Getting into Synth Pop: Gear, Techniques and Practical Advice from Established Artists

We speak to some highly successful Synth Pop artists in order to demystify that dreamy, magical sound - we talk gear, live setup and plugins. Also checkout Getting into Synthwave and Getting into Alternative/Indie Electronic Music for gear, techniques and practical advice from Vincenzo SalviaDana Jean PhoenixMorgan WillisArvoParty, SYLKAnna MullarkeyBantumXylo AriaDouble Screen and CYNEMA.

By Eimear O SullivanMusicngear Editor

Article photo - Getting into Synth Pop: Gear, Techniques and Practical Advice from Established Artists

True Tides

Synth Pop Band (Cian, Conor and Eoghan MacSweeny)

Article photo - Getting into Synth Pop: Gear, Techniques and Practical Advice from Established Artists


What gear would you recommend for synth pop?

We use Electronic Drums in a lot of our tunes so a sampling pad is important for us. Conor uses the Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad within his kit set-up. This is a great piece of gear that allows us to integrate samples into recordings as well as our live set-up. We all have set-ups at home for throwing down ideas or recording or messing with an interesting sound. We use Ableton Live, an audio interface like M-Audio or Focusrite Scarlett and a decent condenser microphone for this. The Akai MPK mini is also a handy portable controller for playing around with samples and looping sounds when you’re creating ideas, chord progressions and lead melodies. Ableton can open up a world of possibilities in writing and refining tunes and ideas, from building layers of intricate harmonies (which is an important part of our sound being 3 brothers) to messing with some interesting plug-ins to get inspiring sounds.

When we were starting out, I picked up an old Squier from Owen in Some Neck Guitars in Dublin that was customised with a Seymour Duncan bridge pickup which just gave it this fat humbucker drive when needed, essentially a DIY HSS Strat vibe. Since then my main guitar is an American Professional Strat which I adore. Aside from the gorgeous looks with its candy apple red body and rosewood neck, the tones are beautiful and it’s so smooth to play. I love the classic bright Strat sound so I tend to stay between the bridge and middle pickups a lot of the time. For string gauge, I prefer the feel and tone of Ernie Ball Super Slinkys 11s where you can get a bit more aggressive with it. For pedals my main go-to pedal is the Line6 M-13. I sometimes supplement this with a Boss Reverb and Boss DD-3 delay, but mostly use the Line 6 distortion, reverbs, delays and chorus as well as a Dunlop volume pedal. My amp is a Fender twin which gets a great tone.

✅  While the quality of high end gear and production can be amazing for achieving a particular tone or a sound, the most important quality will always be the music and the songs at the heart of that sound.

Cian uses a 90s Tele which has an amazing tone. His pedals are a RAT, Carl Martin compressor, Boss reverb, delay and a harmoniser. He uses a Fender Deville amp and also uses 11s for strings. Most of the synths Cian uses are plugins like the Arturia collection, Serum and Spitfire Labs has some amazing free stuff.

Our bassist Joe uses a Fender Precision and a number of pedals including an Electro Harmonix POG2. He also uses a Moog Minitaur bass synth.
 

Practical tips for performing your productions live:

Obviously regular rehearsal, both individual and as a group, is an important part of preparing to perform your music live. Make sure you understand your gear well so that you can deal with any unforeseen issues that might arise, although sometimes you just have to roll with it on the night! No harm to have spare gear when you can. Aside from that, just enjoy it! Music is universal and it’s all about connecting with other people. While we love writing and producing new music in studio, one of the main reasons we got into music as kids was just the thrill of playing music together and to others and making a connection; feeling the energy in a room and having this collective experience.
 

Other useful tips:

Be willing to listen to constructive feedback and learn, but always believe in yourself and remind yourself of what inspired you to pick up an instrument in the first place. The main thing is to focus on the music, the tunes. Keep working on the quality of that. Focus in on your songwriting. Work at it every day. There’s no magic formula. Yes it’s important to allow a space for your creativity to flow, to allow room for some inspiration; but it’s hugely important to apply a rigorous work ethic. Make it a habit to write, re-work or practise your music and song writing every day. While the quality of high end gear and production can be amazing for achieving a particular tone or a sound, the most important quality will always be the music and the songs at the heart of that sound.

