Rogue VHS

Let’s do this.

2026-10-26T12:05:44Z

Below you’ll find details and pricing. If you have any questions, let me know.

Music Production Coaching

Now part of Synthwave Academy.

All of my coaching now runs through Synthwave Academy, my community on Skool. It's where I work with producers directly, so everything below happens inside the Academy. Want a taste first? Try my free synthwave tutorials.

This is not generic tuition. I work with intermediate synthwave producers who can finish tracks, but know their sound isn’t fully there yet.

If your music feels close but not competitive, if your tracks lack cohesion, or if you’ve invested in courses that gave you information but not transformation — this is where we fix that.

Our work is focused on defining your artistic standard, identifying the exact bottlenecks in your sound, and closing the final gap between “almost” and release-ready. The goal is to build a cohesive catalogue you’re proud to attach your name to.

I specialise in FL Studio, but the principles apply across any DAW.

⭐ “There were so many “eureka” moments during our calls together." - Shadow Recall
⭐ “My skills have evolved through continued sessions. Jed clearly loves teaching" - Echo Wolf
⭐ “Best investment I could've made, would definitely recommend to anyone." - Noise Villain
⭐ “This first month of coaching is worth six months of study. I feel like I'm learning on steroids." - Proud
⭐ “Starting from zero, I released my first Spotify single within months of mentorship.” — Pratev
⭐ “From beginner to producing full tracks ready for Spotify in under a year.” — Harry
⭐ “Exceptional mentorship — I released my first track within months.” — Tom
⭐ “Jed identifies exactly what you need to improve and gets straight to the heart of it.” — Hugo
⭐ “Super informative mentorship. My tracks already sound better.” — ORBITA

Join Synthwave Academy

Mix/Master

£400

On top of providing a professional mix and master for your next release, I'll also include a 30-minute video detailing my process, and submission to my 100k+ follower playlist network.

Examples, reviews & how to order

You can listen to examples of my work here.

⭐ “Jed combines high-level engineering skill with strong artistic intuition" - Darkest
⭐ “You completely transformed the soundscape — this is outstanding work.” — Dr. Chrispy
⭐ “A game-changing experience. The final mix sounded tight, professional, and balanced.” — Voidforce
⭐ “His mixes elevated my music to its full potential. My go-to for professional results.” — Francois Smith
⭐ “My tracks now hit harder and stand up to modern release standards; thank you!” — ORBITA

How to order

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Artist Mentorship

Contact for pricing

We'll delve into the art of crafting a unique brand identity and navigating the ever-evolving landscape of online growth. Whether you're an emerging talent seeking to establish your presence or an experienced artist aiming to elevate your online impact, my mentorship is designed to provide strategic insights and hands-on guidance. Book a call here.

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Rogue VHS Official Remix

£700

Each track is a meticulously crafted masterpiece. Head to my Spotify to check out the wealth of remixes I have completed over the years.

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Rogue VHS Official Collab

£850

When you invest in an official collaboration, it's not just about adding a track to your repertoire; you'll be considered for my carefully curated playlists and gain visibility across all my online platforms, including Spotify and Instagram. Elevate your musical presence and embrace the opportunity to collaborate – join me in crafting an exceptional sonic experience that resonate with audiences worldwide. (This package includes one 90-minute live call).

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How to Make Synthwave

2026-10-26T12:05:44Z

By Rogue VHS · 27-minute video walkthrough · All tutorials

This is how I start a synthwave track from nothing. It's not a polished, highlight-reel version. It's the real early stage of a song: the chords, the first melody ideas, the sound choices, and the moment something clicks. Watch the video below, then use the steps underneath as a checklist when you start your own track.

For me, writing almost always starts with the chords. Once the chord progression is there, everything else gets much easier. The point of the steps below is to give you a framework, so you always know what to do next when you open a new project.

1. Dial in a pad

Start with a pad. It can be a sustained pad or one with a bit more articulation; I usually go for articulation. I like a sharp attack and decay on the patch, then I add delay so you can hear the sound develop over time. Get this sounding good before you write a single chord, because the sound shapes what you write.

2. Write a chord progression around a cadence

Get the cadence in first. Common ones to build from are four to one (IV–I), five to one (V–I) and even seven to one (VII–I). In the video I start in C minor on the one chord and end on the four, then fill the middle with the six and the seven.

Using two minor chords (the one and the four) and two major chords (the six and the seven) gives a more interesting sound. Three minors and one major, or the other way round, tends to pigeonhole the progression into sounding just minor or just major.

From there I invert chords so the notes sit clustered together, add sevenths, and look for notes I can extend across the whole progression. The full method is in the chords tutorial: How to write synthwave chord progressions and melodies.

