Remaking the bass synth from the 2019 song "Chlorine" by Twenty One Pilots can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Chlorine" 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
Twenty One Pilots’ 2018 track “Chlorine,” from their album Trench, features a haunting low-end synthesizer sound that provides atmospheric foundation beneath the song’s minimalist arrangement. The drone-like bass synthesizer creates a bowed string texture through its saw wave source, low-pass filtering, and quick amplitude envelope attack, enhanced by subtle unison detuning for width. Producer and programmer Paul Meany crafted this stringy bass patch to complement Tyler Joseph’s bass guitar work, adding harmonic depth to the track’s sparse sonic landscape. You can hear this distinctive bass synthesizer sound enter prominently at 0:40 in the song, where it establishes the hypnotic drone that carries through much of the composition.
Original Performing Instrument
Nord Lead 4
Our Remake of The Bass Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the bass synth from the song "Chlorine" by Twenty One Pilots, 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: 230 ms
- Decay: 5750 ms
- Sustain: 0%
- Release: 20 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Saw
- Volume: 100%
- Unison
- Oscillators: All
- Voice Count: 4
- Detune Range: 5 Cents
- Stereo Spread: 100%
Filter
- Type: Low Pass
- Cutoff: 70%
- Resonance: 45%
- Key Tracking: 50%
Reverb
- Mix: 20% Wet
- Size: Medium
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Chlorine (Twenty One Pilots song) (Wikipedia)
- Paul Meany Breaks Down The Production of “Chlorine” (YouTube)
- PAUL MEANY – CHLORINE (Production Breakdown) (YouTube)
- Inside The Mix | Adam Hawkins Deconstructing Twenty One Pilots’ “Chlorine” (YouTube)
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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