I have been designing patch for Daft Punk Da Funk lead but can’t quite get there. I have followed the amp and filter envelope settings from below. The original done on the MS-20 is a distorted filter sound envelope into high pass filter. Patch attached.
DA_FUNK lead.vcv (2.1 KB)
I guess the filter characteristics matter most in this basic patch. Try the Surge XT VCF K35 Highpass filter in Medium Saturation mode. The K35 is a filter design used in early Korg synthsesizers. They have a particular ‘noisy’ and ‘gritty’ quality to them as compared to the later OTA filter designs.
Great, its free too. I’ll have a go. I did realise after a while that the Korg/MS-20 filters are pretty unique being low pass into high pass filter with resonant feedback.
There is the LindenbergResearch Valerie but would rather not buy as it’s actually research for trying out patches in my physical rack. The best Eurorack module I’ve found for this is the Intellijel Korgasmatron which is expensive and Befaco BF-22 which I read feedback is good but not quite there. I have a Novation Bass Station which does the job very nicely so I don’t think I need a modular filter just for this. Still very interesting to know 
Thanks.
Another MS20 style filter
As said, the MS20 filter comes in 2 architectures:
Vult offers both.
Quotes from Vult:
Vult Tangents is a filter based on the Steiner-Parker structure. The paid version of Tangents has 3 different implementations. * MS: provides a more smooth resonance by adding diode clipping in the feedback path.
Vult Vorg is a low/high pass filter based on a modernized Operational Transconductance Amplifier version of the MS-20 filter.
Here’s a very short summary of various common synthesizer filter architectures:
A Guide to Synth Filter Types: Ladders, Steiner-Parkers, | Reverb News
If a filter does not have an HighPass option, there is always the option to invert the Lowpass output and mix it with the original (unfiltered) signal. Effectively subtracting the Lowpass spectrum from the full source spectrum, resulting in the Highpass spectrum. You might need to introduce 1 or more samples delay. Just just a spectrum analyzer to see the result (use white noise as the input signal).
You’re not going to get the sound without an MS20 plugin or hardware unit. Part of the “secret sauce” of the sound is a feedback loop patched from the auxiliary output back into the VCA, which is a very particular sound that’s different with every type of VCA circuit. Alex Ball does a pretty good job recreating the sound on an original MS20:
I’ve had very good results recreating it with the Arturia MS20 plugin, too. You can get even closer by running the synth into the Airwindows Mackie preamp distortion plugin (Daft Punk used a Mackie mixer to record Homework).
Yes, I came across this video with MS-20 on my travels. The Novation Bass Station also does a good version, which I own. But nowhere near as nice as the MS-20. I might give the MS-20 VST a spin though I don’t think it’s worth paying for a MS-20 Eurorack filter just to get this sound.
