Remaking the bass synth from the 2016 song "Run It Up" by Lil Uzi Vert can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Run It Up" 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
Lil Uzi Vert’s “Run It Up” features a deep, gritty 808 sub-bass synth that anchors the track’s trap-influenced rhythm. This low-frequency element emerges prominently at 0:57, delivering boomy and mildly distorted characteristic of modern hip-hop production. Its role as a foundational element aligns with trap music’s emphasis on heavy, rhythmic basslines.
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 "Run It Up" by Lil Uzi Vert, 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.
Bass
- Synth: Primer
- Oscillators. Osc 1 Saw, Osc 2 Sine, Mix 50/50. The Saw gives us the tone, the Sine gives us the boom
- Filter: Low Pass, 24dB, with Cutoff pretty far down (0.41). A little boost of Res to push out that low end a bit more.
- Distortion: A bit of warm tube distortion. This will brighten it a touch, but more importantly give it a warmer, stringy vibe
Kick
- Synth: Primer
- Oscillator: Sine
- Pitch Envelope: Quick Decay (92 ms), and an amount that will modulate the pitch about an octave. This quick pitch drop creates the percussive kick sound. The higher the modulation amount, the more “click” on the front of the sound, because the pitch starts at a higher note, which creates a brighter beginning. We’re going for a pretty muted attack transient.
- Amp Envelope: Sustain at 0, Decay/Release at 82 ms. This creates a short note, and cuts it off immediately after the kick-making pitch drop so that it’s only a percussive sound
- Distortion: Warm tube, medium amount (0.5). Makes it a little more aggressive
- Noise. Decent amount of white noise. At first, this will sound like a clap, so…
- Filter: Lowpass, Cutoff around Noon. This will take the brightness out of the Noise, leaving us with a papery texture added into the kick so it’s less perfect, and more sample-like
- Note: Playing a low F. The pitch matters here, since, if it’s too high, there won’t be enough low end.
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Notes And Observations
This sound doesn’t require a ton of parameters, but they have to be set just right to get the proper tone and low end. Also, because the bass is kind of bright, and not a typical 808 bass (very round and subby) I think the bass and kick are two separate patches.
In this recording, you’ll hear bass+kick, then bass, then kick. And you’ll notice the kick doesn’t have a ton of low end. The bass provides so much low end, that if they both have it they’ll clash and mask each other, so we let the bass provide it.
Explore More
- Lil Uzi Vert – Run It Up [Instrumental Version] (DJ Zips … – YouTube
FL Studio remake demonstrating the bass and kick implementation in the track’s instrumental version. - Lil Uzi Vert & Yeat Producer Shows Start – YouTube
Producer Cloud breaks down beat-making techniques, including hidden synth usage relevant to the track’s bass design.
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
This recipe is the result of a Syntorial community preset remake request. Need support remaking this sound? Have comments?
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