tonight's move · 2026-10-28

Your bass gets the Lately-style top click and a solid sub underneath, using just a saw, a low-pass filter, and a sine oscillator.

Saw + 4-pole low-pass + sine sub = Lately-style pluck (no FM)

a specific plugin

◢ the move

5 steps

Init a two-oscillator subtractive synth. Set oscillator 1 to a saw wave and enable retrigger.
Set oscillator 2 to a sine wave, set it to one voice, enable retrigger, and pull its level down until it sits under the saw.
Add a 4-pole low-pass filter after the oscillators. Lower the cutoff until the saw loses its harsh top. If it goes dull, switch to 2-pole for more brightness.
Shape the filter envelope so the attack snaps and the tail closes. Keep the MIDI notes short.
Write an offbeat bass line. For variation, put a double hit on beat 1 then offbeat notes; shifting a few note starts changes the groove.

stock path

why it works

A saw through a steep low-pass keeps only its first few harmonics, which read as a click, and the sine underneath re-fills the sub, so the two layers merge into one digital pluck.

ran in the 2026-10-28 issueall techniques →

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the next move lands tomorrow morning.

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