Snare Layered
A synthesized snare voice in a single module. It blends a pitched sine "tone," a band of filtered noise, and a sharp transient "snap" into one mono hit — from tight, snappy cracks to fat, noisy backbeats.
How it works
Three layers fire together on every trigger. A sine oscillator gives the drum its pitched body, complete with a fast pitch-drop at the attack for that characteristic snare "thwack." A lowpass-filtered noise burst supplies the rattle and air. A second, very-fast noise transient adds the initial snap. Body, Noise, and Snap balance the three; Tone and Decay set the pitch and length.
Controls
- Tone — fundamental pitch of the body oscillator,
100–400Hz. Lower for deep, dry snares; higher for tight piccolo cracks. - Decay — how long the tone and noise tails ring out,
0.05–0.5s. The snap stays short regardless. - Body — level of the pitched sine component; the drum's weight and pitch.
- Noise — level of the filtered noise band; the rattle and air of the hit.
- Snap — level of the brief transient burst; the attack crack that cuts through a mix.
Inputs & outputs
- Trig — a rising edge fires the voice and resets its envelopes. Patch a clock, gate sequencer, or drum trigger.
- Vel — velocity. Unpatched it sits at full level;
+5Vdoubles the hit,-5Vsilences it — patch an accent or modulation source for dynamics. - Tone — pitch CV for the body,
±5Vexponential. Sweep it for tom-like rolls or per-hit detuning. - Out — the mono snare signal at audio level.
Tips
- Pull Body down and push Noise and Snap up for a brushy, rim-shot character; reverse it for a deep electronic tom-snare.
- Short Decay with a high Tone gives a crisp, gated snare that sits cleanly under a busy pattern.
- Feed Tone a slow envelope or LFO for snares that bend in pitch across a fill.