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Nightcall Chorus String Pad

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Nightcall Chorus Pad (MS-20 single voice)

Korg MS-20 Mini

Patch sheet ↗Device reference ↗Research 0/100Mapping low · not numerically scored

Monosynth: no chords. Play the top line of the chorus chords, or arpeggiate them slowly, while a polysynth supplies the chord body; the shared EG2 makes the filter bloom follow the amp; the string-machine width comes from the June-60 chorus in the studio chain saved with this rendition.

22 saved controls · — means no saved value

Demo this preset

Play a short exercise to hear the attack, movement and release. These are original audition patterns, not transcriptions of the reference song.

Korg MS-20 Mini · Primary · Single notes · 4/4

Hold each bar, then leave a short gap to hear the release, chorus and reverb.

Nightcall Chorus String Pad · Korg MS-20 Mini · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minor. Original audition exercise; not a song transcription. Horizontal position is time; vertical position is pitch.Original audition exerciseNightcall Chorus String Pad · Korg MS-20 Mini · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minorC#3C3B2Bar 1234Bar 2234C3 · beat 1.00 · velocity 92C3 · beat 5.00 · velocity 92IT'S DIGITAL · C4 = MIDI 60 · Import MIDI to audition

How to play it

Import the MIDI into your DAW, route its track to the synth showing this preset, and loop the selected bars. Tempo and key are exercise settings. C4 means MIDI note 60; some DAWs label octaves differently. The MIDI sends notes on channel 1 and contains no patch change. It does not load the preset or trigger hardware from this page.

Why this preset? Sources, design & revisions

Follow the decisions from reference to recipe. Excerpts below link to the full write-up. A recording link confirms identity, not the original gear or settings.

  1. 01

    The reference

    Design inference · unsourced

    This saved write-up has no retrieved source record. Read the original notes below; its claims remain unverified.

  2. 02

    The sound → the decisions

    Design inference · unsourced

    The lush, slow-blooming analog string pad that holds sustained minor-key chords under the female chorus vocal of Nightcall: wide with chorus, soft on top, lifting the chorus away from the verses.

  3. 03

    On this synth & chain

    inferred · rendition design

    Monosynth: no chords. Play the top line of the chorus chords, or arpeggiate them slowly, while a polysynth supplies the chord body; the shared EG2 makes the filter bloom follow the amp; the string-machine width comes from the June-60 chorus in the studio chain saved with this rendition.

  4. 04

    Listen → improve → revise

    Awaiting listening review

    These settings have not been marked auditioned. Use Demo this preset, compare the attack, low end and movement, then use Improve to record what you hear. A saved revision is not proof of a listening test.

Research & revision history · 3 saved events

Updates

The saved research and rendition history.

  1. Re-researched

    No write-up sections changed.

    Research: unsourced (recall) → unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  2. Rendition added · Korg MS-20 Mini

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  3. Researched

    First research write-up · sound-research@v1.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

Full saved write-up

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall). This legacy write-up has not been re-researched.

Nightcall Chorus String Pad

The lush, slow-blooming analog string pad that holds sustained minor-key chords under the female chorus vocal of Nightcall: wide with chorus, soft on top, lifting the chorus away from the verses.

  • Class: poly — chords / stacked voices
  • Category: Pad
  • Sound id: signature-kavinsky-nightcall-chorus-string-pad
  • Requested as: "Kavinsky — Nightcall: Chorus string pad"

Identity

What it is. When Lovefoxxx's chorus arrives, the arrangement widens: sustained string-like synth chords fill the space that the verses leave empty. The pad is polyphonic, mid-register and soft-edged, and it is the main difference in texture between verse and chorus.

Recalled traits (from the recording, not transcribed): slow bloom into each chord; long sustain and release; warm, chorused, string-machine character; minor-key harmony; sits behind the vocal rather than competing with it.

Inferred (labelled): oscillator detune, cutoff, envelope times and chorus depth in The Sound. Class: poly, because it sounds full chords.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

The Sound

Reconstruction. Recalled items describe what is heard; inferred items are this pack's patch guesses.

