Nord User Forum

Some of the most iconic synth riffs were created by a guitarist, Pete Townshend.

Does anyone have a decent NS3 patch for the intro of Who Are You? I don’t need an arpeggiator or sequencer. I can play the notes. I’m having difficulty approximating the sound. I know Townsend sent a guitar signal through an early synth, but I would have thought that an NS3 could get reasonably close.

Great tune, with lovely piano later on as a bonus for us keyboardists.

Thanks.

Not a lot of time today so looked at it quickly. Try this: Bring up synth program 1:49 Simple Machine, and make the following adjustments: MOD ENV Attack 3, Decay 4, Release 2; AMP ENV Release 2.5; FILTER Drive 3, Freq 3, Mod Env 5. Take care

Thank you WannitBBBad! I'll try that tonight.

Your patches for Won't Get Fooled, and Baba O are brilliant, by the way. It is really quite amazing that a guitarist (Townshend) came up with all of these signature synth riffs, that are so recognizable to anyone.

Eminence Front is yet another one!

Davywavy wrote:... It is really quite amazing that a guitarist (Townshend) came up with all of these signature synth riffs, that are so recognizable to anyone.
Eminence Front is yet another one!

I'm reading a book on him now - genius creativity behind so many unique sounds and great songs. I'd appreciate you following up with the program you've created - maybe a MP3 example too? Take care.

WannitBBBad, I took your starting point (described above) and added some auto-wah, and tweaked some knobs to get the right speed and depth of the autowah. The original riff is so quick the notes don’t have much time to wah, but it’s there. It definitely needed that quack quack effect.

Who knows, Townsend may have used a wah pedal.

I think I’m close. If I ever figure out how to post a program or mp3, I’ll do it.

Is there a similar program( Simple Machine) on NS2, WannitBBBad?

Davywavy wrote:... If I ever figure out how to post a program or mp3, I’ll do it.

It might take a try or two, but below the comment section is a place to attach files. Click the "Choose File" button, select the file you want to load from your drive, and then click "Add the file". You have to load files one at a time. Take care.

apresaca wrote:Is there a similar program( Simple Machine) on NS2, WannitBBBad?

There might be something similar, however I don't have my Stage 2 any longer to listen to the preset synth programs. "Simple Machine" uses a sawtooth wave (what's typically used for an analog brass sound) and has the Modulation Mod Env applied to an OSC2 setting of the shape and Unison set on 1. I am not sure if you'll get the same effect utilizing Mod Env on the Stage 2. The synth in the song changes in different ways so what may work for the beginning may need to be changed for other parts - I'll be interested to hear what Davywavy comes up with using the Autowah effect. As the Stage 2 doesn't have the synth Drive settings 1-3, you could use the Drive on the EQ that can be morphed to the control pedal or mod wheel for sound flexibility. Take care.

WannitBBBad has done the heavy lifting on this one. He came up with the fundamental sound (which is above) for the quick synth riff at the beginning of WHO ARE YOU, which dances with the guitar playing of Townshend.

I started with WannitBBBad's first cut at it, and sensed there was a wah effect on each note on the original.

So I added from the effects, AutoWah 2, with setting Amount at 2, and Rate at 2.5. I am no expert at synths. I am a player, not a programmer. The NS3C is my only synth, and so it's trial and error for me. But I think the result, played at speed works well.

Looking forward to WannitBBBad's feedback.

Thanks for posting this. I listened to the song and I think the "quack" effect you noted was perhaps the filter Resonance adding a little more emphasis to the filter. I tried that with your program and adjusted the Mod Env and Freq to see what that sounded like. In the song it sounds like there are two complementary parts being played at the beginning of the recording but not sure. I went ahead and added a stereo pan on the synth to get a little of the effect in the song and then added a piano on an upper split. Panel B has the synth across the whole keyboard. Here's the modified program and a MP3 of the sound playing a manual version of the intro riff. I hope this helps move it along further for you to use. Take care.

• Who-Are-You v2 Example.mp3