What Synths / VSTs / techniques make the best Trance Leads?

Moosh · Post by **Moosh** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:57 pm

The subject says it all...

Wonder if anyone is willing to share tips and tricks on making those really punchy, rich, melodic leads used in trance music?

Is it a combination of starting with the right synths? hardware or vst? and then processings them? stacking / reverbs / delays / choruses?

Any ideas would be really well appreciated!

Thank you.

evilxsystems · Post by **evilxsystems** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:08 pm

jp-8080

or reaktor or absynth

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:22 pm

Glowsticker v3.4 VST/AU

MrRivaz · Post by **MrRivaz** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:15 pm

i use reaktor,absynth and on occasions v station.

i stack them, also with corus,maybe some delay, im buy no means a professional, but when i stack i slightly pan the higher sounds.

MarcAaron · Post by **MarcAaron** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 12:22 am

I'm still fairly new to Trance music production but here are a couple of my favorites:

Way above anything else is a book by Rick Snoman, "The Dance Music Manual". I've already worn out my first copy. Part one is dedicated to sound synthesis: what waveforms are used to build leads, pads, etc. Before/After clips on the companion CD so you can hear the sound you're shooting for.

Part two of the book has a chapter dedicated to each of the popular electronic styles and the Trance chapter has at least one "so that's how they did that!" moment every couple pages.

For soft synths, the Rapture and Z3ta plug-ins are awesome. Tons of Trance sets. Find a lead you like, display its waveforms, filters, etc., and consult the Snoman book on what you can expect if you modify such-and-such setting to move beyond the presets and make the lead your own.

[whew! Sorry about the long post. I didn't mean to ramble on for so long.]

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:02 am

I say reFX Vanguard !

MrRivaz · Post by **MrRivaz** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:01 am

where can i get a copy

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:16 pm

MrRivaz wrote:where can i get a copy

Google !

e-theory · Post by **e-theory** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:28 am

I have spent countless hours finding what I believe to be THE top of the line synths for VST for use with Live in terms of flexibility and sound. Whilst they are not the cheapest you certainly get what you pay for. To me this list is unbeatable in the VST realm:

* Lennar Digital's - "Sylenth1" synth ( http://www.lennardigital.com/modules/sylenth1/ ) imo wipes the floor with the previous suggestions for trance - it really has to be heard to be believe and most professional reviewers have likened its sound the the HUGE Access Virus hardware synth. It probably has the best sound of all but it imo has the least flexible routing, however the developer is currently working on addressing this.

* Native Instruments "Massive" synth ( http://www.native-instruments.com/ ), initially I did not like this synth, but after forcing myself to play with it for a LONG time, I came to realize that if you ignore the included presets and dig deep with programming it ( and you can go pretty deep with its modulation routing ), you can get sounds that are incredible fat and full and very versatile - the one trademark of it's sound would be the word "dark" - I don't think it is extremely suited to high pitched material but for pads and basslines it is awesome,

* GForce's "impOSCar", "Oddity" and "Minimonsta" synths ( http://gforcesoftware.com ), are by far the most versatile trio of the lot, and comprise of the guts of my synth arsenal and are easy and enjoyable to make your own sounds for, I could not live without them now, and for basslines Oddity is simply fantastic and easy to use,

* and Way Out Ware's "TimewARP2600" ( http://www.wayoutware.com/ ) ( Amazing for trance sounds, and in general has a more analogue sound than most synths - it's like it is always a little "out of control" to speak.... ).

From my own experience I thought from the moment I heard it that reFX Vanguard had a "cheap" sound with a "narrow" - very pushed mid freq - frequency response to my ears - I don't like the sound of it's filters, I think they have a somewhat plastic quality to them. If you open up the filters on Sylenth1, impOSCar or TimewARP2600 there is no comparison - to me they are warmer, smoother, brighter and more responsive all at the same time.

I have also recent come to appreciate that you can certainly push Analog and Operator to get some good stuff, but to me the above list will give you a bigger smile and more mileage,

my2c

Using any of these synths will give you better sounds, but for "trance leads" I would suggest starting with a sawtooth wave, and then using the "unison" feature of whatever synth you are using. Unison "copies" the original sound source multiple time and slightly detunes each one. The interaction between these unison voices creates complexity and richness to the tones. If you go really crazy with this, you can for instance take a simply sawtooth wave in Pro-53 by NI and use unison mode with 32 voices, giving you 32 sawtooth waves all slightly detuned around the base note. The result is pretty much the essential base sound for trance leads - and once you understand how this works and why, and play with it a fair bit, you'll have no issue making your own and more original sounding leads.

Fidel · Post by **Fidel** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:29 pm

Ganymede VST.. Gorgeous!! and.... google would be where you found it.. sorry.. too much to do right now...

Affiliation · Post by **Affiliation** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:14 pm

e-theory wrote: I would suggest starting with a sawtooth wave, and then using the "unison" feature of whatever synth you are using. Unison "copies" the original sound source multiple time and slightly detunes each one. The interaction between these unison voices creates complexity and richness to the tones. If you go really crazy with this, you can for instance take a simply sawtooth wave in Pro-53 by NI and use unison mode with 32 voices, giving you 32 sawtooth waves all slightly detuned around the base note. The result is pretty much the essential base sound for trance leads - and once you understand how this works and why, and play with it a fair bit, you'll have no issue making your own and more original sounding leads.

thanks for the advice, I just wasted a day (its never wasted). went on and on to build a rack with operators that does just that. Its a bit complicated to look at but actually real simple. Its all in the macro mapping. Not a big organ player myself but who knows? someone might actually enjoy this overly complicated weird sounding animal one day.

link to the rack (Live7):
"Level" and "Fine" can be alot of fun to play with.
disable the Chord fx for a more (pure) sound.
play with "Wave" for just about anything (self-explanatory)

http://www.affiliationsound.com/stuff/Dolby_Organ.adg

(actually this may also werk in 6)

Affiliation · Post by **Affiliation** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:04 pm

Damn!, double post.

e-theory · Post by **e-theory** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:50 pm

If you didn't have luck making your trance lead sound I will make you an .adg with a nice trance lead using just operator and the built in plugins over the weekend if that helps? Just so I know exactly what you are shooting for please fire me a reference .mp3 to evolutionarytheory@hotmail.com and I will replicate the sound as closely as I can using only Live.

Affiliation · Post by **Affiliation** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:20 am

actually this is the sound i was after...you probably guessed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewxzke3c ... re=related

nothing to do with trance there but hei, just making synths here.

e-theory · Post by **e-theory** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:48 am

The THX startup sound? Seriously?
OK, if that's what you want, I'll make you an .adg for it.
Strange request tho....

What Synths / VSTs / techniques make the best Trance Leads?

What Synths / VSTs / techniques make the best Trance Leads?

Trance Leads

Re: What Synths / VSTs / techniques make the best Trance Lea

Re: Trance Leads

Re: Trance Leads