50 Simple Patch Ideas for Modular Synths

In no particular order, here are 50 fun things you can try with your modular to make new noises:

1. Ringmod two waves from the same oscillator together to make a new wave.

2. Cross FM with one-way sync is sublime.

3. Literally anything can be an exciter for a modal network.

4. Logic works great for waveshaping.

5. You can OR multiple modulations together to make a new, complex modulation

6. Run any wave into a resonant lowpass, then a sample and hold. Trigger the sample and hold at audio rates, and sweep the filter to make yoy sounds.

7. AM two synced waveforms tuned to interval ratios to make a new waveform (this is called pulsar synthesis, sometimes granular formant synthesis, packet synthesis, and “really precise AM”).

8. Try phase modulating a complex waveform with a variable-shape saw (one that goes from exp to lin to log) that’s perfectly in sync with the complex waveform to create crude PWM (and mix the two waves together to ‘bend’ the waveform).

9. Run a basic lowpassed saw sweep into a granulator, freeze it, then sweep through various parameters with the same modulator as the filter to create monster and dubstep noises.

10. Run an oscillator into a self-oscillating filter to create neat timbres (play with the ratio between the two’s frequencies). Bonus points for modulating the filter with the VCO as well for ringmod-like effects.

11. Oldie but goodie, layer a transient with a sustained sound to make more complex percussive sounds and do what the D-50 does but with infinitely more expensive modules!

12. Use granulators to turn one voice into many voices by modulating pitch, position, and size.

13. Mix a filter’s output with an inverted version of its input to create new filter types (refer to the matrix filter schematic for ways you can use this).

14. Run a signal through a short, no feedback delay, then send that to one channel and the original to another. Haas baby! Bonus, do the same thing but then subtract the delayed signal from the input, send that to one channel, then invert and send to the other channel. Stereo fuckery shall ensue.

15. Use two filters with the same cutoff and resonance but different modulation shape (say, one linear, one exponential) to create a neat dual-peak filter sweep. Can also be used for stereo fuckery.

16. 3 triangle oscillators tuned to a root, 5th, and octave, mixed with blue noise, makes for a great drum voice. Control noise with one VCA and the oscillators with another, then use different envelopes for each.

17. Do stupid things, like run an oscillator into the input of an EG. You might get neat results!

18. Externally FM a phase modulation FM voice, then phase modulate that.

19. Use a waveshaper (logic, folder, phase modulator, etc) on modulation sources to make new modulation sources

20. You can make a compressor by multing a signal to an envelope follower and VCA, logical ANDing a static threshold voltage with the envelope, and controlling the VCA with it.

21. Subtract things. Any 2 signals, subtract them. Great fun.

22. You can make a mid-side coder and decoder with any inverting mixer, like 3xmia and a crossfader. M=L+R, S=L-R, L=M+S, R=M-S. With 3xmia, + is both knobs on a channel to the right, – is opposing knob positions, so you can do 1A+1B as L+R to get M, 2A-2B as L-R to get S, then use 3A-3B as M-S to get R, and any mixer for M+S to get L

23. Frequency shifters can be made with 2 ringmods (or 2 VC polarisers) in series modulated by a quadrature signal.

24. Take a thin pulse from a VCO and use it to trigger a fast AD envelope. Altering ratio of A and D as well as time for both will result in neat formant sounds.

25. Ringmod can be used for a dalek voice (talking with 30hz sine modulator), soft sync (square modulator, anything carrier, acts like a switch and inverter in one!), saturation (via diode/transistor saturation with high input levels), frequency shifter (see 3), VCA (unipolar modulator), vc attenuverter (bipolar modulator), and a wave recombinator (any 2 outs from the same VCO to make a cool third wave).

26. if you am brown noise with pink noise you get a neat scratching sound

27. use multiple delays in series and mix the signal after each to get multi-tap delays. Feed the mix back into the first to quickly get smearing and reverb.

28. if you split a signal into positive and negative portions, send each through the same type of filter (identical lowpasses for example) with the same modulation but offset the modulation of one then mix them together, you get neat phase distortions.

