Hi all --
First time posting in this particular sub-forum.
I am new to learning synths, and have been delving into my favorite early Devo records, trying to reverse engineer various tones for fun and practice. On "Whip It" I didn't have much difficulty getting the main bass sound, the verse lead parts, and even the "whip" sound.
But the tone I'm having a hard time unravelling is the sort of squirrely high 2-note (?) alternating pattern (sounds like it goes between major 3rd and a 4th) that comes in only during the chorus (over the lyrics "so whip it... into shape... shape it up... get it straight... etcetera". It's very thin sounding, seems to have modulation, though I can't really tell if it's pitch or pulse wave (guessing pitch?).
Any Devo fans wanna give it a listen and throw some suggestions at me for how you'd get the sound?
For "extra credit" -- I would also be interested to know how people might go about getting the "hissing" sound that precedes the whip. I can get the whip sound, which is all they do "live" just by smacking the keyboard with a very short noise oscillator envelope. But on the recording, there's sometimes a hiss that precedes the whip -- not sure if that can be done with the same patch, or if it's a combination of 2 different sounds overlaid![:)]( "Smile")
For what it's worth, I've been using Diva for the bass tone and whip, and Repro-5 for the higher notes. But I also have the synths in my signature. Given what I've found online about Devo's gear for that record (Minimoog and Prophet 5) I figured those 2 were a good place to start.
Thanks!
First time posting in this particular sub-forum.
I am new to learning synths, and have been delving into my favorite early Devo records, trying to reverse engineer various tones for fun and practice. On "Whip It" I didn't have much difficulty getting the main bass sound, the verse lead parts, and even the "whip" sound.
But the tone I'm having a hard time unravelling is the sort of squirrely high 2-note (?) alternating pattern (sounds like it goes between major 3rd and a 4th) that comes in only during the chorus (over the lyrics "so whip it... into shape... shape it up... get it straight... etcetera". It's very thin sounding, seems to have modulation, though I can't really tell if it's pitch or pulse wave (guessing pitch?).
Any Devo fans wanna give it a listen and throw some suggestions at me for how you'd get the sound?
For "extra credit" -- I would also be interested to know how people might go about getting the "hissing" sound that precedes the whip. I can get the whip sound, which is all they do "live" just by smacking the keyboard with a very short noise oscillator envelope. But on the recording, there's sometimes a hiss that precedes the whip -- not sure if that can be done with the same patch, or if it's a combination of 2 different sounds overlaid
For what it's worth, I've been using Diva for the bass tone and whip, and Repro-5 for the higher notes. But I also have the synths in my signature. Given what I've found online about Devo's gear for that record (Minimoog and Prophet 5) I figured those 2 were a good place to start.
Thanks!
Statistics: Posted by rsilverst — Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:46 pm