How Kavinsky Created Nightcall
Kavinsky’s Nightcall is one of the defining tracks of the French electronic music scene, originally released as the lead single from his 2010 EP Nightcall, which later appeared on his debut album OutRun. Co-produced with Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and mixed by electronic artist Sebastian, the song features chorus vocals by Lovefoxxx of the Brazilian band CSS alongside heavily vocoded verse vocals. With its retro 80s-inspired synths, brooding atmosphere, and cinematic qualities, Nightcall became even more iconic when it was featured in the opening credits of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive (2011), amplifying its cult status.
This article is an updated version of a remake I previously featured in my Drive Synth Sounds article. Initially, I set out to update it using the latest Arturia versions of the Prophet and Mini plugins, as the older versions are no longer available. However, during the process, I discovered several elements I had missed the first time around, prompting me to start from scratch with new presets and a fresh take.
In a testament to the track’s enduring appeal, Nightcall was performed at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games by Kavinsky alongside Angèle and Phoenix, causing it to set the records for the most Shazamed song in a single day, and the most Shazams in a minute. In this article, I’ll walk you through my new remake of Nightcall, exploring the synth sounds and production techniques that define this electronic classic. Firstly, here’s the full remake, using no samples from the original track:
Arpeggio Plucks
Nightcall by Kavinsky is built around a simple yet effective 8-note arpeggio pattern that outlines the song’s chords; Am | G | F | Dm in the verse and F | G | Em | F in the chorus. The bassline plays a B note underneath the G major arpeggio, so the full chord is a G/B slash chord, which has more sense of urgency than a standard G major chord with the root in the bass. The arpeggio is played using a rich-sounding layered synthesizer with a distinct, 80s-style chorus effect. The synth is heavily filtered, and the whole track is lightly distorted, creating a distorted, in-your-face sound.
I recreated the main arpeggio synth using TAL U-NO-LX, a software emulation of the Roland Juno-60. While it’s unlikely that Kavinsky used a Juno-60 in the original recording, this plugin has an 80s-style chorus effect, so can recreate the sound nicely. The main layer is built around a sawtooth waveform with a plucked envelope.
To recreate the sound in TAL U-NO-LX, start by disabling the sub oscillator, then set the high-pass filter to 8.37 and the main VCF frequency to 4.53 with resonance at 2.42. Set the envelope amount to 2.77 and make sure that the keyboard tracking fader is turned all the way down. Set the pluck amount to 5 with a slight attack to soften the sound. Finally, enable the Chorus I effect to add some retro swirling modulation.
For processing, I added EQ boosts at 2.95 kHz and 5.27 kHz, and a low-pass filter at 6.47 kHz to cut the highs. I also applied additional chorus using Ableton’s Chorus-Ensemble in Ensemble mode at 35% wet, followed by compression, light delay, and a tiny amount of downsampling using Ableton’s Redux effect to match the digital distortion in the original mix. Below you can compare the dry synth sound with the processed version:
- TAL U-NO-LX - Dry 00:00
- TAL U-NO-LX - Processed 00:00
The second layer of the arpeggio is quieter and plays a slightly different pattern to the main arpeggio, outlining the same chords but using a two-note pattern. It’s also very quiet in the mix; I actually missed it in my original remake. I used a similar TAL U-NO-LX patch for this, with the main differences being the envelope: I used the ENV instead of GATE mode for the VCA setting, and raised release to 5, which results in a smooth sound. I also used the Chorus II effect instead of Chorus I, which sounds stronger and adds more stereo width.
- Layer 2 00:00
The third layer plays the same notes as the main arpeggio, with a much simpler timbre and no chorus, meaning the sound is completely mono and sits in the middle of the stereo mix. For this patch, I used the square and sawtooth waveforms in TAL U-NO-LX, similar envelope settings to the second layer, and left the chorus effect disabled.
- Layer 4 00:00
- Full Arp Sound 00:00
Verse Bass
The verse bass in Nightcall is a resonant sweep patch that adds a more modern sound to the song. This sound is characterized by a decaying filter sweep, achieved by setting the filter resonance high and using the filter envelope with a long decay time to ‘sweep’ the filter downwards.
