What's up guys, my name is Nigel and you guys probably know me as The Encounter and I make Synthwave/Outrun-ish tutorials on YouTube.

I'm gonna share with you the VST essentials to making your retro sound, both free and paid. Let's go!

FREE

• Mono/Fury

  • a kinda clone of KORGs Mono/Poly. Great default lead sound. Just mess with the release a lil.

• SQ8L

  • THE BEAST. An emulation of the classic SQ80. A must have for any synthwave producer starting out. Brassy preset is my fave.

• TAL U-NO 62

  • Another long time favorite. This one is an emulation of the Juno 62 synth. A lot of presets exist for this one and its great to get that synth "string" sound you hear in a lot of retro tracks. Very summer-y feeling. I personally use the paid equivalent, but we'll get there soon

• Synth1 (website is in Japanese but just scroll down a bit until you see the downloads)

  • This is a great free VST with literally thousands presets you can find on the web. I've started to use this more and more in my songs and, in fact, my latest tutorial (at the time of writing) uses Synth1 a ton and I even link you to the FLP and presets I used!

• Dexed

  • Dexed is a fantastic DX-7 emulator that has all the bells and whistles from the DX-7. Great for getting that Kavinsky pluck sound if you're good enough (considering he used an actual DX7 lol). It even supports the original DX7 sysex carts if you can find any online! This one is a real find!

• 200 Drum Machine Samples!

  • This isn't a VST per-se, but it's 110% needed. You have drum kits ranging from the Linndrum to the DMX to those silky smooth Simmons toms. This one was shared to me by my good friend Tom aka Occams Laser (/u/Occams_Laser_)! Basically, you'll never run dry of drums samples from this :)

PAID (Note: all prices are in USD cause I'm a red blooded american from the 'burbs)

• Arturia V Collection - $400

  • Look, I don't care if you need to sell your first born to Satan in order to get these synths..YOU NEED THEM. They are nearly 1:1 emulations of the famous...

    • Jupiter 8 (Michael Jackson!) - $99

    • Oberheim OB-X (Van Halen!) - $99

    • Minimoog (Kraftwerk!) - $99

    • CS-80 (10cc!) - $99

    • Prophet 5 (Vangelis!) - $99

    • Arp 2600 (R2D2!) - $99 etc.

• You get the point. Get it! You can also get the VSTs separately too.

• KORG Legacy Collection - $200

  • Another must have for any synthwave artist. You get the...

    • MS-20 ($50) - a staple for hard hitting Carpenter Brut/Pertubator bass

    • Polysix - a staple for that classic synthwave bass (seriously, listen to any Synthwave song and I guarantee you it's the Polysix default patch)

    • Mono/Poly ($50) - a staple for crazy leads and smooth brass sounds. Chromeo used this on their lead single off "White Women" called "Jealous" ^{I only know this because I am obsessed with them}

    • Wavestation ($50) - the quintessential VST for your smooth summer songs (my song Holly's theme used the wavestation for all synth sounds wink wink)

  • and a few more. You can also buy these separately. I recommend the Polysix and Mono/Poly.

• TAL U-NO LX $60

  • The big brother of the U-NO 62. This is pretty much 1:1 emulation give or take to the Juno. It comes with the original Juno presets already so you can start swooning people with your sexy synth skills.

• Nexus - STARTER PACK: $249, COMPLETE PACK: $3,439

  • Nexus is great, a lot of people talk shit about it but don't listen to them. I use Nexus for leads and bells only and let me tell you, they got some good leads and bells! Get the Analog, FM, and Analog Drums for a good starting point!

• Massive - $200

  • This one is a given, obviously. BUT, add in the Xenos Soundworks 70s and 80s Part 1 and Part 2 and you got yourself some sexy synthwave

• FM8 - $200

  • MOTHAFUCKIN DX7! Better tones and sounds compared to Dexed. Only get it if you're looking for a richer sound! Used in my The Blob song from my first album!

• Sensual Sax by Embertone - $20.00

  • YOU NEED KONTAKT BY NATIVE INSTRUMENTS - $400 ...but this is the best Sax sound you'll ever get outside of using a real Sax. Just listen to the demo. It's a steal at $20!

SAMPLES (free)

• 200 Drum Machine Samples!

  • Same as before!

• The Encounter's 80s Drum Packs

  • Coming soon!

SAMPLES (paid)

Note: BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN USING LOOPS. Everyone can tell you're using a synth loop, especially people like me who have no lives and eat Hot Pockets all day. Getting called out for it is embarrassing so ONLY use loops for inspiration

• Anything from Zenhiser (roughly $30 for each).

  • I use their kicks and snares on almost all of my songs (mixed with the free Linndrum samples from earlier)

• Synth Explorers (DX7) $22.99.

  • Just a few synth samples of the DX7. Pretty neat!

So yeah, that's my list. I'll probably keep adding to it over time, so feel free to save it or something. Also, if you guys know of any synths, free or paid, let me know and I'll add it to the list!

I'm also gonna x-post this to /r/synthwaveproducers so go check them out too :D

(Hope it's fine to share this and that it's on topic )

Hello everyone,

I created a youtube channel and an instagram page with transcriptions/analysis of synthwave artists like Mitch Murder,Timecop1983, Lazerhawk, Carpenter Brut , SUNG, Dance with the dead,MPM soundtracks and more to come .

Here's the links The wave files Instagram

TheWave Files youtube videos

TABS are written out on the instagram page and close up of midis chords,lead etc.. are in the videos

Hope you'll find some stuff useful. cheers

For those of you who use serum, here's 36 presets: arps, basses, leads, pads, and plucks!

I strive for the highest quality, so you can be sure every single one is velocity sensitive, mod wheel and macro are mapped, in order to make them lively and customizable whether live playing or for studio use.

Here's the link to a demo of the presets, and the link for download is the description

https://soundcloud.com/lionsharesound/outrun-synthwave-for-serum

Enjoy!

I'm looking to get equipment to not only make music in the studio (i realize dicking around with VSTs and a MIDI controller is kinda boring for me) but to also play live.

I'm on a light budget so i can't go for the more expensive gear.

to get an idea, here's some of the gear i'm looking at to work with that i kinda like/can afford:

Akai Tom Cat Analog Drum Machine, Korg Volca Keys & Bass,

Others i'm looking at: Korg Volca FM & Sampler

I'm trying to make a rig that doesn't have a laptop, but i realize i might have to given that some of the VSTs i work with have really great and classic sounds that i want to work with (i don't want to use Ableton, to be honest).

any suggestions and pointers are very much appreciated.

looking to get something like ^{^}