The art
of sound design
emptyvessel - on SEM V
“The strength of SEM V for me has always been the sound, the sheer gritty analogue strength that can be subtly beautiful or confronting and powerful. With V3 we now have new, advanced modulation sources which do so much to expand the capabilities of the instrument. This really extends the possibilities we, as sound designers, can explore and bring SEM V firmly into the modern age. I prefer to make dusty, imperfect sounds full of life and organic movement, here it was also important to show the scope & timbral possibilities. I like to react to the sound of the instrument and how it makes me feel to interact with the interface, sort of like a collaboration or conversation. In this case the focus was to explore the new MultiArp, modulators and fx and to imagine this classic instrument in a modern context.”
Mindsong
I set out to create an expressive, powerful pad suitable for scoring. From there the approach is intuitive and explorative until a point is reached where I’m happy with the sound and how it plays. I mainly used the Voice Mod to give random variation in timbre & tuning to each note for an imperfect, vintage sound and a Step Seq to send more random modulation to various sources for an evolving sound.
Jumper Hitop
This patch takes advantage of the Multi-Arp to create a non-repeating pattern, the extra ADSR for controlling the level and articulation of the second high pitched oscillator and the stepped Voice Mod to add per note panning. Lastly there’s the slight high pitched “shimmer” effect that adds sparkle on top of the fundamental sound. A lot going on in one patch.
“This version with the Advanced controls and effects takes it to a whole different level but the classic and much-loved sound is still ever present. Its basic sound is just great.”
Drew Schlesinger