Sub Phatty pink noise

[kingfriday]

I've been exploring the Sub's pink noise generator and I have to say, I'm not entirely sold on it yet. Maybe I'm missing something, but it sounds very "rough" to my ear. Almost as if there are some low frequency "chunks" in there that make it less smooth. It's cool in its own unique way, but it seems too bottom heavy and rough to be used in the traditional way a noise gen is used on a synth. Layering it onto a tone based patch totally muddies up the lows.

Can anyone talk about how they're using the pink noise gen and how to get useful sounds out of it? I was under the impression pink noise was "more desirable" but right now, I'd trade it for white noise if I could.

Amos - is there a way to change the noise gen to white noise through a firmware update? If so, I'd put that at the top of my wish list.

[Amos]

there's not a way to change it in firmware as it's all analog.
I wasn't sold on it either at first but it grew on me; a couple things to keep in mind are that you probably don't want it distorted so keep its level at 12:00 or below... distortion creates clipping which is "bad noise" in this context.
Second is to use resonance to take the rumble out of it when you want less bottom-heavy noise.
These things help... however if you really need a totally different type of noise for a given sound, try injecting your own noise source into the external audio input. You could try an AM/FM radio or an old television tuned between stations, a modular noise source, noise output from another synth...

[kingfriday]

I figured that would be the case with the noise gen, just wasn't sure. No prob. I'll keep playing around with it. I have found it to be capable of producing some pretty massive electro toms.

I tried the noise source on my CP-251 and it actually sounds very similar to the pink noise coming from the Sub. Is the CP also running pink noise?

[Amos]

the CP-251 is "whatever Bob tuned it to be" -- I've never analyzed it! It would be interesting to look at the spectrum of various analog noise sources and compare them... a lot of times it's done by ear until it "sounds right" to the designer.

[modul8tr]

I figured that would be the case with the noise gen, just wasn't sure. No prob. I'll keep playing around with it. I have found it to be capable of producing some pretty massive electro toms.

Woo! Massive electro toms! Can't wait to hear those. Mine just arrived yesterday and I've been too busy to unpack it.

[Portamental]

Spectrogram noise analysis



Model D Pink noise : downward exponential from sub audio (0 Hz) all the way to 12k Hz

Model D White noise : pretty much even from 0 to 12k Hz

CP-251 noise : no noise at sub audio frequencies, sharp increase to main magnitude around 1000 Hz, downward exponential from there all the way to 12k Hz

Pick the one you like...

Model D will cost you a little bit

Sub Phatty, dunno, bring me one

[kingfriday]

Very nice, Porta. I knew the cp had a little bottom heaviness to its noise! Interesting that there is no information in the sub on the CP.

[misterpete]

GREAT IDEA! ~ stoked to try tuning in AM/FM radio between stations as noise source in- thanx Amos!

I'm still waiting on my Sub Phatty ~ but this is an interesting thread, since the pink noise was one of the reasons i originally decided to order a subby since it is different from the white noise in all the rest of the existing moog family line ~ since then I picked up an old 70s KORG MS-10 which does have both pink and white noise outs and having fun with that until my subby gets here

You could try an AM/FM radio or an old television tuned between stations, a modular noise source, noise output from another synth...

[_DemonDan_]

White Noise:
http://whitenoisemp3s.com/White_Noise.wav

Pink Noise:
http://whitenoisemp3s.com/Pink_Noise.wav

Brown Noise:
http://whitenoisemp3s.com/Brown_Noise.wav

{For some reason, they're not playing full length
at the moment, but you can reloop the WAVs.}

[Howard Scarr]

(Sub Phatty's noise has too much rumble for my tastes, too)...
Idea: Use an MP3 player loaded with different "noise" tracks set to loop.

[kingfriday]

Thought I'd post a little about my journeys into the pink noise wormhole.

Ok, so.. I'm starting to realize why pink noise was chosen. It's hard to explain, but it's just a more "organic" type of noise for synthesizing percussions and weird sounds. Toms and percs sound absolutely massive and inexplicably organic. Coupled with the fast envelopes, this is totally new sonic territory for a phatty, yet it has a very "vintage' feel to it.

You won't get the best results when using this noise to do the traditional "noise bite" technique of layering noise on top of a synth stab. It's too bassy and will take away the focus of the stab. However, you can layer it underneath a strong bass tone for some really interesting volatility. I put the noise at 1 (just enough to hear it) then layer the oscs on top quite loudly. It seems to "disrupt" the sound in a pleasing and glitchy way that I've not heard before. Very lofi and cool.

I will also say that it's not particularly well suited to the classic "noise whoosh" (noise through a swept filter, used during EDM buildups, etc), though, it can be done. The whooshes just tend to have a rougher quality to them, though as Amos pointed out, you can smooth the lows a bit with some 4pole resonance. Not too concerned about this because I've got a zillion filters and noise sources that can do "typical" noise whooshes.

It's also really cool to just jack the noise into the filter, blast the resonance and let it drone through a bunch of effects. The low frequency content of the noise "glues" to the resonance in an unpredictable way that is just flat out awesome. So, there you have it. Sub's pink noise is starting to win me over. The trick is to use if for what it's good at and not to force it to do things it's not.

[dswo]

Thanks for reporting back, kingfriday -- those tips are very practical.

[stiiiiiiive]

The trick is to use if for what it's good at and not to force it to do things it's not.

Hallelujah!

And that applies to any whole instrument: should be posted on the forums where members are drooling over the next piece of gear, already saying "yeah but it cannot do X or Y stuff..."