3. Add the bass

To begin with, simply copy the lowest notes of your chords into a bass part. It instantly adds body and texture. Keep the bass notes in a contained range: if they climb too high, the bass loses its power and weight, so invert down when that happens.

4. Add an arpeggio

Open an arp in the same pattern and mirror the chord notes behind it. If it feels rushed, slow it down. Then automate the cutoff: find the lowest point where the cutoff still sounds good, start there, and open it up over time. While I'm working I put the automation lane directly under the track it controls, which keeps things easy to follow.

With the bass and chords already sorted, harmonically and in terms of sound design, an arp that follows the chords while the cutoff rises already gives you a strong starting point for the song.

5. Check the spectrum is full

By this point it's important that the frequency spectrum feels full. Put an EQ on the master and look: you should have bass, low mids from the pad and arp, a full mid-range mostly from the arp, and some accents at the top from the pad's delay. If all of that is there, you have a great starting point. That's what I look for.

Automation helps the track feel like it's moving too. Rather than a straight line, I'll put a little jump and then an increase into the cutoff, so passing through a section feels like progress.

6. Write a lead melody

Add a lead synth (I use an instance of Diva in the video) and turn it down. It doesn't really matter which note you start on; I usually feel it out, but in the video I start on the fifth. Write it inside the same pattern first and copy it out later. Watch for notes that clash with any borrowed chord in your progression, and adjust either the melody or the arp so they agree.

By now you'll have something like a 24-bar intro.

7. Bring in noise early

I like to get noise involved as quickly as possible, again to fill out the spectrum. I use a noise patch with cutoff and resonance controls, draw out eight bars of MIDI, and record the automation in live. If the filter starts off too bright, route it to its own channel and turn the highs down with an EQ.

8. Add drums and repeat the block

Drums are the obvious next step. Find a loop that suits synthwave, ideally at the right BPM, lower the volume, and paste it across the next section. Then repeat your whole intro block after the drums come in. That reset of the song, with drums added, is often enough to become the start of your verse or chorus. Finish with some hats for extra texture.

Notice that at this stage I haven't done any mixing: no sidechain, no low cutting, just very basic levelling. It should already sound warm. That's something to listen for when you start your own projects.

9. Embellish so it stops sounding formulaic

Embellishment moves you away from the regimented, almost formulaic feel of arpeggios and lets you think more melodically. In the video I do three small things to the arp:

Swap the order of the last two notes at the end of bar two and bar six.
Let the top notes play a melody of their own on the offbeat, which introduces a new rhythmic idea.
Introduce a new note into the progression.

Finally, add some pitch bend to the lead. I automate pitch on the plugin wrapper and draw it in by hand. If you're working with eight bars, choose two notes to bend. Overdo it and it stops working; you want subtle variation throughout.

What next?

Once you have an intro and a first section, the next challenge is making the song go somewhere. That's what the arrangement tutorial covers: How to arrange synthwave and build a B section that works.

Want me to listen to your tracks? All of my coaching now happens inside Synthwave Academy, where I work with producers directly.

Join Synthwave Academy

How to Arrange Synthwave

2026-10-26T12:05:44Z

By Rogue VHS · 53-minute video walkthrough · All tutorials

A lot of producers can write a great loop but can't turn it into a song. The fix is usually the B section: the part where the track changes enough to feel like it's going somewhere. In this video I build an A section, then show exactly how I move into a B section and smooth over the transitions.

Build the A section with very few ideas

I start with a 16-bar intro and split my melodic pattern into its parts, each on its own track: chords, bass, arp and lead. That's really all there is, plus drums. You don't need lots of ideas; you need to control how much of each one the listener hears.

The chords play through the whole A section because they establish the harmony, and the bass plays throughout too.

Give your pad three filter levels

One thing I don't see enough producers doing is putting a cutoff filter on the pad straight away. Set up three levels:

Warm: heavily filtered, with the top end rolled off.
Mid: a bit more of the mid-range and high mids exposed.
Bright: lots of treble, saved for the chorus.

Make an automation clip for each, then arrange them in an order like 1, 2, 1, 2, 3. Why drop back down to 1? Because the drums come in at that point and add a ton of energy. Whenever you add energy somewhere, it opens up the option to remove it elsewhere. Energy still rises overall, just less than it would otherwise, which keeps levers in reserve for later and extends the runway of the track.

If moving the cutoff on your synth changes the character of the sound itself (because of where the resonance sits), put a simple separate filter plugin on the pad instead.

Layer a second pad

Having multiple pads is honestly a cheat code. Add a second pad that complements the first: if your main pad is warm but lacks shimmer, push the cutoff and envelope up on the layer to fill in the top end and high mids. Give it its own mixer track, send it to your synth bus, and use a low shelf and high shelf to separate the two further.

Now you have an easy way to develop the pad. Bring the layer in when you really want the energy to hit, for example at the move from the first eight bars to the second eight. One rule: a layer is always quieter than the primary. If it's louder, it isn't a layer any more.

