Step 01 / 3
Draw the high ringing tone #
Load Operator in Live 12 Suite.
Click Operator’s lower-right global area. Choose algorithm 11, the far-right diagram with four oscillators side by side: each oscillator now goes directly to the output. Set Voices 10, global Retrig Off, interpolation and antialias On, Tone 100%, Spread 0%, Transpose −14 st and Volume −33 dB. Set Time, Time < Key, Pan < Key and Pan < Rnd to 0. Leave velocity, aftertouch and mod-wheel connections Off in the global modulation matrix; set Key → Time to 0% and Pitch Bend → Pitch to +2 st.
Keep Glide, Filter, Pitch Env and Shaper Off. Switch B, C, D and LFO Off for this first step. The only active oscillator is A.
For each active oscillator, select User waveform, 64 harmonics, Repeat Off, and turn Normalize Off in the harmonic editor’s context menu. Start with every partial cleared. Click Oscillator in the central display to draw the harmonic bars; click Envelope to adjust its shape. Each bar is one partial: bar 1 is the fundamental, bar 2 is twice its frequency, and so on. Use the partial-level readout while drawing; the values below are in dB relative to a full-height bar, not oscillator output levels.
Set Fixed Off, frequency quantization On, oscillator retrigger Off, Phase 0%, Feedback 0%, frequency/velocity modulation 0, and level/key scaling 0%. Leave oscillator pitch-envelope and LFO destination switches On; the global pitch envelope remains Off, and the LFO’s pitch amount will be zero.
Use envelope Initial and End −∞ dB, Peak and Sustain 0 dB, Decay 500 ms, Loop None, and time/release velocity scaling 0%. Set the amplitude envelope slopes to Attack 0%, Decay 100%, Release 0%: the attack and release segments should be straight. Peak and sustain are equal, so the decay segment stays flat.
Set A to Coarse 9, Fine 0, Level 0 dB, Attack 2.057 s, Release 4.300 s and Vel 40%. Live rounds the displayed times to 2.06 s and 4.30 s.
Draw these three partials in A. Leave partials 4–64 Off.
| Partial | Level |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.0 dB |
| 2 | −2.3 dB |
| 3 | −10.5 dB |
The high ratio gives the pad its ringing center; the other oscillators will fill in below it. At the audition note, A’s fundamental is approximately 1048 Hz.
Hear step 1:
Next: Add the lower harmonic layers →Step 02 / 3
Add the lower harmonic layers #
Enable B, C and D, using the common oscillator switches and envelope levels from step 1. Keep A unchanged and the LFO Off.
| Control | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coarse | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Fine, Operator units | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Level | −1.9 dB | −9.1 dB | −6.0 dB |
| Attack | 2.294 s | 2.800 s | 2.380 s |
| Release | 3.700 s | 4.100 s | 4.000 s |
| Vel | 0% | 0% | 35% |
Draw their partials using the table below. B and C use the same spectrum; their different Fine settings and attack times add slow beating and a gradual change in tone. Fine 3 is an Operator control value, not three cents. D adds a quiet set of low odd harmonics.
Partial levels are separate from each oscillator’s Level knob. Leave every unlisted partial Off, including partials above 38. Keep Normalize Off so adding bars does not automatically reduce the other partials.
| Partial | A, dB | B, dB | C, dB | D, dB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.0 | Off | Off | -18.4 |
| 2 | -2.3 | -26.7 | -26.7 | Off |
| 3 | -10.5 | Off | Off | -12.3 |
| 4 | Off | -25.7 | -25.7 | Off |
| 5 | Off | Off | Off | -11.9 |
| 6 | Off | -27.0 | -27.0 | Off |
| 7 | Off | Off | Off | -16.8 |
| 8 | Off | -30.5 | -30.5 | Off |
| 10 | Off | -21.8 | -21.8 | Off |
| 11 | Off | -14.0 | -14.0 | Off |
| 12 | Off | -15.5 | -15.5 | Off |
| 13 | Off | -13.1 | -13.1 | Off |
| 14 | Off | -13.9 | -13.9 | Off |
| 15 | Off | -17.3 | -17.3 | Off |
| 16 | Off | -19.7 | -19.7 | Off |
| 17 | Off | -22.2 | -22.2 | Off |
| 19 | Off | -14.3 | -14.3 | Off |
| 20 | Off | -11.5 | -11.5 | Off |
| 21 | Off | -13.1 | -13.1 | Off |
| 22 | Off | -13.3 | -13.3 | Off |
| 23 | Off | -15.3 | -15.3 | Off |
| 24 | Off | -23.1 | -23.1 | Off |
| 25 | Off | -24.8 | -24.8 | Off |
| 26 | Off | -21.0 | -21.0 | Off |
| 28 | Off | -16.6 | -16.6 | Off |
| 29 | Off | -10.8 | -10.8 | Off |
| 30 | Off | -21.8 | -21.8 | Off |
| 31 | Off | -13.1 | -13.1 | Off |
| 32 | Off | -29.8 | -29.8 | Off |
| 33 | Off | -22.4 | -22.4 | Off |
| 34 | Off | -29.2 | -29.2 | Off |
| 35 | Off | -14.8 | -14.8 | Off |
| 36 | Off | -27.6 | -27.6 | Off |
| 37 | Off | -15.5 | -15.5 | Off |
| 38 | Off | -23.7 | -23.7 | Off |
B and C fill the spaces between the stronger high harmonics. Their attacks are slightly slower than A’s, so the texture grows denser as the note opens.
Hear step 2:
Next: Add slow modulation and stereo chorus →Step 03 / 3
Add slow modulation and stereo chorus #
Enable Operator’s LFO and click its section to open the central controls.
| LFO control | Value |
|---|---|
| Wave / Range | Sine / Low |
| Rate | 35.00, as displayed |
| Amount | 30% |
| Retrigger | Off |
| Destination A amount, pitch | 0% |
| Destination B / Amount B | Volume / 60% |
| Rate < Key / Amount < Vel | 0% / 0% |
| Envelope Attack | 0.00 ms |
| Initial / Peak / Sustain / End | −∞ / 0 / 0 / −∞ dB |
| Envelope Decay / Release | 600 ms / 50.0 ms |
| Envelope Loop | None |
| Envelope time/release velocity scaling | 0% |
This introduces a gentle change in loudness. Keeping the pitch destination at zero avoids vibrato.
Add Chorus-Ensemble after Operator and set:
| Chorus-Ensemble control | Value |
|---|---|
| Mode | Chorus |
| Rate | 0.90 Hz |
| Amount | 17% |
| Feedback | 2% |
| Feedback inversion | On |
| Delay time | 7 ms |
| Delay taps | 2 |
| Width | 130% |
| High-pass filter | Off |
| Warmth | 0% |
| Output | 0 dB |
| Dry/Wet | 100% |
The short modulated delay spreads the pad across the stereo field without adding a long reverb tail.
Hear step 3:
The final signal order is four parallel Operator oscillators → Operator output with volume modulation → Chorus-Ensemble. Keep Operator’s filter, pitch envelope and shaper Off.
Play C2 / MIDI 48, C3 / MIDI 60 and G3 / MIDI 67 at velocity 100, then try C3 at velocity 55. Allow two to three seconds for the pad to open and roughly four seconds for the release. Short notes give a quieter, softer swell. Use single notes or widely spaced voicings to leave room for the high harmonics.
Audio & settings ↓