I mentioned this to JBL on irc. I found a way to make something that sounds similar to acid (from tb-303) using only native effects.
If I used only automation to change the LP filter’s cutoff frequency on a saw wave, it doesn’t sound that much like acid. But when I used the signal follower on another muted track with notes to control the LP filter’s cutoff frequency (which adds some decay) it sounds much closer. From the signal follower, changing the Dest. offset sounds like changing the cutoff frequency on a tb-303. Other variables on the signal follower affect the sound too, some in subtle ways.
I think this method sounds closer to acid than the one used in the demo song The Masquerade, for example.
One problem, however, is changing the resonance on the saw wave track can’t be cranked up that much (I recall on one 303 emulator resonance can go up to 1.5)
Here’s a sample track I made that uses this technique. The first track uses the notes as decay information for the acid track.
Any suggestions are welcome
Note: If you don’t know what acid sounds like, here’s an example (it’s the synth that starts at 35s.)
And here’s examples of various 303 emulator vst’s and how they compare to a real tb-303.