  • Oscillators - recalled: chorused string-machine width. Inferred: two sawtooths per voice detuned 8-12 cents; optional light pulse-width modulation.
  • Filter - recalled: soft top, a little brighter than the verses. Inferred: low-pass, cutoff about 1.2-1.8 kHz, resonance about 10 %, keyboard tracking 50 %, filter-envelope amount +15-25 %.
  • Amplifier envelope - recalled: slow bloom, long tail. Inferred: attack 250-500 ms, decay 1.5 s, sustain 85 %, release 1.2-1.8 s.
  • Filter envelope - inferred: attack 500-800 ms, decay 2 s, sustain 60 %, release 1.5 s.
  • Modulation - inferred: slow triangle LFO (0.2-0.3 Hz) to cutoff at small depth.
  • Chorus - recalled: essential to the width; an ensemble or Juno-style chorus.
  • Voicing - close-position minor triads and sevenths in the middle register; chords overlap on changes.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

History & Provenance

Nightcall was released in 2010 on Record Makers. It was produced by Kavinsky (Vincent Belorgey) with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and mixed by SebastiAn; the chorus is sung by Lovefoxxx of CSS and the verses are a vocoded male voice. It opened the film Drive (2011), was included on the album OutRun (2013), and returned to wide attention when Kavinsky performed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic closing ceremony (recalled, medium confidence).

Gear note (unverified): this research knows of no published instrument or patch list for the session. Every setting in The Sound is an inferred reconstruction from the recalled recording, and this pack does not claim the original patch.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Heard In · Adapted By

  • Kavinsky - Nightcall (2010): under each chorus sung by Lovefoxxx (recalled).
  • Drive (2011) opening titles (recalled).
  • Kavinsky - OutRun (2013): same recording.
  • Sibling idiom on the same soundtrack: College and Electric Youth - A Real Hero (2010).

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Performance & Technique

control gesture effect
voicing close-position minor triads and sevenths, mid register the soft chorus lift (recalled)
overlap let each chord ring into the next chorus smear across changes
velocity flat the pad stays behind the vocal
filter cutoff automation open slightly through the chorus, close on the way back to the verse inferred
modwheel slow, small cutoff lift inferred

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

FX & Chain

  • Juno-style stereo chorus, both modes together, for the string-machine width.
  • Long plate or hall reverb; a quiet stereo delay underneath.
  • High-pass around 160 Hz so the pad stays clear of the sustained bass.
  • Gentle 2:1 bus compression; a little air around 12 kHz.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Renditions

Auto-generated from the create-preset fan-out mapping outcomes; regenerated each run.

  • Korg MS-20 Mini — "Nightcall Chorus Pad (MS-20 single voice)" — best-effort — confidence low — 22 control(s) — Monosynth: no chords. Play the top line of the chorus chords, or arpeggiate them slowly, while a polysynth supplies the chord body; the shared EG2 makes the filter bloom follow the amp; the string-machine width comes from the June-60 chorus in the studio chain saved with this rendition.
  • Korg Prologue 8 — "Nightcall Chorus Pad (Prologue)" — confidence high — 39 control(s) — Onboard chorus, delay and reverb are off because the June-60, Meraki and H9 in the studio chain saved with this rendition supply them; played without that chain, switch the onboard ensemble on. The 2-pole filter leaves the top a touch brighter, so cutoff is kept moderate.

