Index 247

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Preface
This book was conceived as a consequence of a long time spent
struggling with synthesizers, be it hardware or software. Most
producers want to stop using presets and fashion their own palette
of sounds, but find that even if they create a beautiful sound by
accident, the subsequent recreation of that sound is out of reach.

I believe that this is due to an unstructured knowledge of how

synthesizers work. This book was written to give you the ability to
adapt to and work with any synthesizer that you happen across,
freeing you to make the beautiful music that you've always wanted
to create.

In the same way that there are different cars, there are different
synthesizers, all of which work slightly differently. They all,
however, possess the same underlying structure. If you have the
correct mental toolkit, you will quickly be able to adapt to any new
synthesizer you come across. This book will provide you with that
mental toolkit.

A common criticism of synthesizer teaching resources is that they

only provide information as to how to work one specific model of
synth, and not whichever synthesizer the user possesses.

Unfortunately, itÕs not possible to account for all models of

synthesizer in one book. ItÕs also very easy, when struggling to
understand synthesis, to flit from synthesizer to synthesizer, only
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understanding its most basic functions, never getting to know a
synthesizer in depth.

Therefore, this bookÕs lessons are entirely based on one

synthesizer Ð CausticÕs SubSynth. The reason IÕve chosen
SubSynth is that itÕs a simple, basic subtractive!! synthesizer (i.e.
you pick a waveform or two, and then shape it afterwards). It does
everything reasonably well, with no bells and whistles, and is
therefore a perfect synthesizer to learn with.

It is available on a music-making platform called Caustic, which is

cheap and available for virtually any computing platform you own.
As of writing, itÕs available on Android and iOS through their
respective App stores, and available on, PC and Mac at
"##$%&&'''()*+,-./.--)01#'23.(/04&/25)#*/. I strongly suggest you
acquire it before you begin the exercises in this book.

If you truly canÕt get hold of Caustic, other simple computer-based

synthesizers that would enable to you to follow the instructions in
this book include:

á Reason's Subtractor synth!

á Logic Pro X's Retro Synth (use the analog mode)!
á Ableton's Analog!
á Blaukraut Engineering's free Charlatan synth (Windows only)!
á TAL's free Elek7ro!

However, if you are not using Caustic, transferring the knowledge

from the synthesizer in this book to whatever synthesizer you're

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using may be difficult. Embrace that difficulty as part of the fun.
This book is all about getting hands-on with whatever gear you're
using and working things out for yourself, applying the knowledge
gleaned from this book. At the same time, don't expect it to be too
difficult! Synthesizers have not changed drastically in the decades
since they've been invented, and this is testament to their intuitive
design.

Feeling uncomfortable transferring oneÕs knowledge from one

synthesizer to another, in my eyes, is merely a product of lacking
structured knowledge. All synthesizers use a very similar design,
and have done so for decades Ð and transferring your knowledge
from one synthesizer to another is easy if you understand the
functions of all the different parts of the synthesizer and how they
fit together. This book will furnish you with this knowledge.

I make no assumptions as to your level of knowledge as a reader,

so if you have a background in music technology, you may already
know some (or even lots) of the theory referred to in the book. If
that is the case, then thereÕs no harm in confirming what you
already know! IÕd much rather an experienced music technologist
be forced to skim some of the simpler parts of this book than have
someone with little experience be forced to fill in knowledge gaps
outside of this book.

Before we start, itÕs worth explaining the nomenclature of this

book. There are two main controls that weÕll be using in CausticÕs

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Do you notice the differences between the two? ItÕs those
differences that allow your brain to discern the sound of the kick
drum from the sound of the voice saying ÔhelloÕ.

As stated, sound waves are measured in cycles per second, or

Hertz. A sound at less than 20 cycles per second is imperceptible
to the human ear, as your brain will discern each vibration
individually. At the same time, a sound at more than 20,000 Hertz
is imperceptible to the human ear (but perceptible to some other
species of mammal). To illustrate the lower end of the range of
human hearing, simply get into a car and start it. YouÕll notice that
as the engine ticks over, you can hear each tick individually.
However, once you rev the engine to a certain point, youÕre no
longer able to hear the individual ticks Ð you will instead hear
what sounds like a low tone that increases in frequency with the
rev count. This is because the speed at which the engine is turning
has increased beyond 20 cycles per second. i.e. the threshold of
your hearing.

The reason the basic properties of sound relate so well to synthesis

is that a synthesizer allows you to select a basic waveform, then
precisely alter the frequency, amplitude and waveform of that
sound Ð to a far greater extent than if you were playing an acoustic
guitar, for example. As you work through this book, I suggest you
analyse the functions of the synthesizer and think about how they
relate to the properties of sound perception.

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managed the precise emulation of an entire orchestra. However,
what came from synthesis was far more interesting Ð an entirely
novel set of instruments, each with their own sound and timbre.

The spread of Digital Audio Workstation software on cheap

computing hardware in the 90s has helped the innovators of the
20th century realise their utopian ideals, but in reference to
contemporary music. It is now possible for anyone, with a small
amount of money, to compose and listen to their own music in the
comfort of their own home Ð as long as they donÕt want to hear it
on a symphony orchestra!

I hope the beauty of synthesis has been made clear in this chapter
Ð rather than use an instrument that creates a waveform through
its physical shape (like a guitar, or drum), youÕre using an
instrument that allows you to design and manipulate pure, basic
sound waves. YouÕre sitting in front of a method of music-making
that, 100 years ago, was beyond the wildest dreams of musicians,
and at very little cost.

Thank you for joining me for the journey ahead Ð now letÕs get
started!

Chapter 1 Exercises Ð Q&A

1) What is sound?

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2) What are the three most important properties of sound waves,
as they pertain to synthesis?
3) In what unit is frequency measured?
4) What specifically does Hertz measure?
5) In Hertz, roughly what is the human range of hearing?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

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Chapter 2 Ð Active listening

In my time as a music producer, there is one skill that surpasses all

others in terms of its use to accelerate your development as a
musician. If youÕre an experienced music producer, you may do it
already Ð however, if youÕre just getting started, then this, in my
opinion, is the most important skill you could acquire as a music
producer. ItÕs called active listening.

We all listen to music, often while doing work, sitting on the train
or cooking food. However, this music often simply provides a
background noise to the activity weÕre doing. I would call this
passive listening.

Active listening, on the other hand, is a different beast. To actively

listen is to listen to music and hear nothing but the music,
concentrating on nothing but the music youÕre listening to,
dissecting and reverse-engineering every layer of the music youÕre
hearing in order to unlock its secrets.

ItÕs a skill that, once practiced, will stay with you forever as a
producer. It also goes hand-in-hand with your journey of
development as a music producer, in that as you gain experience
in music production techniques, you will better spot the
techniques that other producers have used.

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It is also a skill that becomes easier with practice Ð it might feel
difficult the first time you do it, but with enough attempts you will
find yourself applying elements of active listening every time you
hear music.

Active listening is an essential skill for this book. IÕm sure youÕve
heard basslines in music that youÕd define as ÒdeepÓ, ÒheavyÓ or
ÒdirtyÓ Ð this book aims to start you on your journey to knowing
what those attributes translate to in the reality of synthesizer
programming.

This chapter will conclude with an exercise Ð an active listening

exercise! Even if youÕre used to actively listening, you should
undertake this exercise, as itÕs always good to refresh your skills in
this area.

Exercises Ð Practice

1)! Find a song you want to actively listen to. This could be
your favourite song, or one you admire for its sound.
2)! Sit comfortably, wearing good-quality headphones or using
studio monitors.
3)! Eliminate all distractions around you. Turn off your
computer monitor, turn your phone over Ð turn your lights
off and close your eyes if possible.

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 4)! Find the best-quality sound source you can Ð be it vinyl,
CD or FLAC/WAV file.
5)! Play the song. Instead of enjoying it for what it is, listen to
it as a set of different layers. Break them down - listen to
each instrument at a time. Are you aware of all the
instrument layers in the track? You may discover layers
you were previously unaware were of in the track!
6)! Play the song again. Does the song change its narrative
tone at any point? If so, how is this accomplished?
7)! What texture does the song have? Does the texture change
at any point in the track?

I hope you enjoyed your active listening session, whether it was

your first or one of many! In the next chapter, IÕm going to delve
into the process of synthesis Ð what it is, and how it works.
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Chapter 3 Ð What is synthesis?
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In order to understand a synthesizer, itÕs important to understand
the difference between a synthesizer and a more traditional
musical instrument. As discussed in Chapter 1, sound is a
vibration that travels through the air.

All non-electronic musical instruments physically create

controlled vibrations in order to produce their tone. A guitar string
produces a musical note when itÕs plucked by vibrating at a
frequency defined by the length of the string, which is why a
guitarÕs fret board allows the player to vary the length of a string.
The sound of a flute is a column of air within the flute vibrating -
and covering the holes of the flute varies the size of this column.
Even a human voice singing a fixed tone is a product of the vocal
cords vibrating at a fixed length and tension, driven by air
pressure from the lungs.

Subtractive synthesizers, as musical instruments, also produce

vibrations at specific frequencies. However, the mechanism is
different. A hardware synthesizer uses a device called an oscillator.
An oscillator generates an electronic vibration, according to a set
waveform, at a set frequency. This vibration, once itÕs worked its
way through the processing circuitry inside the synthesizer (all of
which weÕll cover in later chapters), gets picked up by the
synthesizerÕs amplifier, which increases the volume of the signals.

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Once these signals are connected to an audio speaker (such as hi-fi
speakers or a pair of headphones), the speakers output the signals
as an audio sound by vibrating to match the signals coming out of
the amplifier.

There are two ways modern synthesizers create their sound Ð

hardware and software. A hardware synthesizer is one that
generates and processes its sound using electronic circuitry,
whereas a software synthesizer simulates the workings of a
hardware synthesizer using computer code. There are some
synthesizers that use physical pots and buttons, but simulate their
inner workings with an on-board computer chip.

Because synthesis is a unique way to create sound, synthesizers

possess their own particular sound palette. This varies from
synthesizer to synthesizer and is a product of their circuitry and
components (on a physical synthesizer) or a product of their code
(on a computerised synthesizer). There is a chapter later in this
book dedicated entirely to the perceived character of different
synthesizers.

