Research a Synth Sound

The Cars classic song - Just What I Needed. (Week 10 Blog 2)

First try at seeing if l can match the synth sound.

The Cars - Just What I Needed live 1979

This morning l wanted to study a synth sound from the late 70's, band The Cars and see if l could get the same synth sound. The DAW program l decided to use is Logic Pro X. I don't know this DAW very well, but l wanted to have a go at it.

Let's get started

I uploaded 2 tracks onto the editing window.

The first one was the software instrument.

The second was the audio track to upload the song onto.

Now that the tracks are set, l needed to add a synth that would allow me to adjust its parameters to create the sound.

Synth ES1 setup for stereo.

I decided to use the ES synthesizer 1.

Factory Default settings when you open ES1 up for the first time.

Changes I made to get a similar sound.

Changes I Made.

I found out that l could spend hours on trying to imitate another synth sound. I wouldn't say l got real close with the synth sound l created, but it was an interesting experience. (let's get back to the changes l made.)

• I changed the Oscillator wave shape from a sawtooth to a combination of different square wave patterns. Which you can blend together with a fader.

• I left the transpose button on default 4.

• On the sub oscillator l left it on the square wave.

• I adjusted the blend between the 2 via a fader and put it just under halfway.

• The drive effect is an overdrive sound and l put the fader roughly halfway.

• I didn't adjust the Cutoff or resonance value of the note, but did change the filter from 24dB to 18dB.

• I pushed the fader of the key (for a keyboard) response nearly to the top.

• In the velocity section l made it a bit wider and left the amplifier in the default setting, so l had touch feel on the keyboard.

• On the right there are 3 buttons which allow you to choose how many ADSR options you want. l picked AGateR which is attack and release.

• I left the glider fader on the bottom lefthand side down low, to stop the note gliding up when playing notes on the keyboard.

• The low frequency oscillator section l changed from a triangle wave pattern to a square pattern.

• I left the rate fader in the default setting.

• The glide fader in the centre left is a setting for a controller guide wheel on an external keyboard.This managers the intensity of the LFO. (lower frequency oscillator)

• The router helps control the LFO and the mod envelope.

• At the bottom right side you have the mod envelope and ADSR controls, which l did adjust slightly.

• I changed the chorus and bender range. The bender range l should have left in its default settings.

It was a lot of fun playing around with the synth parameters.

Below is a look at the area where l tried to match the synth on the recording.

References

The Cars - Just What I Needed live 1979. (2008, April 26). Retrieved August 4, 2019, from https://youtu.be/oGd5OUsRTLs