Freesound Forums

Hi,

I'm trying to make a supersaw (the trancy sound) in software.

I found that the supersaw is made by adding 7 sawtooths, each 12 cents apart.

So I generated these 7 sawtooth waves in C++, add them together, saved it as a .wav, and the result sounds trancy indeed, but not as good as in for example the song "Rank 1 - Airwave" which has a supersaw in it.

So I looked in Audacity to the waveshape of the result of my attempt, and the one from Rank 1 - Airwave. The wave of Rank 1 - Airwave is much more complex.

Here's the picture (I'd post it as an image but the forum didn't allow it):

http://i19.tinypic.com/4ouhxnd.png

So just adding 7 sawtooths isn't enough to get the really nice sounding shape in trance tunes.

My question is:

Does anyone have an idea how they make that waveshape? If any, what kind of filters did they apply?

Thanks.

Ok here is the deal: To get the supersaw swirling as in trance you have to add a multiplier to add to the detune differentials. Another way is to add more saws. I know that some synths are using up to 32 sawtooths to get the lush sound you are after.

Ok, other than the fact that you could make the sound more interesting with other shapes besides saws, lets focus on the problem at hand.

So you have 7 detuned saws. You're missing 3 steps.
Step 1: Pan each saw to a different place
Step 2: Reverb
Step 3: Compression, and lots off it.

Alternative to step 1: CHARSIESIS - http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2264.html <-- Use a plugin to fatten the sound.
Good compressor: GMAX - http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2190.html <-- It's simple and does the job well.

So your Effects Chain looks like this

SuperSaw --> Charsiesis --> Reverb --> GMax

Fixed the picture link for ya. Welcome to freesound, I hope these gentlemen can assist you.