All sound design using synthesizers is through a two-part process:

1)! The creation of sound

2)! The manipulation of the sound created

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Each synthesizer possesses common features, and you will learn
how to effectively harness them in this book.
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A note of caution - this book will teach you about traditional
synthesizers, i.e. a synthesizer that creates and manipulates
waveforms. How do you know if a synthesizer is traditional? It
should have selectable waveforms and areas such as the ones youÕll
discover in this book. If a synthesizer has a bunch of presets for
tuba, piano, choir and drums, it's sample-based. This means that
tone generation is done through playing small recordings of
sounds rather than through oscillators.

ThatÕs not to say that this book wonÕt provide value if you
primarily use a sample-based synthesizer, as sample-based
synthesizers possess many features in common with traditional
synthesizers, however this book is geared to those who wish to
program synthesizers in a traditional sense, for example Moog and
RolandÕs synthesizers, or the virtual synthesizers that come with
software like Logic and Reason.

Exercises Ð Q&A
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1) What does an oscillator do?
2) How does the signal from the oscillator become audible sound?
3) What is the two-part process of sound design on a synthesizer?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

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Chapter 5 Ð An Introduction to Caustic

Now youÕre all set up, let me explain what Caustic is and the reasons
that Caustic is the most suitable tool with which to undertake this
wonderful journey into synthesis.

You may have heard of Reason, Logic, or Ableton before Ð Caustic

is similar, in that it is software that can be used to create music. ItÕs
certainly more limited than the above music software, however that
merely makes the process of learning simpler and quicker Ð you
donÕt have to put in lots of effort learning the software in order to
be able to use it.

There are three reasons IÕve chosen Caustic as a platform to teach

synthesis within this book:

1)! Caustic can be used on most computing platforms Ð whether

youÕre using a desktop PC, a tablet or smartphone.

2)! It is very simple to use.

3)! ItÕs not as popular as the well-known music software out

there. This makes it less likely that you, dear reader, have
used it before. This is great because if you have used a

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 synthesizer before, you will have to get out of your comfort
zone and discard your preconceived working methods in
order to adapt to CausticÕs synthesizer Ð and therefore you
will have to build a solid knowledge base from nothing!

The vast majority of the lessons within this book will take place on
CausticÕs in-built subtractive synthesizer, SubSynth. IÕve chosen
SubSynth as it contains the vast majority of features that most
synthesizers have. ItÕs a basic, simple, functional synthesizer, and it
doesnÕt sound that good by itself! This is exactly the sort of platform
you should learn on, as a complex synthesizer with more bells and
whistles will not only be harder to learn, but will give you instant,
great-sounding results Ð without you ever truly learning how
everything works.

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á The triangle wave has similar bass abilities to the sine, but with a
limited degree of odd harmonics in addition.

á The sawtooth is a brash, harsh sound, with a lot of harmonics.

In the next chapter, you're going to continue learning about

oscillators - this time, you're going to mix them together.

Exercises Ð Q&A
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1)! What are the five oscillators mentioned in this chapter?
2)! Which oscillator has the most harmonic content?
3)! Which oscillator is only active in odd-numbered
harmonics?
4)! Which oscillator gives you the same sound, regardless of
which note you play on the keyboard?
5)! Which oscillator sounds smooth?
6)! Which oscillator sounds harsh?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

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Exercise Ð Practice
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1)! Apply your active listening skills to each of the oscillators.
Eliminate distractions, just as you did in the active
listening chapter. Play each oscillator, one at a time. Cycle

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 through them and play them again, noting down in a
notebook what you think of their sounds. You might want
to think about texture, emotion, possible contexts, or even
tracks where youÕve heard that kind of sound before.!
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5) If you wanted to set two oscillators out of sync with each other,
so that the peaks and troughs of the waveforms land in different
places relation to each other, how would you do this?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
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1) Try further combinations of oscillator mixes using an active
listening approach, noting the ones you enjoy.!
2) Try selecting two identical waveforms on both oscillators and
altering the pitch controls to hear the difference.!

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4) What does Track do?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises - Practice
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1) Use different combinations of oscillators and oscillator pitches
to create various sounds, and then use the filter to establish what
effect the filter has on various combinations. For example, try sine
wave oscillators. Now compare these to the effect of using a
sawtooth oscillator with a Noise oscillator. Remember to actively
listen throughout.

2) Use the filter on various oscillator setups to create different

effects, thinking about where you might have heard this kind of
filtering in action in music youÕve heard.

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For example, think of a violin. This has a fairly fast Attack because
the note begins quickly, a quick decay (as it transitions to the
Sustain level quickly), a high Sustain level (because continuing to
play the note keeps the note sustained at the same level), and a
fast Release.

On the other hand, a snare drum hit has a very fast attack, a very
fast Decay, no Sustain (because holding the stick against the drum
after hitting it has little to no effect) and a fairly slow Release (as
the sound dissipates).

To look at it another way, let's follow the journey of a single note in

the graphic above. Let's pretend that it corresponds to a key press
lasting exactly one second. Here's its timeline:

1) The note goes from zero volume to its peak volume (Attack).
2) It then declines in volume slightly (Decay).
3) It holds the level of volume it's declined to while the note is held
down (Sustain).
4) The note is released, and the sound tapers away (Release).

People who are new to synthesis can often get confused as to why
Decay comes before Sustain, or what the difference is between
Decay and Release. Just think of it in terms of the three stages of
pressing a synthesizer note:

1) The note gets pressed down Ð Attack and Decay decide what
happens to the volume of the sound.
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4) Which part of the envelope controls how long a note takes to
reach the level set by Sustain?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
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1) Use the oscillators to create a sound you find interesting. Now
use the envelopes to create long, sweeping notes, and then use the
envelopes to create short blips.
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2) Use your active listening skills to find different combinations of
oscillators and envelope setups, making a mental note of the
different musical effects that you could possibly create using a
combination of these two parameters.!
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2) To create precisely the opposite effect, applying the filter to the
sound quickly, what would you do?

3) If you were using a synthesizer without an inverted filter

available, and you wanted an inverted filter effect, what would you
do?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
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1) Practise using the filter envelopes in conjunction with the
volume envelopes. Try to get the setup wrong, so that you canÕt
hear anything Ð and then rescue it!
2) Practise using the filter envelopes with both the normal filter
settings and the inverted filter settings.
3) Practise using the envelopes to create aggressive, sharp sounds
and contrasting slow, growing sounds. By the end of the practice,
you should be able to switch between the two with ease.

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Chapter 11 Ð LFOs
In this chapter, weÕre going to approach the LFO function and its
implications for your music.

Thanks to the understanding of oscillators that you've gleaned

from Chapters 2 & 3, you will hopefully be able to broach the
subject matter of LFOs without too much difficulty.

LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator. This stems from a

moment of engineering genius, wherein analogue synthesizer
engineers added another oscillator, however instead of this being
an audible oscillator, it was an oscillator that simply effected the
other components of the synthesizer. In these synthesizers, the
LFO oscillators tended to operate at rates below 20Hz Ð too low a
frequency to form an audible tone.

LFOs, despite being oscillators, are not designed to be directly

audible Ð instead, they are designed to manipulate signals that
already exist in the sound.

For example, start from your Init patch and create two sawtooth
oscillators. Use the Semis pot to place oscillator 2 7 semitones
above oscillator 1 and move Cents to about 2pm. Then, add a
LowPass filter. Should you require assistance with this, you can
use the image below for reference:

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volume envelope is my go-to place for this, especially the Decay
and Release pots. My hope is that you've had enough practice and
gained enough knowledge using this book that even if you've tried
to program a synthesizer in the past, you're now experimenting
from a place of knowledge and understanding of the different
functions of the synthesizer and how they affect your signal.

Exercises Ð Q&A
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1) What does LFO stand for?

2) WhatÕs the difference between a normal oscillator and an LFO?

3) What does the Rate pot do?

4) What does the Depth pot do?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
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1) Try routing your LFO to different destinations, varying the rate
and depth to see how they affect your sound.!
2) Try adding another LFO on LFO 2, routing them both to the
same destination, and listen to the interaction between them.!

Next, we're going to touch on a seemingly small but very

important concept Ð polyphony.
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Chapter 12 Ð Polyphony
Polyphony is a measure of how many notes your synthesizer can
play at the same time. Within the world of analogue hardware
synthesizers, polyphony is deeply embedded within the
architecture, as it is restricted by the electronics of the device Ð
this is because the tones are played by physical oscillators that can
each only play a tone at a time. There tend to be three types of
synthesizer polyphony, especially in hardware synthesis:

1) Monophonic Ð a monophonic synthesizer can only play one note

at a time

2) Polyphonic Ð a polyphonic synthesizer can play more than one

note at a time

3) Paraphonic Ð this is something youÕll only really find in the

hardware synthesizer world. This is where the synthesizer can play
more than one note at the same time, but all the notes are forced
through the same circuitry. So, for example, even though your first
note would trigger the filter envelope, an additional note played
would not.

In the software synthesis world, polyphony is rarely restricted.

You'll notice the polyphony setting on SubSynth down in the

bottom-left, near the keyboard:

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contemporary music Ð including the Acid basslines produced by
the monophonic Roland 303 (found in all manner of electronic
music, especially Acid House) or the funky, expressive Minimoog
basslines found in Parliament Funkadelic's work and its offshoots,
including a lot of West Coast hip hop.

Now we have covered all the features of the SubSynth, it's time to
get started on some more advanced chapters that you can
immediately apply to your music production.

Exercises Ð Q&A
1) What does monophonic mean?

2) What does polyphonic mean?

3) How would you turn SubSynth into a monophonic synthesizer

on Caustic?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
1)! Turn SubSynth polyphony down to 1 and create a
wonderful monophonic lead.

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Chapter 13 Ð Effects
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Whilst the next few chapters are not precisely about directly
programming a synthesizer, it's such an important aspect of
making synthesizers sound good, to leave it out would be to
deprive you, dear reader, of a lot of insight.

There are a huge number of audio effects out there, each of which
alter your sound in different pleasant (or unpleasant!) ways. In
this chapter, we're going to learn the most fundamental, important
effects. They are:

á Delay
á Reverb
á Chorus
á Flanger
á Phaser
á Compressor
á Limiter
á Parametric EQ

They can be grouped into categories:

á Delay effects - Reverb and Delay - These work by layering copies

of the sound over the original sound at different time intervals,

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making your sound appear to echo or loop, after the initial sound
has elapsed.

á Modulation effects - Chorus, Flanger, Phaser - these work by

layering copies of the sound over the original sound at long time
intervals, making your sound appear to echo or loop over itself.

á Compression effects - Compressor and Limiter - these work by

assessing the loudness of the incoming sound and changing the
loudness of the output depending on the settings.

