Hey everyone! Sorry if it’s out of place to try to discuss this but I’ve been searching for a couple years for a way to recreate a certain sound and still haven’t been able to, maybe I can ask the community for opinion?
It’s about the lead sound (the very high one) in this track:
So, it’s probably an analog synth, put through some sort of filter/overdrive, and then through the reverb (then through another milder saturation layer post-reverb probably). Maybe it’s a formant filter, and it’s certainly a very dirty, full of character one, and it’s modulated via an LFO quite a bit. I tried to reproduce it multiple ways through various gear but still wasn’t able to do so convincingly. It feels like someone may just recognise the particular filter/distortion combo or just a device that maybe I don’t know about.
Lorenzo himself made a workshop on JP-8080 and I never used one but I doubt you can do this on it. But if I could, would love someone to confirm!
I tried to get this sound using an analog heat, a bunch of eurorack filters and distortions (make noise stuff, some tube stuff in the modular (bizarre jezebel to be precise), oberheim style filters) and with a bunch of VSTs. In software I tried Fabfilter stuff, Infiltrator 2 and Output Thermal, but it never felt as organic and alive as this. Probably a skill issue but I’m not yet able to. It feels like there’s just this one filter that just does the trick, but I don’t know which one and it’s hard to navigate the field if you have this particular sound in mind and everyone demos using some other sounds/ideas.
FabFilter Volcano has 4 filters + various saturation models combo, it also includes envelopes and lfos you can use to create a lot of movement, it can also be stereo or mid side and different routing options available, you can do phasing effect with all pass filters too
Yeah, Saturn I tried too. It just felt like it just doesn’t have this signature and with all that tinkering I’m still too far away. But I’ll try some more, thanks for reply.
The high synth? Sounds like a legato with a sharp decay filter envelope for the single notes. There’s also some vibrato, might be the synth voice is set to drift or a tape warble effect
I made a super quick demo how Volcano can be used, clearly not the same thing as in the OP but just to give the idea how versatile it is and imo great combo of filter/saturation that worth exploring
by the way, it also has keyboard tracking via midi so you can bind keyboard tracking to every parameter too, like different gain for notes etc.
Why not just send the person a message on Youtube / Instagram and ask? Artists are way more open these days. It’s not like 1978 LA and you wanna meet Robert Plant.
I took a close look on some studio photos and it seems like the filter might be an AKAI MFC42, which is out of production for a very long time by now.
It’s not especially easy to find one of these where I am, so If anyone knows what could be similar to this in sound signature and overall vibe but is more readily available, I’ll be glad to hear.
Good find. These went up in price some years ago from quite cheap “hidden gem” to collectors prices.
I wanted one but was too late before the price rise. As far as I have read it’s not a particularly characterful filer but it’s smooth and easily syncs to MIDI which was a relatively rare feature in a standalone filter.
UhE has good filters, i use Volcano sometimes too when i need polish, or a nice lead sound. HW i would also think about Vermona or Modular ladder filters. Moog, but dont know if they have filter models.
I briefly had one of these about a decade back. I didn’t find the filter that special sounding. The SSI2140 and SSI2144 chips sound better in my opinion while being pretty clean.
not sure if this will even do what is asked but for any elektronauts looking for more esoteric rack filters this one looks interesting. would be nice to know if anyone has experience with it!
Any recommendations for a device with them that would allow me to do some HP/BP/LP sweeps and would have a good sounding distortion also? I’ll be thankful as it’s not straightforward to learn which device has what filter chips.
I use the Analog Heat for hardware… it has AMAZING distortion/saturation. and Elektron has some of the best filtering, especially with all the mod destinations you can internally route
I mostly know of their use in modular synths and the filterboards used in Gotharman gear. I think some desktop synths use them but they’ll be in mono. Sorry I don’t know more!
Have you looked into the Jomox Moonwind? Those capture the functionality of the MFC42 with more features. Jomox just released a second revision of the unit. Here’s a random demo video
The Analog Heat is a worthwhile option to consider too. I didn’t love the sound of the filters on it but I’ve also heard people use it well and a lot of folks like it.