To recreate the sound, I used Arturia Prophet-5 V in mono mode, utilizing two sawtooth waves tuned an octave apart. The filter cutoff is set to 727 Hz, with the filter envelope amount at 1.7 and resonance at 6, which adds a noticeable peak in Prophet-5 V. The filter decay time is set to 2.5 seconds, which determines the duration of the sweep.
In addition to the sweeping filter, there’s a subtle, delayed modulation that introduces vibrato and LFO filter modulation towards the end of each note. To replicate this, I used Prophet-5 V’s advanced modulation panel. First, I set the LFO2 rate to 5.29 Hz, with the LFO modulating both the oscillator frequency (to create vibrato) and the filter cutoff (to add filter wobble). The modulation is delayed by using an envelope to control the LFO amplitude. I set Prophet-5’s Function modulator to Envelope mode with a long attack and full sustain. This envelope is assigned to modulate the LFO amplitude, ensuring that the vibrato and filter modulation gradually increase as the note is held.
Increasing filter resonance can reduce the amount of bass. To increase low-end presence, I layered this patch with a deeper bass from Arturia Mini V4. This layer consists of simple sawtooth waves with a low-pass filter set to 216 Hz, reinforcing the low frequencies only.
- Resonant Sweep 00:00
- Bass Layer 00:00
- Full Bass Sound 00:00
Chorus
The chorus of Nightcall is where the track expands sonically, with multiple layers of synths creating a rich, enveloping sound. The main element is a bright, resonant string patch with a touch of distortion, layered with a few other elements to produce a massive, cinematic effect.
I recreated the string patch using Arturia Prophet-5 V, starting with a sawtooth wave for Oscillator A and a thin pulse wave for Oscillator B. I set the pulse-width to 85% and raise Oscillator B’s fine-tune to 0.120, making it 12 cents sharper than Oscillator A. This heavy detuning creates a thick, lush sound. The filter is set to 280 Hz with a soft 44ms attack and a long 5.4-second decay, allowing the sound to swell and slowly recede, adding movement to the chords. To enhance the width and introduce classic 80s swirling modulation, I used Prophet-5 V’s onboard Chorus Jun-6 V effect.
- Strings 00:00
Nightcall features heavy saturation throughout, making it a challenge to pick out some of the layers. However, by isolating the sides of the mix it’s possible to hear a piano track, likely a sampled instrument, playing the bass notes in octaves, which adds depth and richness to the low end. To recreate this track, I used Arturia Piano V3 with the “American Home Clean” preset, then applied iZotope Ozone Imager 2 to widen the stereo image, pushing the piano sound to the edges of the mix.
- Piano 00:00
The chorus bass is constructed using two sawtooth waves an octave apart, with the filter set to a half-open position at 1077 Hz. This setting allows plenty of mid to high frequencies to pass through, enabling the bass to cut through the dense layers above. I recreated this patch using the latest version of Arturia Mini V4. To achieve the gritty tone characteristic of the original, I utilized the new Drive function in Mini V4’s mixer section, setting it to 1.8 for added distortion.
- Mini V4 Bass 00:00
- Full Chorus Stack 00:00
Downloads & Related
Thanks for reading! You can download the new TAL U-NO-LX, Arturia Prophet-5 V and Arturia Mini V4 patches below. Note that these new Arturia presets will not work on the older versions of Prophet V and Mini V.
Download the Presets
Download the synth presets created for this article here. Alternatively, you can find them in the Synth Sounds Collection, a free download containing all of my free synth presets.
Get the Ableton Project
Get the Ableton Live Project for this remake on the Projects Store. All projects have frozen tracks in case of missing plugins and all downloads include multitrack stems and MIDI files for use in other DAWs.
Read Me Next
If you like this article, you’ll probably enjoy my articles on another French House artist, covering the synths on Daft Punk’s debut album Homework.
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Header artwork by Makarxart
