help in finding a certain synth sound

harlley

harlley

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Hi, folks!

There's an instrument (or synth) that's used a lot in late 80/90's music. This sounds like a string ensemble, but I'm not sure if it's a simple "processed" piano.

2 songs using this instrument are:

Lisa Stansfield - All Around the World (the very first sound that comes in this song)

Simply Red - Holding Back the Years (again, the very first sound)

Dunno if it's the same instrument, but if you have some ideas of how to make similar sound, please tell me.

Thanks is advance.
 
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try propellerheads reason this is a software sampler that uses sample banks



long live the beatles
 
Thanks cubase, but I don't use Reason, and even if I did, I won't know the synth/instrument name or kind.

I'm trying to emulate it myself, with some VST's or so. And I'll put some mp3 samples as soon as possible.

peace
 
here's the samples:


CULTURE BEAT - DER ERDBEERMUND:
this early 90's track has that "pad/string" sound. Please, ignore the bass and crowd effect.

LISA STANSFIELD - ALL AROUND THE WORLD:
again, ignore Lisa's voice and listen to the pad.

What I want is to be able do synthesize this sound, but dunno how to start. I can't even distingish if it's a pad or a piano or string or whatever. :(

Thanks.
 
Those two sounded pretty different to me.. but i think it's some form of Piano String sound. A fairly common preset on S&S synths. I'd suggest a Roland S&S synth such as the JV1080 as a likely source or a good place to get a similar sound.

Good luck.

MM
 
messyman said:
Those two sounded pretty different to me.. but i think it's some form of Piano String sound. A fairly common preset on S&S synths. I'd suggest a Roland S&S synth such as the JV1080 as a likely source or a good place to get a similar sound.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much messyman. But do you think it's possible to emulate it from scratch on a "common" softsynth? Or can I use a piano/string preset and tweak the hell of it to reach that sounds? If so, please give some tips, since I'm a little familiar with sound synthesis :)
 
Hard to say EXACTLY as to get the sound, but I just came pretty close, needs some tweaking though. The sound I did is off the Korg Wavestation ( my thoughts on how to best achieve it BTW )

You want a bell type soft ep layered with a smooth straight string pad, we can all agree thats pretty obvious though.

I was actually thinking of what synths were around when the Lisa S track was made, but I cant actually remember when it was made so I made some approximate guesses.

I ruled out Roland D-Series because this doesnt sound like LA Synthesis at all to me. Could be an FM synth but again it sounds 'too' textured for a DX7. I'd look at the Korgs of the time, A Wavestation or maybe an M1.

Just my 2 cents though, but I still reckon if you have a Wavestation ( or even the plug-in version ) you'd get a sound you will be happy with.

I just tried this to test my theory,I used the Wavestation and started with a preset called Bell piano ( ROM 10 ) Its a good base, but it needs layering with a synthy tone too.

[EDIT] You can make it on FM7 too.
 
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I have no words to thank you Delphine. Seems you know your craft very much! ;)

Originally posted by Delphine
I was actually thinking of what synths were around when the Lisa S track was made, but I cant actually remember when it was made so I made some approximate guesses.
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"All Around the World" was made around 87/89. And "Der Erdbeermund" too (89, I think)

So, don't U think I can achieve this sound by simply tweaking a common string/bell patch of a generic VST synth? In truth, I was thinking it's a common preset of most synths, only EQ'd a lot or so.

These soft synths you've mentioned are unfamiliar to me (except FM7). I'll check them out asap.

:cheers:
 
Well the Korg Legacy Collection is supposed to be one of the best software recreations of hardware gear yet.

Having owned a real Wavestation, I can honestly say, this is really good. Of course, you can search the net too for old patches made on the original and load em in. But I think you will get very colse to the sound you want with this, moreso than any other plug-in.

Thats got me thinking now, I didnt realise the Lisa Stansfield track was that old,I would have said 92? Either way, the Wavestation is too 'young' to have been the synth used. Youve got me thinking now and it's doing my head in. LOL. I reckon it could well be an FM synth. I'm still not convinced it's Rolands LA synthesis. Although the D-50 would have been very widely used around that time.

Just trying to rule out some synths. The JV series arrived in the 90's, so Rolands flagship products would have been the D-Series. I'm still going Korg though and I'd say the M1, its got an M1 'something' about it ( I owned one of these too ) The hardest bit though about this, is that there were Korg and Roland making sample based synths.So really, you could get a similar sound out of a D-50 as an M1. But if you have ever heard Rolands LA synthesis, it's not as rich IMO as the Korgs. ( I owned one of these too, lol. in the mid 90's. A crappy Roland D-5. )

Too difficult a task to say what was used just by hearing. I'm itching to find out now. Heheh.

If you using plug-ins though, yeah the FM7 might get you close, but the Wavestation plugs got that washy, breathy type character to it, typical of this type of sound circa 1990.
 
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