Lore

<!-- append-only: ask-about-sound appends dated entries below this line; never edit or reorder existing entries -->

VCO 1

WAVE FORM
OSC1.wave_form: sawtooth (indicative position)2/4
sawtooth
PW
OSC1.pw: —
—
SCALE
OSC1.scale: 8' (indicative position)3/4
8'

VCO 2

WAVE FORM
OSC2.wave_form: sawtooth (indicative position)1/4
sawtooth
PITCH
OSC2.pitch: +10 cents (indicative position)
+10 cents
SCALE
OSC2.scale: 8' (indicative position)2/4
8'

VCO MIXER

VCO 1 LEVEL
VCO_MIXER.vco1_level: 80% (indicative position)
80%
VCO 2 LEVEL
VCO_MIXER.vco2_level: 75% (indicative position)
75%

VC HPF

CUTOFF FREQUENCY
HPF.cutoff_frequency: 10% (indicative position)
10%
PEAK
HPF.peak: 0% (indicative position)
0%

VC LPF

CUTOFF FREQUENCY
VCF.cutoff_frequency: 42% (indicative position)
42%
PEAK
VCF.peak: 10% (indicative position)
10%

MODULATION GENERATOR

WAVE FORM
MG.wave_form: 50% (indicative position)
50%
FREQUENCY
MG.frequency: 8% (indicative position)
8%

ENVELOPE GENERATOR 1

DELAY TIME
EG1.delay_time: —
—
ATTACK TIME
EG1.attack_time: —
—
RELEASE TIME
EG1.release_time: —
—

ENVELOPE GENERATOR 2

HOLD TIME
EG2.hold_time: 0 ms (indicative position)
0 ms
ATTACK TIME
EG2.attack_time: 400 ms (indicative position)
400 ms
DECAY TIME
EG2.decay_time: 1500 ms (indicative position)
1500 ms
SUSTAIN LEVEL
EG2.sustain_level: 85% (indicative position)
85%
RELEASE TIME
EG2.release_time: 1500 ms (indicative position)
1500 ms

FREQUENCY MODULATION

MG/T.EXT
VCO_FREQ_MOD.mg_t_ext: 0% (indicative position)
0%
EG1/EXT
VCO_FREQ_MOD.eg1_ext: —
—

HPF CUTOFF MOD

MG/T.EXT
HPF_CUTOFF_MOD.mg_t_ext: —
—
EG2/EXT
HPF_CUTOFF_MOD.eg2_ext: —
—

LPF CUTOFF MOD

MG/T.EXT
LPF_CUTOFF_MOD.mg_t_ext: 8% (indicative position)
8%
EG2/EXT
LPF_CUTOFF_MOD.eg2_ext: 20% (indicative position)
20%

EXTERNAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR

SIGNAL LEVEL
ESP.signal_level: —
—
LOW CUT FREQ
ESP.low_cut_freq: —
—
HIGH CUT FREQ
ESP.high_cut_freq: —
—
CV ADJUST
ESP.cv_adjust: —
—

MASTER

PORTAMENTO TIME
MASTER.portamento_time: 0 ms (indicative position)
0 ms
MASTER TUNE
MASTER.master_tune: —
—

PATCH BAY

Patch bay
PATCHBAY.patch_bay: —
—

FX & outboard

Chain A: DeepMind 12 — Lush Pads & Strings

Repatch required.

Default route & patching

Committed wiring: Korg MS-20 → Pedal Chain 1 → AR22 inputs 3

Saved synth profile: Chain D: MS-20 Mini — Raw & Aggressive

Recipe chain: Pedal Chain 3 · The saved passive DI is a ProD2. Black Lion Audio Auteur is a separate mic preamp.

  • Pedal Chain 1: existing path; effective level unresolved at this connection.
Review the route on Patchbay ↗
✓ use · × bypass · ? unresolved · + optional
Why use this modulation?

Modes I and II together, stereo: the string-machine width recalled on the chorus pad.

modulation · slot 1

TC Electronic JUNE-60 V2 Chorus

Device reference ↗Mapping high · not numerically scored

Modes I and II together, stereo: the string-machine width recalled on the chorus pad.

