I’d be happy to! As soon as I have a few minutes to get into the studio some time in the next day or two, I’ll do a short video on how I make my main dub chord patch, I have one patch that is sort of a jumping off point for any dub chords I do on the A4 so I’ll record how I make it, if I remember it’s a pretty straightforward patch so it shouldn’t take long to recreate it in a video. I’ll reply to this post when I do it
Nice primer! I’ll use this as a jumping off point for now. I might use the second filter in bandpass mode with a slow LFO moving it around. Lots to explore but I always forget how simple the basics are for dub chords.
Looking forward to it, thanks! Trying to reach ninja status with the A4 but I’m still a lowly yellow belt. Thankfully I have a couple decades of synthesis experience so I think its just learning the features and gaining muscle memory.
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So what makes Zen Delay a perfect dub chords companion? I have one, but don’t find it any more dubby than other delays. Are you referring to the playability of the unit?
I haven’t yet, but will be! Just haven’t had nearly enough time in the studio lately.
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I can’t say that it’s the ‘perfect’ companion… I have a bit of a delay obsession, so I’m always chasing the unobtainable, but that said, it’s really good. A combination of (IMO) two things: the playability and the filter (particularly the bandpass). You can get this near infinite yet not too overdriven feedback that with a good reverb is just bliss. It begs you to experiment and play.
One thing that I think was a miss and would really have sent it next level would have been an assignable LFO. Being able to automate things like filter cutoff, feedback or resonance would be insane. I get the concept and they wanted you to ‘play’ it, but some automation in addition to two hands or operating other gear would have been incredible.
Short of that, I really don’t have a much to complain about. The overall sound is fantastic overall.
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That, and the wide feedback sweet spot, and the mix of delay, filter and drive.
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This sounds amazing. Any change of sharing the project files for some reverse engineering? 
I agree, the Zen Delay is a nice combo of delay, filter and drive. But I wish they made the decision to put the filter inside the feedback loop.
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or even switchable, that would be the best of both worlds.
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I’m fighting myself to not get an Empress Echosystem. I really thought the Zen would be the ‘one’ to end all others on my delay quest, but I’m still hunting. It was between the Zen, Echosystem and Timeline when I decided and went with the Zen.
There’s just this elusive sound in my head that I’m not yet finding and probably never will (that’s just how these things work). I should just admit that I have enough and be happy.
You’ll never be happy until you have that loop of tape running in front of you! 
Joking, but might be true…
I got the Timeline and love it, but it doesn’t do everything.
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I love my Zen Delay, lives on the back of my Digitone - does great dubs!
It’s no coincidence that the instruments I’m using of late are all ideal for dub techno chords in their own ways. Here’s what I am using, how I’m using them, and with some examples I’ve uploaded to instagram:
A4 MK2. The saws really bite thanks to the MK2’s more open ladder filter. I use 3 voices in poly mode for full bandwidth too (big sound!), but I will one day get back into using the neighbor OSC to reduce that to two voices. The delay is the star here. Make a performance macro that tweaks the delay’s base/width filter while also tweaking the delay overdrive and a little bit of feedback. Assign to quick perf knob and have fun. Example here.
Nord Lead 3 Rack. Great interface and great sound. Unison for getting wide without loss to voice count. Dual filter is the star here. Bandpass plus low pass is dub heaven. And some of the OSC mod modes are nifty. Alll LFOs can be EGs, and the mod EG can be an LFO, so work the modulation as much as you can. You can fake the NL4’s impulse mods by using the first few patch slots in a bank, and just arrowing around them, loading them rhythmically (program change style) for those quick macro changes. Example here.
Korg Opsix and Opsix Native. I recently traded away my Opsix hardware for another go with the Digitone, but I still use the plugin regularly. 6 Oscillators with tuning means you can make your chord right there paraphonic style and crank up the unison for big sounds. Saw HD waveform has serious bite. The FX are solid, and the filters have a lot of variety. I like the built in sequencer on the software more than the hardware though. In general I just prefer the software. Bonus, with the plugin: it’s Apple Silicon native, and you can easily run multiple instances on any M1 and above. You can fake multi-timbres with some key tracking, but it’s fiddly. Best $50 (thanks to hardware cross grade) I’ve spent. Example here.