29. if you take a signal, pitch shift it, then vocode it with the original, you can do formant shifting.

30. putting things like frequency shifters and ring modulators in the feedback path of a delay or reverb is fun!

31. If you run a short sound into reverb, it’ll create a longer sound, almost as if you triggered a synthesizer voice. Hmmm… Would be cool if someone frequency shifted that too… #animesounddesigntricks

32. You can process reverb separately by running a 100% wet reverb on another track from the source you want to add reverb to, like a synth, then adding fx to the reverb track. you can control wet dry with channel levels, but can also add things like hi/low cuts or eqs or other effects. this also works for effects other than reverb. for example, you can do this setup with 2 delays, one on each track, set to different rates and hard panned, to make a custom ping pong delay.

33. Following on that, if your tracks can invert phase, you can use that to isolate the product of effects. Recently i used this to isolate the sound of a formant filter on noise by simply running an inverted version of the source along the processed version. it cancelled everything that wasn’t what the effect was doing. you can also use this to create custom filters (inverting the source and mixing with a lowpassed version makes a highpass; inverting a lowpass version and mixing with a highpass makes an allpass/waveshaper, as two examples).

34. You can use 2 dispersers in series to replicate the phase shift and thus part of the effect induced by transformer core saturation.

35. Phase modulate a unison saw+noise with a unison sine, run it through a randomly modulated notch filter, then distortion, to get a fairly solid reese bass. add chorus, fuzz, and eq to taste.

36. To synthesize the Doppler effect, you will need a phase modulator and control over panning and volume. to go from left to right, modulate panning with a ramp wave, and modulate phase and amplitude with a triangle wave in sync with the saw (both starting at 0). the phase shift will do most of the Doppler effect, but the amplitude will sell the idea that it’s moving closer then further.

37. everything can be an ir for a convolver.

38. in a pinch, you can use a granulator as a tremolo/amplitude modulation effect. similarly, a bank of vcas controlled by different yet synchronized lfos can be used as a rudimentary granulator.

39. invert the feedback of an audio rate delay to get a resonator that only does odd harmonics and sounds like metal make your own reverb! easy method is to run a bunch of short delays in series, then set up a feedback path through them all. add stuff in the path for funsies!

40. Use a variable waveshape oscillator (typically capable of differently shaped saws and triangles) synced to your primary oscillator to phase modulate (with an allpass filter, 1 pole phaser, or highpass and inverted lowpass output of the same filter combined) the primary. This allows you to create softsynth-style phase modulation effects like wave bending, warping, and sync.

41. Make weird-ass noises, put them in a convolver, then play other weird-ass noises through it to get even more weird-ass noises!

42. send your modulator oscillator to your fm input and a ringmod, then take your carrier oscillator and feed it into the ringmod. the theory is whenever the modulator goes negative, the carrier’s phase inverts, much like a tzfm vco. it’s not actually tzfm, but it sounds cool

43. Audio rate delays are great fun for resonator stuff. Bonus if you invert the feedback loop!

44. If you use an envelope to control the volume of itself, you change its response to be more exponential. If you invert the control signal then bias it such that it’s positive unipolar again (since inversion will typically make it a negative unipolar signal), it creates what I call a ‘bump’ response, which is similar to a log response but with beginning and end at the 0 point, creating a ‘bump’. if you then sum the original envelope with this envelope, you get a log response.

45. Most filters let you process CV, which means you can apply a bit of resonance to get neat momentum, sharp control, or some rounding to your signals!

46. Some filters’ resonance is gnarly enough to create sync-like effects.

47. If you mix two dissonant oscillators, a third tone is produced. You can use a bandpass filter to narrow in on that third frequency. This is an AM radio technique called superheterodyne.

48. Resonant notch filters can make some gnarly waveshapers.

49. Audio rate shift registers make excellent retro videogame noises

50. Many waveshapers are DC coupled, so you can shape modulation too!

(Ab)use as you will, and have fun! If these aren’t enough for you, read the Sound on Sound Synth Secrets article series!