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Power metal lead synth sound

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anterojokinen
anterojokinen|176
GEAR:
  • Kawai CX-202 B
  • ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1007 ET
  • Sigma GMC-STE

What do you use to get that sweet Sonata Arctica / Stratovarius etc. lead synth sound heard in songs like The Cage. This sounds awesome too: https://youtu.be/W79cX2AVfLg

I only use a MIDI keyboard with VST plugins so I'm wondering how to create that.

GEAR:
  • Kawai CX-202 B
  • ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1007 ET
  • Sigma GMC-STE
pkennethk
pkennethk|26907 MODERATOR
GEAR:
  • Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer
  • Roland SH-101
  • Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer
In reply to anterojokinen:

There is no way to convincingly emulate a steel-string electric guitar using a midi keyboard and a VST instrument... so knowing which emulations sound best to you personally is really important (like that video).

Are there any more keyboard-guitar videos on YouTube where you think the sound they've achieved is good enough? Having a few more reference points would help.

GEAR:
  • Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer
  • Roland SH-101
  • Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer
anterojokinen
anterojokinen|176
GEAR:
  • Kawai CX-202 B
  • ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1007 ET
  • Sigma GMC-STE

The idea is not to sound like a lead guitar. The power metal keyboard lead sound is its own thing, not a guitar emulation. Making a sine wave and using a guitar amp sounds good too, though. But power metal bands' keyboardists like Jens Johansson and Henrik Klingenberg don't use guitar amps or guitar amp emulations.

The "Jens sound" changes depending on how high or low you play. It gets very nasty when you play the low notes. As seen in the second link down below.

Here are some examples:

https://youtu.be/9j9usbFbtxg?t=214 https://youtu.be/luWXWT9UoFA?t=758 https://youtu.be/bo3TlI2sN7E https://youtu.be/-b3G0wR9Rv0

GEAR:
  • Kawai CX-202 B
  • ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1007 ET
  • Sigma GMC-STE
pkennethk
pkennethk|26907 MODERATOR
GEAR:
  • Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer
  • Roland SH-101
  • Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer
In reply to anterojokinen:

Ha! I'm glad you clarified. I am obviously ignorant as to the use of keyboards in these strains of metal.

Looking into the Jens sound, though, it seems the JV1080 and (to a lesser extent) the DX7II, both through a distortion like the Morley JD10, played a big role through a good chunk of his career. If the albums in which he used that setup are what you're after, that shouldn't be too hard to recreate. What have you already tried on this front? Have you tried the Roland JV-1080 cloud VST through a guitar tone plugin like NI Guitar Rig yet?

https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA549155568&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=08844720&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E78d202d6&aty=open-web-entry

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=555775

https://web.archive.org/web/20090519061715/http://www.progsounds.com/tutorials/jens-johansson-lead/

GEAR:
  • Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer
  • Roland SH-101
  • Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer
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