I started a project in Renoise where the TR-606 conga sounds function as melodies. This functioned well for a while, but since there are only four of these sounds, using them has become quite limiting. Simply pitching them up and down does not work.
I’m using Massive as a synthesizer, which has worked quite well for me, but I’ve found it doesn’t work for this sound. I know it’s very basic. It consists only of a sine-sound, which goes from a higher to a lower pitch, but I’m guessing the hardware/software I have isn’t suited for this sound?
What you really want is FM wavetable… Does massive let you load your own wavetable? Instead of pitch shifting… load an fm wavetable, and turn off key follow… use your ears or alternative a spectrum analyzer and try to match the fundamental… than use serial filtering to subtract the other frequencies… bp filters are probably a good bet. a little disto… really short envelopes on amp and possibly filters.
When trying to recreate the TR-series sounds, that are not layered with noise, I usually get the best results by setting the original’s envelope full open (min attack, max release), tone full bright. Then sample the sound and do some more work within the Renoise-sampler. Leave the characteristic attack phase of the sample untouched (keep the attack as short as possible. and saying so, I mean it!) and set right behind it a single-cycle-loop (one cycle of the repeated waveform). Recreate the rest (volume, pitch) of the sound with the native instrument envelopes then. When doing so, remember the TR-series sounds usually uses an exponential curve for almost all envelopes. Adjust the tone to your needs afterwards with EQ or filter. Because of the TPL relation of the native instrument envelopes it’s almost impossible to recreate the original envelopes perfectly, but it’s actually pretty easy to get really close to it.
Does it matter that Massive uses a wavetable to generate it’s raw sounds? Wavetable has nothing in particular to do with FM synthesis! Massive is still analogue modelling (subtractive synthesis) in the main (although it does have limited FM capabilities) so why not use the same method as likely originally used by Roland?
But FM is good for that springy sound, so it might be a good one for getting the snap of the skin on the drum. Not sure how much of an authentic 606/808 style sound it would be though… Still maybe you’re right and it would be a good road to travel.
I’ve had a quick search but not found that much helpful so far. There are a few people on here who do synthesise their own drums. Cas springs to mind initially (thanks to his tutorials on the matter keeping it stuck there) but I know there are many others.
It appears that save/recall are disabled on the massive demo… Which kinda leaves me with no way to prove my hypothesis. I do have a working prototype of a conga/bongo on Rapture… but as has been mentioned, there seems to be no conga/bongo on the 606…
so um…
@ Nuggleshit
IMHO, fm, or fm wavetables are a great way to conga/bongo. But regardless, if you could plz clarify… Are you looking for the instructions to the 606 toms? That would definitely be sine waves. and a totally different route from the one I outlined in my post above.
Good point. As you can see, I said FM wavetable. Not fm synthesis. Rapture comes with wavetables or wavs that are single cycles of fm modulated shapes. you can, theoretically load a saw that has been modified by a sine into a rapture element. what you will wind up with is the classic dissonant tone of fm synthesis, without fm synthesis… then you can further shape that tone by using filters and envelopes.
I only refer to fm as a synthesis technique in my post directly above this, where I say, “fm, or fm wavetable.” The former being a direct reference to fm synthesis, and the latter referencing what I say above.
cheers
Edit = have a look here…
that’s just a few of the fm single cycles I have installed… and rapture itself doesn’t do fm of any sorts. but I get a lot of, “fm style,” sounds out of it. anyways, never mind those silly icons, I’ve got some sort of open source media player installed on my machine, and I can’t figure out how to… keep the media player, but revert back to original windows icons.
Bit_Arts, thank you! The XRNI you provided was exactly what I was looking for. I’ve replaced it with the TR-606 congas and it gave the melodies some really nice harmonics.
I want to look into FM synthesis. Sounds like something I could use. Are there any good FM synth VSTi’s for Mac that’s good to start out with?