Van Halen Jump Patch Tutorial
Virtually modeling the Oberheim OBXA within the Prophet Rev2 Synthesizer
This video shows how to create a Van Halen "Jump" type of brass stab sound. This is an iconic synth sound that has been recreated (or attempted) on virtually every synthesizer since the mid 80s. This tutorial goes beyond the standard patch creation, and dives deep into advanced modulation techniques to build a "Virtual Oberheim OBXA Synth" within the Prophet Rev2.
This video shows how to create a Van Halen "Jump" type of brass stab sound. This is an iconic synth sound that has been recreated (or attempted) on virtually every synthesizer since the mid 80s. This tutorial goes beyond the standard patch creation, and dives into advanced modulation techniques to build a "Virtual Oberheim OBXA Synth" within the Prophet Rev2.
0:00 Demo of Patch to be Created (preview)
0:40 Introduction, Discussion of Classic Synth Modeling
1:33 Oscillator Setup
2:37 Amp Envelope, Filter Envelope Setup. After finishing up the tutorial, I made some adjustments to filter envelope, to better tone match to the remastered VH Jump track.
5:15 Advanced Modulation Overview - Discussion of Classic Synth Character and Voice Component Modeling. Overview of OBXA testing I did
7:42 Advanced Modulation: Voice Component Modeling on the Prophet Rev2 - Building a Virtual OBXA in the Rev2. Modeling of Intonation Oscillator Tuning offsets that are unique per voice, and match actual measurements taken from an OBXA. Also, modeling offsets to attack and decay rates of envelopes, per voice.
17:28 Adding Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to the square wave. Using Note Number modulation to scale down the PWM on the bass notes.
18:22 Conversion to a Stereo Patch with two layers, and using mod matrix to pan each layer left/right.
20:05 Adding some pitch modulation and using Note Number Modulator to scale it down in the lower bass notes
22:50 Altering the Voice Modeling offsets to be unique for Layer B in the stereo stack.
23:55 Adding Reverb Effect. After recording the tutorial, I dialed tone back up a bit for better tone matching.
25:28 Adding Performance Modulation - Vibrato on Note Pressure. Using Note Number sub modulator to restrict vibrato amount on bass frequencies.
30:18 Final Playthrough/Example of Jump Sound, with some basic drums and bass added. Sorry, no DLR yelps.. you can add your own ;)
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If you would like a copy of this patch in .syx format for the Rev2, comment below or send me a message and I'd be happy to send you the patch.
For more information on Voice Component Modeling:
http://www.VoiceComponentModeling.com
After recording the tutorial section, I did some additional tone-matching to the Remastered VH Jump track... Additional changes I made to the patch after ending of tutorial:
1. Added a "pitch settle" effect via the Envelope3, where at the beginning of the note strike, there is a bit more pitch modulation that fades out and settles fairly quickly.
2. Adjusted the overall pitch modulation.. needed to add it into Layer B, and also added a bit of faster pitch modulation at the vibrato rate... as listening to the VH Jump Remaster track seems to have some more of this pitch wobble.
3. Added in a bit of osc noise, with unique values on a per voice basis.
4. Adjusted and fine tuned the Envelopes and filter a bit more... decreased hard coded filter cutoff and increase Env Amount. Reduced resonance.