I have some free time this week end and I want to spend it on getting better at designing sounds. I have been the whole morning trying to recreate something similar to this sound.
It's the synth from Syzygy - Can I Dream?

So, it sounds like a saw, no? Ok. It could be there is only one oscillator playing, but maybe there is more than one voice? Detuned/unison? The big thing is the phaser I think. I got the delay right I think: the sound is panned to the left, and the delay is one simple tap to the right. But I can't get the "body" right. Ah, and there is some slight portamento when the notes jump.

- simple saw oscillator
- detune/chorus/unison, maybe
- phaser (I'm pretty sure there's a phaser there, also applied on the delay, you can hear the frequencies going up and down)
- simple delay

The problem is the source sound, the oscillator, because I think I get all the effects right. Any pointers? I know it's a simple sound and that it's impossible to recreate since we don't know what they used or what parameters, I just want to understand the technique behind it (how and how much, etc).

Thanks, have a good weekend

PS: It would help if I posted the song, lol. Around 3:27 the synth is solo'd
Syzygy - Can I Dream ? - YouTube

 

hich synthesizer do you want to recreate it with

Syzygy - Can I Dream

How To Make the Perfect Saw Lead in Massive

 

Sound Design: Thoughts on Building a Super Saw Sound by Klaus Baetz September 25, 2020

There are few sounds within the dance music genre that have shaped the sonic aesthetic of the entire genre - one of the most famous examples being the signature 303 sound. Not quite as striking, but no less important, is the Super Saw sound, which absolutely does justice to the »widescreen« attribute. Decried by some as a "trance horn sound", the Super Saw is now at home in many different synthesizer versions. In this sound design episode, we take a look at the origin and construction of this particular waveform.

The typical Super Saw sound is not celebrated by every synth lover. That's fine, after all, tastes differ. Personally, I count myself among the big fans of this sound aesthetic and always have great pleasure in discovering new facets and variants of the saw. But what is actually so great about the Super Saw? Well, most of you should know the simple saw or sawtooth waveform from any synthesizer. The Super Saw is, quite simply put, just the extreme of it - namely many sawtooth waveforms that come from an oscillator (important difference to the unison function, with which you can sometimes create similar sounds). The term was coined and invented by the Roland company when they launched the JP-8000 in 1996,which offered that same Super Saw as a selectable waveform for Oscillator 1.

The sound took the dance music scene by storm back then and had a decisive influence on the sound of the genre. Gradually, other synthesizer manufacturers began to adopt the Super Saw oscillator and offer it in different variants. The HyperSaw oscillator can be found in the Access Virus from the TI version onwards, the brand new Waldorf Kyra also contains a Hypersaw oscillator, and in Steinberg's Retrologue the function is simply called "Multi". Every software synth that is somehow connected to EDM (Serum, Spire, Avenger, Sylenth 1 & Co.) is of course also equipped with it.

All these oscillators or waveforms are not necessarily clones of the original, but bring their own sound into play. But let's take a step back and see exactly what the Super Saw oscillator does.

The original from the JP-8000 generates seven sawtooth waves that differ in volume, pitch and phase. There are also two parameters for configuring the sound, which are named slightly differently depending on the synthesizer. If we look back at the original device, we find the controls "Mix", which fades in the six additional sawtooths to the basic waveform - the higher the mix, the louder the additional waveforms can be heard - as well as "Detune", which adjusts the detuning from softer beating for blatant detuning, while not detuning the middle, fundamental sawtooth.

Other variants of the Super Saw modify this principle slightly. For example, the HyperSaw from the Access Virus TI uses nine instead of seven saw teeth. In addition, the additional saw teeth are added individually and gradually and not completely as with the JP-8000.

In addition, the manufacturers of course incorporate their own sound ideas into the design of their oscillators instead of simply copying them - for example with the basic waveform, which can be clearly seen in Figures 1 to 3.


1 The basic waveform of the JP-8000 Super Saw has little in common with the typical sawtooth shape.

2 With the Virus TI, the waveform clearly looks like a sawtooth.

3 The sawtooth shape can also be seen in the Waldorf Kyra – however, the other sawtooths cannot be completely controlled, which is why the waveform is constantly in motion.


basic ingredients

However, if the oscillator makes up the majority of the character, the question naturally arises as to which other parameters influence a Super Saw sound. In short: it depends. In general, the intensity of the detuning determines to a large extent whether it's going to be quieter or harder realms. With classic JP-8000 sounds, the special sound of the internal chorus and the rudimentary EQ section of the synthesizer, each with a bass and a treble potentiometer, certainly play a major role.

Once the Super Saw is in a lead sound position, a good shot of highs does it a lot. For this you can simply use the noise generator of the synthesizer, if available, and mix it in gently. Alternatively, the resonance of a gentle high-cut filter can be used for this purpose.

The sound gets more aggressive by modulating the pitch with a very quickly adjusted triangle LFO. A sliding pitch effect, achieved either through portamento or a short modulation through an envelope, provides additional bite.

Other effects that go well with the widescreen sound are those that simply increase the width of the sound a little more. A reverb with a bright sound character and a long reverberation time can add another dimension to the whole thing - the already big sound gets significantly more depth. If, on the other hand, the sound should be more percussive, a ping-pong delay with 8th or 16th delay times is ideal.

Otherwise, the sound can do with a bit of compression - an EQ with a pleasant high-frequency band, such as a Pultec, can also add a significant freshness to the sound. If you want to give the sound a little more punch, you can boost it by 3 to 4 dB with a parametric EQ at around 1.8 kHz.

As the crowning glory, we should also address the possibilities for stereo expansion: In the JP-8000 you can simply layer two Super Saw sounds and pan them hard left and right. This trick can be transferred to other synthesizers, although it is also much more convenient - the unison function of the Access Virus TI, for example, has a pan spread function by default.

Some of the software variants already have panning in the oscillator itself - but even more width can be achieved here through layering. I wish you lots of fun experimenting!

www-soundandrecording-de.translate.goog/tutorials/sounddesign-gedanken-zum-aufbau-eines-super-saw-sounds/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

It's a supersaw/hypersaw, playing a perfect fourth, unison/detuned substantially. AND THEN there's another one, an octave below, playing thirds. But no phaser. Phaser makes a "uau" sound.
Also the delay is centered and only applied to a higher supersaw.

 

Thanks. I did try a supersaw but I hadn't even thought about using more than one note... Ok now I'm getting close by using some chords, but are you totally sure there is no phaser/other kind of modulation? I can definitely hear something moving. The sound I'm getting is still a bit too bright, even with a filter, and lacks something. The volume envelope closes real quick, almost like a pluck. Also, the portamento is applied only to some of the notes I believe...
I'm using ANA2 but I suppose you can use almost anything to get this sound. And about the delay, I'm listening with headphones on and if it's not the delay then the other sounds are panned l/r, must be

 

Maybe you can do something with it.

The Earth & Moon Expansion by Che for the Sonic Academy - Ana 2 VSTi
https://audiosex.pro/threads/the-earth-moon-expansion-by-che-for-the-sonic-academy-ana-2-vsti.39477/

 

Last edited: Jan 22, 2022

Thanks for the banks, some nice sounds to study. Still having issues trying to get the one from the track I posted right.
As justwannadownload pointed out, playing with chords helps the sound a lot and I couldn't even figure it out...