Envelope Swell Bass

Sounds like: A warm, round bass that fades up from silence instead of hitting hard.

Sound type: bass · Genre: Downtempo, Trip-Hop · Style: warm, organic swelling bass

A warm, slow-swelling bass with no attack transient at all: the note fades up smoothly from silence rather than plucking in, an organic, non-percussive low end built entirely from a long attack envelope.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: Slow-swelling bass with no attack transient

SYN page 1

• ALGO: 1
• RATIO C: 1.00
• MIX: -64

SYN page 2 · Operators A & B

• LEV (A): 0
• LEV (B): 0

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

• FREQ: 40
• RESO: 15
• TYPE: 0 (LP)
• ATK: 80
• DEC: 40
• SUS: 100

AMP page

• ATK: 90
• DEC: 40
• SUS: 110
• REL: 100
• MODE: ADSR

AMP page's ATK pushed to 90 defines this patch: no click or pluck at all, just a slow rise from silence. FLTR's own ATK is matched so the tone brightens in step with the volume swell, rather than starting already bright and only getting louder. ALGO 1 routes operator A (and B) into carrier C, so LEV (A) and LEV (B) are set to 0 on SYN page 2 and MIX is -64 (the X output, C only): that leaves C a plain, unmodulated carrier.

Syntakt

Exact match: Slow-swelling bass with no attack transient

SYN — SY RAW

• WAV1: Sine
• TUNE: 0

FLTR PAGE 1

• FREQ: 40
• RESO: 15
• TYPE: Lowpass
• ATK: 80
• DEC: 40
• SUS: 100

AMP PAGE 1

• ATK: 90
• DEC: 40
• SUS: 110
• REL: 100

AMP PAGE 2

• MODE: ADSR

AMP PAGE 2's MODE must be set to ADSR: AHD has no real sustain phase, and this patch depends on SUS 110 holding steady while the note is held, not decaying away. SY RAW is an Analog Drum machine, so it runs on track 9, 10 or 11.

Tonverk

Exact match: Sine with a long amp and filter attack

SRC machine (Func + Src)

• Machine: WAVEFINDER

SRC page 1 · Oscillator 1

• TUNE: 0
• LEV: 100
• POS: 0
• SLOT: HS Sine (Factory Library › 6-Wavetables)

SRC page 2 · Oscillator 2

• LEV: 0

FLTR page 1 · Multimode

• ATK: 80
• DEC: 40
• SUS: 100
• FREQ: 40
• RESO: 15
• TYPE: 0 (low-pass)
• ENV: +30

AMP setup (Func + Amp)

• ENVELOPE MODE: ADSR

AMP page

• ATK: 90
• DEC: 40
• SUS: 110
• REL: 100

A sine with AMP ATK 90, so each note fades up rather than hitting. Shorten ATK on single steps when a note needs to land sooner.

Novation Summit

Exact match: Slow-swelling bass with no attack transient

OSCILLATOR 1

• WAVE: Sine
• RANGE: 16'

FILTER

• SHAPE: LP
• FREQUENCY: 40
• RESONANCE: 15
• SOURCE: Mod Env 1
• ENV DEPTH: 30

MOD ENVELOPE 1

• ATTACK: 80
• DECAY: 40
• SUSTAIN: 100
• RELEASE: 100

AMP ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 90
• DECAY: 40
• SUSTAIN: 110
• RELEASE: 100

MODULATION MATRIX

• Slot 1 sA: ModWheel
• Slot 1 Destin: AmpEnv A
• Slot 1 Depth: +25
• Slot 2 sA: ModWheel
• Slot 2 Destin: FiltFreq
• Slot 2 Depth: +20

Two independent envelopes (filter via Mod Env 1, amp via its own Amp Envelope) both given long attacks so the brightening and the loudening swell happen together, not one lagging the other. Live control: the Mod Wheel lengthens the amp Attack and opens the filter together through two Mod Matrix slots.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Slow-swelling bass with no attack transient

OSCILLATOR · Osc 1

• TYPE: BasicWaves
• WAVE (Morph): 0 (square)
• TIMBRE (Sym): 0
• SHAPE (Sub): 100
• VOLUME: 60

ANALOG FILTER

• TYPE: Low Pass
• CUTOFF: 40
• RESONANCE: 15

ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 80
• DECAY: 40
• SUSTAIN: 95
• RELEASE: 90

Osc 1 is BasicWaves with Sub at 100 (a sine an octave down) and the main wave turned down to 60, so the low-passed result is mostly the round sub; the long ENVELOPE attack gives the swell. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Exact match: Slow-swelling bass with no attack transient

FRONT PANEL

• WAVE: ~9 o'clock (VCO2 triangle only)
• TUNE 2: Fully anticlockwise (0: VCO2 at the same pitch as VCO1)
• CUTOFF: ~10 o'clock (~40%)
• RESON: ~8 o'clock (~15%)
• FILTER TIME: ~9 o'clock (slow)
• AMP TIME: ~9 o'clock (slow)

FILTER ADSR

• ATTACK: 80
• DECAY: 40
• SUSTAIN: 100
• RELEASE: 100

AMP ADSR

• ATTACK: 90
• DECAY: 40
• SUSTAIN: 100
• RELEASE: 100

FILTER TIME and AMP TIME are both turned toward the slow end: a high ATTACK on the ADSR sliders can still play back quickly if the TIME knob is set fast, so both are needed for a slow swell.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Slow-swelling bass with no attack transient

OSCILLATOR 1

• MODE: Single
• WAVE: Sine

FILTER 1

• TYPE: LP Ldr12
• CUTOFF: 40.0
• RESONANCE: 15.0

ENVELOPE 2

• ATTACK: 1200 ms
• DECAY: 400 ms
• SUSTAIN: 110.0
• RELEASE: 900 ms

Envelope 2 (pre-wired to Amp) uses a 1200ms attack: a millisecond value rather than an abstracted 0-127 number, so the swell time here can be set precisely.

About this patch

The attack stage defines this patch: every synth's amp (and, where independent, filter) envelope has an unusually long attack, unlike the near-instant attack of most patches.

Patchpad is a free reference of drum patterns, synth patches and reminders, written for a selection of real hardware.