I like some of Sophie’s stuff as well. I have had the monomachine for a year and a half now and had a quick convo with SOPHIE about sound design last year so perhaps I can help.
Quick Disclaimer: One of the best things about the mono is that there are not a lot (if any) comprehensive sound design videos online which forces you to really experiment and learn the machine inside and out in your own way. I cannot emphasize enough the power of experimenting with the tool. A lot of great stuff you make will be a happy accident after hours of tweaking. Also read, re-read, re-re-read, etc. the manual. It does a very good job of explaining how everything works and is tied together.
Okay so for the sounds:
Da Bass: FM machines are the best for this imo especially FM+PAR that thing is a beast. Try just tweaking the main parameters first and then experiment with LPF and an LFO on pitch and Volume. Best Bass I have ever heard comes from that and SOPHIE def uses it a lot. I have also got some good sounds from the Digi Pro wave machines. Same as with FM try modulating the volume and pitch with a quick LFO to get more “punch” you can also try using an LFO to modulate the “wavetable” like you would in the Serum soft syth for instance. This will create a lot of movement in the bass sound. * Best to turn off filter tracking when doing bass to make it more stable but there really are no rules.
Metallic stuff: FM All the way. FM Par and Stat for the normal Clangs and FM Dynamic for all the really weird shit. FM Dynamic will create sounds you have never heard before or even dreamed of but its a bitch to program. Takes an entire Saturday to make one sound sometimes lol. Go wild with the LFO’s, turn on the arp, and send it through a flanger. It will take some time but eventually you will get a feel for it.
Bubbles: Several ways you can do this but I like really like using the DPRO Bbox and lfo modulating the pitch parameter on some of the drum sounds with higher frequency content. Turn it as fast as you can go and you will be in the poppy bubbly territory. Next modulate the filter with LFO’s. The monomachine filter can get very “wet” which is what you want. Turn up the resonance and experiment modulating all the filter parameters. Also try modulation the RTIM parameter on the BBox machine.
To get some really crazy stuff uses the above tips and create a few notes on the sequencer. Have slide trigs connecting the notes and take out LFO and Filter trigs on a few. P-Lock different amounts on the filter. Turn on the arp. While all this is running you can then transpose the track which will give you different drum sounds which will create some really weird stuff. I can do this for hours lol.
Squeaks: Abuse the Flanger. That will get you into shrieking territory. Experiment on every sound and timbre you can to get a good feel. Filter/EQ as necessary. Watch your ears! * I sometimes like to send flanged sounds through a reverb to soften them a bit.
“Use the effects” - My one big takeaway from talking with Sam was to experiment with the effects and different routing structures. Route tracks through different busses, throw them into Ableton, route them back into the mono into other effects. The FX are what really make the mono shine and the sounds come alive.
Those should be good starting points but that’s really just scratching the surface of what this thing can do. It takes several years of experimentation to start getting really comfortable I think. There are tons of sounds I still can’t make but I know are possible.
I would also experiment some with processing and “taming” some of the sounds in your DAW. Monomachine is a great sound design tool but sometimes things can get out of control and you may need a more advanced eq/filter to cut some unwanted frequencies.
Hope that helps and enjoy the journey…
