Future Islands’ sound is built on layers of synthesizers, driving basslines and electronic drum beats. The Baltimore based synthpop band have released five full-length albums, traversing from the punk-like Wave Like Home, the lo-fi loops of In Evening Air, the super-polished Singles, and their latest album, 2017’s The Far Field. Throughout all their albums, the core sound has remained the same. Although they’ve been through several drummers, the combination of punchy basslines, lush synth layers and frontman Sam Herring’s vocal is instantly recognisable.

The bands synth player is Garrit Welmers, who also makes music under the name Moss of Aura. Rather than utilising vintage hardware synths, Welmers actually uses software synths in Reason to create all his synth sounds, citing inexpensiveness and easy of travel as the main draws. His live rig consists of an Akai MPK49 MIDI keyboard, which he uses with Reason, and it’s likely that this is the same setup he uses for studio recording too. His signature sound consists of layers-upon-layers of synth tracks, all complimenting each other to create a cohesive bed of synth tones that sit between the rhythm section and the vocal parts. As I’m not a Reason user myself, I can’t dive too much into the Reason synths that Welmers may have used, so I’ll instead use some versatile synths to recreate the Future Island synth sound. You can download all the patches in the article for free at the end of article, enjoy!