How To Get That '90s Euro-dance Sound?

I’m an alternative/industrial rock fan mostly - so are most of my friends - but lately I’ve found that I have a soft spot for '90s dance music, particularly Euro-dance. Groups like Ace of Base and Aqua, basically.

I like that bright piano sound they have, and I wanna try and re-create that. Anyone know of any good vsts (that are hopefully less than 5GB of sample space) that can help me, and how to tweak/program them for the specific sound I’m looking for? Here’s an example

Ace of Base - Beautiful Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyly3JtXoy4

Also, that high-pitched keyboard line in the background of this song… it’s, like, hard to describe. You can hear it more clearly during the breakdown at 1:55. It’s like a two-note line, but then it goes down an octave or something. I don’t know the proper musical terms, 'cause I’m still really new to all this, but that’s the best I can describe it. And in general, if someone could tell me what basic sounds to try for euro-dance, like, which style basslines or drum machines (like, should I use 808 or 909? or both), things like that.

And, here’s a few more questions I have (and more songs that this community will probably like):

Deus Ex soundtrack - DuClare Chateau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX0hU7jQ5O4
That opening keyboard line. I’ve created a similar sound using Poizone and the Clubbing lead preset (I’m not really good enough to program my own patches, I’m still pretty noobish at renoise, lol), but it’s not %100 accurate. And also, there’s a nice piano sound in here too.

KMFDM - Waste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcdrSnHyqeA
How do I create something similar to that awesome bassline in the opening?

Blur - Girls & Boys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATWnH-yb6-o
That opening keyboard sound.

If anyone could please help me with these, that’d be great. :D

In a hurry, so just a quick reply, but try finding piano-samples from Korg M1 or other romplers from the same time.

As you said it yourself most of the songs in that period are made with an 808/909
And for the baslines 303’s.
For that awfull pianosound you have to find the keyboards that tryed to produce the real piano in those days.
Or really really bad piano pluggins :P

You might also like to find samples of the roland juno!

I think you’ll find, for the most part, the brightness of the synths used in 90s electronic music was mostly due to simple EQing.

For the sparkly highs in the Ace of Base song, simply EQ any standard synth or piano so the high end is… well… high. You could try using exciters, but chances are a standard 5 band EQ will do to brighten up most synths.

That Deus Ex track has pretty standard strings… available on any decent keyboard. Google for “string samples”.

That KMFDM bassline is a pretty simple unison bass… available in almost any subtractive synth. The key is the pretty lofi drums that are being played at the same time. There’s a kick and a hihat on every beat, and a snare on every second beat (starting at the 1st beat instead of the 2nd).

Blur - pretty normal synth… layered with hihat and a percussive sample in the background that sounds somewhat like a glass bowl on a table