Insomnia by Faithless (1995) is one of the all-time great synth riffs. That descending, hypnotic loop is absolutely iconic. Why it works brilliantly for synth recreation:
The main riff is deceptively simple — just a few notes repeating — but the sound design is everything. Getting that slightly dark, filtered, slightly eerie tone is the real challenge and the real reward It’s completely vocal-independent — the riff runs throughout the track almost like a mantra, and the track is built around it rather than the other way round The repetitive, trance-like quality means once you’ve got it sounding right, just playing it is satisfying in itself
The challenge: The notes themselves aren’t hard to learn. What you’re really chasing is the patch — that slightly detuned, minor-key, late-night feel. A bit of chorus or slight detuning on a saw or square wave, some subtle filtering, and you’re most of the way there. Reverb and delay are your friends here.