Hello there fellow Motivators,

I am working on a covers duo with a lead singer. We are called “Grey Area”. We are specialising in the synth pop hits of the eighties with some classic rock and funk hits thrown in.

At the moment I am working on “Let’s Go” by The Cars. Has anybody out created really good recreations of the synth patches for those songs on the XF series that they would be prepared to share with me? I have already done my own recreations for about 28 songs that I would be happy to share with others if they can help with patches for these types of songs.

The songs I have to trade are:

Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
Take on Me- A-ha
Love Her Madly- The Doors
Superstition- Stevie Wonder
Losing My Religion- REM
Angels- Robbie Williams
Feel - Robbie Williams
The Sounds of Then - Gangajang
Easy - Faith No More
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
You Spin Me Round - Dead or Alive
Throw Your Arms Around Me - Hunters & Collectors
Handle Me With Care - The Travelling Wilburys
Great Southern Land - Icehouse
Just Can’t Get Enough - Depéche Mode
Life is a Rollercoaster - Ronan Keating
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
Too Many Times - Mental as Anything
Blue Monday - New Order
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Gold - Spandau Ballet
Imagine - John Lennon
Live It Up - Mental as Anything
Let’s Stick Together - Bryan Ferry
Whip it - Devo
Cars - Gary Numan
Living on the Ceiling - Blancmange
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Ashley

If you are interested in what I am doing sounds like, have a listen to this demo:

Grey Area Demo

I would love to hear any comments or constructive criticism you might have about the demos.

Looking forward to hearing from anybody who might be able to help. :)

Regards,
Grant

The Voice you’re looking for is based on a “hard sync” sound.
If you’re not familiar with the term, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillator_sync

You might find these threads helpful:
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/archive/viewthread/312800/
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/449800/

The sync Waveforms in the XF are:
1360 Sync Lead1
1361 Sync Lead2
1362 Sync Lead3
1363 Sync Lead4
1364 Sync Lead5
1365 Sync LFO

(XS users will find them at Waveforms 940~945.)

It will probably take more than just one of those Waveforms to get the sound you’re looking for.

The second of the above linked threads refers to this XS library:
http://shop.motifator.com/index.php/voice-libraries/motif-xs-voice-libraries/classics/vintage-keys-xs.html

This is the XF version:
http://shop.motifator.com/index.php/voice-libraries/motif-xf/vintage/vintage-keys-xf.html

I’ll let you decide for yourself if the Voice in the VK library meets your needs.

The dual sync voice in Vintage Keys is a really good replica of the opening signature sound.  Its not exact but its close and works very well in a band mix.  I have no idea how to take two oscillators and create whatever a dual syncing sound is doing, and I don’t know that XF can even synch two separate oscillators (don’t think so) as many old analog synths can do - so I got the VK library when we started a Cars tribute and tweaked it very slightly to my taste.  i used it when i played in a Cars tribute.  Everyone loved it.  The entire library is like $40, well worth it imo.  Other libraries that have other Cars song voices are Pop/Rocks (don’t know if Vol 1, 2 or both- can’t remember).  I bought all 3 libraries here at motifator, its good to support this site and keep it alive.

I used a prophet based sound in VK for the second synth sound in the song - its basically just a quick 5th chop that sounds somewhat like a soft brass synth sound.  Can’t recall - that sound isn’t all that critical, you can find one that will work in presets as its brief.  I think it came from VK but took more tweaking.

The third synth sound that you need - comes in at Verse 2 - is just a basic thick saw wave string sound - like a Jupiter *JP” type string.  One of the easiest sounds in the world on a synth.  I think i used a Jupiter based saw string voice in Inspiration and it actually uses one JP waveform and one OB waveform (ironic, yes).  but it may have been from VK, can’t recall.  but there are basic ones (either synth string or pad section) in the presets or you can create it from available waveforms.

VK and Pop/Rock libraries have no additional User Waveforms, only Presets - anything in that library can be created from the existing preset waveforms available.  Also, if you buy them, you don’t need a flash board to keep installed at all times.

I set my voices up in a Perf with the Dual Synch in lower octaves, prophet soft brass in middle and string sound in top.  All 3 sounds fit in a XF7 span without overlap or having to switch any off / on.  easy but for me it was a really fun song to play - one of my fave Cars tunes.  Maybe because it felt a bit more “rock” and i’m really more a rocker than a popper :).  Just a well crafted composition imo.

Unfortunately, I’m not able to share my library as too many of my Cars performances utilize voices I bought are copyrighted from either VK, Pop Rocks, or a 4th library I bought to get the epic CP 30 electric piano Greg used extensively on the first few albums.  There’s tons of EPs in XF, but they are almost all Rhodes, Wurly, Clav or generic non-descript “EP”.  none of them sound like the 70s era vintage CP 30.  If you ever do a song like Bye Bye Love, Its All I Can Do, All Mixed Up - i recommend finding that library (note: it requires Flash memory card to retain onboard as it uses its own user sample waveforms).  I don’t remember the name of it anymore - all I remember is Dave (the creator of VK) told me of its existence - here on this forum.  A deep forum search back about 6 years might find it lol. 

Of course, it depends on if you mind buying 3rd party libraries.  For me - life is too short and I didn’t/don’t have time to become as expert at creating voices from scratch as those experts already did.  Just a cost of music for me. Ymmv.

Hello fellow MOTIF pilots,

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you 5pinDIN & motidave. Your comments were very useful and were very helpful.

In the end, as usual my XF8 had the resources necessary as you’ve both pointed out. If you are interested in having a listen, you can listen to the result here:

Let’s Go

Still, there is much more to learn.

I will have some more questions soon. :)

Best,
Grant

It’s very good! Well done.

Can you tell me what you used for the synth?  Settings, etc.?
Sounds great!

I agree with Davelet.... nice work.  My 65 y/o ears cannot tell the difference from original.

MAX,

The hard sync sound that you programmed is very good and sits well in the mix.

Can you please share your secret as mentioned earlier or post it for others to enjoy.

I have a couple of sounds similar to what is mentioned in this post, however your sound is kind of the same, yet different. 

Great job and hope that you will share sounds like in this post and others that you created or tweaked.

Thanks,

Kenny

synthmax - 27 July 2018 07:23 AM

...you can listen to the result here:
Let’s Go

Grant! That is incredible! I wish that I had the time to set up sequences and sounds like this for when I played in a cover band. If all your material sounds like this, your duo must be a hit at clubs and parties!

Thanks Tony! Glad you enjoyed it!