Synthmania quick tip #15 - Synthesizer Gated Lines

Playing a gated synthesizer line with the classic studio gate effect, the Drawmer DS201

[@MisAnnThorpe]

Thanks again Paulo for your time and generosity of spirit. You have a way of explaining things so that even a confirmed simpleton like myself can understand. Perhaps you can teach me how to program a Roland D50, Korg Wavestation and Yamaha DX7 next, if you have a spare 20 years?!

[@FrancisMaxino]

It's like any synthesizor with hundreds of menu screens, read the 3000 page manual.

[@dissident4117]

Another mystery of the 80s synth music is solved. Well done. Many thanks. I learn so much with your good videos.

[@Magnus_Loov]

And, of course, the gated synth sounds almost defined the early Trance of the 90:s when it was first appearing. That 1-2-3 rhythm that was happening at the same time as the closed hi hat-closed hi hat- open hi hat...

[@JeffEikenberry]

This is AWESOME! Thanks for your incredible videos!

[@luyandolullabies7622]

So amazing! Love the 80's vibe.

[@finitesound]

You have such great demos/tutorials.

[@djgeorgieporgie7862]

It's so cool that u got your kids to know all this gear. 👍

[@magikmoment]

Killer info and presentation, appreciate your references and knowledge

[@safedrivingisforlosers]

This is great! Such an informative video on this technique and great execution of showing how to do it.

[@mixzone2309]

Nice ambiant, good energy ! Thanks for your share and your nice machine !

[@avijitsadhukhan8371]

Thank you. I was desperately looking for this technique

[@fredd6652]

Perfect Vidéo as usual @SynthMania ! Thank you, Grace Rock !

[@eldruidacosmico]

This so cool! I grew up composing on software only and I always wondered how you guys created this amazing sound with gear. This is awesome work! Thanks!

[@vanianbulman]

Cool technique and awesome minimal-disco track!

[@jairkerker2821]

Fun Fun, the exact name I wanted to hear you mention. Very helpful, since I'm gonna have a go at Spanga's sound and music! You're a treasure. Happy Italo new year!

[@stef25ify]

Awesome you're getting your kids involved! Must be great to grow up in a musical family.

[@nobodyneverknows]

Man, You are the treasure :)

[@lavoltabbona]

Interessantissimo! Trovi sempre qualcosa di inedito da spiegare, grazie

[@devicefactor2290]

This Is amazing, as always

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks so much!

[@sunilsolanki]

Another excellent video! Surprised by how good the Microbrute sounded in the mix. And now I envision that Drawmer gate shooting up in price on eBay!

[@dosgos]

More secrets of the trade! Thanks Paolo!

[@gullyfoyle6354]

Wow, another great classic trick from the sintetizzatore Maestro!! Grazie mile. :) Always wondered how they did those classic arpeggios back in the 80s, now, I know!! LOL

[@tatsuhirosato8646]

Thanks for sharing the classic tricks. I love the videos you have. Roland's MX-1 mixer has a step sequencer to do this type of thing. It has some really good sequencer controls. I have a love/hate relationship with mine. The inputs and aux outs leave a lot to be desired, but it serves AMAZINGLY well for stuff like this on the fly.

[@williamsonsam4420]

I wish it had more inputs too, but the MX-1 is amazing. I guess we'll have to wait for the MX-8! :) LOL :) Just a thought. :) 面白いですね。

[@kvfive]

I never knew this, we live & learn (still) thank you :-)

[@Retrogamer71]

Enjoyed a lot, this breakdown. Sadly I don't have such a hardware set up but this is replicable on my software synthetic/sequencer.

[@mcentertain]

Woooooow!!! Such much to learn but so beautiful sounds... italo disco at its best. Great programming of this micro brute. Only one thing in this video more beautiful than the sound ;) Happy Easter!

[@ShahriarTaherkhani]

Excellent tip, man ! Thanks so much for helping my answers, sir ! Your awesome and your tip are so cool and friendly ! I am a big fan of 80's and love Electronic, SynthPop-music ! My best regards to you, *Synthmania* Greetings from: Los Angeles, CA

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you!

[@alternatingbitmusic]

I too discovered the gate effect in the early 90s, but used it on vocals via an Alesis compressor. Same concept and effect. Funny how a rather elaborate and underground secret is now but a mouse clicked effect in any DAW today.

