Remaking the bass synth from the 1995 song "Poison" by The Prodigy can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Poison" 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
The Prodigy’s “Poison” features a squelchy bass synthesizer that dominates the track’s opening moments, characterized by its gritty, filtered tone and rhythmic modulation. This sound was recreated using a Roland JD-990 with envelope-controlled filter modulation, creating a dynamic “pulsating” effect.
Original Performing Instrument
Roland JD-990
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 "Poison" by The Prodigy, 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.
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Sound Design Challenge: The Prodigy – Poison (YouTube) – Detailed walkthrough of recreating the bass using string samples, EQ adjustments, and multi-band distortion to match the original’s frequency characteristics and distortion.
- THE PRODIGY SYNTH TUTORIAL (YouTube) – Demonstrates original hardware techniques using Roland synths, including filter modulation via envelope generators and LFO settings to achieve the wobble effect.
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:
- Vital
Comments
This recipe is the result of a Syntorial community preset remake request. Need support remaking this sound? Have comments?
Join The Conversation