Synth1 can recreate most subtractive 80's sounds with ease. SQ8L is your go-to choice for wavetable sounds which were equally defining for that era. Both of these are free. You'll also want to utilize FM synthesis. FM8 can load sysex banks with the actual Yamaha DX7 presets used in many 80's productions.

For drums, everyone knows about the 808, but you'll also want to look into the Linndrum and Oberheim DMX (you'll recognize that clap instantly).

After that just make sure to liberally use gated reverb effects.

I've heard patches like those on JV/XP synths by Roland.

Yes I've just found the SQ8L and it sounds pretty great so far even though the UI is very strange to say the least.

Juno 6 and D50 would be best suited in hardware.

I just whipped up something pretty close using U-NO-62. It's free:
http://kunz.corrupt.ch/products/tal-u-no-62
Everything at TAL is free and pretty damn awesome. Might as well get it all.

Throw on some compression and reverb to get it really punchy like in that track.

If you are using AU on Mac I can send you the .aupreset for it. Otherwise, here's a screenshot:

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The layout represents the actual synth architecture in graphical form. If you're not a hardcore programmer, try downloading some of the SQ8L patches from here on KVR or grab any of the free specialty banks that interest you from my site (link in signature).

I don't get advertizing money and I'm I'm not selling anything on the site (even though its called "Score for Sale"). Everything is free because I either created it or it has been okayed by the original creators.

Speaking of, I should probably assemble some free "specialty banks" for use in certain genres. If there is any interest, feel free to nominate some styles in this thread. I think we've proved that the synth is good for more than just 80's covers.

Thanks man. I created something similar to your patch earlier today in U-No-62, but yours is even closer thanks.
Last edited by deathwish on Thu May 24, 2012 5:43 pm; edited 1 time in total

Yes the SQ8L seems quite complicated to program, but I've found some banks for it around the web. I'll check out your banks too. There's a quite a few presets in the default bank that sound like there's reverb/delay on them but I can't find any options to turn the effects off, so if you know...

It's nice to find synths out there with presets that aren't geared towards the terrible genre that is EDM.

Turn down the damn compression. Other than that... yes, rad.

Briefly (and without hijacking the thread), try just playing with a single OSCILLATOR at a time, and the synth will open up for you. The INIT program has just the 1st OSC turned on, and you can try swapping waveforms and adding an LFO, etc.



There is no conventional FX section at all, because it emulates the hardware SQ80, but the envelopes feature a "second release" that acts as reverb (also on the hardware).

Essentially, if you see an "R" following any number in the envelope sections, that is a reverb-release. Change (for example) "32R" to just regular "32" to remove reverb.

Multi-stage envelopes are admittedly not as simple as ADSR sliders. I have an article on the site that explains them, and an app for people who just want a quick reference. The advantage is that reverb-release can do things you can't do with a regular reverb effect (and vice-versa, of course).

Similarly the chorus effect you often hear is a result of having 3 big detuned oscillators instead of an effect at the end of the chain. Try reducing the SEMI-and-FINE tuning of each OSC closer to ZERO for less chorus, and increase them for more.

This detuning is a good next step when you start turning ON additional OSCs for the INIT program (the DIGITAL CONTROLLED AMP buttons for each OSC contain the ON/OFF control because...well, they are the AMPs!)

Its the difference between creating the chorus naturally at the start of the sound chain or adding it at the end. Neither solution is right or wrong, but it's nice to have more than one musically useful way to solve a problem.

Synapse Audio-DUNE

i am sure this vst-synth can do it. there are also other synths that have that 80ies sound. they have a real cool demo-policy


http://www.manxsynthesizers.com/Super-Jay.htm