Choir Vocal Pad

Sounds like: A soft, breathy 'ooh' pad, like a distant choir.

Sound type: pad · Genre: Ambient, Trip-Hop · Style: formant-shaped, voice-like sustained pad

A pad shaped to suggest a distant choir — the formant-style filter gives it a vowel-like quality, layered with enough voices to feel like more than one singer.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: Filter morphed toward bandpass

SYN page 1

• ALGO: 3
• RATIO C: 1.00
• RATIO B: 1.00
• DTUN: 40
• MIX: -64

SYN page 2 · Operators A & B

• LEV (A): 0
• LEV (B): 0

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

• TYPE: 64 (BP)
• FREQ: 70
• RESO: 57
• ATK: 80
• DEC: 60
• SUS: 100
• ENV: 51

AMP page

• ATK: 85
• DEC: 60
• SUS: 102
• REL: 110
• MODE: ADSR

FX page

• CHR: 38
• REV: 44

Digitone II's ALGO 3 gives three plain carriers (C, B2, B1) when the FM depth of A and B is off, so LEV (A) and LEV (B) are both 0. MIX -64 selects the X tap (C + B2), and DTUN, which offsets only the ratio of operators A and B2, detunes B2 against C so the two beat against each other. DTUN below 64 is a very slight detune; above 64 is heavier. FLTR TYPE at the midpoint of its LP/BP/HP morph range is what gets the bandpass-like vowel character -- it's a continuous morph, not a discrete mode switch, so this is a starting point to nudge by ear toward the vowel you want. FX page's REV is only the send level -- the actual decay length ('long decay') is set on the pattern-level Reverb effect, not per track. AMP page MODE must be ADSR, for SUS to hold.

Syntakt

Approximation: Lowpass resonance stands in for a bandpass peak

SYN — SY SWARM

• DET: 70
• MIX: 80
• DEC: 90
• ANIM: 20

FLTR PAGE 1

• FREQ: 64
• RESO: 90
• TYPE: Lowpass
• ATK: 90
• DEC: 60
• SUS: 100
• ENV: 40

AMP PAGE 1

• ATK: 90
• DEC: 60
• SUS: 102
• REL: 110
• DEL: 0
• REV: 70

AMP PAGE 2

• MODE: ADSR

Syntakt's melodic (Digital-machine) tracks only offer Lowpass/Highpass/EQ on FLTR PAGE 1's TYPE -- true Bandpass exists only on the analog drum/cymbal tracks (9-12), so a heavily resonant Lowpass is the genuine substitute here, not an approximation of convenience. SY SWARM's ANIM is kept low so the ensemble stays a slow, static choir texture rather than an animated pad. AMP PAGE 2's MODE must be ADSR (the default for SY machines, but drum machines default to AHD), or SUS/REL on AMP PAGE 1 are ignored.

Novation Summit

Exact match: True bandpass filter shape

OSCILLATOR 1

• WAVE: Sawtooth
• RANGE: 8'

OSCILLATOR 2

• WAVE: Sawtooth
• RANGE: 8'
• FINE: +17 cents

FILTER

• SHAPE: BP
• SLOPE: 12dB
• FREQUENCY: 64
• RESONANCE: 90
• SOURCE: Amp Env
• ENV DEPTH: 20

AMP ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 90
• DECAY: 55
• SUSTAIN: 102
• RELEASE: 100

EFFECTS

• CHORUS DEPTH: 60
• CHORUS RATE: 30
• REVERB TIME: 110
• REVERB LEVEL: 70
• REVERB SIZE: 3 (largest)

Summit's FILTER SHAPE has a real BP (bandpass) mode -- an actual vowel-forming filter, unlike Syntakt's melodic tracks which only offer Lowpass/Highpass/EQ. High RESONANCE narrows the pass band to a distinct formant-like peak. Chorus and a long Reverb are both pushed up for the sense of a distant choir in a large space.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Formant engine

OSCILLATOR · Osc 1

• TYPE: Formant
• WAVE (Interval): 40
• TIMBRE (Formant): 55
• VOLUME: 100

OSCILLATOR · Osc 2

• TYPE: SuperWave
• WAVE (Waveform): Sawtooth
• TIMBRE (Detune): 35
• SHAPE (Volume of copies): 60
• TUNE/OCT: 0 semitones (fine-tuned a few cents against Osc 1)
• VOLUME: 70

