Remaking the pad synth from the 2016 song "Stranger Things Theme" by Survive can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Stranger Things Theme" 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
The opening pad of the “Stranger Things” theme is a warm, swelling saw-pad with unison detune and chorus, featuring slow filter and amplitude sweeps that give it a breathing, cinematic quality. You hear it immediately at the very start of the title theme, underpinning the main arpeggiated motif. Survive layered vintage and modern analog polys and processed them with tape echoes and subtle EQ to add murk and depth.
Original Performing Instrument
Sequential Prophet-6
Our Remake of The Pad Synth sound
https://soundcloud.com/audiblegenius/survive-stranger-things-3?utm_medium=api&utm_campaign=social_sharing&utm_source=id_300780This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the pad synth from the song "Stranger Things Theme" by Survive, 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.
Voices
- Voice Mode: Poly
- Voice Count: 4
Amp Envelope
- Attack: 1550 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 3650 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Saw
- Volume: 100%
- Unison
- Oscillators: All
- Voice Count: 2
- Detune Range: 8 Cents
- Stereo Spread: 30%
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 40%
- Resonance: 20%
Filter Envelope
- Modulation Amount: 20%
- Attack: 2700 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 10000 ms
Chorus
- Mix: 45% Wet
- Rate: Slow
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Scoring Stranger Things (Sound On Sound)
- Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein on the signature sounds of Stranger Things (Composer/Spitfire Audio)
- Check Out the Analog Synths Used on ‘Stranger Things’ Soundtrack (Billboard)
- S U R V I V E on Stranger Things and sculpting analogue worlds (The Vinyl Factory)
- S U R V I V E lead the new synth renaissance (Observer)
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
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