4 saved controls · — means no saved value

TC Electronic JUNE-60 V2 Chorus

I
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.mode_i: ON (indicative position)
ON
II
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.mode_ii: ON (indicative position)
ON
MONO/STEREO
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.mono_stereo: ON (indicative position)
ON
BYPASS
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.bypass: OFF (indicative position)
OFF
INT LFO
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.internal_lfo_speed: —
—
INT IN LVL
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.internal_input_level: —
—
Saved settings outside this route
  • dbx1066: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • tl-audio-c1: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • mindprint-tcomp: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • behringer1273: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
Nightcall Chorus Pad (Prologue)

Korg Prologue 8

Patch sheet ↗Device reference ↗Research 0/100Mapping high · not numerically scored

Onboard chorus, delay and reverb are off because the June-60, Meraki and H9 in the studio chain saved with this rendition supply them; played without that chain, switch the onboard ensemble on. The 2-pole filter leaves the top a touch brighter, so cutoff is kept moderate.

39 saved controls · — means no saved value

Demo this preset

Play a short exercise to hear the attack, movement and release. These are original audition patterns, not transcriptions of the reference song.

Korg Prologue 8 · Primary · Polyphonic · 4/4

Hold each bar, then leave a short gap to hear the release, chorus and reverb.

Nightcall Chorus String Pad · Korg Prologue 8 · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minor. Original audition exercise; not a song transcription. Horizontal position is time; vertical position is pitch.Original audition exerciseNightcall Chorus String Pad · Korg Prologue 8 · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minorG#3G3F#3F3E3D#3D3C#3C3B2Bar 1234Bar 2234C3 · beat 1.00 · velocity 92D#3 · beat 1.00 · velocity 92G3 · beat 1.00 · velocity 92C3 · beat 5.00 · velocity 92D#3 · beat 5.00 · velocity 92G3 · beat 5.00 · velocity 92IT'S DIGITAL · C4 = MIDI 60 · Import MIDI to audition

How to play it

Import the MIDI into your DAW, route its track to the synth showing this preset, and loop the selected bars. Tempo and key are exercise settings. C4 means MIDI note 60; some DAWs label octaves differently. The MIDI sends notes on channel 1 and contains no patch change. It does not load the preset or trigger hardware from this page.

Why this preset? Sources, design & revisions

Follow the decisions from reference to recipe. Excerpts below link to the full write-up. A recording link confirms identity, not the original gear or settings.

  1. 01

    The reference

    Design inference · unsourced

    This saved write-up has no retrieved source record. Read the original notes below; its claims remain unverified.

  2. 02

    The sound → the decisions

    Design inference · unsourced

    The lush, slow-blooming analog string pad that holds sustained minor-key chords under the female chorus vocal of Nightcall: wide with chorus, soft on top, lifting the chorus away from the verses.

  3. 03

    On this synth & chain

    inferred · rendition design

    Onboard chorus, delay and reverb are off because the June-60, Meraki and H9 in the studio chain saved with this rendition supply them; played without that chain, switch the onboard ensemble on. The 2-pole filter leaves the top a touch brighter, so cutoff is kept moderate.

  4. 04

    Listen → improve → revise

    Awaiting listening review

    These settings have not been marked auditioned. Use Demo this preset, compare the attack, low end and movement, then use Improve to record what you hear. A saved revision is not proof of a listening test.

Research & revision history · 3 saved events

Updates

The saved research and rendition history.

  1. Re-researched

    No write-up sections changed.

    Research: unsourced (recall) → unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  2. Rendition added · Korg Prologue 8

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  3. Researched

    First research write-up · sound-research@v1.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

Full saved write-up

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall). This legacy write-up has not been re-researched.

Nightcall Chorus String Pad

The lush, slow-blooming analog string pad that holds sustained minor-key chords under the female chorus vocal of Nightcall: wide with chorus, soft on top, lifting the chorus away from the verses.

  • Class: poly — chords / stacked voices
  • Category: Pad
  • Sound id: signature-kavinsky-nightcall-chorus-string-pad
  • Requested as: "Kavinsky — Nightcall: Chorus string pad"

Identity

What it is. When Lovefoxxx's chorus arrives, the arrangement widens: sustained string-like synth chords fill the space that the verses leave empty. The pad is polyphonic, mid-register and soft-edged, and it is the main difference in texture between verse and chorus.

