Remaking the lead synth from the 2015 song "Yes (Lost River Theme)" by CHROMATICS can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Yes (Lost River Theme)" lead patch and play this iconic sound on most hardware or software subtractive synthesizers (Serum, Vital, Pigments, Prophet, Korg, Moog, etc). We've included the preset download directly for your convenience, but we strongly recommend you use our programming tutorial to recreate it yourself.
Original Audio
That smooth, blippy lead in Chromatics’ “Yes (Love Theme from Lost River)” first appears at 0:52. It is narrow-toned with a quick attack to soften the attack transient and a short release, giving a gentle percussive “blip” articulation. The sound uses a pronounced low-pass filter with high resonance and is thickened by dense unison and a fast, stereo chorus. The result is a polished, slightly nasal lead that sits forward in the mix and carries the melody.
Our Remake of The Lead Synth sound
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the lead synth from the song "Yes (Lost River Theme)" by CHROMATICS, giving you a reference point as you design your own synthesizer preset. Play it as often as you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of the sound.
Synth Patch Programming Recipe
Getting Started
- Start by initializing your synthesizer to a plain saw with no filter, modulation or effects. For soft synths use the "init"/"default" preset or the the button to reset all parameters to their default factory values.
- No two synths are exactly alike, so treat the values below as approximate, and use your ear.
- Percentage values (e.g. 50%) represent the relative position of a knob or slider within its full range. The full range of each parameter may differ from synth to synth, so use your ear.
Voices
- Voice Mode: Mono
Amp Envelope
- Attack: 10 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 150 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Saw
- Volume: 70%
- Oscillator 2
- Waveform: Saw
- Pitch: +1 Octave
- Volume: 30%
- Unison
- Oscillators: All
- Voice Count: 4
- Detune Range: 20 Cents
- Reset All Oscillators Phase On Note Start: No
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 55%
- Resonance: 85%
- Key Tracking: 90%
Chorus
- Mix: 50% Wet
- Rate: Fast
Delay
- Mix: 50% Wet
- Feedback: 0%
- Time: 1/16 Note
Reverb
- Mix: 20% Wet
- Size: Medium
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Chromatics Synth Sounds – Reverb Machine
- In The Studio: Johnny Jewel – XLR8R
- Johnny Jewel – Equipboard
- Johnny Jewel Interview – Pitchfork
- “Work is therapy”: Johnny Jewel on David Lynch, Chromatics and near-death experiences – The Guardian
Preset Downloads
Don't want to learn synth programming now? Use our synth preset as your starting point and tweak it from there. Register an account with Audible Genius and download the presets for free for the following synths:
- Grundierung, our free synthesizer VST
Comments
This recipe is the result of a Syntorial community preset remake request. Need support remaking this sound? Have comments?
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