Remaking the bass synth from the 2018 song "Doorman" by Slowthai & Mura Masa can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Doorman" bass 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
Slowthai and Mura Masa’s 2019 track “Doorman” features a distinctive gritty bass sound that drives the song’s rhythmic foundation with its aggressive, distorted character. This growling bass patch enters prominently at 0:17, delivering a raw, saturated tone that combines harmonic richness with controlled distortion for maximum impact in the low end. While likely a real electric bass, we can get close with a synth by using a medium pulse waveform processed through warm overdrive-style distortion. The resulting bass maintains its punch while delivering the signature gritty texture that defines the track’s sonic identity.
Original Performing Instrument
Likely an electric bass
Our Remake of The Bass Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the bass synth from the song "Doorman" by Slowthai & Mura Masa, 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: 400 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 50%
- Volume: 50%
- Pitch: -3 Cents
- Oscillator 2
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 100%
- Pitch: +3 Cents
- Volume: 50%
- Reset All Oscillators Phase On Note Start: No
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 70%
- Resonance: 45%
- Key Tracking: 90%
Distortion
- Drive: 45%
Chorus
- Mix: 20% Wet
- Rate: Medium
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
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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
- Vital
Comments
This recipe is the result of a Syntorial community preset remake request. Need support remaking this sound? Have comments?
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