# Synthesizing a snare drum Snare fundamentals, depending on genre, sound best tuned to about 200Hz, or as low as 150 and as high as 250.[^1] Consider adding another pitch at 300-400Hz.[^2] Snare drums seem to produce two quasi-harmonic series at about 180Hz and 330Hz.[^3] This is about three-quarter tones flat of an octave. The TR909 used two different sine waves with different decay times to simulate the way acoustic snare partials decay.[^2] Use an audible range LFO to add inharmonic partials.[^1] Another option is to use two frequency-shifted triangle waves. My favorite option is to use [[Frequency modulation]] on the fundamental.[^2] FM is good for getting a "pan" snare sound.[^4] Karplus-Strong is also good for getting ringy snare sounds.[^5] Use a noise source to simulate the snare wires. Alternatively, use FM to produce the noise. You can link a low pass to the velocity to simulate the way acoustic snares have more noise on louder hits. You can add a few notch filters to simulate the holes in the snare noise spectrum.[^3] You can also use an envelope on a low pass to sweep the filter down to simulate the way high frequencies die down.[^2] Rims/side-sticks can be made in much the same ways, but with a tighter envelope and more energy concentrated in the high mids and a weak fundamental. You can then resample your snare. Resample at several pitches and see which pitch gets the response you like. From here you can do whatever post-processing you like. EQ resonances you want to cut or boost.[^6] Shape the transient. Frequency shift. Add foley. [^1]: [Synthesizing snare drums with FabFilter Volcano 3 - YouTube](https://youtu.be/IyzXl0urbDU?si=y97MtTGSquzA-oUZ) [^2]: [Practical Snare Drum Synthesis](https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/practical-snare-drum-synthesis) [^3]: [Synthesizing Drums: The Snare Drum](https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/synthesizing-drums-snare-drum) [^4]: [Making Pan Snares with Operator - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVFcsB1QFjE) [^5]: [Synthesize SNARES that sound REAL using the power of FEEDBACK - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Db9rGbth_o) [^6]: [How I Make & Design Trap Snares from Scratch! \| Drum Synthesis (Part 1) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzxGMhXMt9s)