Synthwave - Booklet

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Synthwave
Synth pop, retro-electro
and 80s computer-funk
Much like fashion, music moves in cycles.
And right now it feels like we’re in the midst
of an 80s resurgence. Films like Drive and
artists like Com Truise have sharpened the
focus on emotive synth-heavy electronica
laced with infectious pop sensibilities.
Even synth manufacturers like Roland and
Korg have updated or re-issued classic
hardware to meet the demand for this en
vogue sound.
Synthwave taps into this sonic nostalgia
with over 1GB of sounds that fuse the best
of 80s pop, lo-fi electronica, retro electro
and chillwave. Crafted from stacks of
authentic hardware gear – from icons like
the MPC1000 through to overlooked gems
such as the Yamaha RX21, via discarded
VHS tape machines – this collection is
indebted to the 80s technologies which
spawned it.
Taut drum machine grooves underpin
the collection. Dry and driving rhythms
from the Linn Drum LM-1, Roland TR-808,
909 and 707, Oberheim DMX ooze that
authentic 80s flavour. As always, there’s up
to five stripped variant mixes for complete
arrangement ease. To beef things up
there’s also a choice selection of fat tom
rolls and slamming snare fills – served both
wet and dry so they’ll always fit the mix.
Synthwave
In the synth and bass folders we’ve
reached for more classic hardware in the
shape of the Jupiter-8 and Virus TI 2 to
craft a range of soaring leads, lush pads,
anthemic arps and brazen basslines. The
raw associated MIDI is also included for
supreme control over the sound and
melodics.
It’s the same story in the inspiration loops
folder. Each of the 40 folders is an instant
songstarter, served with a full melodic mix
plus the stripped out stems – leads, chords,
bass, pads and arps – again with the
associated MIDI files bundled in.
As always, there’s a prime selection of
finely-sculpted FX and stacks of layered
drum machine one-shots to round off the
collection – all lovingly resampled through
the MPC60 and MPC1000 for
extra analogue crunch.
Enjoy the ride!
John Kunkel
The Producer
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Kit list
MPC60
MPC1000
Sennheiser HD 25-1 II
Focal Twin6 Be
API Lunchbox
Universal Audio Apollo 16
Neve 1073 Preamp 500
Access Virus TI 2
SSL Duende Classic
Roland Jupiter-8
Roland TR-505
Roland TR-707
Roland TR-909
Linn Drum LM-1
Oberheim DMX
Yamaha RX21
Akai APC40
Evolution U-Control UC-33
Synthwave
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Producer tips
Chorus
With the proliferation of digital synths
packed with a once unimaginable array of
processing effects, the humble chorus has
been somewhat forgotten in contemporary
electronic music. But this often overlooked
effect was a key ingredient in scores of 80s
synth hits. Simply sending your sounds through
even a budget hardware module can add
warmth and width. Alternatively, try sending
your synth signal through a guitar pedal chorus
or even a tube ampilifer for a similar sound.
Wow and flutter
Back in the 80s tracks were recorded and
bounced to tape. Wow and flutter are two
classic audio effects associated with the use of
tape machines which give sounds that classic
cracked analogue vibe. Synthwave tracks can
benefit from this type of tape processing. Try
using cassettes, VHS tapes and old recorders
at different speeds to achieve this jittery and
distorted sound. If you don’t have access to
these technological relics then a combination
of 8-bit bit-crushing and a tape saturation
emulation should do the trick.
Synth-plicity
Synthwave artist Com Truise once said, “A lot
of the sounds in my songs are not extremely
complex... Turning on a two-oscillator synth
and initialising a patch and just detuning one
oscillator and doing a nice filter and
Synthwave
envelope and going with that.” The key to
many great Synthwave and 80s tracks is the
basic principle of simplicity offered by the more
affordable hardware synths of the day. If you
are using multiple synth patches and complex
processing chains then you’re probably
working too hard. Take a creative approach to
the tools which, on the face of it, appear to be
more limited – you might surprise yourself with
the unique results.
Analogue signals
A common technique that can add analogue
warmth your tracks is the use of overdrive
to inject subtle additional harmonics on key
tracks. Once again, guitar pedals processed
through tube amplifiers are a great choice for
those with access to the hardware but digital
emulations, bit-crushers or distortion plugins will
also work well for a scuzzy lo-fi vibe.
LFO
The LFO is crucial to many great sounds that
are essential to creating classic Synthwave
leads. Depending on your synth setup, you
may be able to route your oscillator’s phase,
pitch or other modulation sources to your LFO
at low-rate speeds and medium gain LFO
volumes. The best waveforms to create the
slow ‘fluttery’ leads are sine, triangle and lorenz
wave forms.
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Folder setup
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Accessing the files
Credits
Collection created by
John Kunkel
Drum
Loops
Synthwave
90bpm
100bpm
120bpm
Drum Fills
90bpm
100bpm
120bpm
(wet & dry) (wet & dry) (wet & dry)
Inspiration
Loops
90bpm
100bpm
120bpm
Bass Loops
90bpm
100bpm
120bpm
Synth Loop
90bpm
100bpm
120bpm
kicks
hats
claps
snares
toms
percussion
FX
Drum Hits
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Artwork by IWANT Design Limited
Synthwave created by
Produced by: John Kunkel
Executive produciton: Barry McManus
Demos by: The producer
Audio formatting by: Henry Brown
& Lukas Lyrestam
Other Sample Magic releases
you might like:
– Chillwave 2
– Sylenth Lo-Fi Electronica Patches
– Ambient & Chill
– MIDI Elements: Future Melodics
– French House
– Downtempo Electronica
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