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Starting with synth?
As far as I've been making music I've been into sampling or synthesizers based on wave forms. Before the computer age, I literally spent money I didn't have on racks like the Emulator II, Akai S series, Ensoniq EPS 16 (great keyboard) and even the infamous Korg DSM1. My last one was the K2000. Then, computers rendered those rack quite obsolete.
I never was really interested in synthesis, and when I needed some synth sound, it was most of the time just something basic that I could sample. Doesn't mean I didn't create sound, I did that a lot, but all ws based on real instrument or found sound I was recording everywhere.
Now, listening to the awesome music of some of you guys, I'm tempted to learn real synthesis: making those sounds from scratch.
Where should I start?
Comments
Hmm…that’s a great question.
For me, I tried many apps and websites (including Syntorial). Sure, it taught the basics of a saw wave, and how changing a knob will change the sound, but it was way too technical and what I call “needless jargon”. Not because it wasn’t insightful, but rather it felt like the secret to good sound design was hidden behind a wall that never existed.
So, here’s the secret.
1. Find a synth you literally like the look of, and use that.
2. Play around with one of the knobs and listen to what happens when you do.
3. Realize that every single synth preset was made using that method.
4. Find your favorite preset patches, and favorite/save them
5. Look at 1 of them. See how they did it.
6. Do that a few more times.
7. Make a blank patch and try and make something that you like
8. Save that preset.
That’s literally it. Adding effects change the nature of a sound. Reverb, Delay, Panning, EQ, and Chorus are my favorite effects to do that.
P.S: My favorite synth is Europa from the free Reason Compact app. My favorite AUv3 synth is Synthmaster One.
I spent a while just twisting knobs, randomizing patches, tweaking patches having fun as I learned more and more via online, this forum, books, magazines, YouTube, etc.. I would set aside separate time to play with synths/sound design. I was always trying to find out why? Why is it doing this, why that, if I do this, why does that happen? Etc… I started by tweaking other presets more to my liking. Then eventually I started trying to design sounds, one of the easiest iOS apps to work on sound design, at least for me is Mela 3. There’s just something about the way it’s laid out. It’s very straightforward. That’s the one that really started to give me some confidence with sound design.
Synthtorial is an app that is recommended by many, the IAP is pricey but it’s a very comprehensive course.
Use your local library, I get computer music magazine, FutureMusic magazine, and books like How to make a Noise by Simon Cann all for free. All digital through an app called Libby. Simon Cann has a whole series.
Lots of free pdfs of books online, Search the web for “free synthesizer books pdf”
Other books I got free…
Introduction to Sound design
Synthesizer architecture
Sound on Sound website has a synth archive with all kinds of tips and stuff.
There’s many types of synthesis, so it can be a little confusing at first. The Most popular type is probably subtractive synthesis. Where you start with a sound then carve out the one you want with filters, envelopes, etc.. They all work a little differently.
It can seem overwhelming at first, but if you enjoy making sounds, and experimentation you will get there. I never tried to rush it, I just enjoyed it, and over time I learned more and more. I’m still only a novice compared to many in this forum.
YouTube has so many great channels, tutorials, etc… I think reverb has a series on sound design that’s good.
You might like wavetable synthesis, and granular. Neither is really traditional so to speak, but wavetables uses well wave tables and granular uses tiny grains that move However you want to play little snippets of a sample.
Besides that something like Moog model d mite be a good place to start. Maybe Zeeon.
Sound on Sound Synth Articles
Stikeys the basics of synth and sound design
Here’s a great place to start
Ableton Learning Synths - interactive tutorial
Izotope
Beginners guide
Definitely that ableton link is a great place to start..
+1 for the SOS Archives. Francis Preve’s book that comes with Synth One is fantastic, also check out The Synthesizer Cookbook, Synthesizer Architecture, and the Introduction to Sound Design Fundamentals. +1 for Syntorial
Brian Funk’s podcast is a wealth of info as well as Podular Modcast
Synthhacker, Zen World, Hawk Serum, In The Mix, Venus Theory, ADSR, Reverb Machine, Red Means Recording all have e great info on YT
Skillshare and CreativeLive also have courses on synthesis
Also reverse engineering your favorite patches, is a great way to learn what a patch is made of. Much like learning what a song is made of by deconstructing a reference track, the same concept can be applied to presets.
I first learned on Serum\wavetable, but for the most part once you learn the architecture of a synth, and have a good grasp on signal flow and the types of synthesis you’re working with, the designing becomes much quicker. Right now it’s the cable connections in miRack/Model I 15 that are slowing me down.
https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Synthesis-Sampling-Music-Technology-ebook/dp/B0048EJVRW/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=1V957P6QU03ML&keywords=sound+synthesis+manual&qid=1670565055&sprefix=sound+synthesis+manual,aps,102&sr=8-8
This textbook is really a high priced investment, but this is what I cut my teeth on. Nanostudio 2 is like $9 on December sale, and its synthesiser Obsidian can do pretty much everything this book explains except additive synthesis.
One thing when learning with synth presets that can be helpful is start tweaking the knobs at the end first, reverb, for example and then just turn it off. Work backwards, tweaking every parameter and turning it off, and just keep working like that until eventually you will end up just having the first oscillator sound. If you start the other way, opening a patch and tweaking the first oscillator immediately, you will possibly learn very little as there will be so much interference upstream from the fx etc.
Synth Secrets is an amazing intro to all kinds of synthesis. Start at the beginning and ignore the math if it's not your thing:
https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-sound
What comes up in my mind:
Start simple with a 2 oscillator synth without many whistles and bells.
