Your browser does not support the audio tag.ĭelay is another effect that can really add to sequence like this. If yours doesn't, pick up your favourite overdrive plug-in. As I said earlier, many synths have distortion built in and many even feature it at the filter stage.

Distortion does tend to work very well with resonant sounds and will add new harmonics, making the whole thing richer and fatter. Once you are happy with the way the sequence is firing you can start to add extra effects to add a little spice. Of course they don't have to be matched exactly but a decay based signature does tend to work best here. Your amp envelope will also have to be reasonably close to the filter envelope settings. If you want to try a demo of Discovery you can pick one up here. Of course you don't have to use exactly the same synth, I just happen to know this particular instrument handles this sort of sound pretty well. I have chosen Disco DSP's Discovery synth, which is a software emulation of the classic Nord Lead 2. If your not sure what these are just yet, don't worry I'll explain as we go. Once you have put a sequence together using your synth of choice why don't you upload the result for us all to hear? Step 1 - The Tools NeededĪll you really need to get this sound is a DAW capable of MIDI sequencing (which is pretty much all of them!) and a synth with glide or portamento and a legato voicing mode. This style of programming is really addictive and can be used with pretty much any form of electronic music. I thought I would do a tutorial on how to create that classic acid sound with a standard subtractive soft synth, a heavy dose of glide and some distortion.

There seems to have been somewhat of a resurgence in acid style synth programming of late.

Acid pro 8 tutorial