How to Make a Trance Lead Synth in Propellerhead’s Reason 4
Tutorial Details
- Program: Reason 4
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Completion Time: 1 hour
Reason 4 is a brilliant synth-creating tool. The Thor Polysonic Synthesizer is one of the most powerful synths about and this tutorial will explain the basics of using it to create a massive trance lead synth patch.
Step 1: Setting Up Thor
Before we do anything, we need a mixer in our rack. If you don’t already have one, right click and click create > Mixer 14:2. This will be what our synth is fed into so we can control its overall volume.
Right click on your Reason interface and click create > Thor Polysonic synthesizer. This will make a brand new instance of Thor that we can get started on!
Thor in the Reason Rack.
Right click Thor and click “Initialize patch” to remove any the existing default patch settings and give us a clean slate to work with. Also, before we forget – double click on the name tag and change it to “Trance Lead” so it’s easy to see in the mixer what the device is.
Now we have our device, it’s time to add in some notes. In the Reason sequencer window, select the pencil tool (the shortcut key to select the pencil tool is “W”) and draw out the section you want to make notes in. I’ve drawn out an 8 bar loop for our trance loop, giving time for a decent chord progression. Select the selection tool (the shortcut key is “Q”) and double click the area you have just drawn out.
Now, using the pencil tool again, draw some notes for your synth to play. Click the “Loop on/off” button to turn on the loop – but make sure the L and R loop points are around the whole of the area you’ve created so you’re hearing the entire loop.
The Reason sequencer window with the notes drawn in.
So far, your loop should sound something like this:
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Step 2: Make the Three Multi Oscillators and Mix Them
Now it’s time to start making this synth patch! We’ll be using all three of Thor’s oscillators to make a massive, epic sound. Click the “Show Programmer” button to open Thor up. Change each oscillator to a “Multi Osc” oscillator by clicking the drop down arrow and selecting it from the menu.
A Multi Oscillator makes lots of single waves, and then allows you to detune them against each other to make a very thick sound, perfect for the trance lead synth we’re making. Click the “2″ and “3″ buttons near the top of the opened up part of Thor to send the 2nd and 3rd Oscillators through into the rest of the signal chain.
Change the “AMT” knob to about 3/8ths of the way around – this detunes the waves, thickening the sound. Take oscillator 2 up one octave with the “OCT” knob and oscillator 3 up two octaves – this makes a three octave spread, making it sound even bigger. We still want the focus to be on the lowest octave, however, so in the mixer, take the balance towards oscillator 1, and turn oscillator down to about half way.
Thor with the 3 Multi Oscillators.
Your loops should now sound like this:
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Step 3: Remove the Filter and Alter the Amp Envelope
Click the drop down on the filter and click “Bypass” – hear how it’s now a lot brighter? That’s because none of the high frequencies are being filtered out any more.
The “Bypass” filter option.
If you have any long notes in your loop, you might notice they are losing volume over time. To prevent this, turn the “S” up in the “Amp Envelope” section to full – this is the sustain of the note – by turning it to full it means it will not lose any volume at all, which is great for big synth sounds.
The loop should now sound like this:
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Step 4: Add the Chorus and Delay
Now we’re going to make this epic lead synth even more epic with some effects – Chorus widens the synth effect in the stereo field, making it feel bigger. Thor has a chorus unit built in, so just click the “Chorus” button and voila! Instant width to your synth effect. Turn the “D/Wet” knob (Short for Dry / Wet) down to about a quarter of the way around so the chorus isn’t too overwhelming – if it is too wide, the synth loses its punchiness.
Next, we’re going to add Delay to really make the synth bigger. Delay is an effect that echoes out what has been played. Again, Thor comes with this built in, so just click on the “Delay” button to add the epic effect. Click the “Tempo Sync” button to make the echoes in time with the music. Again, change the Dry/Wet knob to about a quarter so it isn’t too overwhelming.
The Chorus and Delay section set up for a big sound.
The loop should now sound like this:
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Step 5: Add the Reverb
Finally, we’re going to add some reverb to the high end of the synth so it really fills out the track. Right click the mixer your Thor device is going in to and go create > RV7000 Advanced Reverb. This will automatically connect it to the next available auxiliary knob on the mixer – in this case aux 1. Turn up the knob to about half way round.
Now we’ve got reverb – but we want it more focused on the high end. Turn the “HF Damp” down to 0 so none of the high frequencies are being dampened and turn the “HI EQ” to full so the High frequencies are even more prominently reverberated. Turn the decay knob up to about 3/4 of the way around so it is reverberated for a longer period of time, making it seem even bigger.
The RV7000 Advanced Reverb unit in the rack. Note how the Aux knob on the Trance Lead Channel is turned up.
