Stage 2: Synth Plugin and Layering

Now with the melody written down onto FL Studio, I need to take those notes and plug them into the synthesizer plugin. First I need to open up the synth plugin in the channel rack. I used the plugin called Sylenth1.

Sylenth channel opened in the channel rack

Opening up the plugin, you can see there are a lot of virtual knobs, levers, as well as a piano keyboard to experiment with. Within a plugin like this, there are many possible sounds you can create. I won't be covering what each knob does here on the blog because frankly, I'm not entirely familiar myself.

Interface of Sylenth1

With the melody notes written onto FL Keys' piano roll from the last blog, we can transfer that information onto the piano roll of Sylethn1. This action lets Sylenth1 know which notes to play during playback.

Sylenth1 channel is created carrying the notes of the melody

As I said before, I'm not entirely familiar with Sylenth1. With the short amount of time that I am limiting myself, learning what each feature does and what influences they have on the sound I am making is impossible. Thankfully from a tutorial video I've watched during the research phase of this project, there were presets that were shared and allowed for creative use. The first of the presets I used manipulates the melody into a sort of a "buzz" sound. Have a listen.



This buzz lead will serve as one of the few sounds I will layer in order to create the final product. I will need to layer sounds together so that my melody will sound "full".

To layer sounds, I've opened up three additional Sylenth1 channels and repeated the processes of transferring the melody onto their respective piano rolls. After inputting different settings onto each plugin, I've created 3 more sounds to give the melody some character.

Channel rack with the 4 leads made

Have a listen to each of these unique sounds:







And here's the 4 leads layered together (Note that this is without much change to the volume values of the leads):




With the main melody sounds finished, I've turned my attention to the chords. As I mentioned in the previous post, the chords will act as a form of support as a background layer and also make the overall sound "fuller".

I repeated the same process I've done earlier to establish the sounds for the chords. The only change I've done to the chords is that I made the length of each note match up with the melody.

So instead of this:

Before shortening the chord notes

I have this:

After shortening the chord notes

Now the chords sound like this:



For the most part, almost all the layers needed for the melody are completed. The only layers needed is the bassline and the sub-bass layers. Since the layers we created mostly take up the higher frequencies of the melody, I needed to include layers that accompanies the lower frequencies to give the melody some depth.

Using the lower notes of the chord and submitting that onto two additional Sylenth1 channels, creates the bassline that I need.

Notes for the bassline

Notes of the sub-bass

If you compare the chord and bassline notes, you may notice a change I've done where I shifted the highest set of notes down (from a higher D note to a lower D note). This was to create some variation with the melody while maintaining a harmony.

Lowering the D note

Here's how the bassline and sub-bass layers sound like:





Bassline and sub-bass layer together:



Chords and bassline layers played together:



Now with all the elements that make up the melody is created, it sounds like this (Note that this is before anything is done to the layers' volume values and also is before any effects are added):



The melody is coming together nicely. However, though we layered all the sounds together to give the melody the depth it needed, it still sounds a bit empty. You can tell by listening or looking at the waveform above, there are small gaps of empty space that are still present. In the next stage, comes the part where I add effects to make the melody sound fuller.