Step 3: The next piece of the jigsaw is yet more layering. This time, we’re using Cubase’s Prologue. Prologue has three oscillators, and what we’re doing is to set each to play in a different octave: Oscillator 1 is the lowest (and loudest); Oscillator 2 is an octave above; and Oscillator 3 is an octave above that.

Osc 1 uses a sawtooth waveform with PWM enabled (or at least Prologue’s version of it) and is modulated by an LFO. The same LFO is used to add some subtle vibrato to Osc 2, while both Osc 2 and 3 are detuned slightly in relation to Osc 1, which adds thickness to the sound. The square waves used by Osc 2 and 3 give a hollow character to the sound that doesn’t get the way of the warmer/brighter Saw of Osc 1.

Finally, a spare envelope is used to introduce a simple white noise pulse to the attack of each note to give the riff extra bite.