I've for a very long time been captivated by a quite memorable orchestral hit sound, which most often can be found in old House/Techno songs, probably prevalent in the early-to-mid-90s.

The hit sound I'm referring to can be heard in the fourth song on this EP, starting at 4:59, and it demarcates the jam throughout.

Is it perhaps a classic vintage synth sound? How would one attempt to recreate it?

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What you are looking for is an orchestral hit / orchestral pad.

Very popular throughout the 80's

Those sounds were mostly created using the Fairlight CMI.

I think you can find a sample library or something.

I really don't know how someone should go on about creating one. But those who used them , used the Fairlight(mostly).

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  • Thanks for laying my wondering to rest :) +1 for great video. – Winterflags Mar 16 '17 at 20:00
  • Hey no problem :) – frcake Mar 16 '17 at 20:06
  • Great piece of history, really enjoyed learning this, thanks @frcake – Simon Bosley Mar 17 '17 at 15:24
  • @SimonBosley , hey man , glad you enjoyed it! Pleasure's mine :) – frcake Mar 17 '17 at 15:26

If you want to find and use this sound, you could look for an old Roland General MIDI sound module.

I used an SC-55 and later a JV-1080 and found nice derivates of this sound, called Orchestra Hit on both of them.

I think, I hear the sampled versions from Roland and other manufactures more often in the 90s dance music than its old sources from fairlight.

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Also on the Korg M1, Ala Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Rhythm Nation era

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