# Any ideas to get a nicer sound with default synths?

**URL:** <https://uzu.lurk.org/t/any-ideas-to-get-a-nicer-sound-with-default-synths/2892>\
**Category:** TidalCycles\
**Tags:** questions\
**Created:** [13 February 2021 03:12 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/any-ideas-to-get-a-nicer-sound-with-default-synths/2892 "2021-02-13T03:12:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![camilleroux](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/camilleroux/32/1731_2.png) [@camilleroux](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/camilleroux)\
**Post date:** [13 February 2021 03:12 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/any-ideas-to-get-a-nicer-sound-with-default-synths/2892/1 "2021-02-13T03:12:28Z")

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Hi

I played with chord progressions. Any ideas to get a nicer sound? It sounds very "MIDI" 😬

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ko6dMUi8VOo/maxresdefault.jpg "TydalCycles Live coding jam #1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko6dMUi8VOo)

Here is the code

```haskell
    -- Hello ! I'm Camille Roux and I'm trying Tidal. Let's have fun!

    d1 $ n (scale "minor" ("[-1,1,3]*2" + "<1 4 <5 6> 2>") + "a4") # s "superhammond"
      # release 1.5
      # room 0.6 # sz 0.6
      # cutoff 5000
      # hpf 400

    d2 $ n (scale "minor" "<1*4 4*4 <5*4 6*4> 2*4>" + "a3") # s "supersaw"
      # distort (slow 8 $ range 0 0.2 sine)
      # cutoff (slow 4 $ range 500 4000 cosine)
      # room 0.6 # sz 0.6 # orbit 1 
      

    d3 $ s "[bd:2*4, hh*8]"
      # gain 1.3
      # cutoff 6000

    d4 $ n (scale "minor" ("<-5 0>(5,8) 0*3" + "<1 4 <5 6> 2>") + "a4") # s "supersaw"
      # cutoff (slow 4 $ range 2000 7000 sine)
      # room 0.3 # size 0.5 # orbit 1 
      # decay 0.5
      -- # resonance 0.2
      -- # legato 0.

```

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**Author:** ![gamar3is](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/gamar3is/32/3020_2.png) [@gamar3is](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/gamar3is)\
**Post date:** [14 February 2021 10:11 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/any-ideas-to-get-a-nicer-sound-with-default-synths/2892/2 "2021-02-14T10:11:46Z")

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The [effects and synths](https://tidalcycles.org/index.php/All_effects_and_synths) documentation page has many options and parameters for each synth. Have you tried playing with those? Tweaking "voice" is a good start.

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**Author:** ![cleary](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/cleary/32/177_2.png) [@cleary](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/cleary)\
**Post date:** [18 February 2021 00:18 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/any-ideas-to-get-a-nicer-sound-with-default-synths/2892/3 "2021-02-18T00:18:34Z")

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@loopier 's superfm tutorial was the lightbulb moment for me when it came to synth control and possibilities in tidal:

Discussion thread:

> [@Superfm tutorial - live stream](https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/superfm-tutorial-live-stream/2358):
>
> Hello everybody, on Thursday 5th at 19:00 CET we'll be streaming an overview of the superfm synth hosted by the [Toplap Barcelona youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/toplap_barcelona/live). It's an open session to whoever is interested with a Q&A section. You're all more than invited. See you there!

Catchup:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/REgE33Esy2Q/hqdefault.jpg "Superfm super-tutorial by Loopier (a.k.a Roger Pibernat)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REgE33Esy2Q)

Also, I recommend thinking about "humanising" your patterns, the way a human plays notes on an instrument is not always at the same velocity/level, pattern your gain, note length, cutoffs, add silences etc

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**Author:** ![loopier](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/loopier/32/1152_2.png) [@loopier](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/loopier)\
**Post date:** [18 February 2021 10:16 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/any-ideas-to-get-a-nicer-sound-with-default-synths/2892/4 "2021-02-18T10:16:51Z")

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> [@cleary](#):
>
> Also, I recommend thinking about "humanising" your patterns, the way a human plays notes on an instrument is not always at the same velocity/level, pattern your gain, note length, cutoffs, add silences etc

Totally agree. I'm a big fan of adding small random variations and modulations on each step, it spices up repeating patterns a lot.