What Synth Was That In Kanye's "Good Life"?

N

Nuff CeD

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I never heard a synth that thick and rich. Anybody know what was used for that thick lead synth in Kanye West's good life? Whether it be software or hardware. I want that synth so bad! Hopefully its software.. If so does anybody have any vsti recommendations to achieve that thick lead synth...thx in adavnce. :)
 
It's a pretty standard hoover/supersaw, maybe thinned out a bit.

You can do something like that with any good VA like Superwave, etc.

Be advised though, that my "standard comments" on this subject apply ...

Almost all of these "what synth did ABC use on XYZ" questions can't be answered directly for a few important reasons:
  • Most of the time people are asking about something which isn't unique or different enough to identify the particular instrument by its sound. An experienced synthesist will listen to the track in question and conclude that there are probably a dozen different things which could have been involved. I guarantee you that I could virtually duplicate almost any sound on any album you've heard - given the time and budget to do so - and I'd probably wind up doing it on different equipment than the original track.
  • Most of the sounds you hear aren't just some preset on some synth. They are often - especially on high budget projects - highly customized layers of several different instruments. You can't just say "oh that was done on a MiniMoog" with any degree of certainty. You might be able to get the same kind of sound on a Moog, Oberheim, Jupiter8 ... all sorts of stuff.
  • Almost always the person asking the question doesn't really want to learn or know anything about synthesizers or how to actually achieve certain sounds. They just want to have someone TELL them the name of a synth that mights get that sound ... even if the answer isn't accurate. So, they get pissed at you if you bring up the first 2 points.

I'd add that even in cases where a particular sound is easily identified ... something like the classic DX7 FM bass sound (listen to "Danger Zone" from the Top Gun sound track for reference) ... that identification doesn't help as much as you might think. Here's why:

An inexperienced synthesist can have exactly the same actual instrument used ... I mean the ONE, the actual one used on a track ... load up the same exact preset and try using it in their tracks and it isn't going to "sound the same". The DX7 FM sound I referenced above is an example ... its' a readily available preset. People get a DX7, load up that preset, and end up cussing out loud in frustration because it doesn't hit them the same as what they hear on the record. I've seen this kind of thing happen dozens of times.

This is because the actual sound you perceive in a track has a LOT more to do with how all of the other elements are balanced against it ... the mix itself, effects used, the arrangement, etc. than just getting the right instrument model and preset.

It's like how some women hit you as being the most beautiful thing you ever saw one day and sortof "meh, whatever" on another day in other surroundings, time of day ... her makeup and clothes have a lot to do with the emotional impact of how attractive she is. Same woman ... different setup.

It's the same thing with synthesizer sounds, and all instruments for that matter. Getting "the sound" is more about understanding all of the different elements together and how they relate to each other in a mix. You can't BUY the sound ... you have to create/achieve it.

This isn't encouraging news for a beginner or someone who doesn't yet understand the issue involved. It just happens to be reality.
 
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Thanks dansgold,

I wasn't in no way trying to look for a easy ticket to the sound. More like somebody to help steer me in the right direction into achieving this sound. But after reading that.. I see where your coming from, and I guess I would have to research and go on my grind to achieve such a crazy synth..lol but to be honest I wouldn't know where to start...but thanks again bro.
 
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other than that, they sounds were tracked thru a pre-amp to
 
FYI, it was probably a Juno 106 patch. Mike Dean used that on Stronger and it sounds similar to me.
 
I once had a little E-scuffle with Dansgold regarding recording audio.

At the time I was like "this dude is an ass, fuk him", then I grew up and cannot agree with him more, along with him helping me with what I needed to get to work the audio.
 
Jmar I think he was talking about the lead sound, not the background synth and it is not a juno 106, it doesnt produce this type of sound.
I have a similar sound in the roland jp 8000 but you can find it in a lot of vitual analog synth, usually named supersaw or dance lead or something like that.
 
As I said ...
dansgold said:
...It's a pretty standard hoover/supersaw, maybe thinned out a bit.

You can do something like that with any good VA like Superwave, etc.
...[/B]
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Prophet 5, to be exact. Not the soft, but the hardware version. Thick stuff man.
 
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Mr.Hughes said:
Prophet 5, to be exact. Not the soft, but the hardware version. Thick stuff man.
Click to expand...
Just curious, are you from gearslutz? More and more people coming from there to here somehow, Mike Dean is here too but he doesn't post anymore unfortunately, he called this site indirectly NeverProducers LOL. If someone knows what EXACTLY Toomp used then one of the engineers or composers that work with him together and on gearslutz are some engineers/composers that work with the pro's, e.g Mike Dean knows a lot about Kanye's productions since he works with him together, and he even knows things that are falsely stated in magazines etc. pretty interesting when you get information from first hand. :)
 
Kanye sampled a great deal of that song. Perhaps look into what Quincy Jones used to produce PYT by Micheal Jackson.
 
i used pro 53 for the pads on chorus and fm 8 for the sine pad. in the verses probably motif or vanguard. i cant remember someone told me what omar used for that.
strings in hooks. real. bass in hook fm8
 
dansgold said:
It's a pretty standard hoover/supersaw, maybe thinned out a bit.

You can do something like that with any good VA like Superwave, etc.

Be advised though, that my "standard comments" on this subject apply ...

Almost all of these "what synth did ABC use on XYZ" questions can't be answered directly for a few important reasons:
  • Most of the time people are asking about something which isn't unique or different enough to identify the particular instrument by its sound. An experienced synthesist will listen to the track in question and conclude that there are probably a dozen different things which could have been involved. I guarantee you that I could virtually duplicate almost any sound on any album you've heard - given the time and budget to do so - and I'd probably wind up doing it on different equipment than the original track.
  • Most of the sounds you hear aren't just some preset on some synth. They are often - especially on high budget projects - highly customized layers of several different instruments. You can't just say "oh that was done on a MiniMoog" with any degree of certainty. You might be able to get the same kind of sound on a Moog, Oberheim, Jupiter8 ... all sorts of stuff.
  • Almost always the person asking the question doesn't really want to learn or know anything about synthesizers or how to actually achieve certain sounds. They just want to have someone TELL them the name of a synth that mights get that sound ... even if the answer isn't accurate. So, they get pissed at you if you bring up the first 2 points.

I'd add that even in cases where a particular sound is easily identified ... something like the classic DX7 FM bass sound (listen to "Danger Zone" from the Top Gun sound track for reference) ... that identification doesn't help as much as you might think. Here's why:

An inexperienced synthesist can have exactly the same actual instrument used ... I mean the ONE, the actual one used on a track ... load up the same exact preset and try using it in their tracks and it isn't going to "sound the same". The DX7 FM sound I referenced above is an example ... its' a readily available preset. People get a DX7, load up that preset, and end up cussing out loud in frustration because it doesn't hit them the same as what they hear on the record. I've seen this kind of thing happen dozens of times.

This is because the actual sound you perceive in a track has a LOT more to do with how all of the other elements are balanced against it ... the mix itself, effects used, the arrangement, etc. than just getting the right instrument model and preset.

It's like how some women hit you as being the most beautiful thing you ever saw one day and sortof "meh, whatever" on another day in other surroundings, time of day ... her makeup and clothes have a lot to do with the emotional impact of how attractive she is. Same woman ... different setup.

It's the same thing with synthesizer sounds, and all instruments for that matter. Getting "the sound" is more about understanding all of the different elements together and how they relate to each other in a mix. You can't BUY the sound ... you have to create/achieve it.

This isn't encouraging news for a beginner or someone who doesn't yet understand the issue involved. It just happens to be reality.
Click to expand...
Stfu
 
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