James Blake - Retrograde | 鉛 | シンセ・パッチ再現

「 鉛 」シンセのリメイク 2013 年の楽曲「 "Retrograde" 」（ James Blake ）は、あらゆるシンセ愛好家にとって刺激的なチャレンジです。ここでは、 "Retrograde" 鉛 パッチを作成し、Serum、Vital、Pigments、Prophet、Korg、Moog などの多くのハード／ソフトのサブトラクティブ・シンセでこのアイコニックなサウンドを演奏する方法を紹介します。利便性のためにプリセットのダウンロードも用意していますが、プログラミング・チュートリアルを使って自分で再現することを強くおすすめします。

オリジナル音源

James Blake’s “Retrograde” features a haunting and ethereal synth lead that is particularly prominent during the song’s climactic moments. The synth lead can be heard most distinctly as the song approaches its peak, particularly around the line “Suddenly I’m hit.” Although it sounds polyphonic, the pad is actually monophonic, with three detuned oscillators slowly converging to the same note.

Before diving into the creation process, it’s essential to understand what makes the “Retrograde” synth lead unique. It involves an extreme and slow bending of multiple pitches at once to create an intentionally out-of-tune sound that eventually resolves into one still-kind-of-out-of-tune sound. This intentional dissonance creates an intense tension that adds to the song’s emotional depth.

「 鉛 」シンセ・サウンド リメイク

この音源は、「 鉛 」シンセの原音—楽曲「 "Retrograde" 」（ James Blake）—にどれだけ近づけたかを示すものです。シンセプリセットを設計する際の基準点として活用してください。ニュアンスに慣れるまで何度でも再生できます。

シンセ・パッチの作り方

はじめに

• フィルター／モジュレーション／エフェクトなしの基本的なソウ波から開始します。
• シンセごとに仕様は異なるため、以下の値は目安として耳で合わせてください。
• ％表記（例：50％）はツマミ位置の相対値を示します。

To recreate this sound, you’ll need a synthesizer with three oscillators, and the ability to route an envelope to those oscillators’ pitch. The envelope will also need to allow for both positive and negative modulation. Vital is a great choice. Additionally, a basic understanding of synthesis is beneficial.

Creating the Patch

1. Oscillator Settings: Enable three oscillators, all with saw waves.
2. Filter: 24 dB Low Pass Filter. Bring the Cutoff down a little, just enough to take a bit of bright edge off the top.
3. Pitch Envelope: Modulate the first Oscillator’s pitch with an envelope. Set the Envelope’s Sustain to 0 so that the pitch jumps up and decays back down to the pitch you played. Adjust the modulation amount so that it jumps just the right amount. Make the Decay very slow, around 5 seconds. And if your synth allows it, give the Decay a pretty steep curve so that its descent moves faster at first and then really slows down as it approaches the Sustain.
4. Repeat the same thing for Oscillator 2 and 3 with one difference: use negative modulation so that the pitch jumps down and decays upward. For Oscillator 2 use just a small level of modulation amount. And for Oscillator 3, use more.
5. Smear and Pulsate: Tune Oscillator 1 up 10 cents, and Oscillator 3 down 10 cents. This will create a smearing, kind-of detuned sound as the pitches approach the Envelope’s sustain level.
6. Filter Envelope: Modulate the Filter Cutoff using the same pitch-routed envelope above (or an additional envelope with the same ADSR settings) and give it a healthy amount of negative modulation. This will start the sound dark and get brighter over time.
7. Amp Envelope: Lastly, swell in the sound by adding about 1 second’s worth of Attack.

注：Syntorial チャレンジ内では設定が少し異なる場合があります。

さらに詳しく

• James Blake Retrograde Synth // ASM Hydrasynth (YouTube)
• Synth Tutorial: James Blake “Retrograde” (Syntorial)
• James Blake Synth Sounds (Reverbmachine)

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• 「Vital」