How to Arrange Synthwave

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:

1. Warm: heavily filtered, with the top end rolled off.
2. Mid: a bit more of the mid-range and high mids exposed.
3. 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.