Recalled traits (from the recording, not transcribed): slow bloom into each chord; long sustain and release; warm, chorused, string-machine character; minor-key harmony; sits behind the vocal rather than competing with it.

Inferred (labelled): oscillator detune, cutoff, envelope times and chorus depth in The Sound. Class: poly, because it sounds full chords.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

The Sound

Reconstruction. Recalled items describe what is heard; inferred items are this pack's patch guesses.

  • Oscillators - recalled: chorused string-machine width. Inferred: two sawtooths per voice detuned 8-12 cents; optional light pulse-width modulation.
  • Filter - recalled: soft top, a little brighter than the verses. Inferred: low-pass, cutoff about 1.2-1.8 kHz, resonance about 10 %, keyboard tracking 50 %, filter-envelope amount +15-25 %.
  • Amplifier envelope - recalled: slow bloom, long tail. Inferred: attack 250-500 ms, decay 1.5 s, sustain 85 %, release 1.2-1.8 s.
  • Filter envelope - inferred: attack 500-800 ms, decay 2 s, sustain 60 %, release 1.5 s.
  • Modulation - inferred: slow triangle LFO (0.2-0.3 Hz) to cutoff at small depth.
  • Chorus - recalled: essential to the width; an ensemble or Juno-style chorus.
  • Voicing - close-position minor triads and sevenths in the middle register; chords overlap on changes.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

History & Provenance

Nightcall was released in 2010 on Record Makers. It was produced by Kavinsky (Vincent Belorgey) with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and mixed by SebastiAn; the chorus is sung by Lovefoxxx of CSS and the verses are a vocoded male voice. It opened the film Drive (2011), was included on the album OutRun (2013), and returned to wide attention when Kavinsky performed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic closing ceremony (recalled, medium confidence).

Gear note (unverified): this research knows of no published instrument or patch list for the session. Every setting in The Sound is an inferred reconstruction from the recalled recording, and this pack does not claim the original patch.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Heard In · Adapted By

  • Kavinsky - Nightcall (2010): under each chorus sung by Lovefoxxx (recalled).
  • Drive (2011) opening titles (recalled).
  • Kavinsky - OutRun (2013): same recording.
  • Sibling idiom on the same soundtrack: College and Electric Youth - A Real Hero (2010).

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Performance & Technique

control gesture effect
voicing close-position minor triads and sevenths, mid register the soft chorus lift (recalled)
overlap let each chord ring into the next chorus smear across changes
velocity flat the pad stays behind the vocal
filter cutoff automation open slightly through the chorus, close on the way back to the verse inferred
modwheel slow, small cutoff lift inferred

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

FX & Chain

  • Juno-style stereo chorus, both modes together, for the string-machine width.
  • Long plate or hall reverb; a quiet stereo delay underneath.
  • High-pass around 160 Hz so the pad stays clear of the sustained bass.
  • Gentle 2:1 bus compression; a little air around 12 kHz.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Renditions

Auto-generated from the create-preset fan-out mapping outcomes; regenerated each run.

  • Korg MS-20 Mini — "Nightcall Chorus Pad (MS-20 single voice)" — best-effort — confidence low — 22 control(s) — Monosynth: no chords. Play the top line of the chorus chords, or arpeggiate them slowly, while a polysynth supplies the chord body; the shared EG2 makes the filter bloom follow the amp; the string-machine width comes from the June-60 chorus in the studio chain saved with this rendition.
  • Korg Prologue 8 — "Nightcall Chorus Pad (Prologue)" — confidence high — 39 control(s) — Onboard chorus, delay and reverb are off because the June-60, Meraki and H9 in the studio chain saved with this rendition supply them; played without that chain, switch the onboard ensemble on. The 2-pole filter leaves the top a touch brighter, so cutoff is kept moderate.