á Equalization - Parametric EQ - this works by letting you

selectively increase or decrease certain frequencies within your
sound.

To explore your effects, create a patch that will serve to highlight

them well. Load your Init patch, then use a sawtooth wave on
oscillators 1 and 2, and then add an Inv. LP filter with a bit of
resonance. I suggest you increase the attack on the filter envelope
to about 10pm to create that bit of bite that your patch will need,
and then increase the filterÕs Track to its fullest extent. Then, add a
slow LFO and send it to the filter cutoff. Finally, move the Semis
on oscillator 2 up 7 semitones to create a natural fifth chord.

Hopefully you were able to follow my instructions without issue,

but if you were unsure, I'd suggest copying these settings:

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2) Which type of effects alter the loudness of your sound?
3) Which type of effect involves creating copies of your sound that
are timed close enough to your original that you can't distinguish
the copies from the original?
4) What type of effect lets you increase or decrease the volume of
your choice of frequency?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

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time here Ð the rhythmic interaction of your sound with your
delay is one of my favourite parameters when producing a sound!

á Feedback. Written as F.Back here, this governs how quickly (or

slowly) the volume of each subsequent repetition is reduced. You'll
notice that if you turn this all the way to the left, it seems to reduce
the effect of the delay. If you turn it all the way to the right, you
should notice the sound starts to build Ð this is because the delay
is at the point where the amount of volume being reduced by each
delay is less than the volume of delays being played on top. Be
careful Ð this is literally a feedback loop! While Caustic kindly
limits the volume of the delay feedback, I've come close to
destroying speakers thanks to errant feedback loops in the past.
Should you encounter a feedback loop in the wild, don't panic!
Just bring the Feedback down Ð this soon clears out the delays
layering upon each other.

á Wet. Also known as Wet/Dry, this simply governs how much of

an effect your delay has. To make it easier, think of two signals Ð
one is the signal affected by the Delay (wet), one is the signal not
affected by the Delay (dry). By using the Wet pot you're simply
choosing the extent to which each signal is mixed.

á Delay Type. The graphic down in the bottom governs how your
delay is spread across your speakers. There are three main
options. The first is the default (shown above), which is Mono.
This means that the Delay sounds the same out of both your left

)'!
!
! ! !
In order to experiment with your Reverb unit, you should first
change your DelayÕs Wet to 7pm (i.e. as far to the left as it can go)
to create a dry signal:

YouÕll see five controls on the Reverb unit. As the Reverb is

intended to simulate a reverberant room, the controls are designed
to alter the parameters of this room. This is what they do:

á Room controls the size of the room. If you move this back and
forth, youÕll find that moving it further to the right, thereby
creating a bigger room, creates a larger reverb, and moving it to
the left makes the room sound smaller Ð or non-existent at its
furthest left setting.

á Damp simulates the sound absorption capacity of the walls of the

simulated room. To test this, make the room as big as possible (by
turning the pot all the way to the right) and then alter the Damp
values. YouÕll find that turning the Damp all the way to the right
makes the roomÕs materials highly absorbent, so that very little
)*!
!
! ! !
reverb can be heard. Turning the Damp all the way to the left
makes the room highly reflective, making the reverb sound big.
Crudely, Damp acts as a low-pass filter on the reverberated signal;
sound echoes well in a tiled bathroom with lots of reflective
surfaces but echoes poorly in a carpeted room with lots of
absorbent material on the wall.

á Delay controls how long a delay is placed upon the echoes before
they are mixed with the output. YouÕll find that a setting at seven
oÕclock makes the echoes arrive far sooner than a setting at five-o-
clock. With this parameter, youÕre essentially controlling the
distance of the sound from the reflective source.

á Width doesnÕt necessarily simulate a room, but it does control

how much difference there is between the left and the right
speaker Ð i.e. the stereo width of the reflections. A higher setting
will create a more enveloping sound.

á Wet is precisely the same as it is on the Delay function Ð it

controls how much signal is affected, and how much passes
through ÔDryÕ.

Experiment with the various settings on the Reverb unit, creating

small rooms and big rooms. When youÕre satisfied, turn the Wet
up on the delay and have another attempt at changing the
parameters of your SubSynth while a sequence is playing.
Hopefully the knowledge youÕve gleaned from previous chapters
makes it easier for you to choose which parameters to modulate on

*+!
!
! ! !
Depth, Rate and Waveform should be eerily familiar to you. That
is because a Chorus uses an LFO, just like the LFO in SubSynth.
Whereas in SubSynth, your LFO controlled the part of the
synthesizer it was assigned to (for example, the filter), in the
Chorus the LFO controls the ChorusÕ in-built parameters.

á Depth controls the amount of LFO applied to your signal, which

transpires as how much of your signal is affected by the Chorus.

á Rate controls the rate of the LFO (usually up to roughly 10Hz, or

10 loops of the LFO per second)

á Waveform controls the waveform that the LFO uses

á Delay controls the time delay between your original audio signal
and its copy

á Wet is a control you already know from Reverb and Delay units Ð
it mixes your affected and unaffected signals together

Let's explore these controls with your sequence playing.

Firstly, bring your Delay and Rate pots all the way to 7pm (at the
far left). Do you notice how your signal almost sounds fattened?
This is because the Delay is so short, the sound waves have very
little opportunity to interfere with one another:

*&!
!
! ! !
á Low Ð this is the lowest frequency that the phaser will sweep to
(i.e. effect)
á High Ð this is the highest frequency that the phaser will sweep to
(i.e. effect)
á Rate Ð this is the rate at which the LFO oscillates

There are two other controls on the Phaser:

á Depth Ð this is the degree to which the Phaser affects the signal.
This is no different to Wet on the other effects this chapter has
explored.
á F.Back - just like on the Flanger, the Phaser is able to feed the
altered signal back into itself, amplifying the effect.

Play your sequence now, turning your Depth all the way to 5
o'clock for maximum effect. I'd suggest turning your Low to 7pm
and High to 5pm respectively to hear the full range of the Phaser:

"+#!
!
! ! !
changes in the frequency range? This explains why Chorus has a
more subtle, sonorous sound, whereas the Phaser creates big,
sweeping changes in your sound.

Exercises Ð Q&A
1) WhatÕs the difference between Depth and Wet/Dry?
2) WhatÕs the difference between the delay in the Chorus and the
delay in a Delay unit?
3) Why does mixing the signal with itself, at a delay, create the
Chorus effect?
4) Why does a long Delay setting on a Chorus make it sound like
there's two distinct sounds?
5) What does F.Back on a Flanger do?
6) What's the difference between a flanger and a phaser?
7) Why are Chorus, Flanger and Phaser all in the same category,
i.e. modulation effects?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

!
Exercises Ð Practice
!
Experiment with different combinations of modulation effects to
create an interesting, unique sound. DonÕt forget to remove these
effects before you start the next chapter!
! !

"+&!
!
! ! !
Now try moving your Frequency pot back and forth with your
sequence playing. Listen to the effect it has on your sound. YouÕll
notice that moving it to the far-right suppresses the high end of
your sequence. Moving it to the far-left suppresses the low end of
your sequence, as expected. You may hear some slight flanging as
you move the Frequency pot - this is an artefact of the change in
frequency - it is not an effect that will continue once you stop
moving the Frequency pot.

Now move your Frequency pot back into the middle, and start
experimenting with the Bandwidth pot (labeled as B.Width). YouÕll
notice that moving it to the left removes a very small slice of your
frequency range, whereas moving it to the right removes a large
chunk of your frequency range. An example of effective use of this
function would be if you wanted to remove the bass from your
sequence. Try keeping the Bandwidth at midday and moving the
Frequency and Gain in order to cut the low end from your
sequence. Did you notice that even at this configuration, which is
clearly the most logical configuration, it didnÕt sound right?

This is because your sequence is mostly around middling

frequencies with a small sprinkling of low-end - but to set the EQ
as we have above means that only the lowest part of your sequence
- a proportion so small that itÕs barely audible - is cut.

The solution is to turn the bandwidth up, so that now the whole
low end and some of the lower middle frequencies are cut:
"+*!
!
! ! !
Exercises Ð Practice
!
1) Use different combinations of Parametric EQ to highlight
different parts of your sequence. Try creating a heavy, wooden
sound and try creating the complete opposite - a light, airy sound.

! !

""%!
!
! ! !
Chapter 17 - Compression
Compression, also known as Dynamic Range Compression, is one
of the most important effects used in recorded music. Put simply,
Compression is used to even up the quieter and louder parts of an
audio signal. For example, imagine you had a recording of people
conversing in a room. Some people are speaking loudly, others are
whispering. A compressor is the tool you would use to make both
the loud conversation and the whispered conversation equally
audible. It would do this by lowering the volume of the loudest
parts of the conversation so that they're at a similar volume to the
whispered parts Ð thereby allowing you to raise the volume of the
whispers as loud as you can.

Compression is used in the same way in music Ð it quietens the

loudest parts of a recording so that the overall volume can be
raised without the sound distorting from being too loud. It is often
used to create the final version of a track to make it as loud as
possible. For example, this is a song before being compressed. Do
you notice how some parts of the waveform are bigger than others,
meaning they're louder than others? This difference between the
loudest part and the quietest part is called dynamic range:

""&!
!
! ! !
You may immediately notice a subtle difference Ð your sound is
somehow crunchier and punchier. Let's look at the first two
controls:

á Threshold tells the compressor at what threshold of volume it

should start working. Anything below the Threshold level passes
through unaffected, and anything above the Threshold level gets
compressed. The further to the left your pot is set, the more of the
signal gets compressed.

á Ratio is the extent to which the compressor reduces the volume

of anything above the level set by the Threshold. It is a
mathematical ratio, so when it's set to a low setting, very little
compression is applied. When it's set to a high setting, a great deal
of compression is applied. This handy graphic explains
compression ratios well Ð the lower settings are towards the right
of the pot, and higher settings towards the left:

"#+!
!
! ! !
Sidechain compression is an effect put to great use by electronic
music producers - it can create a lot of tension and release as the
kick drum enters and leaves the sonic stage. Here are two
examples you should listen to:

1) Not Exactly by Deadmau5. Listen to the loudness and

sharpness of the synthesizers used when the track starts to break
at 1:30 - and how the synthesizers seem to bounce at 2:00 when
the drums re-enter the stage.!

2) Many Reasons by Joris Voorn. This is an example of sidechain

used to great effect on a bass. ItÕs a rolling, minimal, deep bass, but
listen to how the bass grabs your attention around 2:50 when the
kick ceases, as if the bassline is exhaling, and how it sounds
crushed under the weight of the kick at 3:34 when the kick starts
again. ItÕs subtle, but hugely effective.!

