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This string sound

I have tried so many variations and I still can't nail, many forums later no one else can seem to either

you can hear the string on it's own @1.23

State Of Grace - Not Over Yet (Trance Mix) 1993 - YouTube

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can you help?

is it a sample or is it synth layered? or both?

I've never heard a string like it

scott

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damargeo Sat, 10/04/2014 - 04:34

DonnyThompson, post: 419938, member: 46114 wrote: Could be a combination of layers or a single patch built upon layering. Hard to tell, as so many synth p[layers often use layering.

It sounds very reminiscent of an Oberheim string patch to me, but it could be anything, really. It's a pretty familiar sounding analog string patch.

I know that the artist had a juno-106 and a jupiter-6 in the studio - could one of these have done it?

anonymous Sat, 10/04/2014 - 05:03

Sure it's possible. The Oberheim was just a guess on my part.

You might try cruising through YouTube, using "Juno 106/ Jupiter 6 strings" in the search menu.

I had a Jupiter 6 back in '83/'84, and while it's been many years now, it's very possible - actually, it's more than likely - that it had a string patch that was very similar to what you posted as an example.

I can't understand why other people you have asked seem to be so clueless in regard to the string sound you are referring to, unless of course, the people you are asking are too young to remember 1980's analog synths. It was most certainly not an uncommon patch - to the contrary, it was actually a very common string patch for any number of 80's-period analog synths; Oberheim, Roland, Korg... any one of those - or any of those layered together, and tweaked using the synth's VCO's and other adjustable parameters - could have given that string sound.

FWIW

d.

pcrecord Sat, 10/04/2014 - 05:58

Wow, the keyboard player in my first band had a Juno 106 !! Brings up memories ;)

Excuse me for being blunt but other than wanting to reproduce a song live, I don't see any reason to copy a sound.
What makes music interesting is when it's different. When you come up with a sound that was long lost or a new texture sound, it has more chances to be noticed and not be forgotten.

That being said, Nexus 2 would be my first place to start a Dance/trance song, specially for it's tempo sync ability. But I always try not to take the patches as is. I like to change them and make them unique.

anonymous Sat, 10/04/2014 - 09:43

pcrecord, post: 419943, member: 46460 wrote: When you come up with a sound that was long lost or a new texture sound, it has more chances to be noticed and not be forgotten.

Exactly. And, to most younger musicians who were either not old enough to remember - or maybe not even born yet - when certain synth patches and sounds were popular, to them, these sounds are new... because they've probably never heard them before.

I have no problem whatsoever with people resurrecting "vintage" synth sounds... just as long as no one decides to make the 1986 DX7 "Rhodes" popular again. (shudder) LOL

d.

paulears Sat, 10/04/2014 - 12:22

.... even more annoyingly, I actually needed it the other day, and discovered all my clever VSTi instruments just didn't do it very well - but I found one that worked in my elderly Roland 1080 - I had it in a yamaha synth VST, which crashed as soon as windows 7 tried to load it - the last time I accessed it, I was on XP! It is pretty horrid though.

Josh Conley Sun, 10/05/2014 - 06:44

waldorf has a new(ish) string synth. ill bet that sound is in it somewhere ;)
http://www.waldorf-music.info/streichfett-overview

ill wager its the reverb they put on there that gives a tone you will struggle to match more so than the patch itself.
Though, Im of the opinion that trying to duplicate someone elses synth patches is the ultimate waste of good synth noodling time. make your own patches up, its more fulfilling that way :)

anonymous Sun, 10/05/2014 - 08:15

Josh Conley, post: 419969, member: 47953 wrote: waldorf has a new(ish) string synth. ill bet that sound is in it somewhere ;)
http://www.waldorf-music.info/streichfett-overview

ill wager its the reverb they put on there that gives a tone you will struggle to match more so than the patch itself.
Though, Im of the opinion that trying to duplicate someone elses synth patches is the ultimate waste of good synth noodling time. make your own patches up, its more fulfilling that way :)

Unless you are trying to emulate a song (cover) for performance, and want to stay accurate to the original arrangement, I totally agree.