Remaking the lead synth from the 2019 song "Highest In The Room" by Travis Scott can be an exciting challenge for any synthesizer enthusiast. Here’s how you can create the "Highest In The Room" 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
Travis Scott’s “Highest In The Room” features a Theremin-style lead synthesizer sound that is reminiscent of Portishead’s “Mysterons.” This flute-y melody is prominent right at the start of the track, setting a trip-hop nostalgic tone. The synthesizer sound is characterized by its ethereal, wavering quality, which adds to the hallucinogenic vibe of the song. You can hear this lead synthesizer sound from the beginning of the track, starting at 0:00.
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 "Highest In The Room" by Travis Scott, 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 Legato
- Portamento: 40 ms
Amp Envelope
- Attack: 30 ms
- Sustain: 100%
- Release: 20 ms
Oscillators
- Oscillator 1
- Waveform: Sine
- Volume: 80%
- Oscillator 2
- Waveform: Sine
- Pitch: +1 Octave
- Volume: 20%
LFO
- Destination: Pitch
- Waveform: Triangle
- Amount: 42 Cents
- Rate: 1/32 Note
Distortion
- Drive: 3%
Delay
- Mix: 5% Wet
- Feedback: 50%
- Time: 1/4 Note
Reverb
- Mix: 10% Wet
- Size: Small
Note: the patch settings may slightly differ in the Syntorial challenge.
Explore More
- Highest in the Room (Wikipedia)
- How Travis Scott’s “Highest in the Room” Came to Life, According to Its Producers (Complex)
- Travis Scott – Highest In The Room | Sound Design & Synth Tutorial (YouTube)
- Travis Scott “Highest In The Room” Project File / Sample Pack / Presets / Racks (XLNTSOUND)
- Highest In The Room – The Mix Review
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
