Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Creating retro sounds with hard synced oscillators in Reaktor 6 Primary.

"Hard sync" is synthesis technique that uses two oscillators: when one oscillator (the "leader") finishes a cycle, it resets the period of the other oscillator (the "follower"), creating a period at the frequency of the leader, but a timbre from the incomplete cycles of the follower.

This is a really easy way to create original, complex sounds, using just two oscillators.

I say "1980s", here but check out this sound in the Cars 1979 hit, "Let's Go" (played on a Prophet-5 Synthesizer - youtu.be/rpA3NVafsdo).

0:00 Defining "Hard Sync"
0:38 Building a Single Oscillator
1:35 Adding the "Follower"
3:03 Changing the Pitch Relationship
4:40 That Hard Sync Sound
4:57 How it Works
6:30 Follower Lower than Leader
7:25 Adding an Amplitude Envelope
8:10 Adding a Filter (for a bit)
9:28 Closing, Next Steps

Reaktor 6 Beginner Tutorials here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7w4cOVVxL6H9iE7Nuvo0vtQHDfXPzTVE
More Intermediate Reaktor Tutorials here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7w4cOVVxL6HQ6JrYWso_B3gaLAHQheYG

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#Reaktor #Reaktor6 #SoundSynthesis #SoundDesign #ExperimentalMusic #synthwave #retrosynth