SY-300 - Advice for programming "stacker"-like patches

Started by Rhcole, July 10, 2017, 11:07:32 AM

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Rhcole

A few days ago, I developed a patch that uses the Exp Pedal to set two control point for Osc holds. I named the patch "Stacker".
Over the weekend, I worked with it for hours and created around 8 other new patches using this approach. It changed my usage of the SY-300 virtually overnight.
You use the Exp Pedal very much like a wah pedal, finding the two sweet spots that you programmed for holds. By playing to match the position of the pedal, you can get intervals and chords to perform drastically better regarding glitching and pitch shifts. In some cases, the sounds rival a MIDI synth, in others, you get hex-like performance from the SY. At a minimum and playing a bit carelessly, I would say your pitch shifts will be about 50% improved.

Here is what I have learned: I recommend the first Osc Hold have a pedal range of maybe 35 - 55, meaning when it kicks in and releases. Hold 2 consider something like 85 -110. What that does is it separates the two holds so you can "feel" them more easily, and you can possibly re-trigger them without going back to the full heel position. I set the Exp to always swell in as well, so that if you misplayed a note and it sounds bad when swelling in, you can cancel it out quickly and nobody will notice.

The patches I've posted thus far are starting points. I have renamed them all because the stacker technique has been integrated into every patch that can use it so it is no longer worth naming them separately for me. With this approach, the SY BY ITSELF now functions as a functional polysynth for me, meaning that the Mel9 etc. are nice add-ons but not critical to having a playable device. Up to this point, the SY was too hobbled by its poor intervals to work by itself for me.
This has now been resolved well-enough to use it as a standalone synth.