Sweet Berta

Every parameter at its default (Macro 8, Master, rests at its top) and no cables, MAIN OUT through Big Red on the Pedalboard to MASTER IN: two saws a few cents apart into the ladder at 2 kHz, a little envelope on the cutoff, the envelope on the VCA. The starting point for a patch from scratch.

Manual tip: MIXER OUT -> HPF IN, HPF OUT -> LADDER IN. The HPF takes everything below 300 Hz out before the resonant ladder, so the two together make a nasal band-pass lead. Turn HPF CUTOFF to move the bottom edge and CUTOFF the top. Macros: Thin, Bright, Bite. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Manual tip: FILTER OUT -> HPF IN, HPF OUT -> VCA IN. A fat, resonant ladder patch with an octave-down osc 1, whose sub-bass the HPF shaves off after the ladder so it sits above a bass line. Raise HPF CUTOFF to thin it further. Macros: Thin, Bright, Bite. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Manual tip: +ENV OUT -> CUTOFF IN. ENV AMT at full cannot open the ladder all the way from the bottom; the cable adds five more octaves, so the envelope sweeps the cutoff from 30 Hz past the top of the audio band on every note. A full-range zap. Macros: Decay, Bite, Floor. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Manual tip: S/H OUT -> CUTOFF IN. S/H OUT samples noise at the start of every LFO cycle, so the cutoff jumps to a new random place eight times a second: the classic burbling random filter. LFO RATE sets the step rate. Macros: Rate, Bite, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Manual tip: an audio-rate LFO into PITCH IN. The sine LFO runs at 523 Hz, and KB PITCH into RATE IN makes it track the keys 1:1, so it stays an octave above the note everywhere and the FM stays harmonic: a bright, glassy, electric-piano-like pluck from one triangle. Macros: Ratio, Bright, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Manual tip: osc 1 -> osc 2 LIN FM IN. Osc 2's triangle is the carrier, at the played pitch; osc 1 is the modulator, unheard, at 4' and pushed a further 5.5 semitones up by the ATTENUATOR (an offset with nothing in its input) into osc 1 PITCH IN. The 2.75:1 ratio is inharmonic: a struck bell, decaying over three seconds. Macros: Clang, Ring, Vibrato. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Manual tip: a hard-sync sweep on the mod wheel. Osc 2 is synced to osc 1 and alone is heard; the wheel raises it up to an octave, sweeping the sync timbre. How: the LFO's pitch normal reaches both oscillators through the wheel, a zero-valued ATTENUATOR cable into osc 1 PITCH IN breaks it for osc 1 only, and +ENV OUT into LFO SYNC IN restarts the slow square on every note, so it holds at its top for about 7 s: a steady offset the wheel scales. Macros: Sweep, Bright, Release. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A deep, round bass: a triangle an octave down with a quiet square under it, the ladder low and barely moving. Sits under a mix without taking the mids. Macros: Bright, Release, Glide. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A resonant, squelchy saw bass with a fast envelope and glide only between overlapping notes (LEGATO GLIDE): play legato to slide, detached to jump. Macros: Cutoff, Squelch, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A short, punchy square-and-saw bass with LOW note priority, as on classic bass monosynths: holding a low note and tapping higher ones keeps the low one sounding. Macros: Bright, Bite, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A talking growl: the mixer runs through the HPF into the ladder, a band-pass that the LFO swings open and shut, fast at the start of each note and slowing as the envelope falls, like a mouth yawning. Hold notes of a beat or two. Macros: Rate, Mouth, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

The wobble bass, in time with the song: an Undertow in the Case does nothing but swing, its LFO jack on the cutoff in eighth notes from the host's tempo, into a dark, driven amp. The Pedalboard splits it at 120 Hz, so the amp drives only the wobble above and the sub under it stays clean and steady. Hold long notes and let the beat do the work. Macros: Depth, Cutoff, Grind. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

EURO OUT patched back into EXT IN: the finished voice runs round through the mixer's own saturation, so the bass grinds and thickens from inside rather than through a pedal. Play held notes and push Grind for more. Macros: Grind, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A fuzz on a battery running flat: Puzz gates and spits on the tail of every note, but only above 150 Hz: the Pedalboard splits the bass, and the low band holds clean underneath while the top breaks up. Play short, chunky notes and let them break up; Battery cleans it as it rises. Macros: Battery, Fuzz, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A struck digital-style FM bass, built in the patch bay: osc 1 runs through the ladder into osc 2's LIN FM IN, so the filter envelope sets how hard osc 2 is modulated. Osc 2 is heard unfiltered: bright on the strike, a clean triangle as it holds, Earth keeping that triangle heard on small speakers. Velocity hits harder. Macros: Strike, Decay, Floor. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Osc 1 frequency-modulates osc 2 at the same pitch through the ATTENUATOR: a round triangle given a rubbery, saw-like edge, then plucked by the ladder, Earth's harmonics carrying it onto small speakers. FM sets how much edge. Play bouncy lines in the bottom two octaves. Macros: FM, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

An inharmonic FM bass: the modulator is pushed off its octave by the ATTENUATOR, so each note strikes with a metallic clank before the ladder closes it down to a dull, tuned thud. Play short, percussive notes; Clank shifts the ratio. Macros: Clank, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A square an octave below modulates the triangle you hear, its width turning slowly on the LFO: the note sinks an octave into a churning, growling sub that never sits still, Earth's harmonics keeping it heard on a phone. Hold low notes. Macros: Rate, Cutoff, Body. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Osc 1's saw is heard and also modulates osc 2, set a little sharp: the sidebands beat against each other, so a held note throbs and shimmers. Play long notes and slow lines; Beat speeds the throb up. Macros: Beat, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Osc 2 hard-synced to osc 1, the envelope sweeping it down an octave on every note through the ATTENUATOR: a hard, vocal bark on the attack over a solid body. Play punchy eighths; Sweep sets how far it tears. Macros: Sweep, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Both oscillators and a little noise near full in the mixer, which drives the mixer stage well into its soft clip: thick, compressed, warm even-harmonic grit before the ladder. Bring the levels down to 0.5 to hear it clean. Macros: Bright, Bite, Noise. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A synced square a few semitones up, torn down by the envelope on every note and driven into a dark amp: a nasty, snarling rock bass. Play driving eighths and hold the last note to hear it settle. Macros: Gain, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A slow LFO rolls the synced osc 2's pitch, restarted on every note, so each held note's tone climbs and turns over like a wave, with a light chorus spreading it. Hold notes of a bar or more. Macros: Rate, Cutoff, Chorus. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.