identifying synth sounds

[ndcaster]

ok, we're mainly guitar players who after a while can listen to a song, and then know what kind of tools we need to get similar or even the exact sounds

but can we do the same thing with synth sounds? synths have been around for a long time, and while we Gen X guitarists might remember DX7's, Oberheims, and Prophets, I've never paid attention to naming the sounds I've heard in technical terms

example:



I could goof around in a DAW and find similar sounds, and maybe add the right delay (dotted eighth?) and reverb to approximate this, but is there anyone out there who listens to this and immediately goes, "oh yeah, that's an X"?

help a Model T guitar brother learn some electronica, as I'm about ready to buy a "bitcrusher" pedal ...

 

[String Tree]

Getting the same Synth Sound can be as futile as trying to cop a Guitar Sound.
Who knows what was done in the Studio?

Wish I could be of more help.

 

[swervinbob]

I know nothing about synths. The only one I've played around with is the new UAD Moog Minimoog. It has way more sounds than I know what to do with.

 

[TomBrokaw]

The percussive chords behind the vocals starting around 0:09 would usually be described as plucks, and are easy to create with a detuned saw and a lowpass filter set to a fairly low cutoff. Automating the cutoff to go higher is a very common way to create a riser.

Around 0:22 I hear a pad with some sidechaining linked to the kick (which isn't audible yet) creating that pumping, rhythmic fade in.

The sound playing the descending melody, around the same time, might be described as a lead, although leads are frequently monophonic and I don't think that is. Not sure how else you'd describe it.

If you're asking about which specific synths were used, no idea. I've had some luck googling the song name plus "synth", but that's hit or miss and often just leads to forums and the speculation contained therein. For older and more famous songs it can work, because there were fewer options the farther back you go, e.g. the "knocking" sound at the beginning of "When Doves Cry" is a Linn LM-1 (according to the internet).

But for newer stuff, there are so many hardware options, mods, and software options that it can be nearly impossible to ID solely by sound.

 

[Killing Floor]

Digital is a little more difficult to know the gear yet a little less difficult to replicate with editing. I can tell certain older analog synths by ear. A Korg MS20, for example. But with midi gear there’s a lot under the hood and a lot you can do in workshop that isn’t dependent on the material.

 

[Hey_you]

I have a bit of synth sound recall, but just a couple. Throw Modular Rack in the mix, and well, no idea-