53 Thieves - What You Do To Me | Keys Synth Patch Remake

Remaking the keys synth from the 2019 song "What You Do To Me" by 53 Thieves can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "What You Do To Me" keys 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

The pad synthesizer in 53 Thieves’ “What You Do To Me” establishes the track’s atmospheric foundation with lush, evolving chords that blend warm analog-style textures and subtle modulation. This sound features detuned sawtooth waves layered with a resonant low-pass filter, creating a shimmering, ethereal quality. The pad’s movement is driven by a slow LFO controlling the filter cutoff, adding dynamic interest without overpowering the melodic structure. You can hear this sound prominently in the track’s opening seconds, setting the mood before other elements enter.

Our Remake of The Keys Synth

This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the keys synth from the song "What You Do To Me" by 53 Thieves, 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.

Oscillator Setup

• • Oscillator A: Analog BD Sine, -1 octave, random phase at 0%.
  • Sub Oscillator: Triangle wave, -1 octave, low-level presence.
  • Noise Oscillator: Analog Organ Noise, +12 semitones, level modulated by Envelope 3.

Filter Settings

• • MG Low 6 filter.
  • Cutoff at ~800 Hz.
  • Resonance at 0%, Fat turned all the way up.

Envelope Settings

• • Envelope 1 (Amp):
    • Attack: 168ms
    • Decay: 824ms
    • Release: 324ms
  • Envelope 2 (Pitch Modulation):
    • Attack: 113ms, mapped to Global Pitch (+12 semitones)
  • Envelope 3 (Noise Modulation):
    • Attack: 275ms, slight level increase for white noise texture.

LFO Settings

• • LFO 1: Subtle detune modulation.
  • LFO 2: Tremolo effect for movement.

Effects Processing

• • Soft Clip Distortion (Drive: 30%, Mix: 25%)
  • Chorus (Voices: 12, Rate: 0.16Hz, Delay 1: 2.5ms, Delay 2: 7ms)
  • Compressor (OTT Mode, Highs: 5dB, Mids: -2.6dB, Mix: 34%)
  • Plate Reverb (Size: 44, Low Cut: 18Hz, Width: 70%)
  • EQ (Low cut at 155Hz to make room for bass)

Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.

Notes And Observations

Consider the following external processing:

• Utility Plugin: Adjust stereo width for mix placement considering other track elements.
• Smooth Operator: Suppress resonances in specific frequency bands, applied twice for clarity and sidechain compression

Explore More

• How To Write Chords Like 53 Thieves – What You Do To Me Dissection

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:

• Serum