PATCHPADAll synth patchesAll drum patterns

Sub Drop FX

Sounds like: A deep pitch drop into the sub range, felt more than heard.

Sound type: fx · Genre: Techno, Dubstep / Bass Music, Breakbeat / Jungle · Style: classic pitch-falling sub impact used as a transition/impact element

A deep, felt-more-than-heard pitch drop from a high-ish note down to sub territory over a second or two — used as a transition hit or a weighty accent.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: FM DRUM pitch sweep (STIM/SDEP)

SYN page 1 · FM DRUM

SYN page 2 · FM DRUM

SYN page 3 · FM DRUM

SYN page 4 · FM DRUM

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

AMP page

FX page

Corrected: the original version routed an LFO to a 'PITCH' destination that doesn't exist (Digitone II's FM TONE machine has no pitch destination for its LFOs). The authentic mechanism is a different machine: Digitone II's FM DRUM machine has a built-in pitch sweep — STIM sets the sweep time (lower = shorter) and SDEP the sweep depth — which is exactly a one-shot pitch fall from high to sub, no LFO hack needed. STIM and SDEP high give the slow, deep 1-2 second fall; both operators' MOD are 0 and both waveforms are Sine for a pure sub-weight tone, with body DEC long and the transient/noise levels (TLEV/NLEV) off. Light FX-page Overdrive keeps the low end audible as the pitch drops. Parameter values (TUNE/STIM/SDEP scales aren't documented) are starting points to adjust by ear.

Syntakt

Exact match: One-shot LFO on the machine TUNE knob

SYN — SY RAW

FLTR PAGE 1

AMP PAGE 1

LFO PAGE 1

SY RAW's dual Sine waveforms give a plain, minimal-harmonic carrier suited to sub content. 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 doubles as a one-shot pitch envelope -- WAVE Exponential + MODE TRIG + a low SPD value gives a slow ~1-2s downward fall, same real mechanism as Digitone II's MOD pages.

Novation Summit

Exact match: Deep pitch drop into sub territory

OSCILLATOR 1

FILTER

AMP ENVELOPE

LFO 2

EFFECTS

LFO 2's destination is hardwired to oscillator pitch via its own section's Depth knob, so no Mod Matrix routing is needed. ONE SHOT plus a slow Ramp and large negative Depth turns it into a single ~1-2 second downward pitch fall rather than a repeating cycle. Light Distortion keeps the falling low end audible rather than disappearing as it nears sub range.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Deep pitch drop into sub territory

OSCILLATOR

ANALOG FILTER

ENVELOPE

CYCLING ENVELOPE

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX1

MODULATION MATRIX

Osc 1 is Bass: Wave is Saturate, Timbre is Fold and Shape is Noise. Mod Matrix: the CycEnv row to the Pitch 1+2 column at -90. The Cycling Envelope in Env mode with a slow Fall gives a genuine one-shot pitch-fall source, routed to Oscillator Pitch through the Mod Matrix at a large negative amount for the multi-octave drop. The standard ENVELOPE's Decay is matched to the Cycling Envelope's Fall length so amplitude and pitch finish falling together. Light Distortion keeps the falling low end audible. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Exact match: Deep pitch drop into sub territory

FRONT PANEL

AMP ADSR

M1

M1 in Envelope mode with a slow D/R gives a real one-shot pitch-fall source, routed to CV1 (pitch) -- because DEST is a CV/pitch destination, LVL is scaled in semitones rather than the usual 0-100, so -24 is a full two-octave downward drop over roughly the same length as the AMP ADSR's Decay.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Deep pitch drop into sub territory

OSCILLATOR 1

FILTER 1

AMP

ENVELOPE 2

ENVELOPE 3

MOD MATRIX

Envelope 2 is pre-wired to the Amp, so the pitch-fall needs one of the free-assign Envelope 3/4/5 slots routed to pitch via the Mod Matrix -- Envelope 3's Decay is matched to Envelope 2's so amplitude and pitch fall together over the same ~1.5s window. -128 depth is the full negative range; the manual lists Osc Pitch modulation as +/-12 semitones, so this is a one-octave fall at most -- pitch it an octave or two higher, or add Osc SEMI, if you want a longer drop.

How the synths compare

The pitch-envelope-to-pitch routing is the whole patch — if a synth's pitch envelope range is too short to cover a full 1-2 second fall, extend it with a slower LFO ramp routed to pitch instead, one-shot triggered.

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.