Remaking the lead synth from the 2020 song "Nothing for Free" by Pendulum can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Nothing for Free" 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
Pendulum’s 2010 track “Nothing for Free,” from their album Immersion, features an aggressive drum and bass composition defined by a piercing lead synthesizer that cuts through the dense mix with metallic intensity. The lead sound comprises two-octave stacked saw waves processed with heavy Unison, aggressive Filter Drive for saturation, and expansive Reverb for spatial depth. This combination creates the signature cutting tone that dominates the track’s melodic structure with precise rhythmic phrasing. You can hear this lead synthesizer prominently enter at 0:36 in the song.
Original Performing Instrument
Unknown
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 "Nothing for Free" by Pendulum, 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.
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
The information about sources for recreating the lead synthesizer sound from “Nothing for Free” by Pendulum is not available in the provided search results. The search results contain information about a different topic – a synthesizer plugin called “Pendulate” by Newfangled Audio, which is unrelated to the Pendulum band or their song “Nothing for Free.”
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:
- 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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