Connect with True Tides: 
Spotify // Facebook

 

Flecks

Synth Pop Duo (Freda - vocals/songwriter,  Scott - production/engineering)

Article photo - Getting into Synth Pop: Gear, Techniques and Practical Advice from Established Artists

✅  The right music at the right moment can create strong emotional connections and transcendental experiences

Gear you would recommend for synthpop:

Our go to gear and studio favourites include a Roland Juno 60, a LinnDrum and a great reverb like Valhalla for Freya’s voice.

Synthesizers: Roland Juno 60, if you can find one, afford one or borrow one, it is the most stand-out bit of gear for making synth pop! It is a legendary piece of kit that you’ll find on countless synth pop records. Its sound has inspired a lot of our writing and production.

The TAL-U-No-LX plugin is an incredible emulation, with a very small price tag. Worthy mention: Omnisphere by Spectrasonics – a monster soft synth that covers absolutely everything!

Drum Machines: Number one for us is the LinnDrum (Scott fell in love with the LinnDrum sound while on tour with Prince and it remains a core sound for us!) We also love classics like the Roland 808, Simmons and DMX.

Vocal Reverb: Anything made by Valhalla is usually amazing! Freya’s dreamy vocal verb is all Valhalla. We first came across it after reading about FKA Twig’s vocal sound and almost exclusively use Valhalla on vocals now.

DAWs: In terms of DAWs, there’s a lot to choose from. The best DAW will be one that facilitates your workflow; we use Avid Pro Tools, always have, and always will! A DAW can get in your way so we have some templates set up with a couple of our favourite sounds and effects units in place so that when inspiration strikes we don’t use up our creative energy setting up the session and we can get straight to putting our ideas down.
 

Practical tips for performing your productions live/in studio and the gear/setup you would recommend using:

We use Main Stage 3. It allows us to have all of our sounds from the studio on stage with us, with no compromise on sound.  It’s rock solid and can do anything from hosting virtual instruments to running vocal effects. (Still important to have a back up when using laptops on stage!) Live staples for us also include the Roland SP 404 SX which Freya uses to trigger vocal samples alongside her live singing, Roland SPD with kick and snare triggers, Novation Impulse and our Jerry Harvey IEMs.
 

Other useful tips

Use instruments and sounds that speak to you and always let your instincts guide you. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to making music. Don’t fall into the trap of using sounds simply because you think it’s what you should be using to fit in with a certain genre. There has to be a real connection, a feeling between you and the sound for it to really work.

In terms of inspiration for our writing we are hugely driven by the relationship between music and film. The marriage of these two mediums has marked our lives and writing in many ways. The right music at the right moment can create strong emotional connections and transcendental experiences in which you can escape and get lost in over and over again. It continues to be our dream and goal to combine our music with film for this very reason!

Check out their incredible new single Hold On

Connect with Flecks
Spotify // Facebook

 

Lunnah

Synth Pop band led by producer and artist Sarah-Beth

Article photo - Getting into Synth Pop: Gear, Techniques and Practical Advice from Established Artists Photo credit - Miki Barlok

✅  If you open your mind, expose yourself to new artists and acquire more experience, inspiration seeps into your music

Gear you would recommend for Synthpop:

As a keyboard/synth player, I would always recommend using gear that you are most comfortable with, which often equates to using gear that you have most experience with. It’s important to be the master of your tools rather than it being the other way around but this of course requires a blend of experimentation, curiosity and perseverance. The more proficient you get with your tools (be it software, instruments or loop pedals), the more you are able to push you and your gear to its full creative potential.

I use Logic Pro X to record and have noticed my music develop and mature parallel to my understanding of the software. Music Production is another world of its own. The further you explore it, the more you discover your own song-writing capabilities.

The Nord Electro 5D Keyboard is my performing companion as its compact and comes with all the sounds you could ever need. The Nord also features nice piano sounds and because a lot of my music is piano based, this is a major benefit. You can save patches and setlists too, making your move from song to song more efficient during a live performance.
 

