Synth Preset Reference

This document provides a complete reference for all built-in synth presets, organized by category.

Overview

Relanote includes 80+ professionally designed synth presets covering:

• Basic - Classic synths and 8-bit sounds
• Piano - Acoustic and electric pianos
• Bass - Various bass instruments
• Brass - Trumpet, trombone, and sections
• Leads - Synth lead sounds
• Pads - Atmospheric sounds
• Pluck - Percussive melodic instruments
• Drums - Full drum kit with pitch envelopes
• Percussion - Hand percussion instruments
• Retro - Vintage and lo-fi sounds

Piano & Electric Piano

Acoustic Piano

Preset	Character	Best For
AcousticPiano	Warm, natural	Ballads, classical
BrightPiano	Clear, present	Pop, rock
MellowPiano	Soft, dark	Jazz, ambient

synth AcousticPiano = {
  osc: (Sine |> mix 0.6) + (Triangle |> mix 0.25 |> octave 1) + (Sine |> mix 0.15 |> octave 2),
  env: envelope 0.005 0.4 0.3 0.8,
  filter: LowPass 5000 0.2
}

Electric Piano

Preset	Character	Best For
Rhodes	Warm, bell-like	Jazz, R&B, neo-soul
Wurlitzer	Gritty, biting	Rock, funk
DXPiano	Bright, FM	80s pop, fusion
Clavinet	Funky, percussive	Funk, disco

Bass Instruments

Preset	Character	Best For
WoodBass	Warm, upright	Jazz, acoustic
ElectricBass	Punchy, round	Rock, pop
SynthBass	Fat, electronic	EDM, synth-pop
SubBass	Deep, sub-heavy	Hip-hop, dubstep
AcidBass	Squelchy, resonant	Acid house, techno
ReeseBass	Detuned, wide	Drum & bass, dubstep

Bass Design Tips

For punchy bass:
├── Use Saw + Square oscillators
├── Fast attack (< 20ms)
├── Low filter cutoff (200-600Hz)
└── Moderate resonance (0.4-0.6)

For sub bass:
├── Use pure Sine
├── Very low cutoff (< 200Hz)
├── Low resonance
└── Optional: add octave-down sine

Brass Instruments

Preset	Character	Best For
Trumpet	Bright, cutting	Jazz, Latin, big band
MutedTrumpet	Soft, nasal	Jazz, film noir
Trombone	Rich, warm	Jazz, orchestral
FrenchHorn	Mellow, noble	Orchestral, film
Brass	Generic section	Pop, rock
BrassSection	Wide, powerful	Big band, soul

Brass Envelope

Real brass has a characteristic "bloom":

Trumpet envelope:
│
│     ╱────────╲
│    ╱          ╲
│   ╱            ╲
│  ╱              ╲
│ ╱  A=80ms       R=200ms
└──────────────────→
   Slow attack for realism

Synth Leads

Preset	Character	Best For
Lead	Classic, versatile	Any genre
SuperSaw	Huge, detuned	Trance, eurodance
HyperSaw	Massive, wide	EDM, big room
SquareLead	Hollow, punchy	Chiptune, retro
ResoLead	Squelchy, filtered	Acid, techno
SoftLead	Gentle, smooth	Ambient, chill
OctaveLead	Full, octaved	Rock, metal

SuperSaw Anatomy

The iconic trance/EDM sound:

SuperSaw = 3 detuned saw waves

       -12 cents    center    +12 cents
           │          │          │
           ▼          ▼          ▼
       ┌──────┐   ┌──────┐   ┌──────┐
       │ Saw  │ + │ Saw  │ + │ Saw  │
       │ 0.33 │   │ 0.33 │   │ 0.34 │
       └──────┘   └──────┘   └──────┘
           │          │          │
           └──────────┴──────────┘
                      │
                      ▼
                  HUGE SOUND

Synth Pads

Preset	Character	Best For
SoftPad	Simple, warm	Backgrounds
WarmPad	Rich, enveloping	Ambient
StringPad	Orchestral	Film, classical
ChoirPad	Vocal, ethereal	New age, ambient
GlassPad	Crystalline, bright	Electronic
DarkPad	Deep, ominous	Cinematic, horror
SweepPad	Moving, filtered	EDM, progressive

Pad Envelope Tips

Slow attack for pads:
│
│           ╱──────────────╲
│          ╱                ╲
│         ╱                  ╲
│        ╱                    ╲
│       ╱  A=0.5-1.0s          R=1.0-2.0s
└───────────────────────────────→
    Creates smooth, ambient feel

