PATCHPADAll synth patchesAll drum patterns

Hoover Lead

Sounds like: The classic 90s rave 'hoover': a huge, swooping, snarling detuned stack.

Sound type: lead · Genre: Techno, Electro · Style: the classic 'hoover' rave lead sound

The unmistakable early-rave 'hoover' sound — a thick, detuned, pitch-swept stack with a snarling, alarm-like quality that instantly reads as its own genre reference.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: Thick detuned stack with a pitch swoop

SYN page 1 · SWARMER

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

AMP page

FX page

MOD page 1

Corrected: the original was an FM TONE ALGO 3 stack with an LFO on a non-existent 'PITCH' destination for the swoop. Digitone II's SWARMER machine — one main oscillator plus six detuned ones — is the real supersaw-style engine a hoover wants, and its bipolar TUNE is a genuine, smooth LFO destination: a one-shot (MODE ONE) descending Ramp with negative DEP on TUNE at each note-on gives the signature pitch swoop across the whole stack (flip DEP's sign for a rising swoop). DET and ANIM (hidden LFOs modulating the swarm in pairs) give the thick, animated detune; FX-page OVERDRIVE adds snarl. Values are starting points to adjust by ear.

Syntakt

Exact match: Thick detuned stack with a pitch swoop

SYN — SY SWARM

FLTR PAGE 1

LFO PAGE 1

AMP PAGE 1

AMP PAGE 2

SY SWARM is Syntakt's real supersaw-style machine -- DET/MIX/ANIM give the thick detuned/animated stack directly, a far more literal hoover engine than a generic 'built-in detune pushed wide' instruction. Melodic tracks use Digital machines, not Analog. AMP PAGE 2's MODE must be ADSR or SUS is ignored. 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 gives the pitch swoop via a one-shot descending Ramp at each note-on, same mechanism as Digitone II's MOD page (same manufacturer, same parameter set).

Novation Summit

Exact match: Thick detuned stack with a pitch swoop

OSCILLATOR 1

OSCILLATOR 2

MIXER

FILTER

MOD ENVELOPE 1

MOD ENVELOPE 2

AMP ENVELOPE

MODULATION MATRIX

EFFECTS

Oscillators 1 and 2 detuned via FINE in opposite directions, each with DIVERGE adding further per-voice spread, gives a genuinely thick multi-voice stack -- Summit's real menu-only DIVERGE parameter (per-voice detune spread) is a more literal match for 'detuned stack' than generic layer detuning. MOD ENVELOPE 2 is a fast, zero-sustain envelope used purely for the pitch swoop, routed via the MODULATION MATRIX to all oscillator pitch at a negative amount for a downward dip at note-on -- independent of MOD ENVELOPE 1's filter movement and the AMP ENVELOPE's loudness shape, since Summit has three separate envelope generators to spend.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Thick detuned stack with a pitch swoop

OSCILLATOR

ANALOG FILTER

ENVELOPE

CYCLING ENVELOPE

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX1

MODULATION MATRIX

Osc 1 is SuperWave, the stacked-detuned-copies engine: Detune (85) sets the spread between the copies and the third knob (60) sets the copies' level against the original. Mod Matrix: the CycEnv row to the Pitch 1+2 column at -15. The Cycling Envelope is MiniFreak's second, independent modulation generator -- using it here (rather than the main Envelope, which is hardwired to the VCA) for the pitch swoop keeps amplitude and pitch shaping fully separate, unlike synths that have to share one envelope between the two jobs. 0-100 scale throughout. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Approximation: Only 2 VCOs: pitch-envelope dip, no supersaw stack

FRONT PANEL

AMP ADSR

M1

FX1

M1 set to Envelope MODE with a fast D/R and DEST routed to CV gives a genuine one-shot pitch-envelope dip at each note-on (LVL in semitones, negative = downward dip resolving back to pitch) -- a real mechanism. FX1's Foldback distortion adds the snarl on top of RESON. Front-panel knobs are physically unmarked, described by clock position; AMP ADSR/M1/FX1 use the OLED page's 0-100 convention.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Thick detuned stack with a pitch swoop

OSCILLATOR 1

MUTATOR 1

OSCILLATOR 2

MIXER

FILTER 1

ENVELOPE 1

ENVELOPE 2

ENVELOPE 3

MOD MATRIX

PRE-FX

Mutator 1's WavStack mode gives Oscillator 1 five real detuned copies of its own waveform, a genuine built-in unison thickener -- combined with Oscillator 2 detuned further via CENTS, this is a more literal 'detuned stack' than a generic wavetable-unison instruction. Envelope 3 (one of Hydrasynth's three free-assign envelopes) is dedicated purely to a fast downward pitch dip via the Mod Matrix, independent of Envelope 1 (Filter) and Envelope 2 (Amp) -- Hydrasynth's five real envelopes let every stage of this patch run on its own independent generator, unlike synths that have to share one.

How the synths compare

The pitch-envelope 'swoop' at the very start of each note is as much a part of the hoover identity as the detuned stack itself — don't skip it even though the amount is subtle.

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.