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.
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 "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 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
- 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