Snyths and sounds questions

[bryced87]

First of all I'd like to apologize if this post is in the wrong section.

I am just curious if there is a website to go to to find out what synths or sounds were used in a song? Being someone that is into remixing and parody's like Weird Al Yankovic I'm curious to find out how Weird Al knows where to find a similar sound to make his parodies sound almost identical to the original?

thanks

[daeron80]

Since Weird Al has been doing it since before there was such thing as a web site, I'm pretty sure that's not how he does it. He's been producing music for a long time, and keeps up with the technology. He owns and uses a wide range of instruments. I reckon he uses his ears to tell him which were used on a given song.

Not sure there's a site that attempts the hopeless task of exhaustively cataloging what all was used on all recordings. But the Pro Tools Expert blog has recurring articles showing how to emulate certain sounds in various current hit songs.

[spenner]

Originally Posted by daeron80

I reckon he uses his ears to tell him which were used on a given song.

+1.

FWIW, I recently recorded a cover for "I Wanna Be Rich". FM8 and the Yamaha S90 XS had all the sounds I needed to come pretty darn close to the original. If you have a great pair of ears and a good synth arsenal then it should not be hard to simulate a popular song.

[bryced87]

Originally Posted by daeron80

Since Weird Al has been doing it since before there was such thing as a web site, I'm pretty sure that's not how he does it. He's been producing music for a long time, and keeps up with the technology. He owns and uses a wide range of instruments. I reckon he uses his ears to tell him which were used on a given song.

Not sure there's a site that attempts the hopeless task of exhaustively cataloging what all was used on all recordings. But the Pro Tools Expert blog has recurring articles showing how to emulate certain sounds in various current hit songs.

I've seen some people on youtube recreate songs from the xpand2 but does that plugin really offer the ability to replicate as much as buying other synths?

Also where about in the blog that you linked to has the section showing how to replicate sounds?

[Stiff]

Originally Posted by bryced87

I am just curious if there is a website to go to to find out what synths or sounds were used in a song?

I know I've seen guitar websites listing tons of famous people's rigs. Vintage Synth Explorer lists a lot of synths and typically name a few people who've used them (not so much particular songs though). Personally, I would just google the specific song and instrument.

Good luck.

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by bryced87

I've seen some people on youtube recreate songs from the xpand2 but does that plugin really offer the ability to replicate as much as buying other synths?

For many songs, Xpand can get you close enough. For a few, you'd need synth emulations to get the sound and/or automate certain parameters.

Originally Posted by bryced87

Also where about in the blog that you linked to has the section showing how to replicate sounds?

I guess only members can search the video index. It's well worth joining. Otherwise, just check the blog every day and you'll see the new ones as they come along about once or twice a month. But meanwhile, there's tons of other great info there every day, and great discussions like what used to happen here at the DUC until a couple years ago.