Remaking the bass synth from the 2013 song "Surrounded " by BT & Aqualung can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Surrounded " 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
The brief aggressive “yow yow” bass in BT & Aqualung’s “Surrounded” hits at 2:31 as a short, plucky monophonic stab that punctuates the drop. Its timbre is created with rapid wavetable and filter modulation producing the vocalized “yeow” motion. The tone is driven with downsample-style distortion to add gritty, aggressive harmonics. It serves as a momentary lead-bass accent that cuts through the mix during the track’s breakdown.
Our Remake of The Bass Synth sound
https://soundcloud.com/audiblegenius/bt-aqualung-surrounded-bass?utm_medium=api&utm_campaign=social_sharing&utm_source=id_300780This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the bass synth from the song "Surrounded " by BT & Aqualung, 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
- BT (musician) – Wikipedia
- Watch: BT on the art of sound design | Native Instruments Blog
- BT goes deep on his plugins: MusicTech interview
- Out Now: BT’s A Song Across Wires | Relentless Beats
- The Making of “Surrounded” – 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:
- Serum
Comments
This recipe is the result of a Syntorial community preset remake request. Need support remaking this sound? Have comments?
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