[@wolfgangwatzkavocalcoach-m1780]

Great...thanks for the quick tip

[@EgoShredder]

Love seeing your kids in your videos! :-)

[@chriswareham]

Just tried this out using my dbx "OverEasy" noise gate. Works really well!

[@fredturd]

Thanks for the lessons!

[@fabioabilio]

very cool!!!

[@ZbuntowanyAniol-zs6iz]

your videos are very interesting,good job :-)

[@zyn7132]

Excellent! We want more italo-disco !!!

[@BAFABOY]

Paolo you're the best !!!

[@koalemos1679]

This video makes me think of the gate arp that is on a lot of Korg products. A lot of people don't seem to like the gate arp, but it seems to do what you have shown here.

[@kylescotese]

sounds cool

[@ShadowPilot]

I'll be damned.. learned something new.Thanks for sharing!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Very welcome!

[@Anders130]

So Nice!!!

[@SvenFx-22]

another great video still wanting some videos on hardware hook ups and connecting and syncing thanks

[@LavLab]

Cool tip! 👽👍

[@oele]

thnx again for the knowledge

[@TheSoundtec]

Great Tip Thanks!

[@lardosian]

That Juno60 sounds so good.

[@stcezaire06]

Awesome .....80'

[@Torrente70]

I always wondered too how did they do that. I never thought it was always he Drumcomputer. Therefore Stock Aitken Waterman worked with the Linn 9000, not because of the sounds but because of the pattern programming. A wonderful example is "You spin me around" with the programmed pattern sound in the background. Perhaps you can demonstrate it with this song. Thx for your wonderful videos.

[@amonster8mymother]

Wow that's really cool I want to do that. 😎

[@chuckjunior009]

I want more!

[@ConWalsh]

Hi, love your videos! Thank you! Do you have any plans to buy the Linnstrument? I would love to see what you could do with one of those!

[@Frank-vf8xf]

Beautiful song Mr. Paolo. Thanks Thanks Thanks so much for share Share your knowledge with everybody and for take your time to make vídeos. You help us so much to understand how to use the instruments…. How does the Tr707 sound like !!!and The Juno-60. Thanks so much always!!!😊

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Many thanks!

[@fredrikmontelius5215]

Hoping for another music session featuring you and your children!

[@huronmusicnyc]

Woah, I was just doing something similar to this with Korg Polysix, Roland S-330, Volca Beats and Minibrute just to see if my crappy Tapco Compressor/Gate would.

[@lowbudgetproduction]

Thank you. Excellent tip. I hear bleeding in the background from the Juno 60 during the (closed) gate parts. Is this due to background noise from the TR-707?

[@lowbudgetproduction]

That is a possibility. I was curious about it.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Yeah, I left the range off the DS201 open just a bit, because the Juno-60 was the only harmonic instrument in this demo, and I wanted to leave a bit of the pad sound in there to make it still sound like a full arrangement. In a full song, I'd have a separate pad sound, and the gated synth line on top as it was common back in the day. If you want to gate it completely, all you need to do is to set the range at the minimum / set the decay to 2ms.

[@lowbudgetproduction]

Excellent. (It was hard to read \ see the potentiometer knobs in the DS201 shot which was a little blurry.) Your explanation cleared it. Thank you.

[@graysonhydesoto]

u are a wizard, i love you

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

I love you too, Elaine

[@havijergarcic6227]

epic gears man

[@AltayGENC]

after the gate, a delay followed by the reverb could be nice :) There was a zoom 1024 (1U rack) which I used for this gating purpose. (It was written as "vocoder" in the manual, interestingly)

[@carlosdelapaz5845]

beau travail🖒🖒🖒

[@mcentertain]

che bella!

[@JillSaphic]

So that's how that works... It sounds great when you get it going, and those later chords you bring in are super! thank you Paolo for the "gating your poly synth" video. Your Juno sounds huge, di you add effects? or is it dry?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Jill, thank you, this is just the dry Juno - no effects - yes, the PWM on the Juno combined with the chorus effect sounds very big

[@daved8514]

Very helpful videos. You did one that demonstrated a Blue Monday bouncy bass, using a TR707 (I think) to trigger an arppegiator on the synth. I've got an Ultranova and want to do similar stuff to this and other 80s stuff. Which drum machine would you recommend for it that is available today (not too expensive because it's only for home hobby use).

