Gaited/Stuttering Melodic Noise

[TKQ]

Hey all. I'm new to the forum. Guitar player for years... I'm using SynthMaster One to wet my feet and am really loving this synth stuff! Been figuring it out over the past several months, mostly via YouTube and messing around. However, there are some sounds that are not quite as bread and butter that I'm struggling finding resources for, which is why I'm here!

One in particular I'm trying to get, is the intro synth to the song "Strangers" by Halsey. It's the stuttering noise-like tone right at the beginning. (see the link/video below)

• It seems to have a sort of gaited on-off thing. I used a Saw on an LFO set to Bipolar and connected to the osc volume. It ramps from 0 to full and then resets which gives it that hard gate sound. I think it sounds more accurate to the original than a square wave which I tried before. I'd say I'm 95% happy with how I have this. Open to suggestions though.
• As far as tone it seems like they are using noise blended with a saw or some wavetable. I have gotten something decent by using a saw osc and noise in the sub osc set to PM. I do this for both oscillators and put them just out of phase. I have the second osc set to +2 octaves to get some of the high tones. I'm using the tone knobs on each osc to get the wave to lose some of the sharp saw sound. I also have the second osc using a different kind of noise.
• ​​​​​I use a low pass filter and a high pass filter to get in the approx fq range.
• I don't have anything (other than osc volume) set to an LFO or envelope.

This is where I'm stuck. The synth in the song seems to have more melodic content and rolling random tones gently in the background. It's like my sound is all noise with very little musicality. But when I try to add more tone and less noise I just get this boring drone note. I am thinking my next steps would be to try and get the sound good by only using one osc and then try to get that other rolling more tonal sound from the other osc and then blend them. OR layer 2 instances of SM1.

I'd love some suggestions! I stumbled across using the sub osc in PM mode with noise to even get the sound where I now have it.




Cheers,
Tyler

[CHOOS]

https://rumble.com/v1cex7n-halsey-stran ... sound.html
I dont think it's a typical saw that was used but this gets you in the direction

[TKQ]

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

https://rumble.com/v1cex7n-halsey-stran ... sound.html (https://rumble.com/v1cex7n-halsey-strangers-intro-sound.html)
I dont think it's a typical saw that was used but this gets you in the direction

That was beyond helpful! Thank you so much! I don't know why but I hadn't spent time to search for a chord voicing. That alone took my patch to a much closer place. They drone a C# in the bass over some of the chord changes. After seeing your notes and using my own ears, I'd agree. It sounds like a C#sus4/G#. You nailed it. Thanks again for the help!

[CHOOS]

No worries. Glad I could help.
Let me know when you finish the song so I can have a listen.