Delay (Echo) Effects on Sub 37

[DrJ]

I'm just learning all of the features of my Sub 37 (and I'm relatively new to synthesis overall). I'm learning a lot from Syntorial synthesis course. I'm currently learning about delay or echo. I can not find the analogous features on my Sub 37. Are these features that I must add with additional components or can I create these effects on my Sub 37 alone?

[stiiiiiiive]

Hi DrJ, and welcome to the forum.

The only “delay” you will find in the Sub37 allows to trigger the envelopes not immediately on key pressing.
So you will need to add an external delay effect processor to your beloved synth, albeit a pedal, rack, plug-in etc.

[Flareless]

I just learned about Syntorial from your post. It looks quite interesting and helpful.

How are you finding the course? Are you doing the free lessons or have you purchased the full package?

I see that their VSTi synthesizer does incorporate a few external boxes (echo, chorus, etc...) no problem there for my particular setup.

By the way; I'm using a Pigtronix Echolution 2 with my Sub 37 and getting some pretty cool results.

[Chris M]

You can simulate a simple Delay with a "Saw- LFO"...

Use a LFO with down- Saw Waveform "with a Keyboard- Reset."
Set VCA as Destination and give a negative Amount.
Then give the AMP EG a long Release.
The LFO will modulate the VCA like a Echo.

[paul_sub37]

You can also get some interesting echo type effects using VCF looping:

wav audio:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zxlq6whnb7f9r ... p.wav?dl=0

patch:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1crxmuwhilq14 ... p.syx?dl=0

obviously none of these techniques can emulate the multiple note merging echo trails of a real delay.

[Chris M]

Nice!

[stiiiiiiive]

Nice indeed

[blackmental]

Or you can buy a Behringer DD400 stompbox, for the price of a Happy Meal.
I use one with my Slim Phatty. It's not as good as a Strymon or Eventide, but for that price... can't beat it.

[DrJ]

@Flareless

The Senatorial course is really great. It is so thorough. The author breaks down each part of synthesis into its most basic parts, give a quick 3 or 4 minute explanation complete with demo, then there is a challenge to test your understanding. The challenges are all performed on the soft synth that is part of the course. The synth itself is "modular" in that the author only activates the variables related to the lesson being taught. Each lesson builds upon the previous and you have to achieve a level of proficiency in one area to unlock the next more challenging concept. It is very well done and a remarkable way to learn. I bought the entire course and don't regret it one bit! I actually look forward to sitting down at the end of each day and taking the next challenge as I wind down. 5 stars all the way!

[Flareless]

@ DrJ

Thanks for the summary and the endorsement. I've started the free portion of the tutorial and I think I'll likely purchase the whole package.

[muleskinner]

I'm using a Pigtronix Echolution 2 with my Sub 37 and getting some pretty cool results.

How are you finding the Echolution? I'm thinking of picking one up...

[paul_sub37]

I signed up for syntorial's free trial too - and that really does seem well put together. Not sure if I'll pay for the rest, but the free-for-paid-subscribers minimoog voyager tutorial set look to be a nice deal sweetener.

I had been going back-and-forth on which way to jump for a delay/effects - in the end I went the ITB route with D16's Sigmund and Positive Grid's BIAS FX desktop, which made sense to me seeing as I'm bringing everything into Ableton Live and can get things in perfect tempo-sync, but I've also gone for a behringer vd400 (genuine bucket brigade analog) pedal as that is ridiculously cheap and seems silly not to give it a whirl. The downside is that it's only 300ms vs the 1.3s for the dd400 digital pedal.

[Flareless]

@DrJ

I haven't played with it a ton and have mostly tweaked its presets. I've got the standard Echolution 2, however, the software allows you to tweak parameters which are not available through the knobs on the box. It's quite cool!

The one thing I haven't tried is the MIDI interface which is very appealing to me for synchronization. I have plugged an expression pedal in which is also a cool feature. You can map it to most of the pedal's functions although I haven't tried that yet either.

The software is really nice and easy to use. The USB port is lined with a rubber grommet and you have to get the jack right in there or it won't show up as connected in the software. At first I thought I had a defective unit.

One last note... the other day I had the Echolution plugged in to my Sub 37 and I was getting a buzz through the speakers. It was making me nuts because I also have a Big Muff PI Bass pedal and an Electric Mistress in the mix. I kept swapping out pedals, cables, etc... trying to eliminate the problem. It turned out that when the USB cable is plugged in there is some noise introduced on the line. I liked having the USB plugged in as it made working with the pedal on-the-fly easier but now I just plug it in when it needs programming.

I plan to work more in depth with the pedal, however, I just received my synthesizers.com modular so I'm focusing my attention on that beast.

And what a beast it is!!!!!