# What is the "name" of the type of sound from the intro to Blinding Lights from the Weeknd?



## Dylanguitar (Aug 23, 2022)

I'm making a bunch of presets in Cubase with some of my synths, and this is a sound that I keep coming across but I'm not quite sure what to call it. It's very "synth" sounding, but has a bell-like quality to it. Though it doesn't seem right to call it a "bell" or a "pluck." "Lead" is somewhat ambiguous. So I'm curious, is there an agreed-upon name for this type of sound? It's fairly common so I would think so.
The folllowing example is from the Weeknd, but obviously it's a sound that was popular in the 80s, I just can't think of a specific song other than this at the moment.


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## SupremeFist (Aug 23, 2022)

Dylanguitar said:


> I'm making a bunch of presets in Cubase with some of my synths, and this is a sound that I keep coming across but I'm not quite sure what to call it. It's very "synth" sounding, but has a bell-like quality to it. Though it doesn't seem right to call it a "bell" or a "pluck." "Lead" is somewhat ambiguous. So I'm curious, is there an agreed-upon name for this type of sound? It's fairly common so I would think so.
> The folllowing example is from the Weeknd, but obviously it's a sound that was popular in the 80s, I just can't think of a specific song other than this at the moment.



I think this is usually called a "keys" or sometimes a "poly (keys)" sound.


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## Matt Moen (Aug 23, 2022)

This might help you.


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## EanS (Aug 23, 2022)

Taaaake oooon meeeee 🎤


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## Dylanguitar (Aug 23, 2022)

SupremeFist said:


> I think this is usually called a "keys" or sometimes a "poly (keys)" sound.


I looked in the presets in Pigments and Arturias vesrsion of the CS80, and all the similar sounds are listed under, "classic synth keys," so I guess "synth keys" are as close to an agreed upon term. But other sounds come under that term as well that are different than the bell-like quality of that sound, so I guess I'll create a personalized name for the purpose of calling it up as a homemade preset.


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## Pier (Aug 24, 2022)

I'm not sure what sound you're referring to but when someone says "bell-like quality" I immediately think FM.

From what I've heard, The Weeknd is basically modern 80s pop. I'm sure they used a ton of FM sounds. Maybe look for DX7 sounds?


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## Nico5 (Aug 24, 2022)

I'm reminded of some classic *Roland D-50* factory presets like

11 Fantasia
or maybe
61 Staccato Heaven

UVI's Digital Synsations DS90s has a several patches in the Bells folder that also seem close.


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## Dylanguitar (Aug 24, 2022)

Pier said:


> I'm not sure what sound you're referring to but when someone says "bell-like quality" I immediately think FM.
> 
> From what I've heard, The Weeknd is basically modern 80s pop. I'm sure they used a ton of FM sounds. Maybe look for DX7 sounds?


I'm not in search of the sounds though. I come across them frequently I just don't know what to call them in order to properly organize them amongst all my presets. I know the DX7 bell sounds you are referring to, but I think those are more keyboard+bells sounds, and I think the ones I'm referring to have a more dreamy character to them. If I can think of a better, more authentic example I will post it as a reference.


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## Nico5 (Aug 24, 2022)

Dylanguitar said:


> I just don't know what to call them in order to properly organize them amongst all my presets.


There is no universal industry standard for sound preset (a.k.a. patch) names nor is there a universal taxonomy for categories and/or tags.

The best you can typically hope for is each company in the sound design business being somewhat consistent between their products, but even that's not guaranteed.

Some patches names reference a famous song, album, artist or band that they were inspired by (Lucky, Butter, 1984, etc.). Others reference one or more sounds from the physical world that they remind of. Organic Bell may be the name of a patch with a bell like attack and a hammond like sustain. If the name contains dream, it's probably not a fast attacking bass sound. Some names reference emotions, others reference musical genre's, still other reference a synth or module that was famous for a similar sound. Or a place where an instrument was made, or where a sound became culturally famous. But none of those are really tight and unique associations.

Good names conjure up a mental association that makes some sense to the person doing the preset browsing. But it's impossible to get universally right. Because not all of us have the same cutural background or musical life history or memory wiring.

If your goal is to make names for your own later recall, use names that make sense to you.

When I make custom patches, I often name them referencing the song or project that I made them for and one other hint of what that patch reminds me of. - But that's just how my memory works and you should just use whatever works for your own way of associating sounds with words.

If you want to make patch libraries for sale or for sharing, follow in the footsteps of your favourite preset maker(s) by following their system.


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## Mark1 (Aug 25, 2022)

Many sound designers call this type "Polysynth". IMO 
Mid-high range of a polysinth patch


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## lychee (Aug 25, 2022)

I see what you want, to have a named type of sound like pad, lead, Bass, brass... but unfortunately I don't think the sound you are interested in has a particular name, except for one of those I just quoted.


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