How to muffle/soften a TTS-1 instrument?

[Dave G]

I realize that, in the TTS-1 synth, there are limited options to change the sound of the instrument.

Is there perhaps a way to muffle/soften the sound of an instrument? Like, any instrument that sounds too tinny, metallic, or "twangy"?

Any info is appreciated.

Thank you!

Edited August 4, 2021 by Dave G

[Byron Dickens]

EQ.

Better instruments.

EQ some better instruments.

[Mark Morgon-Shaw]

Use lower velocities if it responds to them.

Dynamic Eq can help, so can a transient plugin like Trans-X if you set it to a negative value or plugins such as Gullfoss, Soothe or Smooth Operator can take the resonant peaks out fairly automatically. It's probably cheaper to buy a better VST instrument though.

TTS-1 was pretty basic when it came out , I think I only ever used it for a hi hat..rest of the sounds were'n't up to much 20 odd years ago when it was first bundled so whatever treatment you give it the underlying sounds are still low quality.

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Mark Morgon-Shaw

[Eddie]

Search the TTS-1 help file for "cutoff".

You can use CC#74 to reduce the cut-off frequency of some instruments to change the "brightness" of the sound.

[scook]

Try adding an ampsim such as TH3 in the FX Rack on the guitar tracks.

[John Vere]

The fast answer is -don’t use them -use  a VST that has a sound you like. There are a lot of free VST’s and somewhere below this thread is a thread that lists just about all of them. 

The long answer is you can send the tts-1 to 4 outputs and then use the Pro Channel effects to improve the quality of the sound. 

[Promidi]

10 hours ago, Eddie said:

Search the TTS-1 help file for "cutoff".

You can use CC#74 to reduce the cut-off frequency of some instruments to change the "brightness" of the sound.

^^^ This is the best way  .  Also, CC71 is for resonance.

[bitflipper]

The TTS-1 is sample-based, and like any sample player it does not have the range of sound-shaping you'd get in a synthesizer. But it is entirely capable of accommodating you in this case. There are several approaches you can take.

• EQ is the most obvious and easiest solution. Any EQ will do, e.g. ProChannel or the Sonitus EQ. Use a low-pass filter,  or in some cases a tilt filter.
• Modifying your MIDI velocity is the second-easiest. Most, if not all, of TTS-1's instruments respond to velocity. Lowering velocity is a good technique for any sampled instrument, e.g. even fat  sounds like big drums sound more epic at low velocities.
• All of the TTS-1's parameters are automatable. I used to manually drop in some CC events at the front of a TTS-1 track to bake its tone settings right into the track.

I don't use the TTS-1 for much beyond click and temp tracks, but I can tell you that it's a surprisingly capable instrument if you're patient and willing to experiment.

[Grzegorz Moskal]

If a VST has multiple outputs, you can route instrument groups or even single instruments to separate tracks and apply effects to them separately.
In TTS you need to click a rectangle on "EDIT" bar for the desired instrument, then tweak filter and cutoff.

[Terry Kelley]

Do you have any way to fashion a rudimentary lathe?

[Promidi]

On 8/4/2021 at 11:35 AM, Dave G said:

I realize that, in the TTS-1 synth, there are limited options to change the sound of the instrument.

Is there perhaps a way to muffle/soften the sound of an instrument? Like, any instrument that sounds too tinny, metallic, or "twangy"?

 

In TTS-1, for a given track, MIDI CC74 is a low pass filter.    The value 63 is the default value.  Values less than 63 will decrease the frequency. 

MIDI  CC71 controls the resonance.  Again, the value 63 is the default value.

[Dave G]

I'm sorry I'm just getting back to this topic. Thank you for the detailed replies!

As I don't really dabble in compression or EQ, I'm still learning other ways (more within my personal comfort zone) to tweak the sound of my instruments to make them come out less..."cheap-sounding".

Usually, I use TTS-1 as a reference instrument, and then later replace it with one from Cakewalk Sound Center or Studio Instruments. That way, with a higher quality instrument, I feel I have to do less tweaking.