Change one thing for the B section

If you started a B section now with the same parts, it would sound exactly the same. So pick one element of the arrangement to change. In this video I change the rhythm, because up to this point everything has been a very steady, on-the-beat pulse. That's an opportunity.

Use polyrhythm in the chords

I do this with the chords. Copy them into a new synth (my usual chill synth chords patch) and rewrite the rhythm using dotted notes laid across the bar, starting again at each new bar. Use a plucked sound so the emphasis is on the attack.

As with the pad, find the lowest and highest cutoff points that sound good and make an automation clip for each, so you can start lower and open up. A tip for chill synth chords in Diva: turn the envelope on the filter up and the cutoff down. And don't go too bright; the magic is in the lower portion of the sound.

Notice I'm only changing one thing. Same chord progression, same notes, same harmony. Just a different rhythm.

Make the bass follow the new rhythm

The bass should reflect the chords' new rhythm. Clone the bass, turn off its arpeggiator, and draw the dotted notes in by hand. It immediately locks the rhythm together. If the notes feel too short, add sustain and release; you're looking for bounce between notes, and any gap kills it.

Your old chord patch is now the secondary layer behind the new chords, so drop its volume. To stop pads clashing with the bass, low cut them at around 150 Hz and invert low chord notes upwards. Different notes on top also gives the same progression a fresh feeling.

For the intro, you can swap to a sustained bass such as a Reese, transposing it up an octave if it gets wobbly down low. Back-to-back notes keep the intro smooth; gaps in the bass later on create a more rhythmic feel and room for dynamics.

Shape the automation, don't just set it

A flat filter level is less interesting than one that gently opens. Ramp the cutoff up across the section, snap it up a little at moments to add a touch of energy, and bring it back in a little early rather than ending the section at its highest point. Sections flow better when the maximum points don't line up with the beginning or the end.

Smooth the transitions

Filter the whole mix. Put a filter on a bus that catches everything, with its own on/off automation so it only runs when you need it. For drums, route the drum bus, parallel compression and reverb into one new bus and filter that, so everything is filtered together. Drop it about 3 dB while it's on.
Preload your automation. Move automation a moment early so values reset before the next section and you don't get pops or odd sweeps. A clip with no MIDI that just resets the values works well.
Kill chord tails. If a chord rings over into the next section, silence it at the changeover.
Add a sound effect. Turn it down, roll off everything below 200 Hz, and reuse it at the B section transition.
Sweep noise. Record noise cutoff and resonance automation (down over four bars, then up over four), smooth the curve, and reuse the down and up halves where you need them.
Leave a gap in the drums. Bring the kick in half a bar late, line other elements up with the gap, and support it with a crash and a snare.

Embellish the B section

The top of the chords is a great place to write extra melody. I combine stepping notes with a few higher notes, which add real drama. It takes a very simple polyrhythm and brings it to life. More on this in the chords and melodies tutorial.

Or change the chords instead

Rhythm isn't the only option. You could write a different chord progression and reuse a lot of the same patterns, or use an ostinato, like a one-bar melody repeating over the chords. I change the rhythm here because my arp follows the chords closely, so changing the chords would mean rewriting it.

From here, you'd go into a shortened version of the build-up, a shortened chorus, and then your outro.

Keep going

Start a track from scratch: How to make synthwave.
Write the progression this is built on: Synthwave chord progressions and melodies.

Stuck turning loops into finished songs? All of my coaching now happens inside Synthwave Academy, where I work with producers directly.

Join Synthwave Academy

Synthwave Chord Progressions and Melodies

2026-10-26T12:21:06Z

By Rogue VHS · Video starts at the chord section · All tutorials

Chords are where my tracks start. Get the progression right and the bass, arp and melody almost write themselves. Below is the method I use, step by step, with the chord section of the video queued up so you can hear each change as I make it.

Start with the cadence

Before anything else, decide how the progression resolves. Common cadences to build from:

Four to one (IV–I)
Five to one (V–I)
Seven to one (VII–I)

Get the cadence chords in first, then fill in the blanks. In the video I start in C minor, put the one chord first and end on the four, so the progression lands back on the one each time it loops.

Remember that in the minor scale the one, four and five chords are minor.

Balance minor and major chords

To fill the middle I use the six and the seven, which are major chords in the minor scale. That gives:

i – VI – VII – iv (in C minor: Cm – A♭ – B♭ – Fm)

Two minor chords handle the cadence (the one and the four) and two major chords sit in the middle (the six and the seven). I find that three minors and one major, or three majors and one minor, pigeonhole you into sounding either minor or major. Two and two gives a slightly more interesting colour.