Practical tips for performing your productions live and the gear/setup you would recommend using: 

I think it’s important to identify the main features of each song that truly capture their essence. It can be difficult to replicate every layered synth part, second guitar line and backing vocal, especially if you’re a live band. We sometimes use backing tracks to compensate for these lost layers but will usually play the most important lines that best convey the song’s emotional intent.

Before a song has been recorded, we use live shows to experiment with its sound, tempo and effects. The instant feedback from a crowd is the best way for us to know whether a song has any real potential and what production will work best with it.

As technology is not always dependable, it’s a good idea to have a backup plan if a computer crashes or something doesn’t turn on. This may even mean returning to an acoustic instrument or singing without the vocal effects – be prepared to adapt!
 

Other useful tips 

I don’t think anyone ever arrives at musical perfection and learns all they need to learn. Your style is constantly evolving and your music can be produced in an infinite amount of ways. If you open your mind, expose yourself to new artists and acquire more experience, inspiration seeps into your music – nudging it closer towards your ideal sound.

Connect with Luunah
Spotify // Facebook

 

Host

Producer/Musician/Vocalist

Article photo - Getting into Synth Pop: Gear, Techniques and Practical Advice from Established Artists

✅  Test your sound on every device that you can get your hands on

Gear you would recommend for Synth pop:

Personally I don’t believe it is necessary to have a ton of gear. Figure out what suits you and your set up. Experiment with stuff for sure, but the last thing you want to be doing is breaking your back carrying a ton of gear to a show when you don’t need it. Or having your home studio/ bedroom mirror a storage room!

I totally understand that money can be a big road block for people when they are starting out. You don’t need to have the best of the best, there is budget friendly gear that can help to kick things off.

Most important piece of equipment that I use is my computer! I currently use a HP Pavillion. It's got a 17- inch screen which I love, gives me a lot of room to see what I’m doing. A 1.2TB hard drive and most importantly it’s powerful enough to run my software and plugins. This laptop has allowed me to produce everything that I’ve created as ‘Host’ so far, I’ve used it for every live show  and edited all my music videos with no trouble. However, Laptops don’t last forever and even the best specs degrade over time so I would highly highly recommend backing everything up on an external hard drive!

For a digital audio workstation (DAW) I use ‘Ableton live 10’ which I’m comfortable with. There are a ton of other options out there. It's a personal choice really! I use this to record, arrange, mix, sometimes master and performing live.

I feel like good headphones are important when creating and producing. I currently use Sony MDR-7506 professional headphones’ but I would also recommend getting some really cheap headphones to test sound too. Not everyone who listens to your music is going to be doing so on good head-phones so it’s nice to see how things are going to sound from all areas!

Next on my list is a Midi Keyboard! I use a Novation Launchkey 61 MK2 - This is something that I feel you don’t necessarily need to ‘splash the cash’ on as the sound is coming from you computer and not directly from the midi. I started off with a mini version to get familiar with Ableton and I feel like that helped me a great deal.

I currently use a Shure SM 7 B microphone which I’ve only recently upgraded to. Before that I was using a Rode NT1-A Complete Vocal Recording which lasted me a looooong time and I would highly recommend as a starter microphone!

My audio interface is a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2! Which basically goes hand in hand with my microphone.

For studio monitors I use Yamaha HS 7 I feel like they accurately represent the music I create. When it comes to monitors I think is important that you find a pair that is honest to your music, but again I would advise you test your sound on every device that you can get your hands on!
 

Practical tips for performing your productions live and the gear/setup you would recommend using:

When performing live I use a lot of the stuff I would in my home studio! I’d use the same laptop, Audio interface, and Midi Key! As a one gal band, it can be difficult  to decide how you want your sound to translate in a live show. The most important thing that I can mention here is: You don’t need to do it all! Unless that is what you personally want to do.

I  use the launch pads on my midi board to kick off beats and tracks. If there is a synth piece that I enjoy playing or feel like performing I will do it live. If I’m feeling like playing some guitar I’ll do that. Totally depends on my mood at the time.

When It comes to vocals I take some extra gear with me to live shows. I love a full sound and I feel like it is important for me to have this during a live set to have it translate the way I want it to.