Lore

<!-- append-only: ask-about-sound appends dated entries below this line; never edit or reorder existing entries -->

MASTER

MASTER
MASTER.master: —
—

TIMBRE

MAIN/SUB BALANCE
TIMBRE.main_sub_balance: —
—
TYPE
TIMBRE.type: ——
—
PANEL
TIMBRE.panel: ——
—

CONTROL

PORTAMENTO
CONTROL.portamento: 0% (indicative position)
0%
VOICE SPREAD
CONTROL.voice_spread: 35% (indicative position)
35%
VOICE MODE DEPTH
CONTROL.voice_mode_depth: 0% (indicative position)
0%

OCTAVE

OCTAVE −
OCTAVE_MASTER.oct_down: —
—
OCTAVE +
OCTAVE_MASTER.oct_up: —
—

SUB / PGM FETCH

SUB ON / PGM FETCH
SUB_ON.sub_on_pgm_fetch: —
—

VOICE MODE

POLY
VOICE_MODE.poly: ON (indicative position)
ON
MONO
VOICE_MODE.mono: —
—
UNISON
VOICE_MODE.unison: —
—
CHORD
VOICE_MODE.chord: —
—
SELECT
VOICE_MODE.select: —
—

ARPEGGIATOR

ON / LATCH
ARPEGGIATOR.on_latch: —
—
TEMPO
ARPEGGIATOR.tempo: —
—
RANGE
ARPEGGIATOR.range: —
—
TYPE
ARPEGGIATOR.type: —
—

VCO 1

WAVE
OSC1.wave: sawtooth (indicative position)3/3
sawtooth
OCTAVE
OSC1.octave: 8' (indicative position)2/4
8'
PITCH
OSC1.pitch: 0 cents (indicative position)
0 cents
SHAPE
OSC1.shape: 0% (indicative position)
0%
PITCH EG
OSC1.pitch_eg: ——
—
INT
OSC1.pitch_eg_int: —
—

VCO 2

WAVE
OSC2.wave: sawtooth (indicative position)3/3
sawtooth
OCTAVE
OSC2.octave: 8' (indicative position)2/4
8'
PITCH
OSC2.pitch: +10 cents (indicative position)
+10 cents
SHAPE
OSC2.shape: 0% (indicative position)
0%
SYNC / RING
OSC2.sync_ring: OFF (indicative position)2/3
OFF
CROSS MOD DEPTH
OSC2.cross_mod_depth: 0% (indicative position)
0%

MULTI ENGINE

TYPE SELECT
OSC3.select: ——
—
OCTAVE
OSC3.octave: ——
—
TYPE
OSC3.type: —
—
SHAPE
OSC3.shape: —
—

MIXER

VCO 1
MIXER.vco1: 80% (indicative position)
80%
VCO 2
MIXER.vco2: 75% (indicative position)
75%
MULTI
MIXER.multi: 0% (indicative position)
0%

VCF

CUTOFF
VCF.cutoff: 46% (indicative position)
46%
RESONANCE
VCF.resonance: 10% (indicative position)
10%
EG INT
VCF.eg_int: 20% (indicative position)
20%
DRIVE
VCF.drive: 0% (indicative position)1/3
0%
LOW CUT
VCF.low_cut: OFF (indicative position)
OFF
KEYTRACK
VCF.keytrack: 50% (indicative position)2/3
50%

AMP EG

ATTACK
AMP_EG.attack: 350 ms (indicative position)
350 ms
DECAY
AMP_EG.decay: 1500 ms (indicative position)
1500 ms
SUSTAIN
AMP_EG.sustain: 85% (indicative position)
85%
RELEASE
AMP_EG.release: 1500 ms (indicative position)
1500 ms

EG

ATTACK
EG.attack: 650 ms (indicative position)
650 ms
DECAY
EG.decay: 2000 ms (indicative position)
2000 ms
SUSTAIN
EG.sustain: 60% (indicative position)
60%
RELEASE
EG.release: 1500 ms (indicative position)
1500 ms

LFO

WAVE
LFO.wave: triangle (indicative position)2/3
triangle
MODE
LFO.mode: SLOW (indicative position)2/3
SLOW
RATE
LFO.rate: 0.25 Hz (indicative position)
0.25 Hz
INT
LFO.int: 6% (indicative position)
6%
TARGET
LFO.target: CUTOFF (indicative position)3/3
CUTOFF

