Megata Kyojin Kuchiku
Reverse engineering of Sawano Hiroyuki - Megata Kyojin Kuchiku's lead synth from Shingeki No Kyojin.
How to awawa: Megata, the acid lead.
There's a distinct appeal when a synth takes on an organic quality, especially when it closely mirrors the nuances of a voice. However, an appreciation for such sounds does not necessarily equate to an understanding of their creation, at least not yet.
Looking at the original sound, we can learn a few things: The synth is monophonic, with a slight echo. It seems to employ a saw wave, heavily filtered to imbue it with that organic texture. Moreover, some notes appear to glide into each other, emulating the fluid transitions typical in vocal performances.
Now that we understand the basics of the sound's design, let's recreate the melody as closely as possible to the original. I'll use a piano for this task.
Next, I'll use one of my synths to try and match the original sound as closely as possible. Zebra from u-He offers a range of excellent filtering options and a solid legato system. It should be fit for the job, although results might not be exactly like the original since different synths can produce different sounds.
The aim isn't to make an exact copy. We're here to understand how to create this type of sound; so we can make many variations of this recipe.
Filter KeyFollow
Great way to add variation on our filter. Have its cutoff follow the current note.
Envelope
Most important aspect of our filter. It needs to follow a medium-slow release.
Legato
Notes that glide into each other, making that sweet organic effect.
I ended up using a variety of filters with different levels of resonance, with a cutoff that follows an envelope. Thanks to how Zebra handles things, the filter does not reset when playing in legato.
A simple mono saw wave with a single voice works for the oscillator (OSC). The low-pass (LP) filters will handle the rest.
The important aspects are the glide and the motion of the filter. The unique thing about Megata's synth is that it's not constantly in glide/legato. It's humanized to a certain degree, adding some variation.
And there we have it. It's not perfect but it's quite close.
Synced together with the original.
Now that I know how to make it, let's spice things up.
Here is a quick variation, using more voices and distortion.
And an original version I did for one of my tracks with 4 different variations of that gliding synth.