ABECK Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Hello, I am working on a project and need to recreate the synth sound on The Who's "Who are you". Does anyone know what synth was used on that track? I'll probably be using Arturia's Minimoog. Anyone have any programming tips? It sounds to me like the patch is driven by an LFO and panned for each note. I could be wrong. Has anyone made a similar patch that could share ideas on a good re-creation? Thanks, Andrew P.S. - I did search but couldn't find anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wd8dky Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 He did have an Arp 2500 for a time, but I can' say for sure if it was used on that song. This was an interesting link I found a while back about Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again. http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equip-baba.htm Paul http://www.weisersound.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wd8dky Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 This reference says it was an Arp 2600, but I don't know if that it true or not. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TimewARP2600/ Paul http://www.weisersound.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wd8dky Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 This reference also says it was a 2600... http://www.synthmuseum.com/arp/arp260001.html Paul http://www.weisersound.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Who Are You synth. From Rich Rowley: An overdriven ARP 2500 or ARP 2600 synth. The overdriven guitar is fed into a voltage-controlled filter (VCF, which is being controlled by a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) triangle wave. The LFO is set to the tempo of the song at eight pulses per bar, making the tone of the VCF rapidly rise and fall in time with the song. The next step is to make each pulse from the LFO to trigger sound alternately from the left and right sides of the stereo picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Ward MP Hall of Fame Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Ooh, cool thread with some great to read links! "...Keytar in a heavy metal band is nothing more than window dressing" - Sven Golly Cursed Eternity - My Band Dick Ward - My Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I love that intro. Remember that the attack of those opening notes isn't too sharp, decay is pretty steep, and sprinkle distortion/overdrive liberally. You have the filter opening on each note, and the pan alternating on each note. Nice. Say what you will, but Townshend's knack for synth-based intros sure as hell created a lot of excitement in Who tunes. - Jeff Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthdogg Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Originally posted by steadyb: Who Are You synth. From Rich Rowley: An overdriven ARP 2500 or ARP 2600 synth. The overdriven guitar is fed into a voltage-controlled filter (VCF, which is being controlled by a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) triangle wave. The LFO is set to the tempo of the song at eight pulses per bar, making the tone of the VCF rapidly rise and fall in time with the song. The next step is to make each pulse from the LFO to trigger sound alternately from the left and right sides of the stereo picture. Ahhhh, you beat me to it. SOS did an article on the making of this song a few months back. Yes ladies and gentlemen, one of the coolest keyboard sounds for a song intro is not a keyboard at all! It's a guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthdogg Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Here's a link to the article....GREAT STUFF! http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may05/articles/classictracks.htm an excerpt: "I put together the middle section and I thought 'Oh yeah, that works. That's quite interesting.' Originally, it had gone on for about 15 minutes, whereas now it lasted about 90 seconds, representing all my favourite little bits. The whole thing was driven by Pete's angular rhythm guitar part, played through an ARP 2600 suitcase synth which had an auto-pan and a filter that was opening in time with the auto-pan. This created a kind of wah-wah synth sound, and since it was played in four-bar sections it was easy to edit together. Anyway, I bounced the whole thing down onto about six tracks of the 16-track, and when everyone returned we played the 16-track Studer and Glyn went 'Yeah, it sounds good. What do you think, Pete?' 'Yeah, it sounds good.' And that was it. That became 'Who Are You', along with a slightly reworked intro. The song was down to around seven minutes, and there was a further edit that we did later when we took out another verse, but the lost-verse version has since appeared on the [1996 CD] reissue of Who Are You." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Originally posted by Jeff Klopmeyer: Say what you will, but Townshend's knack for synth-based intros sure as hell created a lot of excitement in Who tunes.I've always thought Pete's synth parts in all of the biggest Who songs make him one of the most underrated synth guys in rock. Who Are You, Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again, Eminence Front, You Better You Bet, all of Quadropheneia, etc. Pete rules!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthdogg Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Originally posted by steadyb: Originally posted by Jeff Klopmeyer: Say what you will, but Townshend's knack for synth-based intros sure as hell created a lot of excitement in Who tunes.I've always thought Pete's synth parts in all of the biggest Who songs make him one of the most underrated synth guys in rock. Who Are You, Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again, Eminence Front, You Better You Bet, all of Quadropheneia, etc. Pete rules!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 Wow! A guitar through a 2600 - never would have thunk it. Great links and info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Winger Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Originally posted by steadyb: Pete rules!!! +1000. Pete never gets the credit he should be due for his keyboard work. I've always had fun with the Sister Disco riff when we've covered that song. His solo work is also loaded with great keyboard parts (e.g., Let My Love Open the Door, A Little is Enough, Slit Skirts, etc.) "I don't know anything about music. In my line, you don't have to." -Elvis Presley (1935-1977) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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