The Journey One Synth Challenge
An odd idea came to me to kick off the year 2025, directly inspired by the excellent One Synth Challenge from KVR: recreate some of the tracks from The Journey using only one synthesizer.
It's a challenge that I found interesting because it allows you to step out of the comfort of using multiple instruments with a wide sound palette. What about using a piano or orchestral instruments on an analog synth, for example? It also forces to make the most of a single instrument.
The structure of the tracks remains identical to the original versions. The arrangement (orchestration) should also be as faithful as possible, without any additions or rewrites of the original parts. I only allow myself a few "small" adaptations when necessary.
These reworked versions are released exclusively on Soundcloud.
Challenge #1
Brothers Shared Memories
Cherry Audio Elka-X
The Cherry Audio Elka-X synth is an emulation of the legendary Italian analog synth Elka Synthex, produced in the early 80s.
We are dealing with a "virtual analog," with a sound palette that is inevitably more limited than a digital instrument or multiple specialized instruments. However, it brings a quite personal color that, I think, fits well with the mood of the track. Hence this choice.
What I think about this synth
The Elka-X is a plugin that I particularly like and that is present in quite a few tracks on the album. I appreciate its ease of use, richness, and sonic color, and I would add that it comes with a large number of excellent presets. Considering its price, it is, in my opinion, a safe bet!
Backstage
The Studio One session includes 20 instances of the Elka-X. I used some presets provided with the instrument and programmed others specifically for the exercise. No external effects were added to these tracks, only the plugin effects were used. The only external effects used are for mastering, following a similar chain to that used for the album.
The two biggest challenges of this version were replacing the piano with 2 sounds that were not meant to imitate an acoustic piano, and re-instrumenting the "orchestral" tracks with sounds that were also very different from the originals.
Challenge #2
In april..!