Mastering Supersaw Plus: The Ultimate Guide The supersaw—a sound born from the Roland JP-8000 in the 90s—is the backbone of modern EDM, trance, and melodic dubstep. While a standard supersaw is powerful, mastering the “Supersaw Plus” technique involves layering, advanced processing, and spatial manipulation to create massive, wall-of-sound textures.
This guide will take you from a basic saw wave to an epic, professional-grade stack, often using versatile soft synths like Vital. 1. The Core Fundamentals: Building the Sound
The foundation of any great supersaw is detuning multiple saw oscillators against each other.
Oscillator Setup: Use multiple sawtooth oscillators (or a synth with a dedicated supersaw unison mode like Vital or Serum).
Detuning: Gradually detune the oscillators. Too little sounds thin; too much sounds chaotic. Aim for a shimmering, wide effect.
Voice Stacking: If using a synth like Serum or Massive, turn up the unison voices to 7 or more to create the thick, iconic texture. 2. Layering for “Plus” Power
A single synth patch rarely sounds huge. The secret to “Plus” is layering different elements to fill the frequency spectrum.
Layer 1: The High-End Shimmer: A very bright, thin, detuned layer with a high-pass filter.
Layer 2: The Mid-Range Body: The main saw patch with moderate detuning, providing the chordal structure.
Layer 3: The Sub/Low-Mid: A simple saw or square wave, often detuned down an octave, kept in mono to provide punch and stability.
Stereo Panning: Pan layers slightly apart. Try taking one layer and panning it -90, -45, 0, +45, +90 to create an enormous stereo image. 3. Advanced Processing & Modulation
Saturation/Distortion: Use saturation (e.g., FabFilter Saturn) to make the sound bright and aggressive.
Hyper/Dimension Effect: Add (like Xfer Dimension Expander) at low wet levels (5-10%) to drastically increase width without washing out the sound.
Chorus and Reverb: Subtle chorus adds movement, while a short reverb adds space without making it sound distant.
Individual Processing: Process your layers individually with EQ and compression before grouping them. 4. Pro Tips for Better Supersaws
Seventh Chords: Use seventh chords for fuller, more emotional chord voicings.
Sub Bass Control: Do not stack notes in your bass layer. Keep the low-end mono and simple to avoid muddy mixes.
Slight Variations: If layering, make the envelope or filter settings just a tiny bit different on each layer to prevent phase cancellation.
By mastering these layers and processing techniques, you can turn a basic sawtooth wave into a professional-grade “Supersaw Plus” that defines modern production. If you are interested, I can also: Detail the exact synth settings in Serum Recommend specific plugins for post-processing Provide tips for mixing these saws with vocals Let me know which area you’d like to dive into next! Struggling to improve my supersaw-synths – Gearspace
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