MOD EFFECT

SELECT
MOD_EFFECT.select: —
—
ON / OFF
MOD_EFFECT.on_off: OFF (indicative position)
OFF
SPEED
MOD_EFFECT.speed: —
—
DEPTH
MOD_EFFECT.depth: —
—

DELAY / REVERB

MODE
DELAY_REVERB.mode: OFF (indicative position)3/3
OFF
TIME
DELAY_REVERB.time: —
—
DEPTH
DELAY_REVERB.depth: —
—

L.F. COMP

GAIN
LF_COMP.gain: —
—
ON / OFF
LF_COMP.on_off: OFF (indicative position)
OFF

PERFORMANCE

PITCH
WHEELS.pitch: —
—
MOD
WHEELS.mod: —
—

FX & outboard

Chain A: DeepMind 12 — Lush Pads & Strings

Repatch required.

Default route & patching

Committed wiring: Prologue 8 → Mindprint T-Comp → AR22 inputs 13,14

Saved synth profile: Chain B: Korg Prologue 8 — Clean Textures & Atmosphere

Recipe chain: Pedal Chain 3 · The saved passive DI is a ProD2. Black Lion Audio Auteur is a separate mic preamp.

Review the route on Patchbay ↗
✓ use · × bypass · ? unresolved · + optional
Why use this modulation?

Modes I and II together, stereo: the string-machine width recalled on the chorus pad.

modulation · slot 1

TC Electronic JUNE-60 V2 Chorus

Device reference ↗Mapping high · not numerically scored

Modes I and II together, stereo: the string-machine width recalled on the chorus pad.

4 saved controls · — means no saved value

TC Electronic JUNE-60 V2 Chorus

I
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.mode_i: ON (indicative position)
ON
II
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.mode_ii: ON (indicative position)
ON
MONO/STEREO
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.mono_stereo: ON (indicative position)
ON
BYPASS
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.bypass: OFF (indicative position)
OFF
INT LFO
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.internal_lfo_speed: —
—
INT IN LVL
TC_ELECTRONIC_JUNE_60_V2.internal_input_level: —
—
Saved settings outside this route
  • dbx1066: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • tl-audio-c1: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • mindprint-tcomp: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • behringer1273: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
Notes

Kavinsky / Nightcall · Pad

The lush, slow-blooming analog string pad that holds sustained minor-key chords under the female chorus vocal of Nightcall: wide with chorus, soft on top, lifting the chorus away from the verses.

Panel view: Simple shows the sound core, Used every section used in this sound, Full the whole panel.

Primary · Primary

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Chain A: DeepMind 12 — Lush Pads & Strings: for Korg MS-20 Mini · Korg Prologue 8. Saved devices outside the active scope: dbx1066: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it. tl-audio-c1: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it. mindprint-tcomp: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it. behringer1273: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.

Research & sound notesRead the write-up +

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall). This legacy write-up has not been re-researched.

Nightcall Chorus String Pad

The lush, slow-blooming analog string pad that holds sustained minor-key chords under the female chorus vocal of Nightcall: wide with chorus, soft on top, lifting the chorus away from the verses.

  • Class: poly — chords / stacked voices
  • Category: Pad
  • Sound id: signature-kavinsky-nightcall-chorus-string-pad
  • Requested as: "Kavinsky — Nightcall: Chorus string pad"

Identity

What it is. When Lovefoxxx's chorus arrives, the arrangement widens: sustained string-like synth chords fill the space that the verses leave empty. The pad is polyphonic, mid-register and soft-edged, and it is the main difference in texture between verse and chorus.

Recalled traits (from the recording, not transcribed): slow bloom into each chord; long sustain and release; warm, chorused, string-machine character; minor-key harmony; sits behind the vocal rather than competing with it.

Inferred (labelled): oscillator detune, cutoff, envelope times and chorus depth in The Sound. Class: poly, because it sounds full chords.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

The Sound

Reconstruction. Recalled items describe what is heard; inferred items are this pack's patch guesses.