Invert so the chords sit close together

Next, think about inversions. I invert chords down so the notes stay clustered together from one chord to the next. It makes the progression sound more pleasant and more stable, and less like it's jumping around.

Add sevenths

We all like sevenths. To find one, count one scale degree down from the chord's root. You'll need to rethink this for any chords you've inverted, because the bottom note is no longer the root.

Extend notes across the progression

Look for chances to hold a note across the whole progression, like a pedal tone. In the video I end up extending the seventh of the scale across every chord, which I don't normally do but it sounded great. I let that idea of tone leading decide where the extended notes go.

This works especially well for an intro, where you're not in the verse or chorus yet. You want as many similarities between the chords as possible while it's still clearly a chord progression.

Try a new key and a borrowed chord

Once the progression works, you can transpose the whole thing (right-click → transpose in FL Studio). In the video I move it up a semitone to C♯ minor.

Then try borrowing a chord. Take one of the major chords and make it minor by lowering its third by a semitone. That borrows the chord from the parallel key: it still does the same harmonic job, but with a different colour. In the video it makes the progression slightly darker, which I love. If you're not sold on it yet, keep going; you can always change it back later.

Build the bass from the chords

Copy the lowest notes of each chord into a bass part for instant texture. Keep the bass in a contained range, neither too high nor too low. If it climbs too high it loses its power and body, so invert down when that happens.

Two more tips from my arrangement video help here. Low cut your pads at around 150 Hz so they don't clash with the bass. And try inverting the lowest chord notes up out of the bass's way; it clears the low end, and because different notes end up on top, the same progression gets a distinctly different feeling.

Write the lead melody

It doesn't matter much which note you start the lead on. I usually feel it out, but starting on the fifth is a fine default. Write it in the same pattern as your chords, then copy it out across the track. If you've used a borrowed chord, check the melody against it, because a note that worked over the original chord may clash with the borrowed one.

Embellish the melody and arp

Arpeggios that follow the chords can start to feel regimented and formulaic. Embellishment is how I pivot back to thinking melodically. Three quick techniques from the video:

Swap two notes. At the end of bar two and bar six, swap the order of the last two notes. It takes no thinking and instantly breaks the pattern.
Give the top notes their own melody on the offbeat. This introduces a new rhythmic idea to the arpeggio.
Introduce a new note into the progression.

The top of your chords is also a great place to write extra melody. In my arrangement video I use the top notes of the chords in the B section, combining stepping notes with a few higher notes, which add real drama.

Finish with subtle pitch bends

Automate the pitch on your lead and draw bends in by hand. Over eight bars, pick two notes to bend. Overdo it and it stops working; what you want is subtle variation throughout.

Keep going

See where these chords fit in the full workflow: How to make synthwave.
Turn your progression into a full song: How to arrange synthwave and build a B section.

Want feedback on your chord progressions? All of my coaching now happens inside Synthwave Academy, where I work with producers directly.

Join Synthwave Academy

Synthwave Tutorials

2026-10-26T12:21:06Z

Free synthwave production tutorials from me, Rogue VHS. Each one pairs a full video walkthrough with written steps you can follow in your own project. I work in FL Studio, but the principles apply in any DAW.

Want personal feedback on your music? All of my coaching now happens inside Synthwave Academy, where I work with producers directly.

Join Synthwave Academy

My Music

2026-10-26T12:21:06Z

Over 100 million streams of synth-forward music inspired by video games, films, and TV. Start with the latest release, or dive into the top tracks.

Latest release: Ethereal

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Music for film, TV & games

Looking for synthwave for a film, series, trailer or game? I'd love to hear about your project. Get in touch to talk about licensing my music.

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About Rogue VHS

Rogue VHS is an independent electronic music composer/producer who brings a unique blend of old-school analog sound and modern production to the scene. Inspired by the sounds of the 80s and 90s, Rogue VHS combines elements of synthwave, chillsynth and cyberpunk to create a truly distinctive and nostalgia-driven sound.

Originally from Hastings UK, Rogue VHS grew up immersed in video-game music. He began experimenting with electronic music production at the age of 14, and now uses his wide musical vocabulary to create layered compositions that capture the spirit of the analog era.

Whether you're a fan of synth-heavy instrumentals, soaring melodies, or are more of a raver, Rogue VHS has something for you. This is the soundtrack to your dreams.

Services.

2026-10-26T12:21:06Z

My music production coaching now lives inside Synthwave Academy, my community on Skool, designed to develop your skills, sound, and creative confidence. Inside the Academy we cover songwriting, composition, production, sound selection, mixing, and release strategy, all built around your goals and where you are as a producer.

Alongside coaching, I offer professional mixing, mastering, remixing, and collaborative production services. Every project receives detailed attention to sonic clarity, emotional impact, and artistic identity. Develop your craft, finish stronger records, and build a sound that stands out.