A simple way to add life to most sounds is to use small amount of vibrato (pitch modulation). This needs to be subtle, so don’t overdo things here.
This time we set LFO1 to a triangle wave and use it to modulate the pitch of both oscillators.
Subtle random pitch variations also help add interest for a more analogue-style vibe. In Retrologue this is achieved with the ‘Rnd Pitch’ parameter. Other synths might use a knob marked ‘Analogue ‘ to achieve the same effect.
Most synth plugins also allow you to use a unison or layer mode to stack sounds with a detuned copy of the original. Here we’ll use this trick on the second oscillator to fatten the sound.
Chorus Of Approval
With the basic patch in place, we can think about adding some effects. Chorus is a classic choice for string sounds. Chorus effects were included on a lot of the classic string synths and work really well on most pads.
A little stereo delay also often works well for making the sound more coherent and bolstering the stereo image.
As a finishing touch, try adding a triangle wave sub oscillator (or a third oscillator) an octave down…
…and a small amount of white noise.
You could even try some mod wheel action (controlling the filter cutoff frequency to add a bit of extra expression when playing the sound).
Job done!
With all that modulation in place and a few subtle effects added, here’s what our finished patch sounds like:
And how it looks in Retrologue:
09.57 AM
Nice one 🙂
01.58 PM
Awesome!
04.16 PM
Very interesting, I’m going to have to try to make a patch like this!
12.48 AM
protip, strings are all about non-repetative movement. This article may have said so but I didn’t bother reading it. my suggestion is to make this patch on two different synths and layering them to create more motion.
04.02 PM
@Wolf-Ray. Always good to comment on an article you’ve not read 🙂 Keep up the good work!
02.43 AM
Love this! Will put this into practise, tonight!!!
09.02 PM
Ty for the awesome tutorial! 🙂
09.24 PM
Thnx for this tutorial! Very helpful info as usual. Could you tell me the chords that were used?
02.16 PM
HI Niels,
Glad you found it helpful. As far as I can remember they were – Emaj7, Dmaj7 and GbMaj7.
06.38 PM
I hated myself all the way through working this out, spent a few hours and now I am king of the world. Very happy, thank you for putting these together. A HUGE help.
03.08 PM
how can i get to the vanila preset sound in circle 2 ? can someone help ?