Remaking the pad synth from the 1992 song "Violet" by Seal can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Violet" pad 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
Seal’s 1991 track *Violet* features a signature pad sound generated by the Roland D-50’s “Soundtrack” patch, which creates a glistening, lush synth. This pad provides atmospheric harmony starting at 0:20, blending layered bell-like tones with a subtle digital shimmer characteristic of the D-50’s Linear Arithmetic Synthesis. The pad’s role as a sustained chordal foundation underscores the track’s emotional depth, exemplifying the D-50’s influence on early ’90s electronic music production.
Original Performing Instrument
Roland D-50
Our Remake of The Pad Synth sound
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the pad synth from the song "Violet" by Seal, 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: Poly 4
- Transpose: -12
Oscillator Setup
Oscillator 1
- Mix: 71%
- Wavetable: Basic Shapes
- Wave Frame: Saw (position 109)
- Routing: Filter 1
Oscillator 2
- Mix: 71%
- Wavetable: Basic Shapes
- Wave Frame: Saw (position 109)
- Routing: Filter 2
- Transpose: 7 st
Filter Settings
Filter 1
- Model: Analog
- Style: 12dB Slope
- Blend: Low Pass (0)
- Cutoff: 47% (261.626 Hz)
- Resonance: 64%
- Keytrack: 100%
- Modulations:
- Env 2 → Cutoff
Filter 2
- Model: Analog
- Style: 12dB Slope
- Blend: Low Pass (0)
- Cutoff: 47% (261.626 Hz)
- Resonance: 39%
- Keytrack: 100%
- Modulations:
- Env 3 → Cutoff
Envelope Settings
Envelope 1 (Amp)
- Attack: 344 ms
- Decay: 1.12 s
- Sustain: 74%
- Release: 618 ms
Envelope 2
- Attack: 15 ms
- Decay: 2.18 s
- Sustain: 29%
- Release: 313 ms
- Routed to:
- Filter 1 Cutoff (0%)
Envelope 3
- Attack: 102 ms
- Decay: 2.81 s
- Sustain: 23%
- Release: 264 ms
- Decay Curve: Exponential
- Routed to:
- Filter 2 Cutoff (0%)
Effects Processing (Ordered)
Chorus
- Voices: 8
- Sync: Default (Tempo)
- Tempo: Default (4/1)
- Depth: Default (50%)
- Delay 1: Default (2.0 ms)
- Delay 2: Default (7.8 ms)
- Feedback: 31%
- Mix: 66%
- Cutoff: 743.0 Hz
- Spread: 0.43
Reverb
- Mix: 46%
- Size: Default (50%)
- Chorus Amount: 5%
- Chorus Frequency: Default (0.250 Hz)
- Time: 1.088 s
- Low Shelf Cutoff: 19% (34.267 Hz)
- Low Shelf Gain: -6 dB
- Pre Low Cutoff: 24% (48.090 Hz)
Modulation Matrix
- Envelope 2 → Filter 1 Cutoff 0%
- Envelope 3 → Filter 2 Cutoff 0%
- Velocity → Modulation 1 Amount 28%
- Velocity → Modulation 2 Amount 23%
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Notes And Observations
The technique here is having two different filters and envelopes that are similar but different enough to create that almost delayed layer effect.
Explore More
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
EN 
JA 
FR 
ES 
DE