In this lesson you can listen to an epic trance melody and find out how to make these types of trance leads very easily. All you need is FL Studio. The lead is made with the 3x Osc and a couple of FL Studio mixer effects.
Euphoric uplifting trance lead
The melody in the video is really euphoric and uplifting. To make good melodies like these, you probably have to know a thing or two about music theory. That’s why I highly suggest to check out my melody and chords posts on this website. Many posts specifically cover some of the music theory topics and the most important strategies I personally use to get these professional sounding melodies.
How to make a trance lead in FL Studio
But let’s focus on this lead now. The lead in the video is made with 3x Osc. 3x Osc is a very easy to use synthesizer that comes with FL Studio. Because of the simple interface, I find it to be a very good plugin to start using as a beginner.
Now, in the video I will show all the specific settings and effects that make up the entire lead. So, make sure to watch it.
Filter envelope
The filter envelope on the 3x Osc gives that nice ticklish feeling when the filter cut-off closes. It’s perfect to have that as a rising effect for the break and building towards the climax.
Pitch LFO
To give the lead a “hoarse” sound, a quick pitch LFO is important. It creates a rapid pitch movement in the lead. Don’t go overboard with it, because this can mess up the tone of the lead. Use it to add a bit of flavor.
Supersaw lead
A typical trance lead has a supersaw type of sound. To get a supersaw, you have to enable the fat mode on the 3x Osc. This makes your lead fatter and sounds like a supersaw. I’ve also made a lesson about a 3x Osc supersaw lead . Feel free to check it out.
Trance lead mixer effects
Of course, a good trance lead needs effects, like reverb, delay, but also some equalizing. So simply route your lead to a free mixer track and give it some effects based on your taste.
Personally, I usually give my leads a lot of reverb and delay. I also always use an equalizer to get a better sound and often a limiter or distortion unit to cut off peaks and get a bit more power.
There you have it: an epic trance lead in FL Studio
Well, that’s actually all you have to do. Easy, right?!
Now, if you want to learn how to mix your leads and everything else, make sure to get a copy of my EDM Mixing Guide.
Hope you enjoyed this trance snippet today. If you want to find out more about my work, just browse my website. 🙂
Plugins
In this lesson, the following plugins were used:
- 3x Osc
- Fruity Parametric EQ 2
- Fruity Reeverb 2
- Fruity Delay Bank
- Fruity Waveshaper