Metallic Ring-Mod Pluck

Sounds like: A short, cold, clangy plink with an inharmonic ring.

Sound type: pluck · Genre: Electro, IDM · Style: cold, inharmonic ring-modulated short pluck

A short, cold, inharmonic pluck — the percussive counterpart to Ring-Mod Metallic Lead, sharing its ring-modulation-derived character but decayed down to a single hit.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: WAVETONE MOD = RING MOD

SYN page 1 · WAVETONE

• TUN1: 0
• WAV1: Sine (PRIM table)
• PD1: 0
• LEV1: 100
• TUN2: +1755 cents (2.76:1, inharmonic)
• WAV2: Sine (PRIM table)
• PD2: 0
• LEV2: 0

SYN page 2 · WAVETONE

• OFS1: 0
• TBL1: PRIM
• MOD: RING MOD
• RSET: ON
• OFS2: 0
• TBL2: PRIM
• DRIF: 0

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

• FREQ: 87
• RESO: 13
• TYPE: 0 (LP)

AMP page

• ATK: 0
• DEC: 13
• SUS: 0
• REL: 6
• MODE: ADSR

Digitone II's WAVETONE machine (select with FUNC+SYN). MOD RING MOD makes Oscillator 2 ring-modulate Oscillator 1; LEV2 is 0 so only the ring-modulated result is heard. TUN2 at +1755 cents (a 2.76:1 ratio) puts the sidebands on an inharmonic spacing for the cold metallic ring. AMP and FLTR decays short, so it is a single struck pluck. Adjust TUN2 by ear.

Syntakt

Exact match: SY RAW WAV2 = Ring modulator

SYN — SY RAW

• WAV1: Square
• WAV2: Ring modulator
• LEV2: 0
• TUNE: 0
• DET: 90

FLTR PAGE 1

• FREQ: 87
• RESO: 32
• TYPE: Lowpass
• ATK: 0
• DEC: 10
• SUS: 0
• ENV: 25

AMP PAGE 1

• ATK: 0
• DEC: 13
• SUS: 0
• REL: 6

SY RAW's WAV2 has a real ring modulator setting: Oscillator 2 ring-modulates Oscillator 1 with a square wave even at LEV2 0. DET 90 sets the tuning of Oscillator 2 against Oscillator 1, which puts the sidebands off the harmonic series for the cold metallic ring. Short AMP envelope for the pluck. DET is by ear.

Novation Summit

Exact match: Mixer Ring Mod

OSCILLATOR 1

• WAVE: Sawtooth
• RANGE: 8'

MIXER

• Ring 1*2: 110
• Osc 1: 60

FILTER

• SHAPE: LP
• SLOPE: 12dB
• FREQUENCY: 87
• RESONANCE: 32
• SOURCE: Amp Env
• ENV DEPTH: 25

AMP ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 13
• SUSTAIN: 0
• RELEASE: 6

Compared with other synths: Summit's MIXER has a genuine Ring Mod source (Osc1 x Osc2/Osc3, whichever pair is active) -- pushed hard here relative to the plain Osc 1 level for a cold, inharmonic pluck close to Hydrasynth's own real ring-mod routing.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Osc 2 FM/RM engine RingMod

OSCILLATOR 1

• TYPE: BasicWaves
• WAVE (Morph): 50 (pure sawtooth)
• TIMBRE (Sym): 0
• SHAPE (Sub): 0
• VOLUME: 100

OSCILLATOR 2

• TYPE: FM/RM
• TIMBRE (FreqMod): 0
• SHAPE (RingMod): 80
• TUNE/OCT: non-integer ratio, ~+3.4 semitones detune from Osc 1

ANALOG FILTER

• TYPE: Low Pass
• CUTOFF: 68
• RESONANCE: 25
• ENV/VELO: 30

ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 18
• SUSTAIN: 0
• RELEASE: 10

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). Osc 1 is the FM/RM engine (Osc 2 only): Osc 1 modulates it; Wave is Osc 2's waveform, Timbre the FM amount and Shape the ring-mod amount. The Envelope is hardwired to the VCA, so the same fast Decay also briefly opens the filter via ENV/VELO. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Approximation: No ring mod: VCO cross-FM

FRONT PANEL

• WAVE: ~7 o'clock (the FM position, fully counter-clockwise: VCO1 square FM'd by VCO2, one of the labeled ring-mod-adjacent positions)
• TUNE 2: ~4 o'clock (heavily detuned from VCO1)
• CUTOFF: ~2 o'clock (fairly open)
• RESON: ~1 o'clock (pushed)
• EG LEVEL: ~1 o'clock (strong)
• FILTER TIME: ~5 o'clock (very fast)
• AMP TIME: ~5 o'clock (very fast)
• VOLUME: ~12 o'clock

FILTER ADSR

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 10
• SUSTAIN: 0
• RELEASE: 8

AMP ADSR

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 13
• SUSTAIN: 0
• RELEASE: 8

Typhon has no true ring modulator, but the WAVE knob's labeled 'VCO1 square FM'd by VCO2 triangle' position is the closest real thing on this hardware to an inharmonic cross-modulation sound -- one of the harder translations in this family, expect a warmer, less alien result than the ring-mod-capable synths. Front-panel knobs are physically unmarked, so WAVE/TUNE 2/CUTOFF/RESON/EG LEVEL/FILTER TIME/AMP TIME are described by clock position, not a percentage.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Mixer RING VOL

OSCILLATOR 1

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

OSCILLATOR 2

• MODE: Single
• WAVE: Saw
• SEMI: 3
• CENTS: +40
• KEYTRACK: 100%

MIXER

• OSC 1 LEVEL: 0.0 (unused, ring mod only)
• OSC 2 LEVEL: 0.0 (unused, ring mod only)
• RING VOL: 110.0

FILTER 1

• TYPE: LP Ldr12
• CUTOFF: 87.0
• RESONANCE: 12.0
• ENV 1 AMOUNT: 25.0
• KEYTRACK: 0%

ENVELOPE 1

• DELAY: 0 ms
• ATTACK: 0 ms
• DECAY: 13 ms
• SUSTAIN: 0.0
• RELEASE: 6 ms

ENVELOPE 2

• DELAY: 0 ms
• ATTACK: 0 ms
• DECAY: 13 ms
• SUSTAIN: 0.0
• RELEASE: 6 ms

Compared with other synths: OSC 1/OSC 2 levels are set to 0 in the MIXER so only their RING VOL output (a genuine hardware ring-modulator product of the two, non-harmonically tuned via OSC 2's +3 semitones/+40 cents offset) is heard -- the most literal translation alongside Digitone II's FM approximation and MiniFreak's own FM-RM oscillator.

How the synths compare

Short-envelope sibling of Ring-Mod Metallic Lead. Digitone II (WAVETONE), Syntakt (SY RAW), Summit, MiniFreak and Hydrasynth have real ring modulation; Typhon is the roughest approximation.

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.