Remaking the lead synth from the 1979 song "Are Friends Electric" by Gary Numan can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Are Friends Electric" 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
Gary Numan’s 1979 breakthrough hit “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” from Tubeway Army’s album *Replicas* marked a pivotal moment in electronic music, blending robotic minimalism with dystopian themes. The lead synthesizer sound features a Moog Minimoog Model D programmed with simple sawtooth waves, creating the distinctive monotonic melody that defines the track. The sound utilizes subtle low-pass filtering and reverb to achieve its cold, mechanical character, with the Minimoog’s characteristic warmth providing contrast to the song’s stark electronic arrangement. You can hear this lead synthesizer prominently from the very opening of the song, where it establishes the main melodic motif that continues throughout the track.
Original Performing Instrument
Minimoog
Our Remake of The Lead Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the lead synth from the song "Are Friends Electric" by Gary Numan, 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
Remake This Sound Yourself
Learn how to program this synth preset with Syntorial, all by ear. Download the demo and try unlimited famous sound challenges for free.
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: 0 ms
- Decay: 1900 ms
- Sustain: 20%
- Release: 20 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Saw
- Volume: 100%
- Unison
- Oscillators: All
- Voice Count: 4
- Detune Range: 9 Cents
- Reset All Oscillators Phase On Note Start: No
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 80%
- Key Tracking: 50%
Chorus
- Mix: 50% Wet
- Rate: Slow
Reverb
- Mix: 30% Wet
- Size: Big
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- The Synth Sounds of Gary Numan: “Cars,” “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” (Reverb)
- That Gary Numan Synth – Polymoog and Vox Humana Preset (YouTube)
- Ep26 The Synth Sounds of Gary Numan: “Cars”, “Are ‘Friends’ Electric”, “M.E.”, and “Metal” (YouTube)
- ARE FRIENDS ELECTRIC | Keyboard Synth Tutorial (Gary Numan) (YouTube)
- Recreating Gary Numan and Tubeway Army’s “Are Friends Electric?” (YouTube)
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:
- Primer, 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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