  • Oscillators - recalled: chorused string-machine width. Inferred: two sawtooths per voice detuned 8-12 cents; optional light pulse-width modulation.
  • Filter - recalled: soft top, a little brighter than the verses. Inferred: low-pass, cutoff about 1.2-1.8 kHz, resonance about 10 %, keyboard tracking 50 %, filter-envelope amount +15-25 %.
  • Amplifier envelope - recalled: slow bloom, long tail. Inferred: attack 250-500 ms, decay 1.5 s, sustain 85 %, release 1.2-1.8 s.
  • Filter envelope - inferred: attack 500-800 ms, decay 2 s, sustain 60 %, release 1.5 s.
  • Modulation - inferred: slow triangle LFO (0.2-0.3 Hz) to cutoff at small depth.
  • Chorus - recalled: essential to the width; an ensemble or Juno-style chorus.
  • Voicing - close-position minor triads and sevenths in the middle register; chords overlap on changes.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

History & Provenance

Nightcall was released in 2010 on Record Makers. It was produced by Kavinsky (Vincent Belorgey) with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and mixed by SebastiAn; the chorus is sung by Lovefoxxx of CSS and the verses are a vocoded male voice. It opened the film Drive (2011), was included on the album OutRun (2013), and returned to wide attention when Kavinsky performed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic closing ceremony (recalled, medium confidence).

Gear note (unverified): this research knows of no published instrument or patch list for the session. Every setting in The Sound is an inferred reconstruction from the recalled recording, and this pack does not claim the original patch.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Heard In · Adapted By

  • Kavinsky - Nightcall (2010): under each chorus sung by Lovefoxxx (recalled).
  • Drive (2011) opening titles (recalled).
  • Kavinsky - OutRun (2013): same recording.
  • Sibling idiom on the same soundtrack: College and Electric Youth - A Real Hero (2010).

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Performance & Technique

control gesture effect
voicing close-position minor triads and sevenths, mid register the soft chorus lift (recalled)
overlap let each chord ring into the next chorus smear across changes
velocity flat the pad stays behind the vocal
filter cutoff automation open slightly through the chorus, close on the way back to the verse inferred
modwheel slow, small cutoff lift inferred

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

FX & Chain

  • Juno-style stereo chorus, both modes together, for the string-machine width.
  • Long plate or hall reverb; a quiet stereo delay underneath.
  • High-pass around 160 Hz so the pad stays clear of the sustained bass.
  • Gentle 2:1 bus compression; a little air around 12 kHz.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Renditions

Auto-generated from the create-preset fan-out mapping outcomes; regenerated each run.

  • Korg MS-20 Mini — "Nightcall Chorus Pad (MS-20 single voice)" — best-effort — confidence low — 22 control(s) — Monosynth: no chords. Play the top line of the chorus chords, or arpeggiate them slowly, while a polysynth supplies the chord body; the shared EG2 makes the filter bloom follow the amp; the string-machine width comes from the June-60 chorus in the studio chain saved with this rendition.
  • Korg Prologue 8 — "Nightcall Chorus Pad (Prologue)" — confidence high — 39 control(s) — Onboard chorus, delay and reverb are off because the June-60, Meraki and H9 in the studio chain saved with this rendition supply them; played without that chain, switch the onboard ensemble on. The 2-pole filter leaves the top a touch brighter, so cutoff is kept moderate.

Lore

<!-- append-only: ask-about-sound appends dated entries below this line; never edit or reorder existing entries -->

Updates

The saved research and rendition history.

  1. Re-researched

    No write-up sections changed.

    Research: unsourced (recall) → unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  2. Rendition added · Korg Prologue 8

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  3. Rendition added · Korg MS-20 Mini

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  4. Researched

    First research write-up · sound-research@v1.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Chorus string pad part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Lush sustained string-pad chords under the female chorus vocal (recalled from the recording). Declared class: poly. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.