Filter to increase the brightness/crispness of the general Virus sound

[bluesmoose]

Here is your first post in this thread. Where does it offer tips for making brighter sounds on a Virus ?

Originally Posted by TweakHead

might be "cumbersome", but we're talking "recursive modulation" for a synthesizer that was released in 2004 folks!

and if you look at it, the B could do it! and so could the Virus A!

the Nord Lead can't even invert the polarity on the filter envelope, even on Nord Lead 4! It does sound good and very crisp and clear on highs. but if you praise that sound, why would you go for a Virus C - that is known for a more darker tone - instead of it?

but seriously, the Nord can't adjust the curve of envelopes! period! recursive modulation in the Virus is a bliss that extends it's options far beyond anything you can touch with the Lead.

this topic was about character: someone bought a Virus and likes the Nord sound better! Answer: you've made a bad choice! Try before buy! The envelope's curves have nothing to do with the kind of byte and highs you can get out of a Nord Lead. That's just the Nord sound - and some analogue machine's sound to.

The Ultranova... Well, it's just much more modern, isn't it? But there's plenty stuff the Virus C or B can do that it can't folks. More then the other way around.

Now, if we're talking multi-stage envelopes on some software instruments, ok, nothing the Virus can touch! Hardware? Can do almost anything that comes to my mind!

There's another way to change the slopes of envelopes (I remember Timo posted the work around once): it's using the LFO's in envelope mode, single hit (you know the deal), pick your wave, change the "contour", do whatever it is you like to it...

Compare that to what others said:


feedingear suggested cutting 300-400 Hz.

Originally Posted by feedingear

The virus has 3 eqs on board.

Interestingly, I always thought the Nord sounded thin and harsh - part of its appeal as a counter to the warmer, rich and thick mid sounds the Virus produces.

If you want that brighter crispier sound, cut around 3-400hz to remove boxiness and boost at 3-7k for presence...

chimney chop mentioned reverb. So, I thought I might try using a touch of reverb with the smallest room, shortest reflections.

Originally Posted by chimney chop

use the eq and/or reverb coloration to brighten the tone.

seriously, the virus c has its faults but sounding "fake/plastic" certainly isn't among them.

MBTC mentioned parallel filters, which got me thinking that I should try using with parallel filter, with the 2nd filter open a bit more but with the filter balance more toward filter 1, using the filter balance try to mix in some addtional harmonics.

Originally Posted by MBTC

This thread is interesting to me, because of how often I hear the Virus C sounds better than the newer Virus models, and that the filters are one of the big selling points of the Virus (as are the parallel filter processors on the DSP).

I personally find that as long as filters are flexible/editable enough, they in themselves are not really a pro/con to sound design. I have seen some cases where some soft synths do not offer much flexibility on things like non-linear curve or contour options or other subtle characteristics which can make it harder, for example, to put the right amount of "bite" on a pluck sound.

Does the Virus give you flexibility with regard to slope/curve of the filter? As others pointed out, overall brightness of the sound is something I'd tend to solve more with EQ. I use filters more for sculpting the core characteristics of the sound than for warmness or brightness, but of course that's a matter of personal habit.

I find it amazing that I must defend giving thanks to others.