1. Load Substance
Insert Substance in a CLAP / VST3 / Audio Unit instrument slot. The plug-in and its parameters are the same in both collections. The preset bank is identical too.
GUIDE Substance
Substance user guide
Use this guide for the dedicated Substance plug-in included with Voltage Drums and Voltage Synths. It covers the oscillators and mixer, then the ladder filter and envelope. You will also learn the LFO, performance controls and presets. Project recall is covered too.
First setup
Load to first bassline
2. Choose a preset
Use the arrows beside PRESET to load one of ten complete patches. Burgs is a clean starting point with a triangle foundation and full sub.
3. Play a note
Send host MIDI or use the on-panel keyboard. Substance is monophonic: the most recently held note owns the voice.
4. Shape the line
Balance the sources, move Cutoff and Resonance, add Drive, then use Glide and Portamento for connected movement.
Oscillators and mixer
Build the source stack
Oscillator 1 and 2
- Wave selects triangle / saw / pulse independently for each oscillator.
- Octave selects one of five ranges: 32 / 16 / 8 / 4 / 2 foot.
- Tune moves each oscillator continuously across plus or minus 7 semitones.
- PWM sets pulse width when pulse is selected.
- Sync hard-syncs Oscillator 2. XMOD adds cross-modulation from Oscillator 1.
Sub and noise in the mixer
- The dedicated Sub source is square and sits below the oscillator pair.
- Noise is seeded, so the same recalled state follows the same deterministic source movement.
- The Sub and Noise keys mute their source and leave its stored level unchanged.
- Oscillator 1 and Oscillator 2 have separate mixer levels. Sub and Noise do too.
- Drive pushes the combined mixer into the ladder-filter path.
Ladder and contour
Shape colour and time
Transistor-ladder filter
- Mode selects low-pass / band-pass / high-pass output.
- Slope switches between 12 and 24 dB per octave.
- Cutoff sets the base frequency. Resonance emphasizes the cutoff region.
- Key Track moves cutoff with MIDI note.
- Env Amount and Accent Amount feed separate control paths into cutoff.
ADSR envelope
- Attack sets the rise time after a note begins.
- Decay moves from the peak toward Sustain.
- Sustain holds while the note remains gated.
- Release sets the fall after the final held note ends.
- VCA ENV applies the ADSR to loudness. Gate mode keeps loudness open while a note is held.
Low-pass keeps the body.
Use 24 dB for the strongest roll-off or 12 dB for more upper-harmonic reach.
Band-pass isolates a region.
Resonance and key tracking can turn the focused band into a playable colour.
High-pass clears the floor.
Use it for lighter lines, animated resonance or layers that leave room below.
Motion
Route modulation with intent
Modulation bus
- Destination chooses Cutoff / PWM / Pitch.
- Mod Amount sets the base depth.
- Mod Velocity lets note velocity add to that depth.
- For PWM, select pulse on the oscillator you want to hear moving.
LFO
- Wave selects triangle / saw / square.
- Rate spans 0.1 to 20 Hz.
- Amount scales LFO contribution to the chosen destination.
- Retrigger restarts the LFO with each articulated note. Turn it off for free-running motion.
Mono performance
Control how notes take over
Last-note priority
The newest held key owns the voice. Substance remembers up to eight held notes; releasing the newest restores the previous held note.
Legato
With Legato on, overlapping notes take over and keep the envelope running. The noise seed and a retriggering LFO continue too. With it off, every note-on articulates again.
Glide and Portamento
Portamento enables a constant-rate glide. Wider intervals take longer because the pitch travels at the same rate across a greater distance.
Transpose and bend
Transpose covers 2 octaves down through 2 octaves up. Host pitch bend spans plus or minus 2 semitones.
Level and modulation respond.
The Performance Velocity control sets note-velocity influence. Mod Velocity adds a separate path to the selected modulation destination.
Hard notes open a dedicated path.
MIDI velocity 101 of 127 or above engages Accent. Performance Accent sets its level contribution; Accent Amount sends it to cutoff.
Aftertouch remains live.
Poly pressure and channel pressure feed the same dedicated performance bus at the depth set by Aftertouch.
Ten complete patches
Choose a starting point
| Preset | Starting character | Preset | Starting character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 · Burgs | Triangle foundation · full sub | 06 · Snag | Filter sweep · tracked resonance |
| 02 · Roadtrain | Detuned saw pair · 32 foot sub | 07 · Northerly | Free-running PWM · sub |
| 03 · Bitumen | Pulse stack · deep drive | 08 · Drive-Thru | Hard sync · tuned interval |
| 04 · Goanna | Resonant decay · glide | 09 · Hume | Unison saws · long portamento |
| 05 · The Horses | Single pulse · steady low end | 10 · Currawong | Open pulse · pitch modulation |
Stereo instrument state
Output and recall
Stereo Main carries the voice.
Substance exposes one stereo Main output. The individual drum buses belong to Voltage 80 and Voltage 78.
The complete sound returns.
The host stores all source and filter parameters, plus the envelope. Modulation and performance settings return with the output level.
Substance stays Substance.
The MODEL label is fixed. Reopening the project restores the dedicated Substance instrument.
Fast checks
Troubleshooting
No sound
Check the host MIDI input and Substance Level. Confirm at least one oscillator or the Sub source is raised. Noise can provide the active source too. Make sure its source key has not muted it.
The filter seems closed
Raise Cutoff, reduce negative envelope movement, or try low-pass mode with lower resonance. Key Track and performance Accent can also move the final cutoff position.
Glide does not occur
Turn Portamento on and raise Glide. Hold one note while playing the next. Wider intervals take longer because Substance uses a constant-rate glide.
Overlapping notes retrigger the patch
Turn Legato on. The newest held note will take over and keep the envelope running. Seeded noise and a retriggering LFO continue too.
Aftertouch has no audible effect
Raise Performance Aftertouch and send channel pressure or poly pressure from the host or controller.
No individual outputs appear
This is expected. Substance is a stereo instrument and exposes only Main.
For support, include your operating system, host, plug-in format and sample rate. Name the preset or provide the shortest sequence that reproduces the problem.
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