Pluck Instruments

Preset	Character	Best For
Pluck	Generic, bright	Arpeggios
PluckBass	Punchy, low	Bass lines
PluckLead	Articulate	Melodies
Marimba	Woody, mellow	World, jazz
Vibraphone	Bell-like, sustain	Jazz, chill
Xylophone	Bright, percussive	Classical
Kalimba	Thumb piano	African, ambient
Harp	Plucked strings	Classical, new age

Drum Kit

Kick Drums

Preset	Character	Best For
Kick	Basic, simple	General use
DeepKick	Sub-heavy	Hip-hop, R&B
PunchyKick	Attack-focused	Rock, EDM
SubKick	Ultra low	Bass music
HardKick	Aggressive	Metal, hardcore
SoftKick	Gentle	Jazz, acoustic

; DeepKick with pitch envelope
synth DeepKick = {
  osc: Sine,
  env: envelope 0.001 0.15 0.0 0.1,
  pitch_env: (150, 40, 0.08)  ; 150Hz → 40Hz in 80ms
}

Snare Drums

Preset	Character	Best For
Snare	Basic	General use
TightSnare	Short, punchy	Funk, rock
FatSnare	Big, roomy	Hip-hop, pop
CrispSnare	Bright, snappy	Electronic
RimShot	Sharp, crack	Latin, funk
SideStick	Subtle, click	Jazz, ballads

Hi-Hats

Preset	Character	Best For
HiHat	Basic closed	General use
ClosedHat	Tight, short	Dance
OpenHiHat	Sizzle, long	Rock, jazz
PedalHat	Medium, foot	Jazz
TightHat	Very short	Electronic

Toms

Preset	Pitch Range	Best For
Tom	Basic	General use
HighTom	High	Fills
MidTom	Mid	Fills
FloorTom	Low	Accents, fills
LowTom	Very low	Tribal, cinematic

Cymbals

Preset	Character	Best For
CrashCymbal	Bright, explosive	Accents
RideCymbal	Sustained, ping	Jazz, rock
RideBell	Bell-like	Latin, jazz
SplashCymbal	Quick, bright	Fills
ChinaCymbal	Trashy, exotic	Rock, metal

Percussion

Preset	Character	Best For
HandClap	Snappy	Pop, dance
Cowbell	Pitched, metallic	Latin, disco
Shaker	Rhythmic noise	Latin, acoustic
Tambourine	Jingly	Pop, rock
Conga	Deep, tonal	Latin
Bongo	Higher, tonal	Latin, jazz
Timbale	Bright, sharp	Latin
WoodBlock	Clicky, pitched	Classical, Latin
Claves	Short, high	Latin

Retro / Lo-Fi

Preset	Character	Best For
LoFiPiano	Filtered, warm	Lo-fi hip-hop
VintageOrgan	Classic drawbar	Gospel, rock
RetroSynth	80s, punchy	Synthwave
TapeBass	Warm, saturated	Lo-fi
VHSPad	Detuned, warbly	Vaporwave, lo-fi

8-bit / Chiptune

Preset	Character	Best For
Chiptune	Square wave	Retro games
Chip8bit	Pure square	NES style
NES	Classic Nintendo	8-bit covers
GameBoy	Narrow pulse	GB style
Kick8bit	Square kick	Chiptune
Snare8bit	Noise snare	Chiptune
HiHat8bit	Noise hat	Chiptune

Usage Examples

Full Song Arrangement

scale Major = { R, M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7 }

let song = section "Pop Song" {
  part "Lead" {
    | <5> <6> <5> <3> | ++ | <1> <2> <3> <1> |
  } |> voice Rhodes |> volume 0.8

  part "Pad" {
    | [<1> <3> <5>]:1 | ++ | [<4> <6> <8>]:1 |
  } |> voice WarmPad |> volume 0.5

  part "Bass" {
    | <1> - <1> <5> | ++ | <4> - <4> <1> |
  } |> voice ElectricBass |> volume 0.7

  part "Drums" {
    | R - R - | ++ | R - R R |
  } |> voice PunchyKick

  part "HiHat" {
    | R R R R | ++ | R R R R |
  } |> voice ClosedHat |> volume 0.4
}

compose([song])

Layered Sound

; Layer multiple synths for richness
let layered_pad = | [<1> <3> <5>]:1 |

let layer1 = layered_pad |> voice WarmPad |> volume 0.5
let layer2 = layered_pad |> voice StringPad |> volume 0.3
let layer3 = layered_pad |> voice GlassPad |> volume 0.2 |> octave 1

compose([layer1, layer2, layer3])