Imaginando's video: How to make some sounds from Bronski Beat Smalltown Boy With DRC

ATTENTION: All Pre-Gain values for DRC in this video need to be lowered by 0.250. This is because this tutorial was made with an older version of DRC which had a different tuning on the saturation stage. We have corrected the values in the Ableton session. Music at: 12:10 It’s one of those 80’s synth-pop lead riffs that is forever tied to the preset/patch being used to play it, the two married together in our memories. The hook from Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown boy’ has a catchy simplicity, such that it treads the line somewhere between melody and arpeggio. Its pleasant musical phrasing resolves satisfyingly in a loop that is instantly memorable but never tiresome. The simple riff is matched by its suitably soft and gentle pluck sound, and had the track been an instrumental, it would have been a fairly lighthearted affair. The lyrics and narrative however tell a much darker story. In the 1980s, society had a very different view towards the LGBT community, way before the acronym was in common usage; acceptance, understanding and equality were controversial sexual politics. With all three members openly gay, Bronski Beat’s music was an expression of the group’s experiences, representing an often unheard community and raising awareness of the issues they faced. ‘Smalltown boy’ was the group’s first single release and proved to be their biggest hit, so today Lucas takes us back to 1984 by recreating the track’s bass, pad and lead sounds with DRC and a little help from DLYM and FRMS too. Download the Ableton project from this video: https://www.imaginando.pt/uploads/goodies/tutorials/bronski-beat-smalltown-boy-project.zip DRC - Polyphonic Synthesizer: DRC on App Store - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/drc-polyphonic-synthesizer/id973055710 DRC on Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imaginando.drc DRC for Desktop - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/drc/downloads DRC Product Page - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/drc FRMS - Granular Synthesizer: FRMS on App Store - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/frms-granular-synthesizer/id1381392223 FRMS on Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imaginando.frms FRMS for Desktop - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/frms/downloads FRMS Product Page - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/frms K7D - Tape Delay K7D on App Store - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/k7d-tape-delay/id1460245991 K7D for Desktop - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/k7d/downloads K7D Product Page - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/k7d DLYM - Delay Modulator: DLYM on App Store - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dlym-delay-modulator/id1381246923 DLYM for Desktop - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/dlym/downloads DLYM Product Page - https://www.imaginando.pt/products/dlym Connect with us: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/imaginando.net Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/imaginando_pt Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/imaginando_pt Soundcloud - https://www.soundcloud.com/imaginando Our creative hardware projects: Laser harp - https://www.imaginando.pt/projects/harpa-laser Turning Vintage furniture into a cranked synthesizer - https://www.imaginando.pt/projects/digital-music-box Get in touch: Contact us - https://www.imaginando.pt/contact-us