Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
My sound patches: espenkraft.com • The classic "pitch bump" synth brass with that fat attack explained with 5 different synths and setups.
The difference between something like the "Axel F" synth brass lead and the stabby "Final Countdown" synth brass is very apparent; The first one has a flat straight on pitch attack, while the latter has a more "smack" attack. Both great, but they serve two different needs.
This is video is not meant to recreate "The Final Countdown" patch.
To make the "pitch bump" brass sound you can use what's known as a PITCH ENVELOPE, where you use an envelope to modulate the pitch of one oscillator so when you play a note, the pitch (of that oscillator) moves a the very beginning, thus the effect not unlike how a trumpet player takes on the note with the lips.
Since the second oscillator don't have that pitch bump the combined sound has a short detuned attack which sounds very fat and classic.
I say in the video that the bump works better with a positive (pitch comes from above) envelope, but you can achieve (as I also demonstrate) a very fat and nice bump with an inverted envelope as well. Try both ways (if the synth allows it) to find what suits your needs the most.
It is possible to make this kind of effect using LFO's as well (depending on the synth), but using the pitch envelope sounds far better to me.
00:00 JX-8P (PG-8X VST)
02:51 OB-Xd (OB-Xa VST)
04:04 Jupiter-8 (Arturia VST)
04:49 Prophet 5 (Arturia VST)
05:47 Arturia OP-XA V (Ob-Xa VST)
09:54 Roland Jupiter-8 (The real thing)
My sound patches: espenkraft.com • The classic "pitch bump" synth brass with that fat attack explained with 5 different synths and setups.
The difference between something like the "Axel F" synth brass lead and the stabby "Final Countdown" synth brass is very apparent; The first one has a flat straight on pitch attack, while the latter has a more "smack" attack. Both great, but they serve two different needs.
This is video is not meant to recreate "The Final Countdown" patch.
To make the "pitch bump" brass sound you can use what's known as a PITCH ENVELOPE, where you use an envelope to modulate the pitch of one oscillator so when you play a note, the pitch (of that oscillator) moves a the very beginning, thus the effect not unlike how a trumpet player takes on the note with the lips.
Since the second oscillator don't have that pitch bump the combined sound has a short detuned attack which sounds very fat and classic.
I say in the video that the bump works better with a positive (pitch comes from above) envelope, but you can achieve (as I also demonstrate) a very fat and nice bump with an inverted envelope as well. Try both ways (if the synth allows it) to find what suits your needs the most.
It is possible to make this kind of effect using LFO's as well (depending on the synth), but using the pitch envelope sounds far better to me.
00:00 JX-8P (PG-8X VST)
02:51 OB-Xd (OB-Xa VST)
04:04 Jupiter-8 (Arturia VST)
04:49 Prophet 5 (Arturia VST)
05:47 Arturia OP-XA V (Ob-Xa VST)
09:54 Roland Jupiter-8 (The real thing)
