Remaking the pluck synth from the 2015 song "On Our Own" by Modestep & Culprate can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "On Our Own" pluck 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
Modestep & Culprate’s “On Our Own” opens with a warm, round pluck synth that establishes the track’s melodic foundation. This sound centers on a sine wave oscillator, its natural smoothness enhanced by subtle distortion to add midrange presence and harmonic richness. The pluck’s sharp attack transient stems from the sine wave’s inherent digital spike, amplified by an aggressively fast amplitude envelope decay that truncates the sustain phase for percussive clarity. The synth appears prominently at the track’s opening seconds, providing rhythmic momentum before evolving into the song’s layered arrangement.
Original Performing Instrument
Unknown
Our Remake of The Pluck Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the pluck synth from the song "On Our Own" by Modestep & Culprate, 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: 120 ms
- Sustain: 20%
- Release: 600 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Sine
- Volume: 100%
Distortion
- Drive: 28%
Delay
- Mix: 25% Wet
- Feedback: 50%
- Time: 1/4 Note
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
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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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