SimSynth Fruity Live

F.A.Q.

What does SVF stand for?

"State Variable Filter". It was a type of filter used in old Oberheim synthesizers. It has a soft slope, (meaning a bright sound). SimSynth actually uses a modified SVF algorithm.

What's the chorus switch?

It widens the stereo output by slightly delaying and modulating the frequency of one channel. It usually adds a nice, stereo touch to any preset - however, it can cause a side effect called "phase cancellation" which might not be desired. (Phase cancellation causes the worst problem with bass sounds, especially if they get mixed to mono and played through a subwoofer at some point).

What does the "Studio Quality Render" option in the menu do?

Digital oscillators suffer from a problem called "aliasing" when playing high frequencies. The studio option almost completely eliminates it from the sound of SimSynth voices when rendering a fruityloops mix. The only reason not to use it is that the technique is slow and can cause the render to take a long time.

Be aware that when enabled, it affects all SimSynth voices in the song.

I turn the LFO knob in an oscillator section or the SVF section and nothing happens. What's up?

The LFO is not turned on. Click the little power switch in the LFO section.

Why is my preset so loud/quiet?

Notice that there are levels for each oscillator as well as the final level. (People often overlook the effect of this on the overall volume).

I get a "pop" everytime a note plays. How can I fix it?

Add a little attack to the envelope. (Note, this isn't a bug in the program. If the attack is not quick enough to allow a pop in some presets, other presets can't get enough "bite").

Did the actress who plays"Seven of Nine" have her lips puffed?

I can only speculate, but I think she did.

Should I change the volume of my voice with the Level knob on the SimSynth panel, or with the volume knob on the fruityloops channel?

The Level knob on the SimSynth panel is saved with the preset. It's normally used to set all your presets to the same volume so that you don't have to adjust the fruity channel volume everytime you try another preset.

There's a knob that won't turn. What's wrong?

All the knobs except the envelope knobs are in a section which can be turned off or on. When a section is off the knobs don't turn. (SimSynth is designed this way so that it can run faster when some features aren't used).

I like the FAT sound, but sometimes it’s TOO fat. It steps all over my mix, especially the bass. Is that supposed to be good?

All the processing you do to a sound after it’s generated is subtractive. Volume attenuation, EQ, even effects like reverb or chorus introduce phase cancellation and remove some of the sound. The great thing about classic analog (style) synths is that they produce a fat and pure enough sound that you can process it a ton and it still retains its character. If it’s too much, you can always intentionally strip it. For example, don’t be reluctant to use the “BAND” knob to correct a preset that’s stepping on your bass, or add an EQ effect to the track, etc.