Lead Pluck

This patch is similar to a noisy pluck sound I’ve been using in some recent tracks of mine, such as Iris. The patch uses Diva’s Dual VCO panel with Osc 1 set to noise at just under 50% volume and Osc 2 set to a saw wave with maximum volume. The noise adds to the transient, but also adds a soft layer on top of the sound which adds some nice texture to the overall tone. Diva’s highpass filter cuts out some of the lower frequencies created by the noise oscillator before the sound is sent to the envelope-controlled lowpass filter for the pluck.

The amplitude and filter envelopes are set up like a typical pluck sound; short attack with a medium decay and low sustain, but with long release times. With this configuration, the sound will be different if you hold a note vs quickly tap it. If you press and hold then the decay will cause the sound to be nice and short, but if you quickly tap the key the envelope’s release will take over instead, and the note will ring out. This, coupled with the envelope’s velocity control, allows for a lot of expression when playing a lead in live. If you write MIDI tracks in the piano roll then I’d recommend playing with note lengths on this patch to see how it can add some spice to things.