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Recreate Kraftwerk’s Autobahn on one synth

1

The synths Kraftwerk used were legendary – Minimoogs and ARPs – but fairly basic, so we’re going to be using a lot of sawtooths. For our lead sound, start by selecting the Init preset, because that is just a sawtooth wave. 2

Turn the volume of the second oscillator up (it will probably be zero when you load in the Init sound) and then adjust its pitch so that it is four semitones above that of oscillator 1. We have the basis of our fatter, detuned lead sound already. 3

It’s still a bit too punchy, so we have to adjust the envelope settings, most importantly the Release value (set to around 45) so the lead fades out slower. We’ve also nudged the Attack value up to around 15 so it doesn’t punch in so quickly. 4

The crucial part of the lead is the way it filters out in a kind of ‘eow’ sound. This is done my modulating the filter frequency with the envelope so it basically follows the release shape. In the filter area select the envelope (Env 1) to modulate the Cutoff and set their respective values to around 61 and 79, but experiment to taste. 5

A huge element of Autobahn is its use of delay effects, as we’ll see shortly with the bass and beats. It’s not so prevalent on the lead, but we’re going to add some delay and reverb just because it helps the lead cut through the final mix. 6

Now to the bass. On another track, load up another instance of ZebraCM, and we can (slightly) cheat here by loading in a simple bass preset. However there is still work to be done, and the first thing is to simplify this simple sound yet further by removing the second oscillator, taking its volume down to zero.

7

Again, the delays are important. The original bass uses a lot of delays to keep it trundling along that motorway, and here we’re setting it to 1/8 on left and right for a similar-ish sound. 8

The bass changes quite a lot throughout the track, and a lot of this simply comes by way of the filter opening. You could assign a very slow LFO to modulate it, or slowly record manual movements as automation, giving the bass a gradually more punchy sound. 9

While we’re here – and just to show how flexible ZebraCM is – we might as well do some of the electronic beats on Autobahn, too. Load in the Clicky Click preset on a third track and instance of ZebraCM, and play some higher notes. Set the filter to around 84 to get the kick to cut through a little more. 10

A good trick here to achieve some of the rhythmic variation that Kraftwerk got throughout the track is to occasionally up the Decay value on the kick for a couple of notes. This gives it slightly more emphasis and crunch.

11

Now we’ll load in Splashy Snare on a fourth track and instance of ZebraCM. Again set the filter to around 85. Feel free to put the delays on both kick and snare just to liven up the beats. 12

If you program in a pattern like the one shown for the snare, you can simulate the ‘breakdown’ of Autobahn where just the beats play in an insistent way. That’s it, you have some main ingredients for the track. Be sure to check out our audio files in this issue’s download section to hear our recorded take on the track.