French Horn
The French Horn is more mellow than a trumpet, but still rich and full.
If you set the filter to LP2, you’ll get a more trumpet like sound.
1: Use a sawtooth wave.
2: ENV-A is controlling both the filter cutoff and amp level. Patch ENV-A to filter FM1.
3: Amp Envelope Attack: Brass sounds reach full volume quickly but with a slight buildup. Give ENV-A a fast but not instantaneous attack. This mirrors the time it takes for the player’s breath and lip vibrations to stabilize.
4: Amp Envelope Release: Use a short release time. Brass instruments cease producing sound abruptly after the player stops blowing.
5: Set VCO-B to LFO range.
6: Patch VCO-B sine to filter FM3.
7: Set the filter to LP4 for a more muffled, mellow sound. Use LP2 for a brighter sound.
8: Simulate the raspiness of a brass instrument’s initial attack with a fast LFO that’s been shaped by ENV-B:
Setup ENV-B as a burst generator. It should produce a short burst with lots of pulses.
Patch ENV-B to VCA-B CV in.
Patch the LFO to VCA-B in.
Patch VCA-B to VCO-A FM1.
Keep the amount of FM on VCO-A very subtle. Try it with positive and negative amounts of FM.
Try sending ENV-B’s burst directly to VCO-A FM1.
9: (Optional) If you want want the burst to fire on legato notes, patch trigger to ENV-B gate.
Using VCF LP2:
Further Reading
Gordon Reid delves into the fundamentals of synthesizing wind instruments, explaining the similarities between vibrating strings and air columns in pipes, and how to recreate them.
Synthesizing Brass Instruments
Explains the principles of synthesizing brass instruments, using subtractive synthesis to recreate realistic trumpet-like sounds.
Roland SH101 & ARP Axxe Brass Synthesis
How to synthesize brass sounds on simple monosynths like the Roland SH101 and ARP Axxe by adapting idealized brass patches to suit their more limited capabilities.
Gordon Reid demonstrates how to create brass patches on the Minimoog.
A YouTube video where Steve Porcaro demonstrates how to synthesize a synth brass lead by focusing on shaping the attack using sharp, transient "blip" envelopes on one oscillator.