[@tommywarisnaked7625]

Very lucky girl!

[@cestladope]

Any Intergalactic FM listeners here? Are your kids into the music? It's so nice to see how supportive they are.

[@hansroemerszoonvanderbrikk7626]

You definitely rock with those synths! Congratulations. May I ask you an advice if I want to buy a good (versatile) analog synth without ask the bank for a mortgage? I currently own a Korg M1 and a Roland D5, but they are old, the user interface is frustrating on both, and M1 it's only a rompler though it is a very goor one. I would like pure analog sound ... for virtual ones I already have tons of VSTs.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you - you could consider waiting a couple of months for the Prophet Rev2

[@hansroemerszoonvanderbrikk7626]

I was thinking the same, now I'm pretty more convinced :) Hope will deliver in time there in Italy too. grazie per il consiglio ;)

[@hansroemerszoonvanderbrikk7626]

I've just tried it in a shop two hours ago, on the sides there were a Minimoog, a Moog Phatty Sub37 Bob Moog Tribute Edition, an ARP Odyseey module (the one made by Korg) and an Arturia microbrute. The only one that bears the comparison with the big sacred monster Moogs it's just the Novation bass station II. But I'm looking for a poly, I think that I'm going to buy the Prophet as Paolo suggested. You know: you can cry the first time (by spending a lot of moneys) and enjoy the rest of the times, or you can enjoy the first time by sparing a lot of moneys and cry the rest of the times. The new prophet rev2 is not exactly like vintage ones but it's an amazing analog.

[@phrank808]

Hi, great tutorial again. Thanks. But what’s the patch setting for the MicroBrute?

[@dosgos]

Dobule videos. And special guest!!

[@riseofthemachine2623]

This is a great tip! I also have a Juno-60 and TR-707 and I have a question: I understand that you programmed the rhythmic Hi Tom part and feed that output to the Key input of the DS201, but are you connecting the Juno to the DS201 or the Rim Shot trigger out on the TR-707? Cheers!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you, the Juno's output goes through the DS201 - in line - through it. The 707's rim shot trigger is not used in this video

[@riseofthemachine2623]

I just want to thank you for inspiring me to explore this very cool technique. I purchased a similar gate (USAudio GATEX) and it works wonderfully! I can't wait to use it in a composition. I owe you one! - Cheers, Mark (ROTM)

[@mikemikemike701]

I miss the 80's😕

[@FrancisMaxino]

With a modern keyboard like my Korg Kross you can basically get the same effect by customising the arpeggiator to do the same rhythmic pattern and tweak the 'arp gate' and attack. You can even have those arpeggiated chords play in response to what notes you are playing but with a completely different sound than the one that you get directly from playing the keys AND split the keyboard into more than eight different zones with different instruments AND has a built in 16 step programmable drum machine/sequencer built in with assignable drums, not only that but also create an arpeggiated synth bass pattern (two arpeggiators simultaneously playing different patterns and different instruments), what I'm saying is that you can do all of what you are doing here with one piece of hardware, the keyboard itself because synthesizors evolved into monster workstations that do all of that and more in one package...

[@AutPen38]

All that is true, but this video is about the origination of the effect. When gated synth lines were invented (either by accident or design) you needed multiple bits of hardware. People decided they liked the sound, so then synth manufacturers started making synths with a pseudo gate function that didn't require an extra piece of hardware. A lot of the functions we take for granted in modern synths and DAWs, like multitrack recording, reverb, and even preset storage, were once treated as something akin to magic. The studio engineers back in the day had to "build" solutions to the problems of the day. They didn't just press a couple of buttons.

[@glogg12]

Thanx for sharing this. Do I need a dual gate for this technique?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

You're welcome. If you have a mono source, you don't need a stereo gate, but it's nice to have

[@MrJDL571]

Thank u thank u thank u! Now I get how 3 classic tracks by Duran Duran were gated, Is there something I should know, New Moon on Monday and The Reflex

[@Dr-Stu]

That a famous Juno patch or just some random string setting? It's incredible. I'm trying to replicate it with the tal-u-no-lx

[@kuldipsinghdegon6107]

Great

[@mm-qk3eu]

Hi Very interesting videos. I would like to know what were your setups on the Drawmer DS201. Thank you

[@MisterMotel]

love your video's and she is cute

[@DavidBoura]

03:44 wow, i feel like in Front 242 - No shuffle... did they use the 707?

