Toto Africa, ballpark setting

[EilertEnglishTeacher]

Hi, I've just got the Polymode and the Dreamsynth, and I already have the Eight Voice and the Memorymode. I'd like to use any of these to get a good approximation of the horns-ish sound Toto used for their hit "Africa." This will be just a training exercise, as I have never owned an analogue synth, or had much hands-on experience since the early 80s. Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I've already fooled around with the Polymode and the Dreamsynth, fleshing out tracks that I've taken a break from due to insufficient processing power. Great fun!

[Steve W]

I have withdrawn the suggestions.

[UrbanCyborg]

On a more limited note, most analog brass sounds start with a sawtooth wave and LP filter it down. Specifically, the filter attack is set longer than the VCA attack, resulting in the characteristic lip "blub" of real horns. How much longer to make it comes down to what kind of horn and what kind of embouchure you want to imitate. Experiment!

[EilertEnglishTeacher]

Thanks to both Steve and Cy! I believe they used a Yamaha CS-80 for the horns, but I suppose any decent analog synth can make an approximation. Sawtooth, right. I'll use that as a starting point for my noodling, just to get a feel of what these plugins actually do. I already have NI Komplete and run Logic, so it isn't as if I don't have enough options, but the Cherry plugins feel "friendlier" somehow.

[UrbanCyborg]

Take a look at the factory brass settings. If you have a MemoryMode (or MemoryMoog), look at the factory brass settings there.

[Jo Beatz]

I think it is the preset "Brass 3" from the Yamaha DX7.

The factory bank is here: http://dxsysex.com/ and a synthesizer to load the files here: https://asb2m10.github.io/dexed/

Regards

[Steve W]

I have withdrawn the suggestion.

[Jo Beatz]

I think it is the preset "Brass 3" from the Yamaha DX7.

Out of curiosity, what are you basing this on?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_(Toto_song)

I was probably wrong. The song came out in 1882. A year before the DX7 came out. I thought I heard it in a Youtube video once. But the sound must be based on Africa.