Designing Screeches and Leads

The screech lead is to hardstyle melodies what the 303 is to acid house — a signature sound that defines the genre. It is an aggressive, resonant, mid-focused sound that cuts through even the most distorted kicks. Here is how to create one, and how to design other lead types used in harder styles.

The screech

A screech is fundamentally a resonant filter sweep on a harmonically rich source. The resonance creates the "nasal" or "screaming" quality.

Basic screech recipe

1. Start with a saw wave. Single oscillator, no unison yet.
2. Apply a band-pass or low-pass filter with the resonance turned high (70-90%).
3. Automate or modulate the cutoff frequency. The cutoff should move with the melody. Some producers manually automate it; others tie it to an LFO or envelope follower.
4. Add distortion after the filter. This is key — distorting the resonant peak amplifies the screech character. Without post-filter distortion, it just sounds like a synth with high resonance. With it, it screams.
5. EQ the result. Cut the lows (high-pass at 200-300 Hz) and tame any harshness in the 4-6 kHz range.

The cutoff position relative to the note frequency creates different tonal colors:

• Cutoff near the fundamental — Nasal, tight, focused.
• Cutoff above the fundamental — Brighter, more open, less screech character.
• Cutoff moving with the pitch — Consistent tone across the melody (use key tracking on the filter).

Advanced screech techniques

Multi-band distortion: Distort only the midrange (1-5 kHz) where the resonant peak lives. This keeps the low end clean and the top end from getting harsh while maximizing the screech intensity in its sweet spot.

Formant filtering: Use a formant filter instead of a standard band-pass to give the screech a vocal quality. This is how you get the "singing" or "talking" screeches heard in some hardstyle tracks.

Feedback routing: Route the output of the distortion back into the filter input at a controlled level. This creates a feedback loop that enhances the resonance beyond what the filter alone can produce. Be careful — too much feedback causes the signal to self-oscillate and blow up.

The supersaw lead

Supersaws are thick, wide, and harmonic. They are the most common melodic lead in euphoric hardstyle.

Building a supersaw

1. 7-9 saw oscillators slightly detuned from each other. Most synths have a "unison" mode that does this automatically.
2. Spread the unison wide for stereo width.
3. Low-pass filter to control the brightness. A gentle slope (12 dB/oct) works better than a steep one — you want the harmonics to be present, just not dominant.
4. Light chorus to add even more width and movement.
5. High-pass at 200-300 Hz to keep it out of the kick range.

The detuning amount determines the character:

• Light detuning (5-15 cents) — Tight, focused, more musical. Good for melodies.
• Heavy detuning (20-40 cents) — Wide, washy, more aggressive. Good for chords and stabs.

Processing supersaws

• Stereo imaging: Supersaws are already wide from unison. Do not add more width processing or they will lose center focus. If anything, narrow the low end (below 200 Hz) to mono.
• Sidechain: Sidechain to the kick to prevent low-mid competition.
• Reverb: Medium plate reverb on a send. This adds depth without making the lead muddy.
• Layer a mono element: Add a single, centered saw or square wave playing the same melody. This anchors the wide supersaw to the center and improves mono compatibility.

The hoover

The hoover is a classic rave/hard dance sound — a detuned, resampled, and distorted tone that sounds like a vacuum cleaner (hence the name).

Basic hoover

1. Start with a preset or sample from a Roland Alpha Juno or JP-8000 (the original sources). Many synths have hoover-type presets.
2. Alternatively, synthesize it: Two saw waves, detuned by a 5th (7 semitones), with heavy PWM (pulse width modulation) on one.
3. Pitch bend — The hoover's character comes from pitch bending on note attack. A portamento/glide of 50-100 ms gives the classic sliding sound.
4. Distortion — Medium to heavy. The distortion rounds out the harsh detuning and makes it feel more like a single sound.
5. Filter modulation — A slow LFO on the cutoff (0.5-2 Hz) adds movement.

Pluck leads

Plucks are short, transient sounds used for arpeggios and rapid melodic patterns.

1. Saw or square wave with a fast amplitude envelope (attack 0, decay 100-300 ms, no sustain).
2. Filter envelope matching the amplitude — the filter opens and closes with each note.
3. Light reverb to add tail and space.
4. No unison or chorus — Plucks should be tight and precise, not wide and washy.

Layering leads

Professional hardstyle leads are almost never a single sound. They are layered:

• Main layer — The screech or supersaw that carries the melody.
• Sub layer — A sine or triangle wave one octave below, providing weight.
• Top layer — A bright, thin synth one octave above, adding presence and air.
• Texture layer — Noise, distortion, or a granular texture blended in at low volume for complexity.

Each layer is processed separately and then summed. The key to good layering is that each layer adds something different. If two layers sound similar, you only need one.

Mixing leads in context

Leads compete with the kick's midrange harmonics and the hi-hat's high end. To make them work:

1. Carve frequency space. If your kick has a lot of energy at 2 kHz, make a small cut on the lead at 2 kHz.
2. Automate volume. Pull the lead back 1-2 dB during kick sections compared to breakdowns.
3. Sidechain. Even subtle sidechaining (2-3 dB of ducking) helps the kick cut through.
4. Pan and width. Keep the kick centered and push the lead slightly wider. This gives them separate spatial positions.