Sweet Berta

A saw over a square sub with EURO OUT patched back into the mixer's EXT IN: the voice feeds on itself, so held notes thicken and start to howl like an amp turned toward its speaker. Play long, held notes and let the howl build; Howl turns the feedback up; Squash takes the compressor from a gentle hold to crushed, never quieter. Macros: Howl, Bright, Vibrato, Space, Squash. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A dirty saw-and-square lead that scoops up into every note from about two semitones under, like a singer or a bent string, its brightness blooming and settling as it lands. The VCA is on KB Rls, so the note holds while the envelope shapes only the scoop and the filter. Play bluesy phrases; the mod wheel adds vibrato. Macros: Scoop, Dirt, Bright, Vibrato. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw and a narrow pulse an octave up into Crank's Mod amp with its mids scooped right out: a hollow, fizzy, cutting lead that sits on top of anything, with a short slap echo. Play fast runs and screaming held notes up high. Macros: Gain, Mids, Bright, Echo. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw with a narrow pulse two octaves above it, its lows cut away by 8 Ball and a hard lift at 3 kHz, squeezed flat by Zest: a thin, piercing lead that cuts through a dense mix. Play melodies in the middle of the keyboard; it reads an octave higher than it is. Macros: Pierce, Bright, Vibrato, Echo. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Two bright saws with Eagle on them and a square-wave LFO on the pitch: push the mod wheel up and every note trills, a fast rock-guitar flutter between two pitches. Hold a note and roll the wheel up to trill it; Trill Rate and Trill Width set the flutter. Macros: Trill Rate, Trill Width, Bright, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Two saws an octave lower than usual, wide apart, into Crank's stock amp on its Dark voice: a heavy, woolly wall of a lead in a big room. Play slow, heavy lines low and in the middle of the keyboard and let the notes ring. Macros: Gain, Tone, Bright, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw and a square through a resonant ladder rocked by the LFO like a wah pedal, restarting on every note, into Puzz's fuzz: a vocal, quacking fuzz lead. Play slow, bluesy notes and hold them to hear the wah rock. Macros: Wah Rate, Quack, Fuzz, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Two squares into Puzz with its battery running flat: the fuzz gates and sputters as each note dies away, broken and spitting. Play short, staccato phrases and let the tails crackle; Battery puts a fresh one in. Macros: Battery, Fuzz, Echo, Bright. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Osc 1 frequency-modulating a saw an octave above it, into Puzz: a grinding, metallic fuzz with a clang in its attack. Play riffs and held notes in the middle of the keyboard; Rust pulls the FM ratio off true for a harsher, clangier grind. Macros: Rust, Fuzz, Bright, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A narrow pulse into Puzz, then squeezed through 8 Ball into a narrow band from 400 Hz to 3.4 kHz: a fuzz solo heard over a small radio. Play hooky single-note lines; Band opens the radio out to full range. Macros: Fuzz, Band, Bright, Room. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw and a soft triangle an octave up into Puzz with its volume knob rolled back, so the fuzz is smooth and velvety, swirled by Undertow's harmonic tremolo in a hall: a '60s psychedelic lead. Play slow, singing lines and let the swirl move under held notes. Macros: Cleanup, Swirl, Rate, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Two saws a quarter of a semitone apart into Puzz flat out, then Eagle clamping it into a solid wall: a raw, buzzing, sustaining fuzz lead. Play power lines and held notes; Detune pulls the saws further apart for a wider rasp. Macros: Fuzz, Detune, Bright, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A soft triangle with a quiet saw an octave above it, swelling in slowly, echoing deep and wobbly from side to side into a vast, dark hall: a floating, starry lead. Play slow, sparse notes and leave room for the echoes. Macros: Echo, Space, Bright, Attack. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A short, resonant square stab into dark, gritty 12-bit echoes that repeat on and on and fade: a dub lead. Play short off-beat stabs and let the echoes answer; Feedback keeps them going longer. Macros: Feedback, Echo Tone, Cutoff, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw-and-square lead that circles slowly around you: Undertow pans it from side to side, echoes bounce the other way, and a hall holds it all. Play long, held notes, on headphones best, and follow it round. Macros: Orbit Rate, Echo, Space, Bright. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A triangle and a square an octave up that slide into every note and rise and fall slowly in pitch, the LFO starting over on each new note, echoing into a big space: an old science-fiction siren of a lead. Play slow melodies and hold the notes to hear them wail. Macros: Siren Rate, Glide, Echo, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Two saws, each pulled apart into the left and right by Osc Spread and the cutoff spread across the sides, widened again by Bedrock with its bass kept centred, in a bright plate: a huge, wide lead. Play big melodies; Width pulls the sides further apart. Macros: Width, Bright, Glide, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A thin saw and narrow pulse behind a little pink hiss, swelling in, echoing and lost far back in a long hall: a lead heard from across a valley at night. Play slow, simple phrases and let the hall answer. Macros: Distance, Echo, Bright, Hiss. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A twangy saw and narrow pulse with a quick decay, chopped by Undertow's bias tremolo and dripping through a second Big Red turned well up: a surf lead with its spring tank splashing. Play picked, staccato melodies and quick runs. Macros: Spring, Tremolo, Rate, Bright. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Acid on the square wave: hollower and rounder than the saw, squelching hard on a short envelope, a little dirt squeezing it. Play sixteenths with some notes overlapping to slide, and hit the accents harder: velocity opens the filter further. Macros: Cutoff, Accent, Decay, Dirt. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw acid line pushed through a cranked little amp, its squelch smeared into a dotted echo that bounces between the sides. Play a busy sixteenth pattern and let the echoes fill the gaps; overlapping notes slide. Macros: Cutoff, Burn, Echo. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

The fuzz goes in before the filter: Puzz sits in the Case between the mixer and the ladder, so the resonant 18 dB filter squelches a fully fuzzed saw and every sweep screams. Play short, accented sixteenths low on the keyboard. Macros: Cutoff, Fuzz, Resonance. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Acid that twists its own knobs: every note restarts the LFO, which steps the sample and hold to a new random cutoff, so a repeated note never squelches the same way twice. Hold down a steady line of sixteenths and let it improvise. Macros: Cutoff, Squelch, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A slower, rounder acid through the gentler 12 dB slope, a triangle under the saw, warmed dark by a saturation, then sent into long, dark ping-pong echoes and a touch of plate. Play sparse notes with space between them and ride Echo and Feedback. Macros: Cutoff, Echo, Feedback, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.