Duran Duran - Hold Back The Rain | Seq Synth Patch Remake

Remaking the seq synth from the 1982 song "Hold Back The Rain" by Duran Duran can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Hold Back The Rain" seq 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

Duran Duran’s 1982 track “Hold Back the Rain” from their album *Rio* opens with a fast-flanged synth sequence that establishes the song’s energetic rhythm. This sound features rapid arpeggiated patterns processed through a flanging effect, creating a dynamic and percussive texture. The sequence is heard immediately at the track’s start (0:00), driving the song’s forward momentum.

Original Performing Instrument

Unknown

Our Remake of The Seq Synth sound

This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the seq synth from the song "Hold Back The Rain" by Duran Duran, 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 allx 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

Oscillator Setup

Oscillator 1

• Mix: 37%
• Wavetable: Basic Shapes
• Wave Frame: Medium Pulse (position 205)
• Routing: Filter 1
• Random Phase: 0%
• Transpose: -12 st
• Phase: 0°
• Unison Detune: 11%
• Unison Blend: 0.77

Oscillator 2

• Mix: 73%
• Wavetable: Basic Shapes
• Wave Frame: Medium Pulse (position 203)
• Routing: Filter 2
• Random Phase: 0%
• Phase: 0°
• Unison Detune: 10%

Envelope Settings

Envelope 1 (Amp)

• Attack: 18 ms
• Decay: 81 ms
• Sustain: 99%
• Release: 124 ms

Effects Processing (Ordered)

Flanger

• Mix: Default (50%)
• Center: 493.9 Hz
• Feedback: 88%
• Depth: 72%
• Phase Offset: 0.50
• Sync: Default (Tempo)
• Tempo: 2/1

Eq

• Low Mode: High-Pass
• Low Cutoff: 91.642 Hz
• Low Resonance: 0%
• Band Cutoff: 241.333 Hz
• Band Resonance: 0%
• Band Gain: -9 dB
• High Mode: Low-Pass
• High Cutoff: 21096.164 Hz
• High Resonance: 12%

Reverb

• Mix: 21%
• Size: 0%
• Chorus Amount: 0%
• Time: -6.000 s
• Low Shelf Cutoff: 28% (67.005 Hz)
• Low Shelf Gain: -6 dB
• Pre Low Cutoff: 40% (151.775 Hz)

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

Explore More

• Hold Back The Rain Multitrack Analysis (Backtracks4All)
  Provides isolated synth tracks (Synth Strings, Synth Keys, Arpeggiator) for detailed waveform and frequency analysis of the original sequence.
• Synth Sound Recreation Methodology (YouTube)
  Demonstrates a systematic approach to recreating synth sounds through pitch modulation, texture shaping, and volume automation – applicable to the flangered sequence.
• Korg Kronos Synth Sound Recreation Discussion (Korg Forums)
  Community discussion about recreating Duran Duran’s synth sounds, including technical insights for “Hold Back The Rain” using modern hardware synths.

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