U-he Repro-5 with SFC-5 Rev2 hardware controller. Fantastic FX, that prophet sound, lots of tweaks under the hood on the “tweaks” pane of the GUI. The Soundforce SFC-5 takes it over the top though. I especially like assigning chord inversions from Ableton’s chord device, or one of my M4L chord devices, to the bonus “user” buttons and knobs on the SFC-5. Example here.
DSI Pro 2. Prophet filter drive (unique to Pro 2, Pro 3, and Take 5) into OB filter… oh how sweet it is. Tune your chord in the four oscillators. Use the wavetables on one or two of the notes for added sparkle. Four delays, four LFOs, individually gated VCAs if you want to play paraphonically. Tuned delay line. It’s got it all. The best sounding of the bunch. Only needs a touch of reverb. As good as it gets. Example here. (though more straight chord techno, not dub), and another example (more ambient).
Octatrack. MK1, MK2, doesn’t matter. Make a stab chain, put it on track 5, give it a delay and and EQ, send LFOs to those FX, neighbor route into Track 6 - repeat FX and LFOs, neighbor route that into Track 6 - repeat FX and LFOs. P-lock this, slide trig that. Prepare to leave earth. Example here.
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Have you heard of this thing? It seems pretty awesome from their demos. It showed up on my GAS radar a few months ago. There doesn’t seem to be that much info out there about it other than their demos, which sound great to me.
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No? Interesting… never came across this, so thanks for sharing. I’ll check it out later.
I’ve (briefly) toyed with the idea of getting a real tape delay, but while I love the sound, I don’t think the overall size and upkeep is for me. I can buy some crazy stuff, but even for me $2K+ for an Echo Fix EF-X2 pretty out there. I’m sure it sounds amazing, but it’s just out of reach for me. I can only (very occasionally) spend something like that on a synth that’ll get wider use.
I really only ventured into the world of outboard FX about a year ago having always stayed ITB. Having a lot of fun with it, but GAS’ing for sure and keeping myself in check.
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If your happy to spend time/money on dub chords, I’d say you’ll probably find better results if spent on the fx and a hardware mixer than on any synth. The sound is less relevant than the effects, especially if chained.
Cheap FX is fine, just eq and chaining is more important.
If i was to suggest something just for what you mentioned, I’d probably go for either an old Akai, probably the Akai S2800 as more env control, resonant filter and defent subtractive engine in it, or Roland JU06a.
Tbh probably the Akai as more options, sounds great, has fx built in, and with amount of people on YouTube playing a Saw waves in A/B tests, you’d have an easy time of sourcing sounds.
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I agree that the FX are the key. For this reason, on the hardware end I go with synths that have sequence-able FX (A4, Pro 2), and have leaned more heavily on plug-in FX for processing synths without such FX built in, which I can more easily (and affordably!) chain and automate.
Valhalla FX and Raum are two of my favorites. I’ve made some go to chains, and just using an Ableton LFO on send level works wonders for bringing them in and out, side chain the glue comp on top for further control. Also, send a muted kick pattern to the sidechain to add counter rhythms to the FX, this is effective and fast to dial in in the software domain.
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Valhalla is a great reverb and not expensive. Softube Tape Echos is good too, and always on a sale. They also have some 80’s style reverb that i reckon will be good but yet to use it. Wasted Space.
Also i really like the Soundtoys Echo Boy, probably the one i find the best results in delay plugins.
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Notch filters and/or phasers are a must-have IMHO, then a wide array from s#it sounding to prestine sounding fx.
Anything poly works of course, but if you have 3 OSCs you can do fixed intervals as well.
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I regularly erase all projects on my digi’s to start fresh. I tried to backup once just to test if that worked. If this backup contains one or more of this patterns i’m happy to share. Have to check that:
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