Now you understand sidechain compression, you may start to hear

it a lot in electronic music production - itÕs used especially on
basses, pads and noise sweeps. It truly is one of the most powerful
effects found in the arsenal of any self-respecting electronic music
producer.

In addition to the Compressor, Caustic also has a Limiter. This is a

form of compression used for a specific purpose - so weÕll only
touch on it briefly, however the knowledge youÕve gleaned from
learning about compression will come in handy. Remove your
Compressor, and replace it with a Limiter:

"$"!
!
! ! !
changes that come with using a Compressor. ItÕs also useful for
extreme compression, when your sound has a large dynamic range
and you want to even the volume of it. It is a vital tool when
mastering a finished song (and is one of the most utilised tools in
the loudness war mentioned earlier). However, for any advanced,
dynamic, or interesting effects you may wish to stick with the
compressor.

As an author, I do feel like I could write a whole book about

compression - we have only scratched the surface here, and
CausticÕs compressor only scratches the surface of features
available in a lot of compressors. If you would like to read a bit
more about compression, I recommend Compression Made Easy
in Sound On SoundÕs website and Understanding Compression on
Resident AdvisorÕs website.

Feel free to save the progress youÕve made, as weÕre going back to
pure synthesizer programming in the next chapter.

Exercises Ð Q&A
!
1) If your signal has a loud sound and a quiet sound, how does
compression even the two?
2) What is dynamic range?
3) What does threshold do?

"$&!
!
! ! !
4) Why doesnÕt the compressor do anything if you set your
threshold too high?
5) What is ratio?
6) If Ratio is set at 3:1, how loud will the output signal above the
threshold be compared to the input signal?
7) What does Attack control?
8) What does Release do?
9) What is sidechain?
10) Where in electronic music are you likely to hear sidechain
compression in action?
11) WhatÕs the difference between a Compressor and a Limiter?
12) What does Pre and Post do on a Limiter?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercise Ð Practice
!
Set up a sidechain with a kick drum (without referencing this
chapter, if possible!) and create different effects using the
sidechain. For example, try giving it a huge bounce, then try
making the bouncing effect barely noticeable but whilst still
applying dynamic gain. IÕll give you a clue - the gain reduction
display will tell you whether or not the compressor is working on
your track!! !
"$'!
!
! ! !
because itÕs now time to create a new Caustic file with a fresh Init
Caustic patch to create a sub-bass.

A sub-bass couldnÕt be any more different in its role than a general

bassline. A sub-bass is designed to underpin the whole track
without drawing too much attention to itself. In a club setting, itÕs
designed to be felt, rather than heard. To quote the veteran Bass
producer Pinch, ÒIf your chest ainÕt rattling, it ainÕt happeningÓ.
ItÕs at a lower frequency range than a normal bass.

Some great examples of sub-bass include MalaÕs Lean Forward,

KahnÕs Way Mi Defend and High ContrastÕs If We Ever.

The key aspect of sub-bass is that itÕs deep, low and very bassy. Its
depth comes from the fact that the oscillators used donÕt create a
lot of harmonic content and can therefore concentrate on pushing
out the energy required to create a deep bass.

On that basis, create a simple sequence to reflect this role. I

suggest you copy mine below, paying attention to the fact that the
keyboard is set to octave C1-C2, and therefore dragging the piano
roll down if necessary:

"%$!
!
! ! !
3) Why is it important to increase the volume of the lower
frequencies using a Parametric EQ?
4) How is a sub-bass different to a bass?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
!
1) Create three different bass patches based on your favourite
pieces of electronic music. These patches donÕt have to sound
identical to your favoured sound, but they should be a decent
approximation.

! !

"%)!
!
! ! !
Chapter 19 - Creating a Pad
In this chapter, you will create a basic pad. If youÕve not heard of a
pad before, you will probably still know what one is without
knowing the name for it! A pad performs a role in electronic music
similar to strings in contemporary music - it adds mood or depth,
but doesnÕt tend to draw too much attention (although this is a
rule that can be intentionally violated).

For examples of pads, listen to the following:

Surplus by Skudge - the pad is the very long chord note that you
can hear at the very start of the track, but slowly increases in
volume until itÕs the primary focus of the track around 5 minutes
in.

Sky Hunt by DJ Steaw - the pad starts to increase in volume until

it draws your full attention around 1:19. Bonus points if you spot
the modulation effects on the pad!

Screaming Hands (Tuff City Kids Dreamscape UK Mix) by

Radioslave - the pad begins at the start of the track and carries it
in its entirety.

As you have heard, pads are lush, rich in harmonic content and
slow-moving. In order to program one, letÕs start with the
sequence. Because itÕs a long, slow sound, letÕs create a long, slow
sequence.

"%*!
!
! ! !
If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises - Practice
1) Return to your SubSynth patch, and try various combinations of
filters and filter envelopes. While you do this, think about the
variation in sound you can glean, and where each sound might fit
in a piece of music.!

67!Return to your effects combinations and try different

modulation effects, making a note of the impact they have on your
pad sound.

! !

"&(!
!
! ! !
Chapter 20 - Creating a Lead
In this chapter, you'll learn what a lead is and, most importantly,
how to create one.

Firstly, what is a lead synth? As you can gather from the name, a
lead ÔleadsÕ the track. It is usually a monophonic (i.e. a single note)
melody that runs across the middle to upper frequency range of a
track. It plays a similar role to a guitar solo in a piece of music.

Examples of leads include:

á The squeaky synth melody during the introduction of (Not Just)

Knee Deep by Funkadelic

á The synth melody in Das Model by Kraftwerk

á The whistling melody heard in the background of Let Me Ride by

Dr Dre

If youÕre still struggling to pick out a lead synth, search on the

internet for videos titled ÔLead SynthÕ - youÕll soon get the idea.

Now youÕre going to program one on SubSynth. This will be fairly

simple, but due to the melodic nature of the lead, youÕre going to
use an advanced feature of Caustic - this is because youÕre going to
play the keys, to give it that free, improvisational feel.

Load a SubSynth and an Init patch for it, then click the - button
above Polyphony to make your Polyphony setting 1. This is
because as a monophonic lead, youÕre only ever going to want to
play one note at a time. Even if you play two notes at the same
"&)!
!
! ! !
2) Add and remove the Delay and Modulation effects that youÕve
learned about in their respective chapters, analysing the emotional
statement each different sound creates.

! !

"'(!
!
! ! !
Chapter 21 - Creating Chords

In this chapter, youÕre going to create some moving, dynamic

chords. Whereas leads tend to be on one note, chords are a group
of notes (typically three or more) played at once to create a
harmony Ð just like someone playing chords on a guitar. These can
be found in the middle frequency range of many a track. Chords
are a key component of many different styles of electronic music,
including Techno, House and Trance, and in my opinion, in many
ways, are directly descended from the off-beat chords used in
Reggae. For examples, listen to:

á Stella by Jam and Spoon. The chords are the rhythmic, pulsing
sound that enter around 0:15.

á M4.5 by Maurizio. A couple of layers of chords remain constant

throughout this track.

á Tense (DBridge Remix) by Scuba. The chords start immediately

at the introduction of the track.

Notice how the chords remain fairly constant melodically and

rhythmically, and that the changes in the character of the sound
itself over time creates the narrative within the tracks.

First, start by sequencing some chords. Load your SubSynth on an

Init patch and scroll down to program the following notes in. If
"')!
!
! ! !
Exercises - Practice
1) With the sequence playing, creatively create drama and tension
by slowly altering the parameters of Subsynth. Make a mental note
of how your changes alter the character of the sound. For example,
try creating a build by increasing the Volume Envelope Release on
SubSynth, then snapping it back to its lowest setting to diffuse the
tension.

2) Experiment with every parameter you can, but you should

especially consider these parameters:

á Volume envelope Release

á Volume envelope Attack

á Filter

á Delay Feedback

á Reverb Room size

á Reverb Wet/Dry

"((!
!
! ! !
Chapter 22 Ð Recreating Sounds
In this chapter, youÕll begin to synthesize (get it?) all of the
knowledge that you have acquired through this book. Rather than
rely on my instruction, I will ask you to rely on what youÕve
learned so far by asking you to listen to sounds and program them
into an Init patch on SubSynth. I suggest for this that you open a
new Caustic document with an Init patch on your SubSynth.

The first sound IÕd like you to recreate is the synthesizer sequence
in Drifting Away by Faithless Ð the one that can be found at 0:51.
If you truly want a challenge, try to program the melody into your
sequencer. However if you donÕt wish to do that, you can glean a
similar sound by programming the following melody Ð itÕs not an
exact match (for copyright reasons), but it will get you in the
ballpark:

"()!
!
! ! !
IÕd suggest halving the tempo of your sequence by clicking the
three lines at the bottom of your sequencer:

And setting your tempo to 60bpm:

Then, click on the arrow next to Help to return to your sequence:

Firstly, think about the properties of the sound you hear and relate
it back to the oscillator summary at the beginning of the chapter
on single oscillators. IÕve copied it below for reference:
"(*!
!
! ! !
á The sine wave is the simplest waveform, containing no
harmonics. It sounds smooth and gentle.

á The square wave is a fairly harsh, wooden sound, containing odd

harmonics.

á The triangle wave has similar bass abilities to the sine, but with a
limited degree of odd harmonics in addition.

á The sawtooth is a brash, harsh sound, with a lot of harmonics.

If you listen to the sound in the Faithless track, does it seem to

relate to any of these particularly well? To test your answer, go up
to your SubSynth, and cycle through the oscillators until you find
the one that sounds most like the sequence youÕve just heard in the
Faithless track. Did you find it?

ThatÕs right Ð itÕs a sine wave:

However, it does not quite sound right yet. Firstly, can you hear
that very subtle click happening on each note? ThatÕs to do with
")+!
!
! ! !
your volume envelope. Because the volume envelope is sensitive,
that little click you hear is the Release closing down the sound
instantly Ð so instantaneously that it creates an audible click due
to the speed at which the waveform ceases to play. This means you
need to turn the Release up, but not enough that the notes take so
long to release that they interfere with one another:

Now play the melody again. Notice how itÕs lacking something
when compared to FaithlessÕ rendition? Listen to the Faithless
track and try to work out which effect theyÕre using. ThereÕs a
spoiler below if youÕre struggling.

ItÕs a Reverb!

