James Blake - Retrograde | Lead Synth Patch Remake

Remaking the lead synth from the 2013 song "Retrograde" by James Blake can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Retrograde" 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

James Blake’s “Retrograde” features a haunting and ethereal synth lead that is particularly prominent during the song’s climactic moments. The synth lead can be heard most distinctly as the song approaches its peak, particularly around the line “Suddenly I’m hit.” Although it sounds polyphonic, the pad is actually monophonic, with three detuned oscillators slowly converging to the same note.

Before diving into the creation process, it’s essential to understand what makes the “Retrograde” synth lead unique. It involves an extreme and slow bending of multiple pitches at once to create an intentionally out-of-tune sound that eventually resolves into one still-kind-of-out-of-tune sound. This intentional dissonance creates an intense tension that adds to the song’s emotional depth.

Our Remake of The Lead Synth sound

This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the lead synth from the song "Retrograde" by James Blake, 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: 32%
• Wavetable: Default Saw
• Routing: Filter 1
• Tune: 0.11
• Modulations:
• Env 2 → Transpose

Oscillator 2

• Mix: 33%
• Wavetable: Default Saw
• Routing: Filter 1
• Morph:
• Spectral Morph Amount: 51%
• Modulations:
• Env 2 → Transpose
• Aftertouch → Transpose

Oscillator 3

• Mix: 33%
• Wavetable: Default Saw
• Routing: Filter 1
• Tune: 0
• Unison Detune: 21%
• Morph:
• Spectral Morph Amount: 51%
• Modulations:
• Env 2 → Transpose

Filter Settings

Filter 1

• Model: Analog
• Style: 24dB Slope
• Blend: Low Pass (0)
• Cutoff: 82% (3586.172 Hz)
• Resonance: 24%
• Modulations:
• Env 2 → Cutoff

Envelope Settings

Envelope 1 (Amp)

• Attack: 1.06 s
• Decay: 1.18 s
• Sustain: 83%
• Release: 433 ms

Envelope 2

• Attack: 0 ms
• Decay: 3.81 s
• Sustain: 0%
• Release: 90 ms
• Decay Curve: Exponential
• Routed to:
• Osc 1 Transpose (12%)
• Osc 2 Transpose (-7%)
• Osc 3 Transpose (-16%)
• Filter 1 Cutoff (-49%)

Modulation Matrix

• Envelope 2 → Osc 1 Transpose 12%
• Envelope 2 → Osc 2 Transpose -7%
• Envelope 2 → Osc 3 Transpose -16%
• Envelope 2 → Filter 1 Cutoff -49%
• Aftertouch → Osc 2 Transpose -4%

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

Explore More

• James Blake Retrograde Synth // ASM Hydrasynth (YouTube)
• Synth Tutorial: James Blake “Retrograde” (Syntorial)
• James Blake Synth Sounds (Reverbmachine)

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