XILS LAB - The Eighty
In the fall of 2024, I worked with the plugin developer XILS LAB to create a selection of factory presets for The Eighty, a synth plugin inspired by the classic Yamaha CS-80 analog synthesizer. In total, I contributed 30 presets to the factory release of the plugin.
The kind folks at XILS LAB gave me free rein to explore the creative directions I wanted to with this project! I decided to create a healthy balance of a few different types of typical presets, such as synths, keys, pads, leads, basses, and arps, while also throwing in a few more experimental sfx for good measure. As one can expect with a recreation of a Yamaha CS-80 synth, while many of these presets will sound at home in 80s inspired productions, I also programmed some sounds that lean a bit more into the glitchy and experimental side.
The Eighty can be quite an expressive instrument, and to ensure this came through in my presets, I ensured that utilizing velocity, the modulation wheel, or aftertouch would trigger some sort of modulation or tonal change when programming my synth patches. Beyond this, I also explored some more advanced modulation techniques on a few presets, such as using a normal oscillator as a mod source, thanks to the plugin’s deeper modulation matrix.
You can find a short demo song I produced using a selection of my presets for the plugin in the video below. The Eighty was released in January of 2025, and you can read more about the plugin on XILS LAB’s website here.