Scroll down and add a Reverb, tweaking the settings until you find
what sounds right to you. IÕm not going to show you how to get the
Reverb right, because I trust you to have worked with the Reverb
enough by now to have a decent understanding. In addition, itÕs all
a matter of opinion at this point!

")"!
!
! ! !
Once you have the Reverb right, congratulations Ð youÕve just
recreated a patch from scratch!

LetÕs try another track. Listen to Greece 2000 by Three Drives.

YouÕre looking to recreate the trance lead that comes in around
2:30 on the 8-minute version, or around 37 seconds in on the
shorter radio mix. Load up a new Caustic file and your Init patch
on SubSynth, and IÕll provide you some notes to start off:

Now, listen to your notes (with the default sine wave oscillator),
and then listen to the Three Drives track. Referring to the notes on
the different oscillator types, which type of waveform do you think
youÕre listening to? IÕll clue you in, itÕs a harsh tone Ð a
harmonically rich one.

Did you get it? ItÕs a sawtooth. Select a sawtooth in Osc 1:

")#!
!
! ! !
Play your sequence back. How does it differ from the Three Drives
trackÕs riff? Think about it in terms of envelopes and filtering. Try
to modify your filter and envelopes, given what you know. IÕll give
you a clue Ð you require an Inv. LP filter.

If youÕre struggling, let me give you my thought process.

The first thing to note is that the sound seems to peak quite
harshly, but disappear quickly. This indicates to me that thereÕs
very little Release or Sustain on the Volume envelope, because
Sustain would make the Decay seemingly lengthen slightly and a
high Release setting would mean you could hear the note after itÕs
been played. We can also surmise from how quickly the note
begins (i.e. very quickly Ð each note doesnÕt seem to fade in) that
the Attack is as low as it can possibly be. Therefore we know that
the key to getting the Volume envelope right is the Decay. Tweak
the Decay until it sounds like weÕre getting closer to the original
sound. I went for this:

")$!
!
! ! !
Now that the volume envelope sounds right, have another listen to
the Three Drives track and compare it to your patch. Do you notice
how the top end of the track doesnÕt seem as harsh or as bright as
your patch? We can therefore surmise thereÕs a low-pass filter in
play. However, thereÕs a particular character to the sound Ð one
where the sound is very bright at the start of a note but seems to
lose its brightness before the note has elapsed Ð in a similar way to
a piano note. Knowing this, we can deduce that thereÕs a filter
envelope in place, with a setting on the Attack.

Play your sequence. While playing the sequence, move your Filter
Envelope Attack to 7 oÕclock (youÕll hear very little), and slowly
move it to the right until you find what sounds like the correct
point. YouÕre getting there, arenÕt you? Your patch is still too
bright, though. It clearly needs some filtering. Bring your cutoff
down to what sounds like the correct point.

To summarise so far, your patch should look something like this:

If you play it back, it still doesnÕt sound quite right. Listen back to
the Three Drives track and try to work out what it is. IÕll give you a
clue Ð itÕs hidden around the notes.
")%!
!
! ! !
If you can hear a Delay, youÕre absolutely right. Add a Delay to
your Insert effects and tweak your settings:

And there we have it! ThereÕs still a slight difference, but I promise
you it would be imperceptible in the context of the full trackÕs mix.

For the next one, try something a bit different Ð a wobble sub-
bass. Listen to Anti-War Dub by Mala, listening out for the bass at
the start. Not the mid - but the deep, deep sub-bass that underpins
everything. If you canÕt hear anything, try using a good pair of
headphones, or a pair of speakers with a big subwoofer. This track
is a classic on huge soundsystems for a good reason!

For this, IÕd suggest using CausticÕs keyboard, but using the Down
arrow to the right of the keyboard to bring the octave down to C1,
so that you can play those lower notes:

")&!
!
! ! !
Look back at the waveform list and think about how youÕd
construct that kind of sub-bass sound. It absolutely needs the
smoothness and bass weight of a sine wave to start in Oscillator 1,
but your second oscillator is a difficult choice. A square wave could
work with sufficient filtering, but IÕve gone for a triangle wave. You
want to add a small amount of harmonics, but not too much:

Have a play of your notes. Nice, dark and bassy, arenÕt they? YouÕll
notice they, however, are lacking in wobble. What function would
be able to automate a pattern, like a wobble in a synthesizer?

YouÕre absolutely correct if youÕve started reaching for the LFO.

Often, with this sort of wobble, IÕd suggest you add an LP filter and
automate the cutoff to create that wobble. If thatÕs what youÕve
")'!
!
! ! !
tried, your logic is correct Ð and itÕs definitely worth adding an LP
filter with the cutoff at the bottom. However in this instance, the
frequencies being played are so low, and so lacking in harmonic
content (remember, youÕre mixing a sine wave with a triangle
wave), that an LFO firing at a cutoff thatÕs having very little effect
on the sound will not suffice Ðyour sub-bass is simply too deep!

On that basis, IÕd suggest sending your LFO to your volume:

Play some notes Ð youÕve now created a dark, wobbly sub-bass!

WeÕll put together one more sound - a garage bassline. Listen to

Poundcake by Moony Ð specifically the bassline that interplays
with the organ around 1:27 onwards.

If I were you, IÕd go back to an Init patch, but keep the octave
down towards C1.

The tone used in this bassline is one that contains some bass
weight, but also some harmonics, unlike the sub-bass. However,
sound isnÕt as harsh as a sawtooth. On that basis, you should
choose a square wave:
")(!
!
! ! !
This patch is actually exceedingly simple Ð it just moves round a
lot. Listen to how the bass evolves, squelching around, and think
about which part of the synthesizer youÕll need to modulate to
reflect that.

If you guessed that you required a low-pass filter, youÕre correct. A

lot of the tension in this patch also comes from the fact that the
Resonance is turned significantly up.

IÕve picked this bassline and track because thereÕs a lot of

modulation and variation Ð IÕm leaving it up to you to have fun
with the filter, LFO and filter envelopes to try to reflect as many
aspects of the bassline in Poundcake as you can Ð youÕve learned
enough that a great step is to experiment entirely independently.

In this chapter, you have put all of the knowledge you have
gleaned so far together. I hope you feel that your understanding of
synthesis is more structured and rigorous by now. Our next place
in the journey is to learn about drum synthesis.

Exercises Ð Q&A
1) Why does Release on the volume envelope create an audible
click if set to its lowest setting?

"))!
!
! ! !
2) Why didnÕt I think that the sound in Three DrivesÕ track had
much Release or Delay on it, considering it seemed to peak quite
harshly but disappear quickly?
3) Why does the fact that the notes in Three DrivesÕ riff donÕt seem
to fade in at all indicate the use of a low Attack setting?
4) How can you deduce that thereÕs a Filter Envelope in place in
Three DrivesÕ Riff?
5) Why, when creating a deep sub-bass, would you look to
automate the Volume to create wobble rather than a low-pass
filter?
6) Why is a Square wave used in the bassline in MoonyÕs
Poundcake?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises - Practice
1) Find three more electronic music tracks that you love. Try to
recreate the synthesizer sounds you hear, even if itÕs just a crude
imitation. WhatÕs more important than a perfect recreation is to
work systematically, analyzing the sound you hear and comparing
it to the fundamental sounds (i.e. the oscillators) of your
synthesizer. ItÕs a fantastic feeling when you get it right!!

! !

")*!
!
! ! !
6) What is noise shaping?
7) Why do the envelopes play such an important role in noise
shaping?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises - Practice
!
1) Find a video of Jeff Mills programming a 909 live to understand
a truly impressive drum machine programming feat Ð searching
for Jeff Mills 909 will suffice.

2) Find an online drum machine and program it Ð as of

writing, HTML5 Drum Machine is a good option, but online
drum machines are always coming and going Ð search for
Ôfree online drum machineÕ and you will find something!

! !

#+"!
!
! ! !
Click to add a new device:

Select a Modular:

YouÕll be presented with this blank device:

#+$!
!
! ! !
This is an entirely blank canvas! You will now be presented with
the option to add different synthesizer components, effectively
creating your own synthesizer from scratch!

To easily understand whether or not what you do is working, add a

basic sequence below the synthesizer, and press Play so that itÕs
constantly looping. DonÕt worry about the fact that you canÕt hear
anything:

#+%!
!
! ! !
Go back to the modular synthesizer, and click on the +:

Can you guess what component you need to generate sound? DonÕt
forget the two-step process inherent in all synthesis Ð the
generation of sound, followed by the manipulation of the
generated sound.

Hopefully you were correct Ð itÕs an oscillator, listed here as a

Waveform Generator. Load it from the list:

If your sequence is playing, you may notice the little white light
above the Save button flashing, indicating that itÕs receiving a note
input. But you canÕt hear anything!

To hear the notes being generated, click on Flip on the top bar:

#+&!
!
! ! !
YouÕll be presented with this view:

ItÕs absolutely right that you canÕt hear anything - because nothing
is connected! When you Flip it, this is where you can connect the
virtual wires. There are two types of wires Ð and knowing what
they are, to some extent, is a matter of guesswork and logic. The
two types are:

1) Audio wires. These carry audio signals, for example from one
area of the synthesizer to another.

2) Data wires (known as Control Voltage, or abbreviated as CV).

These carry signals that alter parameters, for example an LFO
signal or an envelope signal.

HereÕs the structure of what youÕre looking at:

#+'!
!
! ! !
Effectively, the sequencer outputs on the top left are data as to
what notes are being played (i.e. the notes youÕve programmed).
Your oscillator converts this note data into audible tones, and
outputs it to the Audio Output. Using your finger or mouse to
drag, drag a cable from Note CV in your sequencer output to the
Note input on the oscillator. This, for example, is a Data cable.
Then, drag a cable from Out on the oscillator to your Audio
Output. This cable, for example, is an Audio cable:

Listening to your output, you may have noticed something Ð you

have entered short notes into the sequencer, but all the notes are
playing until the next note comes in, and if you press Stop, the
note continues to play.

From the knowledge youÕve gleaned reading this book so far, can
you guess why that is and the next device that needs to be added?
If you said an envelope, youÕd be right! Without the envelope, the
notes simply donÕt know when to stop.

#+(!
!
! ! !
Press another +, and add in a Decay Envelope, just to keep things
simple:

If you press Play, you will notice itÕs still done nothing!

This is because you need to connect it. Press Flip again, and then
connect the Out from your Decay unit to the Mod of your
oscillator. What youÕre doing here is using the Output of the
envelope to modify the envelope that the oscillator uses.

