bleep! I just wrote A BIG post and my explorer F*&^%$ and I have to write it again. It's 2:30AM so I'll make it short.
I have a clean patch saved to my LP so I don't have to zero out a patch every time I want to start from scratch:
Osc1/Osc2 silent set to 16' and triangle, tuned to unison
Filter fully open, no resonance, no overload, no env amount
Envelopes Amp: A=0, D=0, S=100, R=0, Filter: A=0, D=0, S=0, R=0
No glide, no modulation, no sync
For basic programming I would recommend an approach like this:
1) Open OSC1 level
2) Set Amp envelope to represent a sound you want (sustaned lead, piano type attack, pucked string, fade in/fade out pad type, bleeps and bloops) This way you have the "form" and now you can tweak what's inside
3) Set OSC1 waveform and octave
4) Set filter cutoff, play with it and the waveform of the osc
5) Apply Filter envelope and play with the resonance and cutoff/maybe osc waveform
6) Open OSC2 level/waveform/octave/tune/sync
7) Apply modulation/overload/glide
Tweak everything
9) Apply external effects
THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE in my opinion is to play some melodies that you are familiar with between those programming steps so you can hear how the patch is sounding doing a thing you know, because randomly pressing keys/one key while twaking can't give you the right picture.
I'm no programming guru, so don't take what I wrote to seriously. I would like to read some tips from THE GUYS like Amos (Aaaaaaamoooooooosssssss, where are you?