Percussive Pluck Sub

Sounds like: A very short low thud, more of a transient than a note.

Sound type: bass · Genre: UK Garage, House · Style: very short sub hit used as a rhythmic, transient-forward bass element

An extremely short sub hit — almost more of a percussive transient than a sustained note, used to punctuate a garage or house rhythm rather than carry a bassline.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: Very short sub hit

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: 127
• RESO: 8
• TYPE: 0 (LP)

AMP page

• ATK: 0
• DEC: 18
• SUS: 0
• REL: 8
• MODE: ADSR

ALGO 1 uses Operator C alone as a plain, unmodulated carrier — no bell/FM edge at all, just a clean sine-like sub tone. Essentially Deep Sub Sine with a much shorter AMP page DEC and zero SUS, so the note reads as a transient hit rather than a sustained bassline. 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: Very short sub hit

SYN — SY RAW

• WAV1: Sine
• TUNE: 64
• NLEV: 0

FLTR PAGE 1

• FREQ: 127
• RESO: 8
• TYPE: Lowpass

AMP PAGE 1

• ATK: 0
• DEC: 18
• SUS: 0
• REL: 8

SY RAW's plain Sine waveform, fully open FLTR, and a very short AMP PAGE 1 DEC with zero SUS give a clean, percussive sub hit. AMP PAGE 2's MODE can stay as it is here since SUS is 0 anyway — no sustain phase is needed.

Novation Summit

Exact match: Very short sub hit

OSCILLATOR 1

• WAVE: Sine
• RANGE: 8'

FILTER

• SHAPE: LP
• FREQUENCY: 127
• RESONANCE: 8

AMP ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 18
• SUSTAIN: 0
• RELEASE: 8

Compared with other synths: As simple a translation as this library has — a plain sine with the filter wide open and an instant, very short amp decay gives the percussive transient directly, no filter-envelope movement needed.

Arturia MiniFreak

Approximation: Plucked-string model stands in for a sine hit

OSCILLATOR

• TYPE: KarplusStr
• WAVE (Bow): 20
• TIMBRE (Position): 30
• SHAPE (Decay): 15
• VOLUME: 100

ANALOG FILTER

• TYPE: Low Pass
• CUTOFF: 100
• RESONANCE: 5
• ENV/VELO: 0

ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 8
• SUSTAIN: 0
• RELEASE: 5

Osc 1 is KarplusStr, a plucked-string model: Wave is Bow (keep it low for a plucked, not bowed, tone), Timbre is Position and Shape is Decay. No LFO, Mod Matrix, or effects needed — let the transient speak for itself. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Exact match: Very short sub hit

FRONT PANEL

• WAVE: ~12 o'clock (plain VCO1 sine/triangle, roundest available)
• CUTOFF: ~3 o'clock (fully open)
• RESON: ~7-8 o'clock (minimal)
• EG LEVEL: ~7-8 o'clock (minimal, filter mostly not shaping this sound)
• FILTER TIME: ~2 o'clock (fast)
• AMP TIME: ~2 o'clock (fast, for the short percussive decay)
• VOLUME: ~12 o'clock (global, not stored in the preset)

AMP ADSR

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 18
• SUSTAIN: 0
• RELEASE: 8

SET

• VCO GLIDE: 0
• VCO LVL: 100
• VCF TRACK: 0
• VCF FFM: 0
• VCA LVL: 100

The roundest available VCO waveform plus a very short AMP ADSR decay with zero sustain gives the percussive sub hit directly — no filter movement needed, CUTOFF is left wide open throughout.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Very short sub hit

OSCILLATOR 1

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

FILTER 1

• TYPE: LP 1 Pole
• CUTOFF: 127.0
• RESONANCE: 5.0
• KEYTRACK: 0%

AMP

• AMP LEVEL: 110.0

ENVELOPE 2

• DELAY: 0 ms
• ATTACK: 0 ms
• HOLD: 0 ms
• DECAY: 45 ms
• SUSTAIN: 0.0
• RELEASE: 20 ms

Compared with other synths: A plain sine with Filter 1 wide open and Envelope 2 (pre-wired to Amp) set to a very short decay with zero sustain gives the percussive sub hit directly — the same simple, direct translation every synth in this library manages for this patch.

How the synths compare

Essentially Deep Sub Sine with a much shorter amp decay — the two patches are close relatives serving different rhythmic roles.

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.