kick drum transient not where I'd like it to be

[rodlips]

Hi,

I’ve been faffing around with this set up from module 5 and while I can see where the beginning of the sine is in the kick, I don’t understand how to tell it to start at the same place (so it IS a kick and not a floomf/flumf and everthing in between). It’s more to satisfy my curiosity but I thought I’d reach out to my peeps and see what comes back. I’ve been on this VCV journey very slowly for a few years now and as life intervenes, so do my sessions ebb and flow but the interest still runs deep.

(LFO at 2Hz SAW going into 8vert (0 gain) which is coming out to FM/VCO at 76hz, second SAW from same LFO going into next input down in 8vert coming out (at -78% gain) to v/oct of same VCO and SIN from said VCO going to both scope and VCA)

Thanks for your patience for what I’m sure will be a “duh” fix.

Rod.

[OldPluginGuy (GPaudio)]

Not sure I fully understand your scenario, but is there a “Reset” or “Sync” input on your oscillator and have you tried it? It tells the oscillator to start at the beginning of the wave form.

[henk.lasschuit]

Hi Rod, there are a few things unclear to me. To begin with, when you mention “this set up from module 5” I have no idea what you are talking about. The second thing is: you send a signal from an LFO through an 8-vert at 0 gain. That means the output of the 8-vert has a constant value of 0, in other words: it doesn’t do a thing. Third: you feed a signal from the same LFO to the FM input as well as the V/Oct of the VCO. Those two inputs have basically the same function and do exactly the same when the FM attenuator is opened fully. You didn’t specify a value for the FM attenuverter, but since the first row of the 8-vert has a constant output of 0, this wouldn’t make a difference.

I am assuming you use VCV modules. And a screenshot would provide more clarity, like this:

[auretvh (Auret Van Heerden)]

You beat me to it , I also couldn’t make sense of the described patch.

@rodlips heres the simplest kick patch I could come up with now:

If you want to experiment more with where the wave starts on the transient, you should consider using a VCO with phase control, like Bogaudio Sine or Venom VCO unit, then you can adjust the phase to get more or less of a click on the transient.

[kwurqx]

Not sure what kinda kick you are looking for. But…if it’s the TR-808 (or TR-909) like sine sweep kicks you are looking for…maybe to get some insights into the behaviour/effects of the parameters, have a look at some kick drum modules which include functionality needed, ranging from pretty basic (Kickall) to pretty extensive (Trummor)

There are various modules that offer similar fuctionality (examples)

• Befaco Kickall
• 4ms Kick
• 4ms Drum
• MADZINE theKICK
• Hora Deep Free
• Autinn Stomp
• Vult Trummor
• Vult Trummor 2

But, since we are in modular, you can create you own kick out of individual components. Minimal setup:

• oscillator (sine)
• vca
• fast exponential curve envelope

Basically you take an oscillator (sine or other) and modulate it’s pitch and its amplitude. Generally using a very fast exponential decay curve for the pitch modulation and a longer exponential decay for the amplitude.

In the case of Befaco Kickall, you can transition from sine (just 1 single frequency) to square. A square (a pulse with pulsewidth 50%) contains only odd harmonics. So transitioning toward a square adds odd harmonics, emulating analog overdrive distortion. BTW, Triangle is like a low pass filtered square, also containing odd harmonics only, but at faster decaying amplitudes. Also commonly used in Kick synthesis.

You can add (filtered) noise to taste. Either using white noise and a filter (LPF, BPF, HPF) or using something like Squinky Labs Colors

Snares can be created the same way. Higher pitch for the oscillator and relatively more noise.

O, and phase is important, because the initial few milliseconds are critical for a punchy/clicky kick. Ideally you want the oscillator to reset each time the kick is triggered.

There are many other ways to generate kicks (FM, filter ping, physical modeling) but let’s not go there now.

But…just for fun, here’s Gordon Reid having his take…in 2002, as part of his epic SoundOnSound Synths Secrets series of articles.

Practical Bass Drum Synthesis

Synth Secrets

Practical Bass Drum Synthesis

[ale47p (Alessandro Paglia)]

this is the best modular kick tutorial I’ve seen, and the one that I always recommend to check out

@rodlips

and not a floomf/flumf and everthing in between

the secret is on the RESET input on your audio source

[irc.dexter]

Sleepy time records may have a free vst thing that changes the time it is vst2 though so you have to use cakewalk or something otherwise if you have the host module transient splitters are available. seems to be a category I do not have anything personally… see alot of advertising for dime… didn’t see anything in the module index, bing ai suggests if it helps you can fade the transient..