PATCHPADAll synth patchesAll drum patterns

Dub Siren FX

Sounds like: A wailing, rising-and-falling siren, like a classic dub soundsystem effect.

Sound type: fx · Genre: Electro, Experimental, Techno · Style: classic dub siren wail used as a live-performance FX element

A wailing, oscillating pitch sweep with a slow LFO-driven rise and fall — designed to be triggered and held, riding the LFO for as long as it's sustained, classic dub/soundsystem FX.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: WAVETONE TUN1 as the LFO target

SYN page 1 · WAVETONE

SYN page 2 · WAVETONE

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

AMP page

FX page

MOD page 1

Corrected: the original targeted a 'PIT1' LFO destination that doesn't exist on Digitone II's FM TONE machine. The wail is MOD page 1's Triangle LFO in FRE (free-running) mode on WAVETONE's TUN1 (a real, cents-based tuning destination) at a strong DEP, so the pitch rises and falls for as long as the note is held (LEV2 0 keeps it a single square oscillator). Digitone II has no macro hardware, so the classic 'squeeze the siren' move — riding the LFO speed live — means holding a trig and nudging SPD (or parameter-locking it across repeated trigs). AMP's SUS at 127 with no meaningful DEC keeps the note at full volume while gated. Values are starting points to adjust by ear.

Syntakt

Exact match: LFO on the machine TUNE knob

SYN — SY RAW

FLTR PAGE 1

AMP PAGE 1

AMP PAGE 2

LFO PAGE 1

AMP PAGE 2's MODE must be set to ADSR (the default for SY machines, but check it) -- otherwise SUS on AMP PAGE 1 is ignored and the note can't hold for the wail to ride. Corrected: this LFO used to target an invented 'Pitch' destination — Syntakt's LFO destination list (manual Appendix C) has no direct pitch option, so it now targets the machine's own TUNE knob (parameter 1), the real route to pitch modulation. (For hard one-shot pitch falls Syntakt also has native sweeps: BD MODERN's SWEP sets pitch-sweep depth and time.)

Compared with other synths: LFO PAGE 1 shares Digitone II's exact LFO parameter set (same manufacturer/design); FREE mode keeps it cycling continuously while the note is held. Syntakt has no macro hardware either, so live rate control means nudging SPD by hand (or via a parameter lock) the same way as on Digitone II.

Novation Summit

Exact match: Wailing pitch sweep from a slow LFO

OSCILLATOR 1

FILTER

AMP ENVELOPE

LFO 2

MODULATION MATRIX

EFFECTS

LFO 2 is Summit's per-voice LFO hardwired to oscillator pitch via its own section's Depth knob -- exactly the wail source this patch needs, no extra routing required for the pitch modulation itself. AMP ENVELOPE's SUSTAIN at 127 with minimal Decay is what lets the note hold indefinitely while the LFO rides. Live control: the Mod Wheel rides LFO 2's rate through Mod Matrix slot 1, the classic squeeze-the-siren move.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: M1 macro on LFO rate

OSCILLATOR · Osc 1

ANALOG FILTER

ENVELOPE

LFO

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX1

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX2

MODULATION MATRIX

Macros

Osc 1 is BasicWaves with Morph at 50 (pure sawtooth): the Morph knob runs from a square (0) through a sawtooth (50) to a double sawtooth an octave up (100), Sym only changes the pulse width below 50, and Sub adds a sine an octave down (0 here). LFO 1 runs a Tri wave at 4 Hz. Mod Matrix: the LFO 1 row to the Pitch 1+2 column at +65. Envelope's Sustain at 100 with minimal Decay is what lets the note hold for as long as the key/pad is pressed while the LFO wails. Macros: M1: LFO 1 Rate (macro destinations can be any front-panel control), for live siren speed. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Compared with other synths: MiniFreak's two real Macros (M1/M2 via the Touch Strips) are a genuine performance-control surface -- a strong, direct fit for the classic 'ride the siren speed live' technique, more idiomatic here than on the synths in this library with no macro hardware.

Dreadbox Typhon

Exact match: Wailing pitch sweep from a slow LFO

FRONT PANEL

AMP ADSR

M1

FX3

SET

The wail lives on M1 in LFO mode, routed to CV1 (pitch) -- because CV/pitch destinations use Typhon's semitone-scaled LVL rather than the usual 0-100, LVL 8 means an 8-semitone wobble, not '8%'. Typhon's real modulators live on the M-page screen, not as a dedicated front-panel LFO-rate knob -- riding the wail speed live means turning the shared encoder on the M1 page while the note is held, a genuine but less immediate live control. AMP ADSR's Sustain at 100 with a long-ish Release is what lets the note hold and tail off naturally when released.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Wailing pitch sweep from a slow LFO

OSCILLATOR 1

FILTER 1

AMP

ENVELOPE 2

LFO 3

MOD MATRIX

DELAY

REVERB

Macros

The wail source is LFO 3 -- a free-assign LFO, not LFO 1/2 (those are pre-wired to Filter 1 and Amp respectively) -- routed to oscillator pitch via the Mod Matrix. Hydrasynth's real Macros are performance knob/button pairs, a completely separate module from the 4 oscillator-shaping Mutators; Macro 1 is the control surface for live performance here. ENVELOPE 2's Sustain near its max with minimal Decay is what lets the note hold at full level while the LFO wails.

How the synths compare

This is meant to be played live (held notes, riding an LFO-rate control) rather than sequenced — the hardware guides prioritize which control to map for that real-time performance, not just a static parameter list.

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.