Subharmonic Sythesis

[chernman]

I'm looking to add a little rumble to my mix and I was wondering what a subharmonic sythesizer would do for me.

Even more, is there a way that I can rig up a poor-mans sub-h synth with a decent pitch shifter. My impression is that a Sub Synth like the dbx 120 is not much more than a pitch shifter set one octave down with a few extra tweeks.

Can anyone shed some light on this and correct me if I'm wrong (which is usually the case).

Thanks,
Chern

 

[sjoko2]

a subharmonic synth is not a pitch shifter. It will take your existing sound and extend the low end, that's all.

 

[chernman]

This is from the dbx website about the 120A:

"unique because the dbx process actually produces a new, Waveform Modeled™ bass note, exactly an octave below the bass in the original audio."

Is this different than pitch shifting?

 

[sjoko2]

you're right - didn't know it did that. I've only ever encountered ones that enhance the low end.

 

[chernman]

That feature seems exclusive to that model and maybe isn't present in your average everyday unit (if there is such a thing).

When you say "enhance", do you know more specifics? A particular freq boost maybe or dynamic compression related to specific EQ areas?

I suppose for the brain cells I'm burning on this, I could just go out and get one.

Thanks for attention.

Chern

 

[sjoko2]

The ones that became popular in studios about a decade ago (and faded away just as fast), were basically EQ's with a low frequency peak and a noise reduction element.
The DBX you mention is mainly used in clubs and live gigs, to give an extra boost to the low end.
Personally, I believe sufficient low end should be present in your mix as a matter of cause. A low frequency enhancement based on an octave splitter will be very difficult if not impossible to apply on a whole mix without incurring the obvious artifacts. You could use it for a kick, synth etc.
If you feel your mixes are lacking low end, just up it a bit.
Also, unless you are using a very large and wide range monitoring system, or one with subs, a sub synth will put stress on your monitors and often effect monitor accuracy.