Blade Runner Style

Published on Jul 19, 2018 Alex Ball

"Past to Future samples are one of my favourite developers. They recently put out a Kontakt library made with the holy grail that is the Yamaha CS-80 (1976).

It was recorded with a Lexicon 224 and baked onto a Studer A80 tape machine. It's about as authentic as you'll find. There's 12 patches all designed to capture the vibe of Vangelis and Blade Runner. They're seriously dreamy and huge, straight out of the box. And it costs just $15 to purchase!

Link here: https://gumroad.com/pasttofuturereverbs

I put some patches to use in an original composition that's a humble homage to the great composer. I experimented with his meandering and modulating style and if you're interested, the main chord pattern is: Cm, B2add#4, A2add#4, Abadd2, Gb6/9, Fm7 and then back around. The 12 bar phrase is open ended and so it's less obvious where it starts and ends, quite a useful technique. The JX-3P also has its second oscillators tuned a perfect 5th up, which creates some interesting bitonal harmony in some places and adds upper extensions in others.

Sounds used:
Yamaha CS-80 Blade Runner Synth for Kontakt - four patches
Roland JX-3P
Korg MS-20
Sequential Circuits Pro-One
Oberheim DX
Roland TR-606
Rhodes Mark I Seventy Three
Rhythmic Robot EMU Emulator II
Spitfire Joby Burgess Percussion
Orchestral Tools Metropolis Ark 3 timpani

Sequencer: Cubase 9 / Arturia Beatstep Pro
Plugins: Goodhertz Vulf-Compressor, T-racks, Waves, Past to future reverbs, U-he Satin

CS-80 images from this awesome archive: http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com/"