Re-visiting "Turbo Lover" synth

C

ChadVanHalen

Member
The most recent discussion I've found on here regarding recreating the various guitar synthesizers from Judas Priest's Turbo Lover can be found here:
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/is-it-possile-to-get-roland-gr700-synth-tones.64642/

I followed Simeon's advice, since working the synth block is so foreign to me and stuck with using a flanger on the guitar sound for now. Tweaking the Jet Flanger factory preset got me a lot of the way there, mixed with a sawtooth trem for the choppy bits. Sounds fairly close, could probably be "eh good enough" for a bar show.

So, looking for advice on helping to push me closer. The thread linked above is from almost a decade ago so I'm not sure if the modern blocks have anything to help achieve any of these things that are holding me back. I'm a complete newb to things like LFOs and ADSRs and etc, so if anything jumps out as a thing to try, please let me know. I also have 2 expression pedals I can use.
-Currently I'm unable to control when the sweep starts and where. In the song it goes from low to high and sits on the high a bit (followed by a 2nd low to high sweep). But in my attempts, it kinda varies where in the sweep it starts at. Useable in a live situation but might as well see if there's a way to make sure it starts at that low point and go up from there.
-On the recording it goes through the low to high sweep then holds on the high, then a second (octave?) goes through the sweep. Then when the song starts it seems to go through a low to high sweep kinda like how I have it set.

If the flanger controls aren't precise enough, could there be an alternative way to achieve this, ie with a synth block and controlling the sweep with like a pitch block or arpeggiator, etc? I'm expanding into territory I have no familiarity with, making non traditional guitar noises.

So if anyone has any advice let me know, definitely would be a cool sound to be able to replicate.

Thank you!
 
warlockII said:
How about using an expression pedal to control when and how long the sweep takes?
Click to expand...
Last night I messed around with it a bit more, and actually feel I got it really close, and set up the workflow to be able to play along with it fairly well

I'm not sure how I'd control the flanger sweep with an expression pedal since it follows a rate (maybe there's an obvious way to do it that's slipping my mind) but I feel I have a decent-ish representation of the sweep on the album

But I found the way to make sure the flanger starts low to high once turned on, so I have that turned on along with a synth block holding an E power chord (Which octave of E will need to be played around with, just set it to a low E while I was figuring the workflow out). Then the second sweep in the intro I'm currently running a 2nd flanger on a parellel line and right now hitting it with an octave in front, but that sound isn't quite right yet, I'll see if I can find a better way/tweak the sound.

Then moving to scene 2 turns off the 2nd octave flanger and turns on the trem, and the original flanger's mix is controlled by one of the expression pedals (in case the constant flanger sweeping is too much, I can back it off, but I can still bring it in at certain parts).

Maybe I'll tweak some more after work and post it here, see if there's any feedback/critiques on easier ways to do one thing, things to make it sound a bit better, etc.
 
For that kind of thing, I'll sometimes turn off the LFO in the flanger and instead use a controller (e.g. LFO or a damped sequencer) to control the Manual parameter directly. Use a pedal to trigger the controller and that gives you detailed control over how it triggers, the shape, duration, etc.
 
Here's draft 1 for my Turbo Lover attempt if anyone is interested
Notes:
Currently it's a separate synth and guitar line, but both coming out of OUT1 (for my convenience)
-To keep synth and flanger syncopated, they are connected to CS1. Starts flange in correct phase for low-to-high sweep.
-Secondary flanger is turned on with CS3, along with a pitch block slowly rising 2 octaves
-Going to scene 2 turns off the secondary flanger, keeps original one on, and turns on trem pedal (Currently set to 146 bpm, but the song doesn't seem to be perfectly in time, hard to keep syncopated to the record)
-CS2 is the choppy trem that ends the solo
-PEDAL2 is assigned to the mix of flanger 1, so I can lower it/take it out completely during verses while keeping the trem going (it can be a little overbearing in parts)
-And this is more going for trying to recreate the opening synth sound, not necessarily any guitar tones. I just put in a basic Energyball amp since Glenn used Powerballs live towards the end.
-The solo, especially when done live, had octave effects. I'm sure I can attempt to recreate it despite the pitch block already being used somewhere, but again not a necessary effect right now, really trying to get the feel for the intro synth part

Feedback and changes are welcome!
 

Attachments

  • Turbo Lover.syx
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After posting I already made a slight change, where I disconnected the parallel flanger 2 line from the trem, so I can have the octaved flanger coming in when I press it, but not being tremolo-ed.
 
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