Progressive Intros

As far as progressive intros go, it's all about the harmony. Right away, your objective is to highlight elements working together throughout the song confidently. Each element is just as important as any other. Every pitch matters. Together, they set the mood. They give the listener an idea of what the song will be like. If the intro is not epic enough - chances are - the listener will move on, especially in dance and club genres. The intro starts from nothing and slowly becomes a whole arrangement. The mix is essential in electronic intros. Instruments need to be in constant agreement. Nothing should stick out or "take charge" except maybe a droning sound effect or a hint at the melodic motif. The groove usually sneaks in, keying some compression or "ducking" on the synths. There is typically a lot of gradual automation - perhaps filter cutoff, spectral content, or modulation amounts. It is often characterized by parallel and group processing. In this blog, I will walk you through one method of creating a progressive house introduction involving 5 instruments. This is what my progressive intro sounds like...

The Main Synth

The Sound - To start, load up a sawtooth wave in a hybrid synth like Massive. It does not have to be an exact sawtooth. You can use a composite waveform or something more square-like if you want. The important thing is that it is moving or pulsating slightly. You can achieve this by modulating the wavetable position, phase, amplitude, or modulation amount at a shallow depth. Do something to widen the sound, like imaging or multiplying and detuning voices (See Blog: Widening Techniques). Use full sustain, a relatively short attack, no decay, and a 200 ms release.

The Notes - This is perhaps the most critical step - defining the master harmony. To effectively explain what goes into an excellent main synth line, I would have to dive into constructing a good melody, which is a very subjective and complex topic. Simply put, use minor legato, have a balanced number of leaps and steps, shoot for sixths and thirds, and avoid fifths and sevenths (See Blog: Scales, Intervals). Try making any repetition a bit irregular - for example, you could break down a 16-bar phrase into a 10-bar sub-phrase and a 6 bar sub-phrase (rather than 8 and 8).

Supporting Synth 1

The Sound - For this sound, you will want a buzzy, harmonious waveform as well. Use a variation of the main synth if you wish to - maybe with slightly different modulation rates/shapes/amounts/destinations. For my example, I will use a new instance with a sine-triangle waveform. It should sound synthetic and fat. But not as fat or warm as the Main Synth. Use the same envelope settings as you did on the Main Synth.

The Notes - Start by duplicating the notes from the Main Synth and putting them in the track lane for this instrument. By starting with this reference, you can clearly see the intervals you create. The most genuine way to compose this part is to stop the playhead through the block while critically listening and dragging & dropping notes to make the intervals you like.

Do not be afraid to use unisons and suspensions. Despite how easy it is to make them, occasional unisons and suspended notes are critical in maintaining coherency. They provide that mature, modest richness you hear in the best productions from artists like Deadmau5 and Tiesto. Once you've established the part you want, add a couple of neighbors and passing tones.

Supporting Synth 2

The Sound - Duplicate the patch for Supporting Synth 1 for this and make a subtle change. I would recommend slightly morphing the waveform. We will do some processing later to define this element further. Use the same envelope settings as you did on the Main Synth.

The Notes - Start by duplicating the notes from Supporting Synth 1 and putting them in the track lane for this instrument. Starting with this reference, you will easily keep this synth in the same range as Supporting Synth 1. They should be like twin siblings - you can only tell them apart if you pay attention. Try using unisons, thirds, and sixths. Once you've established the part you want, add a couple of neighbors and passing tones.

Sub Bass

The Sound - Use a simple sine oscillator like the one in FM8 or Massive. I will set up a little wave modulation and some warm parabolic distortion so it's not quite so boring - but the sound does not need much design. Use the same envelope settings as you did for the other synths, but lengthen the attack slightly. Try adding a second sine oscillator and detuning both a couple of cents.

The Notes - Start by duplicating the notes from the Main Synth. These will immediately sound "O" because they'll be in unison. One easy way to compose this part would be to listen to the notes taken and change them. Once you've established the part you want, add a couple of neighbors and passing tones.

Automation

Automation is one of the most definitive techniques used in progressive electronic music. For these synths we've demonstrated, you're welcome to explore their parameters and find the type of change you like. It should change gradually over the entire length of the intro. Since these instruments are supposed to sound like one source, automated parameters should move in a similar contour. This will help create that larger-than-life sense of development. I chose to automate waveshapes, phases, modulation, and distortion amounts.

Processing

Panning - Pan the Supporting Synths to 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Keep the Main Synth and the Sub Bass in the center. Consider automating pan positions.

Group - Group the synths (except for the sub) and drop an EQ on the group output. Sweep a couple of resonant peaks around, listen for the unpleasant spots, and drop them out. Do this once more in search of pleasant resonances and boost those a little - nothing more than 3 dB. Enable a low-cut filter at around 150 Hz to get them out of the sub-bass territory - not too resonant. Use some gentle group compression to glue the synths together. This will make them seem to change together - thus, seeming to belong together. I would recommend a threshold of -20 dB and a VERY soft ratio.

Parallel - Send the group output to a return track with reverb. Make sure the reverb is set to fully wet. I recommend a larger room with a decay time between 2 and 4 seconds. Then, drop a high-pass filter after the reverb is set to about 200 Hz. Try sweeping in the wetness as the intro evolves by automating the level of this return track.