Getting the "Blip" in the Trumpet patch

[jazzpiano88]

I ran across this and hadn't seen it posted before.

I thought it was pretty interesting from a historical perspective

 

[video:youtube]

[The Real MC]

Routing envelope to one oscillator is one of my favorite brass sound design tricks. Steve was one of the pioneers of that trick and I remember a column he wrote in Keyboard magazine discussing that trick, back when few synthesizers had that ability.

 

Getting that "blip" to sound right depends on the envelope shape and control law between envelope and VCO FM. My Oberheims do a better job; when I try the same technique on my Memorymoog it doesn't sound right. If you make the decay time longer, you'll hear why - the pitch sweep on Oberheims is linear, while the Memorymoog is exponential. If you have a modern synth with options to change the shape of the envelopes, it pays to play around with those.

 

I have found some modern synths don't have fine enough resolution for adjusting mod depth of the envelope to VCO pitch. That "perfect setting" can't be achieved because it is in between "not enough" and "too much". Some have too much mod depth at the lowest setting.

 

What Steve doesn't discuss is the right balance of mod depth to decay time. Lots of permutations in there. Getting "that sound" is a case of hitting on the magic combination. He also does not discuss filter types.

[Markyboard]

Despite the poor sound quality (understandable for the age) this video does a really good job of explaining some fundamentals of synth programming. Someone recently posted regarding Cory Henry's ability to play vs teach. At least from this video I think Steve Porcaro does both extremely well. Thanks for sharing.

 

On an OT side note does the Xpander really alias like that, or is it from the recording?

[The Real MC]

On an OT side note does the Xpander really alias like that, or is it from the recording?

 

That's the recording. VHS audio has always been substandard.

 

A DVD release would be nice. While it wouldn't improve the video or audio quality, it's a great resource of sound design techniques.

[Threadslayer]

In spite of the scratchy VHS audio/viz, I thought that was a very effective presentation of the material - particularly the mix of hands on, sound, and narrative. Some of the current crop of YT stars could learn a thing or two from this. (once they get off my lawn)

[marino]

One of several old tricks born in the eighties, when the analog polys started to have complex voice channels, thanks in part to digital control. I'd also recommend to use velocity to modulate the amount of blip, and maybe even (very slightly) the decay time.

In fact I used the blip trick and *both* tips that Steve suggests on strings, while doing classic stuff on the Hydrasynth. Even in the era of sampling, a good synthesized string or brass section can sound great - especially if you later layer it with a good multisample for the ultimate mass...

[Reezekeys]

Also the basis for Lyle May's "ocarina" lead sound.

 

https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/the-art-of-synth-soloing-how-to-get-lyle-mays-signature-synth-sound