The Prodigy - Poison | Bass Synth Patch Remake

Remaking the bass synth from the 1995 song "Poison" by The Prodigy can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Poison" 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

The Prodigy’s “Poison” features a squelchy bass synthesizer that dominates the track’s opening moments, characterized by its gritty, filtered tone and rhythmic modulation. This sound was recreated using a Roland JD-990 with envelope-controlled filter modulation, creating a dynamic “pulsating” effect.

Original Performing Instrument

Roland JD-990

Our Remake of The Bass Synth sound

This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the bass synth from the song "Poison" by The Prodigy, 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.

Warning

• This preset uses custom wavetables or samples that are unique to this preset.
• To reproduce this sound in another synth, you will need to recreate or import the original waveform/sample (e.g. in Serum, Phase Plant, etc.)
• Custom wavetables: “MG Oct A” (Osc 1)

Voices

• Voice Mode: Mono

Oscillator Setup

Oscillator 1

• Mix: 100%
• Wavetable: MG Oct A (custom)
• Routing: Filter 1
• Random Phase: 0%
• Transpose: -12 st
• Modulations:
• Lfo 1 → Wave Frame

Filter Settings

Filter 1

• Model: Dirty
• Style: 24dB Slope
• Blend: Band Pass (1)
• Cutoff: 16% (26.27 Hz)
• Resonance: 27%
• Drive: 15%
• Keytrack: 12%
• Modulations:
• Env 2 → Cutoff

Envelope Settings

Envelope 1 (Amp)

• Attack: 25 ms
• Decay: 333 ms
• Sustain: 85%
• Release: 783 ms

Envelope 2

• Attack: 15 ms
• Decay: 132 ms
• Sustain: 51%
• Release: 1.13 s
• Routed to:
• Filter 1 Cutoff (0%)

LFO Settings

LFO 1

• Mode: Trigger
• Sync: Tempo
• Tempo: 1/2
• Shape: Triangle (custom)
• Destinations:
• Osc 1 Wave Frame (amount 100%)

Effects Processing (Ordered)

Compressor

• Mode: Single Band
• Mix: Default (100%)
• Attack: 100%
• Release: Default (50%)
• Band Values
• Band Gain: 12 dB
• Band Upper Ratio: 86%

Eq

• Low Mode: High-Pass
• Low Cutoff: 109.039 Hz
• Low Resonance: 24%
• Band Cutoff: 2403.331 Hz
• Band Resonance: 29%
• Band Gain: -4 dB

Filter Fx

• Mix: Default (100%)
• Model: Analog
• Style: 12dB Slope
• Blend: Low Pass (0)
• Cutoff: 106% (21096.164 Hz)
• Resonance: 4%

Reverb

• Mix: 14%
• Size: 0%
• Chorus Amount: 5%
• Chorus Frequency: Default (0.250 Hz)
• Time: 0.264 s
• Low Shelf Cutoff: 35% (108.605 Hz)
• Low Shelf Gain: -6 dB
• Pre High Cutoff: 67% (1158.475 Hz)
• Pre Low Cutoff: 32% (84.335 Hz)

Modulation Matrix

• LFO 1 → Osc 1 Wave Frame 100%
• Envelope 2 → Filter 1 Cutoff 0%
• Velocity → Modulation 2 Amount 45%
• Velocity → Env 2 Sustain 42%

Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.

Explore More

• Sound Design Challenge: The Prodigy – Poison (YouTube) – Detailed walkthrough of recreating the bass using string samples, EQ adjustments, and multi-band distortion to match the original’s frequency characteristics and distortion.
• THE PRODIGY SYNTH TUTORIAL (YouTube) – Demonstrates original hardware techniques using Roland synths, including filter modulation via envelope generators and LFO settings to achieve the wobble effect.

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

Comments

This recipe is the result of a Syntorial community preset remake request. Need support remaking this sound? Have comments?