Two Envelopes, One Voice
Volume shape and tone shape, working together.
Two envelopes shape every note. Line them up or offset them — that's the patch.
// WHAT IT DOES
Every standard synth has at least two envelopes: amp (volume over time) and filter (cutoff over time). They don't have to share settings. The relationship between them is where character lives.
Long amp release + short filter release = a note that fades out duller than it started. Short amp + long filter = the filter never gets to finish moving before the sound dies.
The combinations are infinite, but a handful of recipes cover most cases. Get those into your fingers and you can design quickly.
- • Most 'this preset is off but I don't know why' moments come down to envelope mismatch.
- • It's the cleanest way to differentiate similar patches without changing the oscillator.
- • Lining the two envelopes up vs deliberately offsetting them is the whole craft of envelope design.
// SEE & HEAR IT
▸ The envelope opens the filter on attack, settles at sustain, closes on release. Big ENV + short DEC = the classic synth pluck.
▸ HOW IT WORKS
- • Tail brightness changing relative to tail volume.
- • 'Filter exists past the sound' (you don't hear filter changes once amp = 0).
- • Different envelope shapes giving the same notes different emotional weight.
▸ WALKTHROUGH (4 steps)
- 1. DO: Match both envelopes (A=10 ms, D=300 ms, S=0.5, R=400 ms). Hold a note.▸ LISTEN: Coherent, predictable note shape.
- 2. DO: Set filter release to 50 ms while amp release stays 400 ms.▸ LISTEN: Tail goes dull quickly, hangs around quiet.
- 3. DO: Set filter release to 1.5 s while amp release stays 400 ms.▸ LISTEN: Filter never finishes — the bright top is cut off short by amp.
- 4. DO: Try amp S=1, filter S=0. Hold the note.▸ LISTEN: Steady volume, but cutoff slowly closes — note 'fades dark' while staying loud.
▸ COMMON MISTAKES
- ✗ Copy-pasting amp envelope into filter envelope and missing the design opportunity.
- ✗ Setting filter release to 0 — you lose all tail character.