On my recorded tracks I use a lot of harmony. Obviously, performing live there is only one of me, so to combat this I use a TC-Helicon Perform-V. It’s got  double, reverb, echo, adaptive tone and is honestly one of my favourite pieces of gear! You can pre-set your vocal live set, it's so so great!

On some of my tracks I use some heavy autotune fx, to replicate this for a live show I use a TC-Helicon VoiceTone C1. Cool thing about this is it links up with the ‘Preform V’ which is … Amaze!
 

Other useful tips: 

Don’t forget your audio interface when packing for a live show! Back up your stuff on an external hard drive! Do what makes you happy!

Connect with Host
Spotify // Facebook

 

Peachface

Synth pop band (Jonny, Aoife & Maggie)

Article photo - Getting into Synth Pop: Gear, Techniques and Practical Advice from Established Artists

❌  Don’t be afraid to try unusual things when putting tracks together. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Gear you would recommend for Synth Pop:

We’ve been using a mix of real synths and guitars alongside Logic Pro VSTs to put our album together. We record in Logic and share with Ben McAuley who’s working with us on our forthcoming album.

We have a Generalmusic GEM S2 synth which has some lovely old samples; they give a bit of warmth to the recordings.  The GEM is a very 90s workstation and we even have a PEACHFACE floppy disk - the GEM is the official brain of the band. We’ve used the GEM for sounds like Rhodes, Prophet, OB-X and 808 which we’ve had in recordings to date. It’s great for layering and has a nice weighted feel to the actual keys.

We have a Yamaha Reface DX and a Yamaha Reface CS too. For what we do, the DX is better suited to live, the CS more for experimenting when recording. We’ve a Yamaha SY85 and TG500 but they don't come out as much.

You can do a lot without spending a load of money. We have a couple of Akai MPK mini Mk2 which are nice and quick for messing around in Logic.

We demoed tracks in Logic then went into the studio with Ben to record live drums so that we could play gigs as just the three of us as needed. We were looking for a specific feel and sound (see 1985), so chose to go this production route. We use some of these tracks depending on if we’re a 3-piece or a 5-piece (with live drums and bass). It’s nice to mix up a set. We play some songs live and play some with a track. We’ve learned to simplify though, we don’t have to have all of the gear on stage, it’s more about having fun and enjoying the songs and the audience.
 

Practical tips for performing your productions live and the gear/setup you would recommend using:

We use the GEM and Reface DX as synths on stage with a laptop for backing tracks as needed. We’ve an Alesis Samplepad too which is used for percussion and the occasional WAV sample trigger. We’ve a couple of electric guitars that we swap around - we’ve had a few gigs using a wireless Line6 Relay G10. So far, so good, but I have a cable on standby.

Practically, with older gear there’s always a risk of something going wrong. Having a backup synth – or at least a plan b - is a good idea. We have a couple of 80s keytars that we use (with MIDI into the GEM) and they can always double up as a spare keyboard. 
 

Other useful tips 

We had a general idea and a plan of how PEACHFACE wanted to sound but we’ve brought other influences in too. Reading and listening to what people did in the olden days gives you some ideas. I’ve really enjoyed listening to Sodajerker podcasts to hear different takes on songwriting and production. 

Don’t be afraid to try unusual things when putting tracks together. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve had a couple of ‘cut and paste’ songs which have gone down well with listeners. Parts of songs that sit around for years can get a new lease of life. 

We do a lot of layering when setting up synth lines and guitars, in fact as much as our little computer processor can handle before it overheats.  Coco Chanel came up in conversation at one of our last recording sessions; she said “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off”. Maybe PEACHFACE would say “Less is generally more, but sometimes more is really nice”.

Connect with Peachface
Bandcamp // Facebook

 

Also checkout Getting into Synthwave and Getting into Alternative/Indie Electronic Music for gear, techniques and practical advice from Vincenzo SalviaDana Jean PhoenixMorgan WillisArvoParty, SYLKAnna MullarkeyBantumXylo AriaDouble Screen and CYNEMA.

About Eimear O Sullivan

Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)

Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com

About Music Production

In this section of the blog you will find recording advice, tips and tricks from fellow artists and music producers.

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