[@IanSaxman]

Just noticed the opening narration is gated to the background music. 8)

[@natura808]

Man, thank you for that great tip!!! Can you please describe your audio chain from TR-707 to the recording device, please. I love your TR-707 kick sound so much! Is there some low's boost on TR-707 channel??? Compression???

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Actually this video has hardly any compression, probably 2dB on the main mix and that's it. It's just pure 707 straight to the mixing console, with the eq bypassed. The TR-707 is punchy like that by itself

[@natura808]

Seems like your console makes it even punchier and gives it more low end, or I'm doing something wrong with my TR-707. Thank you again!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Are you using the Accent on 1-5-9-13 on the bass drum? If not, maybe that's why you say yours sounds different. I have accent going at 1-5-9-13 in this video, as it's customary to do...

[@natura808]

I'm using AKAI MPC-1000 as a sequencer and when AKAI send MIDI notes with velocity=127 to the TR-707 it makes the kick sounds even louder than accented one, I tend to think it’s your console preamps saturation works that way and I love it cause my new mixer (Allen&Heath) sounds too sterile, it’s hard even to compare with your sound, it’s not bad but deferent and not that juicy. What are you using as a master recorder - tape, digital???

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

This one is digital. SSL converter (see my FAQs)

[@celestinocamicia]

Steve Allen - "Letter From My Heart" (or if you prefer the Italian version, "Lei Balla Sola" by Fabio Vanni) is another classic example of this trick being used throughout the song 😊

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Hehe, now we enter total vintage nostalgia territory, Celestino :🙃

[@speakertreatz]

i just checked this track out - or both of them - and can see the resemblance straight away, and in the process discovered two great Italo tracks, thanks!

[@celestinocamicia]

They use exactly the same instrumental track, produced by famous Italo producer Mauro Malavasi. The Italian version was one of the runners up for the 1984 Sanremo Song Festival, without excessive success, then they anglicized it to try and crack the international market, and it became a reasonable hit in some countries.

[@celestinocamicia]

PS another great example of this technique is also the intro to "Union of the Snake" by Duran Duran (Jupiter 8 gated with a Linn Drum if memory serves me right)

[@ShadovvV]

Are you using any other external hardware on the Juno? Or a VST plugin maybe? I hear something like a slight phaser on it.

[@giovannibadalamenti6132]

Very nice video Paolo. How else would you send a signal to the drawmer if you don't have a TR707? And wouldn't you be able to accomplish the same effect with a sequencer, like the MSQ700?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

You can use any "spikey" sound to trigger. A sequencer will give you a different effect - sequenced rather than gated / MIDI vs Audio. In theory they could sound similar / same, in reality, not so much. Different feel

[@Philipplus]

Very interesting technique. Thank you for sharing!

[@RobynVids]

Wish my dad was as cool as you ;3

[@MadGeek17]

Grace is reaaaaaally beautiful

[@pqr590]

Why do you think he used her to introduce the video lol.

[@PieroCozzi]

Hi Paolo.... how can i do with a synth without gate ports ? Thank you in advance and than you for share your tutorials

[@politefilters5312]

Paulo, what kind of dynamic processing do you run your drums through? They always have so much presence!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

NEve

[@ShadovvV]

I'm hearing some nasty distortion breakup with the Drawmer gate on. It doesn't sound as clean with the gate on. I also own the DS201 and this is something I don't like about it. It's pretty much the same as the DBX 266XL. They both have a tendency to create some type of muddiness with slight distortion in the signal. I notice this especially with electric guitar. Are you noticing this?

[@thesucculentcity]

Can you elaborate on this? I’m definitely hearing some added distortion but I’m not sure if it’s the input clipping on drawmer or if the trigger is too hot?

