Hihat/cymbal synthesis kit

[noisenerd]

Here is the beginnings of a hihat/cymbal synth. Eventually I plan to make some variation of this part of a larger drum synth. It makes a decent sound as it is, but there's lots of room for tweaking to your personal needs. Suggested usage would be finding settings you like, and replacing most of the controls with static values, possibly replacing the filters, adding a more suitable envelope setup, etc.

It's basically just a combination of several "classic" ways of making cymbal noise. There are 8 high-frequency squarewaves, which are combined through simple mixing (ala 808), XOR gates (ala KR-55), and multiplication (not all 8 oscs get XOR'd or multiplied). The mix of these combinations is controllable with knobs. There is also filtered noise which can be mixed in. The final output is fed through two parallel filters.

Feel free to modify and/or use it as you see fit.

The crossfader I used is by glitchcpt, found here on this very forum (apologies if I'm forgetting to mention anyone else's work, iirc the rest is standard FS stuff):

http://www.dsprobotics.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3252&p=17339&hilit=crossfader#p17339

[Spogg]

Hi noisenerd.

I like it!

I had a quick play with it and could achieve a huge range of sound variations, not just cymbals.
I'm always keen on focussed synthesisers; those that explore a particular method or are designed for a specific outcome and this fits the bill nicely.

If I may offer this I think it could be improved by a non-linear ADSR whereby you set the curve shape for the ADR stages. Or maybe a fixed exponential shape for decay and release since this models physical behaviour better in my experience.
I think MIDI key velocity response also helps create a more real-world feel especially for percussion. Velocity as a modulation source could be assigned to various parameters, not just amplitude.
Also it's nice when an author makes a few presets to quickly show something of what can be achieved.

I'm looking forward to seeing this develop and many thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Spogg

[noisenerd]

Thanks for the comments, Spogg! Glad you like it.

The envelope thing is something I'm looking into, as that will be important for other parts of the drum synth too. My initial plans were to emulate some classic machine(s), but I'm starting to lean away from that, and towards something more flexible.

I wasn't initially planning on making this into a synth itself, just coming up with something to use inside a full drum synth... but as I play with it myself, I think I might end up doing both. And yes, there will be velocity sensitivity in the final product either way.

[TeslaTronik]

i would like to make some patches with this when you have completed it.