Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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My sound patches: espenkraft.com • How do you make authentic sounding 80s pop/synth-pop in 2025?
In this video I will look at chords, sounds, arrangement and how we can put together everything to make it sound like it could have come from the 80s. Tons of tips and tricks from over 35 years of experience making this type of music.

My video series "A Song Is Born" can be found here:
A Song Is Born Ep.1 | 80s Composing - How to make a song from scratch
youtu.be/XJZzFWeAeEY

Find my music here:
Bandcamp: espenkraft.bandcamp.com

00:00 Intro
01:27 Work In Progress / The mix
05:04 The chords and song structure
13:40 Drums
16:59 Reverbs and Delays
17:55 Drums continue
22:14 Bass /Synth & Electric
26:19 Side-chaining the electric bass
30:30 Synths
34:16 The analog shrine / who cares?
35:04 Synths continue
44:47 Guitars /Sampled and Electric
50:32 Sampled Vocal Chops
53:15 The Spectrum Analyser
57:35 Bus Compression
58:13 Mix levels
60:10 Final thoughts