ANALOG FILTER

• TYPE: Band Pass
• CUTOFF: 55
• RESONANCE: 45
• ENV/VELO: 0

ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 70
• DECAY: 30
• SUSTAIN: 80
• RELEASE: 85

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX1

• TYPE: Chorus
• INTENSITY: 30
• AMOUNT: 30

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX2

• TYPE: Reverb (Hall)
• TIME: 65
• INTENSITY: 35
• AMOUNT: 35

Osc 1 is Formant: Wave sets the interval between the two formants, Timbre the base formant frequency (the vowel position) and Shape the formant width. Osc 2 is SuperWave, the stacked-detuned-copies engine: Detune (35) sets the spread between the copies and the third knob (60) sets the copies' level against the original. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Approximation: Low-pass plus FX1 high-pass in series forms a band; no true resonant bandpass

FRONT PANEL

• WAVE: ~5-6 o'clock (a softer VCO1/VCO2 blend, away from the brighter square/saw combinations)
• TUNE 2: ~1 o'clock, just past center (a hair sharp of VCO1)
• CUTOFF: ~11 o'clock (fairly closed, so resonance reads as a vowel-like peak)
• RESON: ~2-3 o'clock (strong, standing in for a bandpass)
• EG LEVEL: ~9 o'clock (minimal filter movement)
• FILTER TIME: ~8-9 o'clock (toward the slow end)
• AMP TIME: ~8-9 o'clock (toward the slow end, for the long swell-in)
• VOLUME: ~12 o'clock (global, not stored in the preset)

FILTER ADSR

• ATTACK: 80
• DECAY: 50
• SUSTAIN: 90
• RELEASE: 85

AMP ADSR

• ATTACK: 80
• DECAY: 50
• SUSTAIN: 90
• RELEASE: 90

FX3

• TYPE: Large Reverb
• PRE: 15
• SIZE: 85
• FEED: 75
• DAMP: 30
• MIX: 50

FX1

• CUTOFF (high-pass filter): 40
• MIX: 0

Typhon's own filter is a low-pass only. Typhon does have real onboard reverb via FX3 (Large Reverb here, pushed spacious and long), so there's no need to rely on an external send for the 'distant choir' feel. Front-panel knobs are physically unmarked, so those values are described by clock position, not a percentage. FX1 includes a resonant 2-pole high-pass filter (its CUTOFF, 20 Hz to 20 kHz, in series after the VCA), so Typhon's low-pass plus that high-pass in series forms a band-pass: close CUTOFF partway and raise FX1's high-pass to narrow the band around the vowel-like peak.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Filter 1 Vowel type

OSCILLATOR 1

• MODE: Single
• WAVE: Triangle
• SEMI: 0
• CENTS: 0
• KEYTRACK: 100%

OSCILLATOR 2

• MODE: Single
• WAVE: Triangle
• SEMI: 0
• CENTS: +6
• KEYTRACK: 100%

FILTER 1

• TYPE: Vowel
• CUTOFF: 70.0
• RESONANCE: 40.0
• ENV 1 AMOUNT: 10.0
• KEYTRACK: 0%

ENVELOPE 2

• DELAY: 0 ms
• ATTACK: 700 ms
• HOLD: 0 ms
• DECAY: 400 ms
• SUSTAIN: 102.0
• RELEASE: 900 ms

PRE-FX

• TYPE: Chorus
• RATE: 0.25 Hz
• DEPTH: 40.0
• OFFSET: 90°
• FEEDBACK: 10
• MONO/ST: Stereo
• DRY/WET: 35%

REVERB

• TYPE: Hall
• PREDELAY: 25 ms
• TIME: 5.5 s
• TONE: +10
• HI DAMP: 20.0
• LO DAMP: 50.0
• DRY/WET: 45%

The two oscillators are kept as plain detuned Triangles so Filter 1's Vowel shaping does the actual vocal work. Chorus and a long Hall Reverb are both pushed up for width and the sense of distant space.

Compared with other synths: Filter 1's real 'Vowel' type is a literal vocal-formant filter -- a much more direct real mechanism for the choir-vocal character than the generic bandpass-plus-resonance approximation the other synths need.

How the synths compare

The bandpass filter mode (rather than lowpass) is what gives this the vowel-like character — same principle as Formant Vocal-ish Lead and Talking Bass, applied to a sustained pad.

Patchpad is a free reference of drum patterns and synth patches written for real hardware: Digitakt II, Digitone II, Syntakt, Novation Summit, Arturia MiniFreak, Dreadbox Typhon and ASM Hydrasynth Desktop.