Remaking the bass synth from the 1983 song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" 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
Eurythmics’ 1983 hit *Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)* opens with a distinctive dual-synth bassline, where this left-side Bass employs Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to create a smeared tone and a slow Chorus effect for a phasey swirl. The left-channel bass is prominent from the track’s opening moments, providing rhythmic foundation while interacting with the right-channel synth’s higher-pitched counterpart. Listen closely at 0:00 to hear its textured, modulated low-end driving the song’s iconic intro.
Original Performing Instrument
Roland Juno-60
Our Remake of The Bass Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the bass synth from the song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics, 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
Remake This Sound Yourself
Learn how to program this synth preset with Syntorial, all by ear. Download the demo and try unlimited famous sound challenges for free.
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: 450 ms
- Sustain: 0%
- Release: 400 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 50%
- Volume: 100%
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 80%
LFO
- Destination: Pulse Width
- Waveform: Triangle
- Amount: 20%
- Rate: 1/8 Note
Chorus
- Mix: 40% Wet
- Rate: Slow
Delay
- Mix: 10% Wet
- Feedback: 0%
- Time: 1/16 Note
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- The Synth Sound from Sweet Dreams (TUTORIAL) – YouTube (Detailed walkthrough of recreating the synth sound using pulse and saw waves with PWM)
- Eurythmics Sweet Dreams – Gearspace (Technical discussion of dual oscillator setup and bass synth techniques)
- Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams Are Made of This (Detuned Saws) – Syntorial (Analysis of left/right panned synth patches and detuning methods)
- Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) – Get That Sound – YouTube (Step-by-step recreation using pulse width modulation and slow LFO modulation)
- thump at the beginning of the Eurythmics’s ‘Sweet Dreams…’ – KVR Audio (Insights into compression techniques and synth bass doubling)
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
Comments
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