The loop should now sound like this:
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And there you have it – a massive trance lead synth made in Reason 4. Here is an example of it in context with a simple loop incorporating a drum loop and a bass synth:
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Trance still exist?
I love that this is the first post.
… or just use/tweak some of the presets in the Sytrus plugin in FLStudio… if you’re into that sort of thing
FL studio is not any where near professional software, and should not be used with trance…
Dear AT editors! Tarnce != Hard Tarnce … you should declare your terms correclty! There are people who do like them some Tarnce but who abysmally hate Hard Tarnce! Gets your facts right!
There was an era in the early 90s where Trance was actually quite good, almost bordering on Ambient. Later then Hard TARNCE came and everything went downhill. Juvenile Rednecks in Construction Worker vests and with whistles appeared everywhere. It was the end of the good Tarnce as we knew it!
how about you start to write correctly the word “Trance” before attacking the AT editors..
Insider-Tip: People who don’t like Trance call it Tarnce!
This, unfortunately, is the most tasteless kind of ‘music’ around, and one shouldn’t teach anyone any tricks on how to produce this kind of horror.
you need to understand where real trance coems from to love it… also this tutorial is not trance, it is what Paul Van Dyk would call “really sheezy **** music”
this IS trance, and as someone who has been into trance since the 90s and has watched its evolution as a genre, i should know
I don’t care. At least I was able to learn some controls on Thor. This has inspired me to play around with Thor. Thor has been an alien for me till now.
Thank you…
Trance music may appear deceptively simple, but just like pop music there is a real skill in being able to do it well. Being able to create your own synth patches is a very useful skill, and I think David has done a brilliant job here that will inspire a lot of people to experiment themselves.
Agreed–and with trance, not being a genre that I search out, there are some well produced, iconic tunes out there. It also spills over into other genres including Drum and Bass. In fact some of the best dnb I’ve heard lately has been quite trancey imo.
PS – I’d like to see more thor tuts, especially involving the modulation matrix
I’m not really a big fan of trance but a good trance sounding synth line can be used in lots of styles of music and can still sound seriously cool. I would like to see more thor tutorials on here, especially a few more complex ones about using the modulation/automation routing or the sequencer
I don’t like this tutorial at all, that’s not what trance sounds like these days.
Also Trance has some of the most moving, emotional pads/strings of any electronic genre. I’m not into the beats of trance, but place those pads over D&B or breakbeat tracks & it sounds beautiful, think of hybrid etc
+1
-10
This is trance? are you kidding me???
Have you ever listened to trance?
Please Audiotuts, i thought i was getting used to your quality…
Once again, people who don’t know the genres and believe the only “real” music is rock throw dirt on people who like the electronic movement. And there is a whole history. Being able to say trance is not a genre or that it doesn’t sounds like trance these days denotes a little lack of information.
have you ever listened to music BEFORE today ?
It is one thing to hate a genre or to say that you’re not into that, even that trance can be created with an old Roland, but to say that it is horrible or other things …
What if I would say: Man, Queen doesn’t sounds like rock to me !
Or, are we only looking for drone sounds and robot sfx ? Because that’s almost 80% of electronic music.
It’s not the music’s fault that there are 1000 djs per square meters today.
Trance is a very complex style. It need knowledge of harmony and arranging to create a top of the line hit.
But maybe I am talking here only to 18 year olds …
Sorry for being sour but it’s really annoying not appreciate the work done in creating a track
Exactly!
beeps and clicks and rhythmic tricks
minimal powah.
Nice tut, very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Great tut!
Trance or hard-trance or Tarnce :d wahaha..
I don’t care!!
Do not think in boxes! Music is music!
Amen!!! Music is music. No need for the hate… Great tutorial!
Show me how to make that Daniel Kandi-style nice arp, will ya?
Tanks for the tutorial! I’ve been trying to figure out how to make that sort of sound for ages!
Don’t give the tutorial bad reviews because you disagree with what he calls trance. It’s not about the title
Hi there. I dont often reply to posts on random google searches and this is old, but i must say
thanks alot for showing me something that i have been searching everywhere to find. I love trance
and have been trying to make my own synth layers without really knowing what goes into it, this small
tute has showed me how one goes about with a saw tooth and layering and detuning it, something that
i now know i can do with other synths that i come across, ive been really playing around and im so happy
thanks for showing the basics of sawtooth layering for trance. – sine
Hi Sine. I’m glad Google brought you here – welcome. Feel free to explore the site, and thanks for commenting! Adrian
This is a great tutorial I really like the sounds thor has especially the choir sounds. Really good for that gothic and or Melancholy sound
I’d love to see a tutorial for the bass synth as well. I’ve been trying to look for a decent one, but haven’t come across any. I’d really like to know how to make my songs sound alive :/ rather than just have a few nifty leads in it.