Remaking the lead synth from the 2009 song "Pursuit of Happiness" by Kid Cudi can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Pursuit of Happiness" 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
Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” opens with a distorted, swelling lead synthesizer that dominates the track’s intro. Aggressive distortion and strategic automation of the filter cutoff transform the raw tone into a gritty, evolving texture, while reverb adds spatial depth. The sound emerges prominently at the track’s beginning, setting the emotional tone.
Original Performing Instrument
Unknown
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 "Pursuit of Happiness" by Kid Cudi, 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: Mono
Amp Envelope
- Attack: 150 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 150 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Saw
- Volume: 70%
- Oscillator 2
- Waveform: Saw
- Pitch: +1 Octave
- Volume: 30%
- Sub Oscillator
- Waveform: Pulse
- Pulse Width: 100%
- Pitch: -1 Octave
- Volume: 20%
Filter
- Type: Band Pass
- Cutoff: 30%
- Resonance: 85%
- Key Tracking: 100%
Filter Envelope
- Modulation Amount: 40%
- Attack: 800 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 10000 ms
Distortion
- Drive: 89%
Reverb
- Mix: 10% Wet
- Size: Big
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- How to: Kid Cudi “Pursuit of Happiness” Synth in Serum (YouTube)
- Pursuit of Happiness (song) (Wikipedia)
- Can anyone name this synth? (Gearspace Forum)
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
