Remaking the bass synth from the 2019 song "Whiplash" by Theophilus London can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Whiplash" bass patch and play this iconic sound on most hardware or software subtractive synthesizers (Serum, Vital, Pigments, Prophet, Korg, Moog, etc). We've included the preset download directly for your convenience, but we strongly recommend you use our programming tutorial to recreate it yourself.
Original Audio
Theophilus London’s “Whiplash” (feat. Tame Impala) introduces a distorted, growling bass synth at 0:09 that anchors the track’s psychedelic groove. This throaty low-end sound uses aggressive resonance to emphasize midrange frequencies, creating a vocal-like “throatiness” while maintaining a gritty edge. The core tone derives from a pulse wave oscillator processed through heavy distortion. The synth’s unison voices and a touch of reverb enhance its spatial presence.
Original Performing Instrument
Unknown
Our Remake of The Bass Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the bass synth from the song "Whiplash" by Theophilus London, giving you a reference point as you design your own synthesizer preset. Play it as often as you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of the sound.
Synth Patch Programming Recipe
Getting Started
- Start by initializing your synthesizer to a plain saw with no filter, modulation or effects. For soft synths use the "init"/"default" preset or the the button to reset all parameters to their default factory values.
- No two synths are exactly alike, so treat the values below as approximate, and use your ear.
- Percentage values (e.g. 50%) represent the relative position of a knob or slider within its full range. The full range of each parameter may differ from synth to synth, so use your ear.
Voices
- Voice Mode: Mono
Amp Envelope
- Attack: 0 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 20 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 60%
- Volume: 60%
- Oscillator 2
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 60%
- Pitch: +1 Octave
- Volume: 40%
- Unison
- Oscillators: All
- Voice Count: 4
- Detune Range: 6 Cents
- Stereo Spread: 30%
- Reset All Oscillators Phase On Note Start: No
Filter
- Type: Band Pass
- Cutoff: 20%
- Resonance: 65%
Filter Envelope
- Modulation Amount: 40%
- Attack: 0 ms
- Decay: 2200 ms
- Sustain: 0%
Distortion
- Drive: 43%
Reverb
- Mix: 30% Wet
- Size: Small
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
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Preset Downloads
Don't want to learn synth programming now? Use our synth preset as your starting point and tweak it from there. Register an account with Audible Genius and download the presets for free for the following synths:
- Primer, our free synthesizer VST
Comments
This recipe is the result of a Syntorial community preset remake request. Need support remaking this sound? Have comments?
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