How would you make your Fantom Honk?

Um ... use a sample ... ???

No need to re-invent the wheel ...

Just had one installed!


sRa

Try this.

Sorry -- should've been more specific!

I'm looking for a *pitched* honk -- in other words, I need to be able to play it like a regular instrument. The music involved just calls for a "Honky Synth," so I'm looking for something like a choir of geese, who have all been trained to sing musically.

"I'm looking for a *pitched* honk -- in other words, I need to be able to play it like a regular instrument. The music involved just calls for a "Honky Synth," so I'm looking for something like a choir of geese, who have all been trained to sing musically."


having a sound pitched across all of the keys is what the fantom does by defaault. Whether you use a sample or whether you create a patch it will naturally be pitched across all the keys so that goes without saying, no need to be specific about that one.

Hard way: Create a patch using, say, brass samples as part of the foundation, but by the sounds of it you may not familiar with the process.

Easy way: Import a goose quack sample into the CSAM/USAM section of you fantoms memory, doing so will pitch shift the sample across the keys, mind you the quack will likely be unrecognizable beyond +/- 6 semitones. Being as real instrument samples are next to impossible to find for the Fantom you might as well make some use of the built in sampler features.

Yeah, I guess I was just hoping someone would have an idea along the lines of "start with the oboe patch and adjust these parameters, then layer on XYZ patch tweaked like so..." -- sounds like that's not in the cards this time, though.

I can't recall the last time I heard a honking goose in a song. However, it is spring!!! If you're anywhere in the north, you should be able to take a walk with your field recorder anytime soon and sample a whole goose symphony.

The show is Seussical (a musical first produced in 2000 based on the works of Dr. Seuss). The sound is used during the introduction of the Who's in Whoville, so it's supposed to be whimsically other-world-ish. So it's not so important that it actually sound like a goose, but rather that it just have a fun, honk-ish sort of sound to it.

A goose symphony would be fun. I just need a field recorder now.

Honk.

Ok, Let's break it down.

It's obviously a wind instrument. Not an oboe, although I guess there are some air horns with a reed. So, anyways, let's start with a brass patch.

Brass usually has a sharp attack peak, followed by a quick decay and we'll just say no sustain or only a little here because well it's really a honk.

How-nk --- it's a falling sound and like most brass instruments will likely have a concave or convex curve on the decay. Using the transient time and level along with decay you can adjust to suit the "ownk" sound you want to hear. Then just add enough release to get the flow right.

Of course, I'm being overly simple and it is Suess so you should have ample creative freedom. I'm not big fan of brass patches, but I've got a decent honk that might work in just a few minutes.

You need a Suess hat!

Ask, and ye shall receive!

Those come in really handy sometimes!

sRa

Nice, that's the one! I meant for your head tho - instant inspiration.

Ohh, one other thing and you might notice it's already there on the brass patch you choose - the pitch envelope. The pitch may go up slightly on the attack when more air is being forced through the mouthpiece or honker, as it may.

You might see an LFO affecting this too, as it can provide a more natural curve, but rather than getting into every nuance, I'll leave you to it.

Thanks for your help! If you feel like posting the patch you were playing with as an inspiration, or starting point, feel free!

sRa -- any chance you could post the line-drawing you made of that seuss hat? It would come in handy for some artwork that I'm also trying to put together for the show!