Failing to recreate a "swedish progressive" lead after multiple attempts

[AlanS]

Hi,

I've been attempting to recreate a Swedish sound over my own production for a few months now. It hasn't been going quite well, so I've decided to practice sound design over some of my favorite artist's midi.

I usually have 3 layers for leads: a melody in the second, third, and fourth octave. Each saw has 8 voices and is detuned. I process it with compression, saturation/distortion, chorus, eq, etc. I also play around with panning and mono variations.

Even though I apply "typical" techniques that countless of forums and youtube tutorials suggest, I still can't get the sound that I desire. It always sounds thin and like a toy.

Here are some tracks that inspire the sound that I would like to achieve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1ZwLPv0t8g (3:11)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvZWsr4QCRc (1:38)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCs-QNH2G0U (1:38)


I know that a lot of people on this forum suggest slapping on a nexus and sylenth preset, but I would like to learn how to sound design from scratch.

Thank you.

[Cherrycoke]

Hmm I'm a bit confused because you're asking for different sounds here… I AM and Tokyo By Night have nothing in common. I was able to make a close lead from this one used in Made For This by Sick Individuals and it's almost the same :
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... &p=5938538

I'll tell you more about it in a next post. When it comes to Tokyo By Night it's a bass with a lead and pretty much nothing else. The bass sounds like this to me :
http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/69221479/file.html

You get something like this :
http://www27.zippyshare.com/v/9037251/file.html

I know it's missing something in the remake of Tokyo By Night maybe because I didn't mix/master anything but I seriously don't hear nothing else.
I'm using Sylenth1 by the way, for everything except the kick, and built-in Logic Pro effects (I put a phaser on the bass). Just remember that Axwell probably has pro engineers mastering his tracks so it will definitely sound louder even though you find the exact same sounds he used.

[AlanS]

Wow, you got really close to Sick Individuals sound. Would love to know how you got that. Read that you added a filtered clap - didn't even think of that haha.

This is the closest I've gotten to I AM

http://www38.zippyshare.com/v/45392839/file.html

[AlanS]

Bump?

[RobJanssens1993]

Hey man, I did a quick attempt about the Tokyo by Night track. The midrange bass synth isn't the same, but I prefered this version over the Axwell one actually.


https://soundcloud.com/rj1993/tokyo-by- ... wip-remake

The lead synth itself:
- piano of Nexus, EQ to remove, compressed and some EQ (MannyM ToneShaper) to make it more shiny.
- V-Sector (same processing)
- Adagio (same processing)
-> After that it's a matter of proper balancing them out, a little bit of compression for glueing and mixing it in properly.

Midrange bass:
- Saw wave + Square , playing in the sub area: I did a lot of processing with GuitarRig to get a nice sound, added some more distortion + stereo tool within Guitar Rig to make it more shiny and then did a lowcut of 250 and a highcut around 6k. You don't want it to interfere with the bass synths.
-> It's playing 1/16 notes all the time + an arp with 1/16 on it. Gives it that dum dum, dum dum feeling.

Bass synths:
- One bass playing in the 130 - 250 range
- One bass playing in the 60-130 range
- One bass playing in the 30-60 range
-> level them out

Pads:
Because I felt that the track didn't feel "filled up" I decided to use the bassline progression and make a big pad. I can't remember the layers but it's just something that you like and that sounds big. Mix it in carefully, watch out for too much stereo information (lots of pad presets have that).


Reverb:
MannyM Reverb, mixed in lightly.

Other stuff:
Standard kick: Little bit of EQ to reduce the tock (it was too heavy and messed up with the lead)
Claps: Same procedure.

Master:
OTT on light settings + a bit of Fabfilter Saturn because there was a dip of 3 to 4 db in the 5k - 10k range. (Probably because of my harsh EQ removing).

The key to this track is make it sound "filled up" or "complete" without using any reverb. It's a mistake that lots of guys make for Progressive House. Get the feeling first, then mix everything into a reverb bus and listen to your mix while mixing in.

Tip2: Mix everything around the lead. I know this sounds stupid but a simple EQ on the master with a low and high cut around the lead synth (solo first, then unmute) can give you a quick illustration how the other elements are affecting that lead synth range. Make room for the lead synth if something is too loud!

[AlanS]

Thanks Rob! That worked pretty well.

Does anyone know what Axwell & Ingrosso did for the lead on their new track?

0:29 - 1:00
https://soundcloud.com/axwellingrosso/s ... g-new-clip