Polysynth Chord Bass
Sounds like: A low chord played as bass, thick and full, used sparingly.
Sound type: bass · Genre: House, Minimal House · Style: low-register chordal bass stabs voiced polyphonically
A low-register chord (root + fifth + octave, or similar) played as a bass element rather than a single note — thicker and more harmonically interesting than a single-note bassline, used sparingly.
Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad
Digitone II
Exact match: Chord played as notes on one track (16 voices)
SYN page 1
- ALGO: 1
- RATIO C: 1.00
- MIX: -64
SYN page 2 · Operators A & B
FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode
- FREQ: 51
- RESO: 13
- TYPE: 0 (LP)
- ENV: 25
- ATK: 0
- DEC: 40
- SUS: 51
AMP page
- ATK: 0
- DEC: 45
- SUS: 76
- REL: 30
- MODE: ADSR
Digitone II has 16-voice polyphony, so play the chord as several notes on one track; there is no need to split it across tracks. 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: SY CHORD machine plays the chord
SYN — SY CHORD
- TUNE: 0
- WAVE: 20
- PNCH: 0
- DEC: 100
- TYPE: Fifth
- BAL: 64
- FENV: 0
- OVER: 0
FLTR PAGE 1
- FREQ: 51
- RESO: 13
- TYPE: Lowpass
- ENV: 25
- ATK: 0
- DEC: 40
- SUS: 51
AMP PAGE 1
- ATK: 0
- DEC: 45
- SUS: 76
- REL: 30
AMP PAGE 2
SY CHORD's TYPE picks a real chord or unison (manual Appendix D), so one Syntakt track plays the whole chord; BAL sets the interval mix. TYPE Fifth gives root plus fifth; choose another TYPE for a fuller chord. AMP PAGE 2's MODE must be ADSR (the default for SY machines, but drum machines default to AHD), or SUS on AMP PAGE 1 is ignored and the chord can't sustain.
Novation Summit
Exact match: Plays the chord directly
OSCILLATOR 1
FILTER
- SHAPE: LP
- FREQUENCY: 51
- RESONANCE: 13
- SOURCE: Mod Env 1
- ENV DEPTH: 25
MOD ENVELOPE 1
- ATTACK: 0
- DECAY: 40
- SUSTAIN: 51
- RELEASE: 25
AMP ENVELOPE
- ATTACK: 0
- DECAY: 45
- SUSTAIN: 76
- RELEASE: 30
Voice the chord directly using Summit's own polyphony — play the root/fifth/octave (or similar) as a real chord on one patch, no layering workaround needed.
Arturia MiniFreak
Exact match: Plays the chord directly
OSCILLATOR
- TYPE: BasicWaves
- WAVE (Morph): 50 (pure sawtooth)
- TIMBRE (Sym): 0
- SHAPE (Sub): 0
- VOLUME: 100
ANALOG FILTER
- TYPE: Low Pass
- CUTOFF: 40
- RESONANCE: 10
- ENV/VELO: 20
ENVELOPE
- ATTACK: 0
- DECAY: 30
- SUSTAIN: 60
- RELEASE: 20
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). Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.
Compared with other synths: MiniFreak's 6-voice polyphony is comfortably enough headroom to voice a 2-3 note low chord directly, the same way Summit and Hydrasynth do — no need to spread it across multiple patches/tracks like Digitone II or Syntakt have to.
Dreadbox Typhon
Approximation: Only two voices: cannot play a full 3-note chord
FRONT PANEL
- WAVE: ~2 o'clock (VCO1 saw blended with VCO2 saw)
- CUTOFF: ~12 o'clock (~40%)
- RESON: ~8-9 o'clock (low)
- EG LEVEL: ~10 o'clock (light filter envelope amount)
- FILTER TIME: ~11 o'clock (medium)
- AMP TIME: ~11 o'clock (medium)
- VOLUME: ~12 o'clock (global, not stored in the preset)
FILTER ADSR
- ATTACK: 0
- DECAY: 40
- SUSTAIN: 50
- RELEASE: 25
AMP ADSR
- ATTACK: 0
- DECAY: 45
- SUSTAIN: 76
- RELEASE: 30
SET
- VCO GLIDE: 0
- VCO LVL: 100
- VCF TRACK: 0
- VCF FFM: 0
- VCA LVL: 100
Typhon is paraphonic (2 voices), so it can't voice a full 3-note chord simultaneously — voice the two most important tones (root + fifth, or root + octave) across VCO1/VCO2 via the WAVE knob's blend position; 2 voices is the ceiling here.
ASM Hydrasynth Desktop
Exact match: Plays the chord directly
OSCILLATOR 1
- MODE: Single
- WAVE: Saw
- SEMI: 0
- CENTS: 0
- KEYTRACK: 100%
FILTER 1
- TYPE: LP Ldr12
- CUTOFF: 51.0
- RESONANCE: 13.0
- ENV 1 AMOUNT: 25
- KEYTRACK: 0%
AMP
ENVELOPE 1
- DELAY: 0 ms
- ATTACK: 0 ms
- HOLD: 0 ms
- DECAY: 130 ms
- SUSTAIN: 51.0
- RELEASE: 100 ms
ENVELOPE 2
- DELAY: 0 ms
- ATTACK: 0 ms
- HOLD: 0 ms
- DECAY: 150 ms
- SUSTAIN: 76.0
- RELEASE: 100 ms
Compared with other synths: Voice the chord directly using Hydrasynth's polyphony — the same real-chord approach as Summit and MiniFreak, no layering workaround needed.
How the synths compare
Same polyphony as Garage Chord Stab Pluck — Digitone II (16 voices), Syntakt (SY CHORD machine), Summit, Hydrasynth and MiniFreak (6 voices) voice a true chord directly; Typhon needs the two-voice workaround.
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.