“For the intro, you can use a clean electric guitar preset on your synth, but it’ll be closer to the recording if the sound is more synthetic than realistic. You can experiment with different polyphonic synth sounds, like the “Synth Clav” patches found in many keyboards. We don’t want too much bite, so look to set the filter cutoff to the midway point (if your synth offers that ability). The most important components of the sound are polyphony, a medium-fast decay time (like a guitar or Clav, but not as fast as pizzicato strings), and a medium release time, so that the sound hangs over just a bit after you release the keys.
For the right-hand melody, it’s all about the monophonic analog synth lead. Ben Goldwasser of MGMT uses the Moog Little Phatty for this, and in the live shows, there is some variation in the tone. To mimic the sound, make sure that tone you use is dialed in as monophonic, high octave, instant attack, instant key-off release, and fast and subtle pitch modulation. Try using a sound with saw or pulse waves.” Tom Brislin