Remaking the lead synth from the 1983 song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" 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
Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” features a blippy percussive synth solo at 1:34, characterized by a bright, rhythmic marimba-like timbre that punctuates the track’s upbeat dance rhythm. This sound combines sharp, staccato articulation with a high-pitched sheen, creating a playful, percussive effect that aligns with the song’s energetic tempo (120 BPM). The synth’s role is both melodic and rhythmic, driving the track’s momentum during the solo. The solo’s timing and phrasing mirror the song’s celebratory tone, using syncopated patterns to emphasize the “fun” theme.
Original Performing Instrument
Roland Juno-60
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 "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, 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: 0 ms
- Decay: 350 ms
- Sustain: 0%
- Release: 20 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 100%
- Volume: 100%
- Unison
- Oscillators: All
- Voice Count: 2
- Detune Range: 3 Cents
- Reset All Oscillators Phase On Note Start: Yes
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 25%
- Resonance: 55%
- Key Tracking: 100%
Filter Envelope
- Modulation Amount: 25%
- Attack: 0 ms
- Decay: 130 ms
- Sustain: 0%
Delay
- Mix: 30% Wet
- Feedback: 0%
- Time: 1/32 Note
- Stereo Spread (Time shift of Left or Right Channel): 10ms
Reverb
- Mix: 20% Wet
- Size: Small
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Synth Marimba Sound Design Tutorial (Almalibre Studios)
- Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Wikipedia)
- Cyndi Lauper: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (Multitrack Stems)
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
