Underwater sounds synthesis

Plugins & Modules
1

Hello after listening to the Keith Emerson soundtrack for Dario Argento’s Inferno there is a ‘cue track’ that is under water-possibly made on an Arp 2600. So I am looking for an under water reverb effect{?}

I am wondering what modules would achieve this sound effect-filters + reverb? But which ones. Any help would be much appreciated.

I recorded the ‘under water’ cue from the film. It sounds all bubbly due to the actress swimming under water.

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2

Haven’t heard that, so I’m not sure exactly what you want but there are a few starting points. I’ve made some ‘watery’ textures with granular processing, and also try Macro Oscillator in particle noise mode.

3

Regarding the general sound, not the bubbles (for which I agree granular is a good option)–it’s not in Rack, but check out an old, free VST called GlaceVerb (32-bit, so you may need a bridge). It’s a novel reverb algorithm and has an underwater preset that I’ve used for this.

Lowpass filtering (or bandpass filtering to keep low mids) can be helpful.

It would be cool if VCV Sound Stage contained an underwater mode!

4

Try very short envelope bursts > bandpass filter with very high resonance, and modulate the cutoff frequency randomly.

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5

FFT based effects are always sounding like underwater. Also mp3 at 64bit is pretty underwater too :slight_smile:

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6

Thank you so much. I have Glaceverb in my Fruityloops set up. I have not used it for a while. I had not even realised there was an under water preset. Love all the options it gives me for reverb though. I believe I have it already Bridged, so here we go Glaceverbing.

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7

Thanks for the info, here’s the sample of swimming under water:

Stream Under Water - Swimming by Adrian Bottomley | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Would the two methods produce something like that?

8

Thanks for the info, so what modules are FFT based, I know there are some but can’t remember which ones!

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9

Pretty much every Frequency Domain :wink:

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10

Thanks Eric, so Grains of Wraith, Spectrum delay and>>>>… all great modules.

11

Cool! Glad you like Glaceverb–it’s really nice, and not just for a free, 32bit SynthEdit plugin!

In addition to the already mentioned modules, here’s an emerging FFT-based processor you can beta test :slight_smile: Tonecarver Blur - First VCV Module! - #21 by bdavies00

PS. I remember that scene from that movie and it is messed up

12

Yeah I’ve attached a quick patch using a few Macro Oscillators, not sure the extra filters and reverb add much to the basic idea but it’s a starting point. You can do the same thing by pinging filters to make a sound similar to water drops, using sample and hold to modulate the cutoff.

Water Effect.vcv (62.6 KB)

13

Thanks SuperMuppet, this does sound perfect but I’m not sure how I would use this in a composition yet, my motivation is a bit low at present. Life seems to be all work and sleep. Just feeling pissed off with life s’pose! Appreciate your patch though.

14

Ah yeah that happens. I’m not sure how I can use anything I make in a composition, possibly because I never really compose anything! I just make daft sounds.

15

Yup know that feeling, daft noises are good ways to discover new modules and their combinations though. Keeping doing daft noises I say!