[Tutorial] Sytrus Synth Creation

[ErikMcClure]

A 7-part, in-depth tutorial on synth creation with FL Studio's Sytrus electronic synthesizer.

[Part 1] (SA mirror)
[Part 2] (SA mirror)
[Part 3] (SA mirror)
[Part 4] (SA mirror)
[Part 5] (SA mirror)
[Part 6] (SA mirror)
[Part 7] (SA mirror)

Songs Made Using Tutorial Synths
Hell's Maw
Battle Theme #1

The Synth Pack, containing all the synths from part 5, plus the sequence synth built in part 6.

[Seriana]

Oh.

My.

God.

I'm going to have to refer to this many, many times to properly understand this.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this. It's really helpful from the looks of it. I used to just play with presets, now I won't feel like a cheap rip off anymore.

In your songs, is Sytrus the only instrument you used?

[ErikMcClure]

At 2/12/08 04:35 AM, DragonsGrief wrote: In your songs, is Sytrus the only instrument you used?

Yes, sytrus is the only instrument used in those songs, except for the drums, which are standard FL samples.

[Claxor]

That's some impressive shit. Fidn't read all of it, but it seems very comprehensive. :)

[Nav]

Pretty nice!

Just one thing... Moving the first slider all the way does not produce a "supersquare." That would be a synth with many detuned square waves, like a supersaw. Rather, it produces a pulse waveform, commonly used in 8-bit music.

I'll check out some more later.

[pitbulljones]

it sounds very good, but it still sounds far too fruity for my tastes, but for VG music it's pretty much nailed. Now if people could do a demo on making realistic horns then i'd be interested as every single synth i have ever used has terribly synthy horns.

[ErikMcClure]

At 2/12/08 02:57 PM, navij11 wrote: Just one thing... Moving the first slider all the way does not produce a "supersquare." That would be a synth with many detuned square waves, like a supersaw. Rather, it produces a pulse waveform, commonly used in 8-bit music.

Fixed, and thanks :)

[Nav]

At 2/12/08 05:25 PM, Blackhole12 wrote: Fixed, and thanks :)

No problem. I'll go a bit deeper, if you want.

You see, a pulse waveform is any type of waveform that is square-like. Pulses are defined in percentages. A perfect Square wave is a 50% pulse. A waveform that is like a square, but shifted halfway over is a 25% pulse. And do that again to the 25% and you get a 12.5% pulse.

Here are some pulse waveforms made using Chip32, an 8-bit wavetable synthesizer. I play one continuous note, starting with a square, and I halve the percentage each time, effectively "thinning" the waveform.

Here's the Link.

I hope this helps!

[ErikMcClure]

At 2/12/08 09:31 PM, navij11 wrote:

At 2/12/08 05:25 PM, Blackhole12 wrote: Fixed, and thanks :)

No problem. I'll go a bit deeper, if you want.

You see, a pulse waveform is any type of waveform that is square-like. Pulses are defined in percentages. A perfect Square wave is a 50% pulse. A waveform that is like a square, but shifted halfway over is a 25% pulse. And do that again to the 25% and you get a 12.5% pulse.

Noted, and please do. This is a tutorial, so it should be as accurate at possible :)

[Suspended-3rd-Chord]

pfffttt, 3xosc would kick sytrus' ass any day...

seriously tho, awesome tutorial! thanks for putting all the hard wook into that and covering that all in depth.

[loogiesquared]

HO.LY. CRAP....
that's alot of reading
and my IQ dropped 7 points.
~ty

[Buoy]

At 2/16/08 05:00 PM, loogiesquared wrote: HO.LY. CRAP....
that's alot of reading
and my IQ dropped 7 points.
~ty

You're in the negatives now!!

Congrats!!

[loogiesquared]

At 2/16/08 05:02 PM, SBB wrote:

At 2/16/08 05:00 PM, loogiesquared wrote: HO.LY. CRAP....
that's alot of reading
and my IQ dropped 7 points.
~ty

You're in the negatives now!!

Congrats!!

i try.
^^)=b

la dee da.....pi pie pie pie pie....rule 10, lamaofcocklol

[ErikMcClure]

At 2/15/08 04:53 PM, Suspended-3rd-Chord wrote: pfffttt, 3xosc would kick sytrus' ass any day...

seriously tho, awesome tutorial! thanks for putting all the hard wook into that and covering that all in depth.

Thanks, I found a distinct lack of good sytrus tutorials, and the FL studio help file is a bit... lacking. They told you how to use sytrus, but not how to make synths; so I made this to try and provide a solid basis for sytrus synth creation.

