[emilio palazzolo]

Hello guys, any advice on how to recreate the classic ensemble sound of the ARP Solina on Massive? Thank you!

[Joe Hanley]

It essentially breaks down to a string-style patch using a saw wave. However, there are two specific aspects of the solina that give it a particular sound: its analog signal path, and very lush chorus.

Massive has neither of those things, so while you can get very close, it will still be missing that warm vintage vibe. In particular, I’ve never liked Massive’s Chorus. It’s very digital and thin to me. So there are other synths more suited for this. (Diva comes to mind, with its beautiful Chorus effect. Or even Serum with its Moog-style filters and a nice Chorus).

In any case, you’ll want this patch structure:

Oscillator: Saw wave.

Filter: 24 dB Low Pass, analog emulation if possible (like Moog). Turn the
Cutoff down a bit. You still want a bright sound, but get rid of that super-bright synthy top end. Boost the Res up a bit to focus and narrow the sound. If your Filter has Drive, turn it up to add some warmth.

Amp Envelope: Medium-Fast Attack. It should fade in very quickly, to emulate that bowed string attack. Add a short Release as well so that it doesn’t stop abruptly.

Chorus: Lush. You can experiment with the Depth and Rate to get the sound you like.

MASSIVE-SPECIFIC – Few things to help Massive get there

Chorus: Turn the Depth down a bit to get rid of that out-of-tune sound.

Unison: Since the Chorus is kind of anemic, set the Oscillator to a two-voice unison, with just a bit of Detune. This will help make the Chorus more lush.

Feedback: Turn it up a bit to drive the filter a little harder. This will warm up the sound a bit and make it slightly more analog.

[emilio palazzolo]

Thank you very much Joe!