[@ShadovvV]

@@thesucculentcity - My post was 6 years old, but I'll still try to answer, since I sold both of those units years ago.. and this post was the reason for it. My conclusion was the Drawmer was very bad at gating and was worse than the DBX. The DBX had a subtle and squishy fuzz to it, regardless of what I used it on. The best thing it sound good on was bass guitar, but was still muddled. As for the Drawmer, I've owned several different Drawmer rack types over the years and came to the conclusion that all of them simply sucked. To my ear, everything Drawmer devices did was far too subtle, especially their Mercenary 1968 and 1969 compressors (obvious marketing names), which were really nothing more than $1000 gain knobs. Basically, the compression was so transparent, it didn't even exist. I thought the components also seemed to be very low quality and did next to nothing. They gate you're asking about was pure doo doo. As a matter of fact, a Boss NS2 pedal did a better job. Not only did the DS201 add noise, every gating method on it was flawed. It was choppy and just the opposite of their compressors. No subtlety, at all. It would simply 'chop' off noise and then add distortion. Pure crap. I'll likely never purchase ANY Drawmer gear again.

[@skyhigh4000]

forever synthmania

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Kareem, thank you!

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

good sounds is when chords are so contrasted and opposite they attract

[@SoundOfVinyl]

is there any other gate effect I can buy that can do the same, but is a bit cheaper then the Drawmer DS201? Would it also work with this DBX 166XS ?

[@welshsynthesizerlabs6552]

Peter Rogge Alesis 3630 compressor. Goes for like $40 on Ebay. Put your tom (or whatever) into the sidechain input.

[@cliffgeiger8173]

I have a general question for you. Have you ever heard of a disco song called Eletric Avenue? It would have came out in the middle 80's. Some of the disco beats called for at that time or that you use, reminds me of that song

[@andinbriwel1092]

Clifford Geiger but SynthMania took it higher.... Rawwwwwr.... Eddy Grant

[@giuseppmetallic8872]

can i do same with casio cz 101 ? with arpeggio's and trigger's bass ? connected trough roland TR 707 ?

[@chenguefer156]

SynthMania: do you have any idea of what synths/sampler/drum machine Information Society used on What's on your mind?. Thanks for sharing!!.

[@chriswareham1547]

According to an interview in Music Technology magazine way back in 1988, it was Casio FZ10M, Sequential Prophet 2000, Roland MKS50 Yamaha TX81Z and Roland JX3P. Mostly presets on the synths, and the drums were sampled: www.muzines.co.uk/articles/information-technology/2302

[@chenguefer156]

Thank you Chris, I can not ask for more, very nice article with a lot of useful information. Best for you!.

[@RadFox1320]

So the DS201 takes in the juno audio outputs and the 707 trigger and directly modifies the audio output? Its not sending a trigger to the Juno, right?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

The 707 is triggering the DS201's gate. The gate opens and closes quickly, and makes the audio from the Juno go out, or be blocked. There's no trigger sent to the Juno.

[@RadFox1320]

@@SynthManiaDotCom ahh, so the DS201 will work with any keyboard. Thanks for that clarification!!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

@@RadFox1320 Yeah. It will gate the audio from any source - any keyboard, any drums, any guitar etc.

[@seanp2k617]

I’ve been obsessed with this technique lately and I just picked up a DS 501 to play with. Anyone have advice on getting a true square wave output for keying the gate? Any normal drum output is going to have a shape which I guess makes it behave a bit like a soft knee on a comp, but I’ve seen people using LFOTool or CableGuys ShaperBox to shape the actual envelope of the trigger. I’ve got plenty of envelope generators for euro rack, but what do people use to do this outboard?

[@Zaqwilson1]

Maybe is this possible to do this straight from rimshot triggering? thanks

[@pinklightmusic]

Which songs use this effect? Is this what New Order used in Bizarre Love Triangle during the pre chorus?

[@MrBeen992]

I think so. Also Animal Magic by Belouise Some. I suppose the chorus of You Spin Me Round too

[@AutPen38]

I was about to mention some Duran Duran tracks, like 'The Reflex'. Producer Ian Little used a Drawmer gate on that. He also produced Belouis Some.

[@xephren6557]

which inputs/outputs do i connect to what? how do i configure it?

[@voice_from_pizza]

Trigger out, of course!

[@gabrielolijrhook2188]

Hi Paolo, How do you trigger the sequencer from the Microbrute? With the gate in? I want to buy a Microbrute now! Greet, Gabriël

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Hello, Gabriël, the MicroBrute's sequencer is triggered via MIDI here (TR-707 MIDI Out to MicroBrute MIDI In)

[@gabrielolijrhook2188]

Ok. Is it Possible via the gate in or orderwise via the trig out of the TR-707?

[@gabrielolijrhook2188]

I work only analog