Next, filter your signal. Click on another +, and add a Vintage

Ladder LP Ð a low-pass filter:

#+)!
!
! ! !
Switch your Waveform to sawtooth so you can hear the filter
working (remember, itÕs defaulted to a sine wave, which lacks
higher frequency harmonics):

And press Flip again!

Try to work out how youÕd add a filter into the signal flow. IÕll give
you a clue Ð itÕs an Audio signal.

Check if you guessed correctly using this diagram:

To take stock, you now have an oscillator, which is being

controlled by a Decay envelope, with its audio signal being filtered
before it reaches the output.

Next, add an LFO. Click on the + again and select LFO:

#+*!
!
! ! !
The LFO can be routed to the filter, as you already know Ð do this
now:

Press Play, and then Flip. Alter your settings to make sure you can
effectively hear the LFO acting upon the filter.

The beauty of this is that you can use routing creativity to modify
other parameters. For example, Flip the setup back to the cabling
view, and drag another cable from your LFO output to res on your
filter:

#"+!
!
! ! !
If you press Flip again and turn the Res of your filter right up,
youÕll hear that now the LFO is not just acting upon your cutoff,
but also your resonance Ð so the higher the value of your cutoff,
the higher the value of your resonance.

The reason we have scratched the surface of virtual modular

synthesis is to show you that synthesizer design is based on a
simple set of connections. You should not be intimidated when
you encounter this Doepfer A-100, as it is based on precisely the
same principles that youÕve just learned:

©Nina Richards / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0

#""!
!
! ! !
Exercises Ð Q&A
1) Why do you need to add an envelope to prevent the notes
blending into one another?
2) What are the two types of signal carried in the wires in
Modular, and what are they for?
3) What sort of connection (i.e. Audio or Data) might there be
between an Envelope and a Filter?
4) What sort of connection might there be between an LFO and an
oscillator?
5) What sort of connection might there be between a Filter and the
synthesizerÕs primary Output?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
!
1) Add an additional unit to your Caustic modular synthesizer, and
connect it to your setup so that it works. Please note that if you
add an additional sound-making module, youÕll need to add a
mixer to mix the two together!!
2) Go to YouTube and watch a free modular synthesis tutorial.!

! !

#"#!
!
! ! !
Chapter 25Ð Other synthesizers
!
Throughout this book, IÕve used CausticÕs SubSynth as the primary
example of a synthesizer. However, all synthesizers have the same
fundamental controls. This chapter is a series of exercises - IÕd like
you to have a look at the following synthesizers, deciphering where
the where the various sections are. Try to identify the:

á Oscillators
á Oscillator mixer
á Filter
á Volume Envelope
á Filter Envelope

HereÕs a picture of ASynth, made by Smartelectronix:

This one should be fairly easy Ð theyÕve marked the areas out for
you, however a couple of areas are slightly deceptive! Just in case
youÕre not sure, here are the answers:

#"$!
!
! ! !
 ©Steve Sims / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-1.0

I told you this one was more challenging!

#"&!
!
! ! !
LetÕs try one more:

©Samboy / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-1.0

Hopefully you found this one fairly easy Ð the only tricky part is
realising that the envelopes are assignable, so envelope 1 can be
assigned to control both the filter and the oscillator, and envelope
can either control the filter or nothing:

I hope you realise how simple it has been to decipher the different
layouts of synthesizers Ð merely looking at them with an
#"'!
!
! ! !
experienced, knowledgeable eye will give you an indication of how
they work. ItÕs reassuring to know that all synthesis works using
broadly the same architecture.

Exercises - Practice
!
1) Some synthesizers are detailed enough that they donÕt lend
themselves to a book format well. For these exercises, IÕd like you
to find images of these synthesizers on the internet and use your
newly found skills to decipher the constituent components of the
following:

á Korg MS-20
á Native Instruments Massive
á Xfer Records Serum
á Doepfer A-100 (this is a particularly tough one Ð remember that
there are several oscillators that perform different functions!)

! !

#"(!
!
! ! !
Chapter 26 Ð Character

In this chapter, weÕre going to look at the character of different

synthesizers and the effect that this character has on your
productions.

In the sound creation chapters, you may have come very close to
recreating some sounds you heard, but not quite managed to make
them sound identical. This is because like any other musical
instruments, different synthesizers sound different to one another
Ð even if their control methods are similar.

Character is what differentiates different models of synthesizer. It

is one of the most important aspects of electronic music
production. The character of a synthesizer is a product of its
design, its components and its software (if it has or is made from
software). One of the primary attributes of character is whether a
synthesizer is analogue or digital. Analogue means that its
components are made out of real electronic chips, whereas digital
can either mean that the synthesizer works on a computer
platform, or that there are digital computing chips within the
hardware synthesizer. There are a lot of modern, budget
synthesizers which are a hybrid of the two Ð most often with a
digital oscillator and an analogue filter (because itÕs the filter that
can often add the most perceived character to a sound).

#")!
!
! ! !
It is said (and I often agree) that analogue sounds better than
digital synthesis. Analogue hardware is often described as
sounding ÔwarmÕ. Scientifically, warmth is often a product of the
analogue components of a piece of musical equipment creating a
small amount of distortion, which adds pleasant-sounding
harmonics. However, thatÕs not to say that I havenÕt encountered
cold-sounding analogue synthesizers and warm-sounding virtual
synthesizers. To some extent, itÕs all a matter of preference.

CausticÕs SubSynth is a very basic synthesizer, and has a very

generic character. ItÕs excellent for the experiments that we have
undertaken in this book due to its sheer precision, but a wider
variety of instruments would be necessary in a real music
production environment.

Some of the most famous sounds in synthesis come from the

character of a particular instrument. For example, the famous
funky synthesizer lead sounds heard in Parliament FunkadelicÕs
work (and later used by G-Funk producers, especially Dre) are a
product of the Minimoog synthesizer. Some of the most famous
tracks of the 80s were produced using the FM-based Yamaha DX7
and its distinctive patches. Acid House - a whole genre of music -
was invented as a consequence of the Roland 303 and its squelchy
filters.

Character matters a lot in synthesis. Whilst IÕve written about the

theory, the real learning is in undertaking the exercises in this
chapter.

#"*!
!
! ! !
Exercises Ð Q&A
!
1) What are the three main aspects of a synthesizerÕs character?
2) What does analogue mean, when referring to a synthesizer?
3) What is ÔwarmthÕ?
If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.
!

Exercises Ð Practice
!
1) Use the internet to find videos the following synthesizers Ð I
suggest you search for the synthesizer name, followed by ÔDemoÕ.
Use your active listening skills to listen for the distinctive
character of these synthesizers:!
á Minimoog!
á Roland 303!
á Access Virus TI!
á Native Instruments Massive!

While youÕre watching the videos, try to keep an eye out for the
different sections of the synthesizer that we have worked on in
previous chapters Ð this type of homework will stand you in good
stead for the next chapter!

2) Listen to these tracks to hear the synthesizers in context (not all

may be to your taste!):!

##+!
!
! ! !
á Minimoog Ð Flashlight by Parliament!
á Roland 303 Ð Acid Tracks by Phuture!
á Access Virus TI Ð Invaders Must Die by The Prodigy!
á Native Instruments Massive Ð The Reward Is Cheese by
Deadmau5

! !

##"!
!
! ! !
Chapter 27 - Experimenting with other
synthesizers
!
In this chapter, weÕre going to use another of CausticÕs
synthesizers to apply our knowledge. Think of this as a final
examination, just to test how far youÕve come on this journey.

Go to Caustic, and then load up a SawSynth (instead of a

SubSynth). Using the experience and knowledge youÕve gained,
decipher each section of the synthesizer and its function. As youÕll
appreciate from the chapter on other synthesizers, you may note
that there is a different layout and a different-looking oscillator.
DonÕt worry - this is part of your journey.

The reason I spent so much time teaching you about SubSynth is

so that when youÕre presented with a new synthesizer, itÕs not
intimidating. I know this is counterintuitive, but by fully
understanding precisely what an oscillator does, youÕve learned
how all oscillators work. By putting in the practice to understand
exactly how SubSynthÕs envelope works, youÕve learned how all
envelopes work.

WhatÕs new is the Super Osc:

###!
!
! ! !
á Sawtooth wave - this is due to the harmonics it creates.

á High stereo width - this contributes to the ethereal feeling. Stereo

width works by separating the copies of detuned soundwaves
between your left and right speakers, making the overall sound
more expansive.

á Detune just below halfway, with Mix a quarter of the way up -

enough to add some harmonic interference, but not so much that
it sounds hugely detuned.

á Band-pass filter with a slow LFO - so that the pad moves and
undulates in the upper-mid range.

á No filter envelope applied - this is to allow the LFO to perform

the undulation without competing with the filter envelope.

á Fast attack, but long Sustain and Release to allow each cycle of
the bar being played to work as seamlessly as possible.

Next, I want you to create an EDM lead. Create a new instance of

SubSynth, and load these notes:

##(!
!
! ! !
á IÕve used a sawtooth again, maximising the stereo width.

á Detune is just beyond halfway, adding a lot of detune but without

going too far. The detune is mixed in with the original signal to the
maximum possible extent.

á IÕve added a low-pass filter with a fairly slow filter envelope, so

that it acts upon the sound slowly. This isnÕt essential, but I find it
gives the lead a little bit of movement.

á The lead has quick Attack, with Sustain at full volume. This
combines with a fairly slow Release, enabling the note to hang in
the air slightly as it elapses.

YouÕre entirely welcome to season these sounds using effects as

you see fit, but now youÕve acquired real-world practice in
applying your knowledge of synthesis to a new, unfamiliar
synthesizer.

If your patches didnÕt precisely mirror mine, thatÕs ok - as long as

you were able to confidently use the different functions of the
synthesizer, carrying into the chapter a good mental model of what
each function does.

If you feel like you failed this chapter miserably, thatÕs also ok - but
I suggest you head back to Chapter 3 and re-work your way
through the book, paying particular attention to the exercises.

ItÕs now up to you to complete the exercises at the end of this

chapter. You should be aware that these exercises are a lot tougher

##*!
!
! ! !
and will take you longer than the previous exercises in this book -
think of it as your final project!

Exercises Ð Q&A
!
1) What does Super Osc do?
2) WhatÕs the difference between the filter envelope in SawSynth
and the filter envelope in SubSynth?
3) What does Stereo Width do?
4) Why would you want to add some Release to the EDM lead?

If you need any help, the answers are in Appendix A.

