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How to Use a Massive Synthesizer

Massive Synthesizer is an analog/digital synthesizer software program used by bass players and lead guitarists to create a wide array of sounds. The synthesizer comes pre-programmed with 600 different analog and digital sounds, or musicians can create, record and edit their own unique sounds. Learning how to use a computer synthesizer program takes a lot of time and practice. Here are the basic steps necessary to find a pre-programmed sound, modify its settings and save it for future use.

Things You'll Need

  • Computer
  • Guitar
  • Pre-amp box with USB/digital cable
  • Guitar cable
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Instructions

    • 1

      Connect the guitar to your computer using a pre-amp box. Plug one end of a standard guitar cable into the guitar jack and the other end into the Audio-In jack on the box. Connect the pre-amp box to the computer using the pre-amp's USB digital cable. Plug one end into the pre-amp's Audio-Out and the other end into the computer's USB port.

    • 2

      Open the Massive Synthesizer program by double-clicking the desktop icon or through your computer menu by clicking "Start," "All Programs" and "Massive Synthesizer."

    • 3

      Double-click the word "Synth" on the toolbar or press "F3" on your computer keyboard to open the Massive main interface. Click "Selector" to choose a pre-loaded sound by name, or choose by attribute by clicking "Browser" in the top control panel.

    • 4

      Click "Sounds" on the left-hand side of the browser screen. Search for a specific sound by using the category screens. Click on the type of instrument sound that you are looking for under "Instrument." Choose the type of sound, such as analog or digital, by clicking under the "Source" box.
      You can also choose the type of "Timbre," "Articulation" and "Genre" by clicking in the respective boxes. You can choose one or more types in each of these categories. On the right-hand screen, the program will give you pre-programmed sound options to choose from; double-click on the option that best describes your choice.

    • 5

      Play the notes on your guitar. Modify the sound--such as adjusting fade, bass, treble and other options--by rolling your mouse over the Macro Control knobs located above the category screens.

    • 6

      Click "Attributes" after you have created your desired sound. Click the "Save" button on the top of the screen. A pop-up window will open. Type in the name of your sound in the "Dataname" field. Press "Enter" on your keyboard to save.

Recording Music

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