Synth Layering

Synth Layering using three types of synthesis: analog, FM, and PCM

[BluffMunkey]

One day people will wake up to the fact that the old digital stuff from Roland and Korg just sounds gorgeous.

[antonhosinsky]

It was exactly this that made the D-50 so immensely popular. 4 layered synth parts with a touch of reverb on it, right out of the box it sounded bloody amazing, light-years ahead of anything else available at the time.


The beauty of using hardware is that a) every instrument has its own character, its own personality, and you get an emotional feedback that you just don´t get with plugins, which will affect your way of creating music, and b) these older modules may sound very simple by themselvs but once you stack them, the result is absolutely amazing. It seems that, the simpler and clearer each individual part is, the better will the overall composite sound be.

[seraph]

Naturally, you're right that this sort of thing can be done with software synths, but those old synth modules are still as valid and useful today as they ever were. Thanks for showing us what the old gear can do.

[MichaelSouhoka]

Absolutely right. In the 80s and 90s this layering were commonly used to blend strings sounds to create orchestral atmosphere, or blended horns sounds to create the super power brass section. MIDI rules the game back then. I still like this technique. And some musicians still like to do this.

[westeringsun]

Nothing like a fresh cup of coffee on a dark, cold morning with the fire going, my faithful lab curled up next to me and a video like this to make me smile. Thank you Paolo!

[VickersDoorter]

Nothing revolutionary, but very articulate and well-demonstrated. It is also demonstrates a good reason not to throw out or eBay your old gear from the 80's and 90's, as each has that little something that could come in useful, they now cost you nothing and they don't jam up your DAW computer! I recently fired up my 30 year old Roland D110 after 20 years of redundancy and it was like visiting an old friend.

[midimike]

Midi layering is my favorite way of creating huge sounds. Thanks for sharing!!

[JackTheDeergal]

Just tried this with a microkorg, JV-1080, and a DX21. It's pretty neat!

[sandkipper]

After so many years, I keep coming back to this video. Thanks heaps😊

[Johnsormani]

Layering back in the late 80ies was my trick to create a huge and complacent live sounds. U110 for the piano, dx7 for the tines and an esq for the warm pad. It sounded killer

[MrEbenezer]

What a simple but CLEVER way of creating synth pads! I've never thought about this myself!! THANKS! I'm telling ya, ur the king of synthesizers! "Rex Synth"! ;-D

[sunilsolanki]

And this is why I need lots of synths! Bravo Paolo!

[vtcabbit]

honestly layering can already make the insane amount of possibilities of sounds you can make with these synths/romplers double or triple in size lmaooo

[devicefactor]

Paolo, thank you for being the best. always showing us great examples of how these instruments can sound. love it.

[zakhoskins]

You know you've done your job right when I try to pay attention to what you're saying in order to learn about synthesizers more, but I just get lost in the awesome sound.

[daveogarf]

Paolo, as always, your choice of sounds is miraculous! Thank you!

[gbkny]

I watch this video periodically. I watch lots of videos to gain understanding and knowledge. I wind up watching some more than once so it sticks. Plus i like the sound of the racks you have. Thanks SynthMania!

[demerit]

I'm really digging the sound of the Korg M1. I know it's considered a classic synth but I was under the impression that it was only good for thin tiny sounding rompler-type patches. I'm glad to see that I was mistaken.

[Corvid]

Roland W-30!! Haven't seen one of those in years! Used to love the quiet whine from the display, beautiful keyboard. It was always a little underpowered for my taste sampling wise, probably goes to show my lack of age... Sold it to buy an Ensoniq ASR-10, my favourite sampler/keyboard of all time. Still own a few of them, stripped down into a personal spare parts bank for my working one!

[phenomenlogische]

Classy FM synths always bring back fond memories of games like King's Quest for me. Thanks for this!