Exercises Ð Practice
!
1) Find three synthesizers you would like to use. They could be
online, at a local music shop, or as part of a software package.

2) Create three patches on each of these - a bass, a lead and a pad.

Only skip a task if the synthesizer is wholly unsuited to the job
(e.g. a pad on a monophonic bass synthesizer). Even if you
struggle with the first synthesizer, I have no doubt that you will
feel confident by the third.

! !

#$+!
!
! ! !
Chapter 28 - Concluding thoughts
!
Thank you for reading this book and undertaking this journey.

To be clear, I donÕt doubt that if you were new to synthesis at the

start of the book, youÕre still not one hundred percent confident by
now. ThatÕs ok - no book can turn you into an expert overnight. ItÕs
important to remember that you will never stop learning about
synthesis for as long as you practice it. The best way to practice it
is to free yourself from the self-imposed shackles of relying on
online tutorials and trying to edit presets. ThereÕs a wealth of
undiscovered sound out there, and the knowledge in this book is
more than enough for you to go out and discover it!

I do hope that the theory and exercises in this book have made you
realise the beautiful simplicity of synthesis. A synthesizer is just
like any other device, for example a car, a smartphone, a cooker, in
that once youÕve learned the basics of one, you can apply that
knowledge to any other.

I also hope that the journey youÕve undertaken has been

worthwhile for you. For me, the journey of learning synthesis has
been one of liberation. Because I feel confident programming and
understanding synthesizers, I know that any synthesized sound I
hear, be it in a track I hear in a record shop, a lead synth I hear at a
gig or even the background music on television, is merely a
combination of a particular programmed patch and the
synthesizerÕs internal character.

#$"!
!
! ! !
Therefore, there is no sound that is truly out of my reach as a
producer.

As an electronic musician, is there anything more liberating than

that?

! !

#$#!
!
! ! !
Appendix A Ð Q&A Exercise answers
Chapter 1 Ð What Is Sound?

1) Sound is a pressure wave that ripples out from a source.

2) Frequency, amplitude and waveform.
3) Hertz.
4) Hertz measures how many cycles are in the waveform per
second.
5) 20Hz-20kHz.

Chapter 3 Ð What Is Synthesis?

1) An oscillator generates an electronic vibration at a set frequency

according to a set waveform.
2) An amplifier increases the volume of the oscillator and outputs
the amplified signal. The signal becomes audible through the
speakers connected to the synthesizer, which convert the
electronic signals to audible sound.
3) The creation of sound, followed by the manipulation of the
sound created.

#$$!
!
! ! !
Chapter 5 Ð An Introduction to Caustic

1) LFO 2
2) Filter
!
!
Chapter 6 - Single Oscillators

1) Sine, Sawtooth, Square, Triangle, Noise

2) Saw
3) Square
4) Noise
5) Sine
6) Sawtooth

Chapter 7 Ð Mixing oscillators

1) It moves the oscillator in question up or down a semitone, as if

youÕre playing the note above or below the note youÕre actually
playing on the keyboard.
2) It moves the oscillator in question up or down an octave, as if
youÕre playing the same note, but one octave above or below the
note youÕre actually playing on the keyboard.
3) It moves the oscillator in question up or down a fraction of a
semitone.
4) Bend makes the notes ÔbendÕ between notes.

#$%!
!
! ! !
5) You would use the Phase pot to change where the peaks and
troughs land in relation to each other.

Chapter 8 Ð Filters

1) Low-pass, band-pass and high-pass

2) High frequencies
3) It amplifies (i.e. increases in volume) frequencies around the
filterÕs cut-off point
4) Track increases or decreases the amount of filter applied to the
sound, depending on the note played

Chapter 9 Ð Envelopes

1) Release
2) Attack
3) Sustain
4) Decay

Chapter 10 Ð Filter Envelopes

1) Attack
2) Change the filter type to Inv. LP
3) Bring the filter envelope controls to the left of 12 oÕclock, as 12
oÕclock would have no effect

#$&!
!
! ! !
Chapter 11 Ð LFOs

1) Low Frequency Oscillator

2) A normal oscillator creates an audio signal, whereas an LFO
creates an internal signal to manipulate certain controls within the
synthesizer.
3) The Rate pot changes the speed of the LFO, i.e. the speed of the
effect.
4) The Depth pot changes the extent to which the LFO effects its
destination.

Chapter 12 Ð Polyphony

1) Monophonic means the synthesizer can only play one note at a

time
2) Polyphonic means the synthesizer can play multiple notes at the
same time
3) Turn the polyphony down to 1

Chapter 13 Ð Effects

1) Delay and modulation

2) Compression effects
3) Modulation effects
4) Equalization

Chapter 14 Ð Delay Effects

#$'!
!
! ! !
1) Because the Delay is repeating copies of the sound over the
current sound.
2) It governs how long a sound will be captured and repeated.
3) Feedback governs how quickly (or slowly) the volume of
subsequent repetitions are reduced.
4) Because the repetitions are reducing in volume so slowly, each
new repetition builds on top of the last one - creating an increase
in volume
5) Because Wet/Dry is the mix between your original signal and
your effected sound. Moving it all the way to Wet means you only
hear the output of your effect, effectively mixing out your original
sound.
6) So that you can hear the effect of the Reverb in isolation,
without the Delay getting in the way of you hearing what's reverb
and what isn't.
7) Because Reverb is designed to simulate your sound being played
in a reverberant room
8) Delay controls how long a delay the echoes are delayed for
before they are mixed in with the output.
9) By creating a difference between the left and right speaker, it
sounds like the sound occupies a wider, more realistic space.
10) Because the signal will be effected as it goes through the chain
of effects units. For example, if you'd u had a Reverb and then a
Delay, the signal would include Reverb as it enters the Delay,
meaning the Reverb echoes would also be subject to the Delay's
effects.

#$(!
!
! ! !
Chapter 15 Ð Modulation effects

1) Depth controls the extent the LFO is applied to the chorus,

whereas Wet/Dry controls the extent that the effected signal is
mixed with the unaffected signal.
2) A Delay unit delays the sound at fixed intervals, making each
delay quieter than the last, however the Chorus delays the sound
at 30-50 millisecond, with no repetitions.
3) Because the sound waves constructively and destructively
interfere with one another.
4) Because two identical sounds more than 50ms apart will be
perceived by the brain as two separate sounds.
5) F.Back controls the extent to which the effected signal is
pumped back into itself.
6) A flanger varies the time between two signals, whereas a phaser
changes the phase.
7) Because they all create their effects by creating identical copies
of your sound, delayed by time - the difference is the extent of the
timing.

Chapter 16 Ð Equalization

1) Parametric equalization allows you to pick the frequency range

you alter

#$)!
!
! ! !
2) The display shows the user visually how the parametric
equalizer is affecting the signal
3) The Frequency pot allows the user to choose which frequency is
to be affected.
4) This allows the user to choose how much of the frequency range
is boosted or cut around the centre point chosen by Frequency.
5) This allows the user to increase or decrease the amount of the
frequency selected by the Frequency pot, by the amount selected
by the Gain pot.
6) Because the lower end of the sequence/melody may interfere
with the bassline

Chapter 17 Ð Compression

1) Compression quietens the loud sound, so that itÕs at a similar

level to the quiet sound.
2) Dynamic range is the difference in volume between the loudest
and quietest part of a track.
3) Threshold controls the level at which the signal passes through
unaffected Ð any signal louder than the threshold level gets
compressed.
4) Because the setting of the threshold is so high, none of the
signal meets it.
5) Ratio is the extent to which the compressor reduces the volume
of anything above the level set by the Threshold.
6) 1/3 of the original volume.

#$*!
!
! ! !
7) Attack controls how long it takes the compressor to start
compressing once a signal above the Threshold has been detected.
8) Release controls how long it takes the compressor to cease
compressing once a signal above the Threshold has been detected.
9) Sidechain is where a compressor is triggered by an external
signal, as opposed to the audio signal routed into the compressor.
10) Basses, pads and noise sweeps.
11) A Limiter has a fixed ratio, and is designed to prevent any
signal from breaching the threshold.
12) Pre-defines the extent to which audio is amplified before it
enters the Limiter. Post defines the extent to which the audio is
amplified after it has been processed by the Limiter.

Chapter 18 Ð Creating a bass

1) To temper the high end of the bass, so that it isnÕt too bright.
a) Selecting oscillators with harmonics, i.e. sawtooth and square
waves
b) Adding some Attack to the inv. LP filter
c) Moving Cents on Oscillator 2 to create interference
d) Adjusting the volume envelope
e) Adding an LFO to the Filter cutoff
3) Because basses are intended to be heard at the lower end,
thereby underpinning the track.
4) A sub-bass underpins the whole track, but is at a lower
frequency than a bass and doesnÕt draw too much attention to
itself. ItÕs designed to be felt more than heard.
#%+!
!
! ! !
Chapter 19 Ð Creating a Pad

1) Pads are created to be slow-moving and lush Ð and therefore

require long note lengths.
2) Why would you want to use a Band Pass filter for a pad?
2) Pads often work in the middle-high area of the audible
frequency range, which is what a Band Pass filter allows through.
3) So that the filter rises with every new note.
4) Why did I choose to alter the phase of oscillator 2 using an LFO
instead of changing it on LFO2Õs settings?
5) Being Delay effects, the evolution of the sound can be captured
and reflected back and forth, creating more harmonic lushness.

Chapter 20 Ð Creating a Lead

1) So that youÕre always playing one note at a time Ð even if you

accidentally play two notes!
2) It means that if youÕre using a touchscreen or mouse, you can
naturally navigate notes that sound good together.
3) Polyphony set to 1, a sawtooth, and hitting the right notes
(thanks to the change in scale).
4) Sawtooth
5) Sine

Chapter 21 Ð Creating chords

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1) Chords are a group of notes (typically three or more) played at
once to create a harmony.
2) So that the movement of the cutoff creates drama Ð and it does
so in addition to your movement of the cutoff.
3) This creates additional depth by essentially doubling your chord
Ð playing a copy of it an octave lower means that six notes are
being played, instead of three.
4) This is so that you can fully hear each effect of each pot turn Ð
you can then combine it with the unaltered signal by moving it
back when youÕve found the right sound.