[SuperGoodSound]

Your section on synthesis is a little wacky. Your description of FM synthesis makes it seem like an additive function. You describe an example in part 3 where a saw is "mixed" with a square outputs a shape that looks a little like both. This is really not the case. The modulator waveform's sample position on the axis of polarity determines simply the amount by which the carrier's frequency is modulated. Because there is no real measurable standard for amplitude per oscillator (in this case being that all oscillators/waveforms are represented as reaching FS positive and minus poles) - the matrix offers a variable percentage by which those changes in amplitude can be implemented.

here is an example from FL's site:
http://www.flstudio.com/help/html/plugin s/Sytrus_basics.htm

Both frequency and ring modulation are kind of difficult concepts to really master.

[ErikMcClure]

At 2/17/08 06:42 AM, joshhunsaker wrote: Your section on synthesis is a little wacky. -snip-

here is an example from FL's site:
http://www.flstudio.com/help/html/plugin s/Sytrus_basics.htm

I've updated the tutorial, using FL's explanation instead.

[SuperGoodSound]

It is a fantastic article all besides.

[m0dul4r]

That's great, but I'm unable to use them. I'm only packing FL6. Up until this point, though, I had always used Audacity to make my saw samples. Well, thanks for this, I guess it is time to upgrade.

[NewgroundsDummie]

At 2/12/08 03:39 AM, Blackhole12 wrote: A 7-part, in-depth tutorial on synth creation with FL Studio's Sytrus electronic synthesizer.

[Part 1] (SA mirror)
[Part 2] (SA mirror)
[Part 3] (SA mirror)
[Part 4] (SA mirror)
[Part 5] (SA mirror)
[Part 6] (SA mirror)
[Part 7] (SA mirror)

Songs Made Using Tutorial Synths
Hell's Maw
Battle Theme #1

The Synth Pack, containing all the synths from part 5, plus the sequence synth built in part 6.

it wont work!! i tried to download this..but it kept taking me to a page that tells about it!!

[ErikMcClure]

I've tested all of the links and they are all functional. If your using the sheezyart mirror, you need to click the preview image to display the tutorial.

[Nagasaki]

this is really going to become helpful with my stuff.i use sytrus alot and almost not at all(meaning i use the default presets and dont make any of my own)thanks

[TMM43]

Oh wow. Thank you so much for this! I'm going to use it. No questions asked!

[Mrmilkcarton]

To help support this thread and Sytrus all around general use I made a song to help show off the power of sytrus.

The power of sytrus!

Every synth was created in Sytrus and only drum samples were used to support it. Read my news post if you want more information. So people stop using presets and take a look a this fine Synthesizer!

[8-bitheroes]

excellent thread, i barely know how to use sytrus so this is going to be my bible for the next couple of weeks.

[Step]

Holy mother of necro threads.

[midimachine]

At 5/31/14 10:51 AM, Step wrote: Holy mother of necro threads.

at least the info is still relevant :v
hell, FM synthesis hasn't really changed in like 30 years haha

[Step]

At 5/31/14 11:02 AM, midimachine wrote: at least the info is still relevant :v
hell, FM synthesis hasn't really changed in like 30 years haha

Haha, this thread actually brings me back. This was the first ever FL-Studio-related guide I ever used. Hell, it's my first ever music-production-related guide, period. After I read through this guide over the course of a few days I worshiped it like the bible and was so psyched that I was able to make my own sounds after just a few months of picking up FL.

Anyway yeah I would still recommend this guide despite its age. There are better alternatives to Sytrus but it's still a pretty powerful synth in itself and this guide is pretty much the most extensive Sytrus guide on the Internet!

[ErikMcClure]

wtf

I made this 6 years ago why are people even still using sytrus.

[8-bitheroes]

At 5/31/14 03:30 PM, Blackhole12 wrote: wtf

I made this 6 years ago why are people even still using sytrus.

Lol, what's wrong with sytrus? Age shouldn't be a reason not to use it. Heck alot of people would argue its more powerful than fm8. Anyway im aware this is like digging up dinosaur remains but i found this pretty usefull and i think others will still benefit from it too.

[cursed666]

At 2/12/08 03:39 AM, Blackhole12 wrote: A 7-part, in-depth tutorial on synth creation with FL Studio's Sytrus electronic synthesizer.

[Part 1] (SA mirror)
[Part 2] (SA mirror)
[Part 3] (SA mirror)
[Part 4] (SA mirror)
[Part 5] (SA mirror)
[Part 6] (SA mirror)
[Part 7] (SA mirror)

Songs Made Using Tutorial Synths
Hell's Maw
Battle Theme #1

The Synth Pack, containing all the synths from part 5, plus the sequence synth built in part 6.

Dude I would just rather use Crystal or one of the other free synth vst's you can just dl online.

You can get most of the ones I use from here.

Much less complicated than fucken with sytrus that much.