Remaking the brass synth from the 1982 song "Africa" by Toto can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Africa" brass 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
Toto’s 1982 hit “Africa” features a distinctive brass synthesizer sound at the beginning of the track. The sound, originally created with the Yamaha GS-1, is characterized by a fat, brassy chordal patch that sets the song’s iconic tone. This synthesizer sound is prominent in the opening bars of the song, providing a rich and layered texture to the track.
Original Performing Instrument
- Yamaha GS-1
Our Remake of The Brass Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the brass synth from the song "Africa" by Toto, 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 up to three challenge packs 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: Poly
- Voice Count: 6
Amp Envelope
- Attack: 0 ms
- Decay: 10000 ms
- Sustain: 0%
- Release: 300 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Saw
- Volume: 100%
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 55%
Filter Envelope
- Modulation Amount: 10%
- Attack: 80 ms
- Decay: 5300 ms
- Sustain: 20%
- Release: 10000 ms
Chorus
- Mix: 40% Wet
- Rate: Slow
Reverb
- Mix: 20% Wet
- Size: Medium
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Africa Song (Wikipedia)
- Synth Sounds of “Africa” by Toto | Reverb Learn to Play (YouTube)
- The Yamaha GS-1 FM Synthesizer (Synthtopia)
- Recording Toto’s “Africa” (Mix Online)
- Synth1 need Toto Africa sounds (KVR Audio Forum)
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
