I’m looking to do this using the “Repro 5” plugin, which is a soft version of a Prophet 5. I can get close on my Virus C, but it doesn’t have the same grit…anybody able to help out with pointers for dialing in a patch?
I know there’s a lot that goes in to their sound, but I’m just trying to start with the basics of getting the core elements.
Similar sound here:
there was some on gearsultz that posted the patch and program number of the Prophet 5 that corresponds to the sound of R&S and all that series…
I do not have the link but I also do not like copying…I think that stuff is so unique, everyone try to copy that sound with quite bad results.
I am not a Basic Channel / Rhythm & Sound specialist by any means, and information out there is very scant, as they’ve been secretive about their methods. But from reading online theories through the years, here are some pointers.
You won’t be able to get there by patch alone. Processing is key. It seems the stabs were usually resampled and played back on vintage samplers. So get as close as you can in Repro 5, resample the stab, add some grit with a sample reduction plugin, add some saturation (to mimic analogue desk distortion), perhaps some amp simulation as well.
The basics of the stab are fairly straight forward, a minor chord stab on an analogy synth with pretty simple envelopes on filter etc. the filter., saturation and resampling are probably key characteristics. The echo and reverb is another story. Also worth saying it’s played quite musically and has a human feel. Not just the same flat chord step sequenced. It has the feel of a traditional reggae chop on a guitar.
There’s an interview with rob henke saying ernestus doesn’t use much compression and believes much of the desired effect can be achieved better with envelopes. Hope that helps
Just guessing here but As other have already said, it’s not just a synth sound or specific patch:
I heard alot of things, one of which was they left a track in process on the desk for days/weeks, and jammed their ass off with it, experimenting with fx and routings, before committing to a specific recording/take. I hear there was a specific desk involved (Zahl or a Speck? IIRC). Prophet 5, some FM synth, lots of resampling of the sounds. Its not something you can cook up with a Syntakt in an afternoon (believe me, I’ve tried 
)
Makes sense, doesn’t sound like a rushed job at all. Found this rare vid of ernestus at a mixing console and you can imagine him spending all day there just getting it right
Their tracks are on another level. Sometimes I think many of us overanalyze their work in a desperate attempt to imitate them, while they simply went with the flow. However, another part of me believes they were brilliant in using psychoacoustics, mixing techniques, and gear to achieve their results. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sampled a chord, sequenced it, and played it through a guitar cabinet in some abandoned warehouse, recording it with microphones and tape field recorders. They might have cut it to a dubplate and played that through a desk to dub it on the fly.
They managed to translate their love for dub, reggae, and roots vibes into electronic music, using the noise effects and gear as an undesirable byproduct and turning it into something artistically pleasing and signature for an entire genre. Basic Channel is legendary imo
Don’t have any dub chord nuggets, but I’m going to see Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force in a week and I’m really looking forward to that.
Another technique I use a lot with the digitone / digitakt is to pitch the chord one or two octaves up on the digitone, sample it and then pitch it down again. I like the grit that this creates. Not sure if this technique is used on your examples though - hard to say.
This is really lush - the initial stab itself sounds fairly ordinary to me, and actually quite subtle - the magic here is in a very wet sounding percussive sound - which at first I thought was part of the stab delay but I think it’s a completely different part of the sound design.
For what it’s worth I tend to prefer using a wavetable synth for my dub projects - gives me a lot more control over the character of the basic sound.
I’ll also use an additional filter after the synth to help sculpt the sound.
But all of the magic is in the delay (ideally more than one).
EDIT: I just had a play around with creating something similar but in my style/aesthetic - was a lot of fun, I’ll probably use this for something soon 
I didn’t quite get the wet thumps but I got close(ish) by duplicating the stab onto a new track and adding a filter with its own envelope follower. I then duplicated this and transposed it down so it has a sort of ‘sub-oscilator’.
Probably more for my own amusement but happy to share my technique.
Added a beat - have fun folks I’m off making music 
Fastest way for me would be to combine Twisted Electrons MEGAfm with a nice delay / reverb. Valhalla DSP Delay is great for that tone, if you need a software alternative.
I don’t make dub techno, but if I did, I’d reach for my MEGAfm (cue meme). Has the built-in grit that I imagine would be very fitting.
It does! And exactly for that particular grit.
My Old-School-Basic-Channel -go-to-synth.
Resampled the chords.
EQ mastery.
Intimate knowledge of their effects matrix.
Thanks everyone. Ironically I’m pretty familiar with the processing techniques they use (or at least our best guess at what those are). I’m just trying to figure out how to get the basic source material/carrier right. However the answer seems to be any old simple stab.
I would love to hear what you do with the Jomox Mod FM. My next synth.
I spy Strymon Nightsky and Blue Sky, Erica Zen delay, Eventide H9, Make noise 0-Ctrl (weird!). Not sure totally sure of stacked boxes (Apollo, maybe?). Dunno if it’s his, but that’s what I could make out.
The new Ernestus record, Khadim, is one of my favorite records of the year. That signature stab comes in around the 40 second mark of the first track. It’s like, “Oh, there’s Mark!”. Both Moritz and him are Prophet 5 devotees.
That one is on my list, already. I need to try that but until now, the Jomox workflow (and update policy) didn’t match mine to say it diplomatically. Which is a shame as I really like the Jomox drum machine sound and can imagine they did a nice job with the Mod FM, too.
Nevertheless, I’ll try the MOD FM one day for sure.
The Zahl mixer can be controlled by CV. Maybe that’s what the 0-ctrl is for.