Chapter 22 Ð Recreating sounds

1) Because the Release closes down the volume envelope so

instantaneously that it creates an audible click due to the speed at
which the waveform ceases to play.
2) Sustain would make the Decay sound like itÕs been lengthened
slightly and a high Release setting would mean you could hear the
note after itÕs been played.
3) Because a slow attack means the notes fade in Ð the fact that the
notes in Three DrivesÕ riff donÕt therefore indicates a fast Attack.
4) The sound seems to be bright at the start of a note but loses its
brightness as the note goes on Ð in a similar way to a piano note.
5) The sub-bass is set at such a low frequency that the frequencies
are too low for a low-pass filter to have any effect Ð therefore
Volume is the parameter that needs modulating.

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6) It contains a lot of bass weight, but also some harmonics, which
sound great when filtered and modulated.

Chapter 23 Ð Drum synthesis

1) The Tune pot defines the frequency at which the sample plays.
2) The Punch pot acts as an Attack envelope, defining how quickly
the sample gets to peak volume.
3) The Decay pot acts as a Decay envelope, defining how quickly
the sample returns to zero volume
4) The Pan pot controls the mix of the sample between the left and
right speaker.
5) The volume pot controls the volume of the sample.
6) Noise shaping is turning white noise into a sound with
character, for example a percussive sound.
7) Because the envelopes allow you to add shape to the noise as itÕs
played, as opposed to it being a flat blast of white noise.

Chapter 24 Ð Routing Matrices

1) Because without the envelope, thereÕs nothing to tell the notes

when to stop.
2) Audio and Data. Audio carries pure audio signals, whereas Data
(also known as CV) carries signals to alter particular parameters.
3) Data, because the data from the Envelope would control how
the Filter is applied.

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4) Data, because the data from the LFO would control how the
LFO alters the oscillator.
5) Audio, because it would route the audio directly from the output
of the filter to the synthesizerÕs output.

Chapter 26 Ð Character

1) Its components, its design and its software (if it has software).
2) Analogue means the synthesizerÕs components are made out of
real electronic chips.
3) Warmth is analogue components adding a small amount of
distortion to the signal, creating pleasant harmonics.

Chapter 27 Ð Experimenting with other synthesizers

1) Super Osc creates multiples of the waveform selected, detuning

each copy slightly to create pleasant harmonic interference.
2) Whereas the filter envelope on SubSynth uses inverted filters to
create opposite effects, the opposite filter envelope effect on
SawSynth can be achieved by moving the filter envelope to the left
or right of midnight.
3) Stereo Width separates the copies of detuned sawtooth waves
between the left and right speakers, creating a more spacious,
expansive sound.
4) This allows the note to slightly hang in the air after it elapses.

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Appendix B Ð Areas and functions of
Caustic
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9)! The part with SubSynth and Init written below SubSynth is
the patch section. This is unmarked. This is where you will
load and save different settings into your synthesizer Ðq not
unlike the File menu on most computer programs.

10)!Oscillator 1 and Oscillator 2 Ð these are below the patch

section. These are the Oscillators Ð the part of the
synthesizer that generates sound Ð the sound that you will
manipulate and shape into the sound you desire.

11)! Bend Ð this is where you control how different notes interact
tonally with one another.

12)!Filter (to the right of the patch section) Ð this is a section

that lets you selectively control which frequencies from the
oscillator get played. This is where you give your sound tone,
character and warmth. You can also manipulate how and
when the filter is applied using the Envelope controls (the
four pots in the section titled Attack, Decay, Sustain and
Release).

13)!LFO 1 and LFO 2, to the right of the filter. This is where you
can choose various waveforms and drive them towards
other parts of the synthesizer to create automated effects.
DonÕt worry if this explanation doesnÕt make sense at this

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 point Ð all will become clear once youÕve worked through the
LFO chapter!

14)!The Volume Envelope. This is where you control note-level

parameters, such as whether your notes are short or long,
whether they start slowly or quickly after you press a key on
the keyboard and whether they continue playing after youÕve
ceased to press a note on the keyboard. This allows you to
create slow, relaxed notes, or aggressive, fast notes Ð or
anything in between!

15)!The Output. This is simply how loud your synthesizer is.

Nice and easy!

16)!The keyboard section. This piano keyboard is where you tell

the synthesizer which notes to play. If youÕre on a touch
device, you can touch the keys with your finger on the
screen, or if youÕre on a desktop computer you can use the
mouse, your computer keyboard or a connected MIDI
keyboard.

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Index

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20Hz, 74, 111, 241

909, 132, 197, 208

a sine wave, 34, 35, 42, 76, 150, 171, 186, 192, 193, 216
Acid, 82, 226, 228
active listening, 15, 16, 18, 41, 49, 66, 227
actively listen, 16, 17, 56
ADSR, 58
amplifier, 19, 241
Amplitude, 10, 47
Amplitude Modulation, 47
analogue, 10, 39, 50, 54, 74, 80, 225, 226, 227, 253
Attack, 28, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 68, 129, 130, 136, 139, 140, 142, 145, 160,
163, 176, 183, 189, 190, 195, 199, 200, 205, 236, 243, 248, 249, 251
Avicii, 235

band-pass filter, 50
bandwidth, 115, 147, 153
bass, 32, 33, 37, 38, 40, 72, 114, 137, 143, 144, 145, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153,
154, 163, 170, 186, 192, 193, 194, 196, 237, 248, 249, 251
bassline, 115, 119, 137, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 154, 170, 194, 195,
196, 247

Cents, 43, 44, 51, 64, 74, 98, 146, 159, 161, 172, 178, 230, 249
character, 225
chords, 77, 86, 157, 174, 175, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 250
Compression effects, 85, 244
compression ratio, 126

Damp, 93, 148

Deadmau5, 137, 228
Decay, 28, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 69, 70, 78, 146, 189, 199, 200, 202, 203,
206, 207, 215, 216, 243, 251
Delay effects, 84, 249
Devices menu, 131
Dr Dre, 165
drama, 78, 122, 147, 174, 175, 183, 250
drum synthesis, 197
Dubstep, 72
dynamic range, 120, 121, 122, 141

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EQ, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 52, 54, 55, 84, 85, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 147,
152, 154, 170
Equalisation, 85, 246
Equalization, 111

Faithless, 184, 186, 187

fifth chord, 75, 85
filter envelope, 56, 68, 69, 70, 71, 76, 80, 85, 145, 160, 176, 190, 231, 234,
236, 237, 243, 253
Frequency, 10
Frequency Modulation, 47
frequency spectrum, 116
Funkadelic, 82, 165, 226

Gain, 112, 113, 114, 116, 118, 247

gain reduction, 127, 128, 129, 130, 138, 139, 140, 142
Garage, 72

hardware, 4, 13, 19, 48, 80, 92, 209, 225, 226

harmonic, 36, 40, 54, 144, 145, 150, 151, 156, 159, 161, 162, 172, 193, 230,
234, 249, 253
harmonic content, 40, 144, 145, 150, 151, 156, 193
harmonically rich, 38, 158, 175, 189
harmonics, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 47, 54, 152, 186, 192, 194, 216, 226,
234, 248, 251, 253
Harmonics, 36
Hertz, 10, 11, 14, 241
high-pass filter, 50
hip hop, 82
House, 72, 82, 174, 226

Init, 27, 29, 30, 51, 74, 85, 143, 149, 157, 165, 184, 188, 194
Initial patch, 29
interference, 45, 99, 101, 102, 103, 107, 146, 159, 161, 162, 172, 178, 230,
234, 249, 253

Joris Voorn, 137

Kahn, 150
Kraftwerk, 165, 204

loudness war, 122

Low Frequency Oscillator, 74, 244

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Low-pass filter, 50

Mala, 150, 192

millisecond, 107, 246
Minimoog, 82, 226, 227, 228
Modulation effects, 85, 173, 244, 246
monophonic, 80, 81, 82, 83, 165, 166, 168, 172, 237
Monophonic, 80, 244

Noise, 39, 56, 205, 242, 252

octave, 32, 46, 55, 64, 86, 143, 150, 177, 178, 192, 194
Octave, 46
oscilloscope, 33, 34, 36, 44, 45
overtones, 36, 144

pad, 156, 158, 160, 162, 163, 164, 232, 233, 234, 237, 249
Pan, 200, 201, 202, 207, 252
Paraphonic, 80
patch, 27, 28, 29, 30, 48, 51, 61, 65, 67, 72, 74, 76, 85, 143, 149, 152, 157,
163, 164, 165, 175, 184, 188, 190, 191, 194, 195, 198, 239
Phase, 44, 45, 107, 243
Pink Floyd, 82
Polyphonic, 80, 244
Polyphony, 2, 80, 165, 173, 244, 250
Portamento, 46
Pots, 7
pressure wave, 9, 241

Release, 28, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 76, 78, 129, 130, 136, 139, 140, 142,
146, 152, 160, 183, 187, 189, 195, 200, 206, 234, 236, 237, 243, 248,
251
resonance, 54, 85, 159, 218
Roland 303, 82, 226, 227, 228
room, 92, 93, 94, 115, 120, 148, 162, 170, 181, 245

save, 27, 29, 48, 65, 95, 149, 173

Save, 29, 48, 95, 204, 212
sawtooth, 38, 40, 44, 52, 56, 74, 85, 144, 158, 168, 171, 175, 177, 186, 189,
194, 215, 236, 248, 250, 253
Scale, 166, 167
Semis, 43, 44, 74, 75, 85
semitone, 43, 242

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sequence, 64, 77, 78, 86, 87, 92, 94, 95, 98, 100, 104, 107, 108, 111, 113,
114, 115, 117, 119, 123, 131, 133, 134, 135, 140, 143, 150, 151, 156, 157,
158, 163, 175, 176, 177, 179, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 189, 190, 198, 199,
211, 212, 247
sidebar, 63
Sidechain, 135, 136, 248
signal routing, 209
slider, 7, 8, 230
sound waves, 5, 98, 101, 102
spectogram, 109
square wave, 35, 37, 38, 40, 145, 171, 186, 192, 194
stereo width, 94, 148, 181, 234, 236
studio monitors, 17
sub-bass, 149, 153, 192, 194
subtractive, 26
Subtractive, 5, 7, 20, 24, 197
Super Osc, 229, 230, 237, 253
Sustain, 28, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 66, 69, 70, 146, 189, 200, 234, 236,
243, 251

Techno, 15, 174

Threshold, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 247, 248
Track (function), 55
Trance, 174
Triangle wave, 37
two part process, 20, 21
two-part process, 29

vibrating, 18, 19, 76

Waveform, 10, 100, 105, 212, 215

Wet/Dry, 90, 96, 110, 183, 245, 246
Width, 94, 113, 114, 237, 253
wobble bass, 72

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