Remaking the lead synth from the 1995 song "Da Funk" by Daft Punk can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Da Funk" lead 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
The lead synthesizer sound in Daft Punk’s “Da Funk” is a distorted, squelchy lead that plays throughout the song. This sound is most prominent at 1:00 and features a characteristic band-passed sound run through distortion, similar to an overdriven electric guitar. The melody is played in perfect fourths. The sound is likely derived from a Roland Juno-106 or MKS-80, run through a distortion pedal like the Ibanez Fat Cat Distortion, as suggested by its high-pass filter characteristics and the use of distortion effects[1].
Original Performing Instrument
Roland Juno-106 or MKS-80
Our Remake of The Lead Synth
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original tone of the lead synth from the song "Da Funk" by Daft Punk, 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
Remake This Sound Yourself
Learn how to program this synth preset with Syntorial, all by ear. Download the demo and try unlimited famous sound challenges for free.
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: Poly
- Voice Count: 2
Amp Envelope
- Attack: 0 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 50 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 50%
- Volume: 100%
Filter
- Type: Band Pass
- Cutoff: 35%
- Resonance: 65%
- Key Tracking: 50%
Filter Envelope
- Modulation Amount: 30%
- Attack: 90 ms
- Decay: 4000 ms
- Sustain: 0%
- Release: 110 ms
Distortion
- Drive: 70%
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Daft Punk’s “Homework” Synth Sounds | Reverb Machine
- How To Make The Synth Bass from “Da Funk” by Daft Punk – YouTube
- How to make Daft Punk’s Da Funk synth sound with … – YouTube
- Recreation of Da Funk lead synth using TAL U-NO-LX and Brainworx bx_greenscreamer plugin (Reverb Machine)
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
