How to use the Supersaw

The Supersaw is a supersaw synthesizer and one of Soundation’s Virtual instruments. It’s a really straightforward synthesizer great for anything like short plucks to large and wide pads with character. It’s also polyphonic, which means you can play chords with it. If you’re looking for a massive, bright, and lush sound, this is the synth for you!

Future pad
Flutter synth

What is a Supersaw?

The term Supersaw comes from one of the waveforms of Roland JP-8000. This is a synthesizer from 1996 that got very popular in trance music because of its huge, hyped-up sound. The special sound comes from multiple sawtooth waveforms being detuned away from each other. More recently, this type of sound is being used a lot in future bass music.

Adding Supersaw presets [Beginner]

1
Open Soundation and create a project
2
Click on Instrument presets in the Sound library
3
Search for “Supersaw”
4
Drag in a preset to the Arrangement area
5
Start playing or drawing in notes

Making Supersaw sounds [Pro]

1
Open Soundation and create a project
2
Click on Add channel and add an Instrument channel
3
Change the instrument to Supersaw in the Bottom panel
4
Click on Edit Supersaw to open the instrument
5
Start tweaking the settings to your liking

Envelope

The Envelope controls the shape and movement of the amplitude (loudness). It’s a standard ADSR envelope, which stands for Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release. You can adjust it to create anything from short plucks to long growing pads.

Attack

Attack is the amount of time it takes for the amplitude to reach the maximum level from when the note starts. Set it low for a fast attack that works well for plucks. Set it high for a slow attack that works well for pads.

Decay

Decay is the amount of time it takes to move from the maximum amplitude to the Sustain amplitude. Set it low for a fast plucky sound and high for a slower descent. If the Sustain is all the way up, the Decay will not make a difference.

Sustain

Sustain is the amplitude level for when a note is being held out. Set it low for a sound that doesn’t sustain, which is good for plucks. Set it high for a sustained sound, which is good for pads.

Release

Release is the amount of time it takes for the amplitude to drop to silence after the note has ended. Set it low if you want the note to go away quickly, which is good for plucks. Set it high if you want the note to continue to ring out, which is good for pads.

Detune

Detune is how much the pitches of the waveforms are tuned away from each other. Set it to around 0% for a metallic sound, 10% for a lush sound, 30% for a swarming sound, and everything above 30% starts sounding more and more dissonant. Most of the time you want to stay under 30%.

Spread

Spread is how far the voices are spread out to the sides. 0% is mono and 100% is full stereo width. Keep it higher for a classic wide supersaw sound.