Start with an Init-patch if it's available.
Turn off effects, like delay, reverb etc.
Turn off filters. If they're baked in, set to low-pass, Cut-off freq to max and Resonance to min.
From there on, play with the knobs and see what comes out of it. Turn on every option at a time, not all at once, otherwise you get easily lost.
If a synth comes with a block diagram, you can see how the flow of the signal goes through every part of the synth.
An option is, to use a scope and maybe an spectrum analyser on the output to see the influence of the waveform and spectrum.
Audulus
@jo92346 what really opened thing up for me was Moog Model 15 - because it's a simple modular synth every patch you make is built from the ground up, and that really helps you to understand exactly what's going on. I made some really basic tutorials when I was starting out, that might be helpful:
https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/13426/moog-model-15-tips-for-noobs
Thanks guys. That is already a LOT of things.
Gonna buy a few of the suggested apps and start reading ( that is a LOT of reading)
humblebundle deal until 13th dec working with audio from taylor & francis
So I started playing with the Moog synth, obsidian and synthorial (paid "lessons")
Everything with filtering, LFOs , matrix and envelopes is pretty much the same with synthesis and sampling. So I have no problem with that.
Still, I spent the night turning knobs, choosing oscillators, etc, and all I get is either some noisy ugly unusable sound OR so ridiculous tiny sound. Nothing like I ear here or in the like of ELP (just an example)
Of course, since I have basically 10 hours of experience, I shouldn't expect miracles, and for sure I totally can't turn a sound in my head into a real sound coming out of the synth.
I might be starting wrong: randomly trying to change value will do nothing. Reverse engineering the preprogrammed patches won't help either because I don't get the logic behind the choices that were made to get those sounds.
Something that also came to mind is that the preset are for the most part pretty much unusable especially when they are really beautiful: I don't see yet how they would fit in my music, but again, I'd have to rethink the way I write music to fit for those new sounds, instead of trying to fit the new sounds in the way I write music.
It's terribly complicated for sure.
One thing worth mentioning here is that the 'raw' sound of a synth like Model D or just about any synth is the 'starting point'.
It's worth the take a look on how to 'fatten up sounds'...
...lots of modulation effects (chorus, phaser, delay) and saturation for starters.
If we look at the old recordings the tape was driven pretty hard, amps had to be pushed to the max to get levels up.
That in turn added some harmonic distortion to the sound which made it the way it is.
So a 'raw' Model D sound is quite far away from the records, just like the sounds from a DX7.
You'd be surprised how far you can take a simple saw-wave oscillator by putting it thru a load of effects.
Heck I've had a hard to to mimic the sounds I used to get when I was sampling with the Amiga...
...then I realized I was overdriving the AD converter like crazy and that the actual aliasing sound could be easily simulated by sampling thru a saturator/clipper & decimator which is not the same as putting a decimator at the end of a signal chain during playback...
Being nerd I'm always interested in how things are made rather than actual music making process which I suck at
Cheers!
I second this. Start with basic subtractive synthesis and get hang of it, then expand if interesting into other types of synthesis. For now IMHO avoid advanced stuff and synths with multiple synthesis types, it will only distract you. Some basic subtractive synths includes Poison-202, Lorentz, Model D, Zeeon, and Viking. Start using any of them, the one you by the looks of it like the most and ”click” with, and learn it inside and out. You are then ready to tackle almost any other synth, you will discover there are mostly similarities besides the looks which can be deceiving.
Good luck man! Been there, and it is just….overwhelming, I know!
/DMfan🇸🇪
A good dose of patience and the Sunrizer synth.
When Butter Synth goes out, then it will be probably most close non-modular answer to "allrounder" synth definition
If you have a dropbox, can you upload some of your music, your synthesis attempts, and thoroughly explain each link with what it is? We can better help guide you that way.
@Samu is right. Definitely start with an Init/Default patch and work from there within a synth.
Buttersynth (once it's released) may be your best bet. Then again I haven't noticed that it can do additive, but it's been about 4 months since I tested it. I'll give it another go in a few hours to see what's new within.
I'd need 10 layers of bags of shame if I shared those ugly pathetic attempts.
But I'll keep working nd learning, and as soon a I get something barely audible I'll share it.
Of coirse it can :-) Just open wavetable wave editor and here down what you see is essentially additive synthesis :-)
I suppose it depends which types of sounds you need and want to create. Bass, Lead, Pad, Pluck, Percussive, Keys, Bells etc.
Each type of sound like those I've listed, have a typical general architecture and behaviour specific to producing them. Start by learning the basics of what those are and which parameters you need to adjust on a synth to sculpt those behaviours.
E.g. Pads generally have long Amp Env Attack, mid-high Decay & Sustain, long Release.
E.g. Plucks/percussive generally have short Amp Env Attack, short Decay and very low to zero Sustain and short Release.
That kind of thing, starting just with one Osc and just using the Amp Env to shape the main part of the sound over time. You would normally have the LPF at max. and its Resonance at zero for this basic exercise. Also you would have any LFO Amounts turned right down and unassigned too so that nothing else is affecting your tests with the Amp Env.
Then you can take one of those simple structures and start introducing some Filter behaviour with the Filter Freq, Filter Env and Filter Amount, and see how that affects the tone over time. Long Filter Env settings are good with Pads. Short Filter Env settings are good with Plucks/Percussive and Bass.
Assuming you start with a basic subtractive synth where all Osc are routed through one Amp Env and one Filter Env.
Then you can start adding another Osc, maybe a little detuning of the second Osc to thicken the sound, or a different waveform or octave.
Then you can start dialling in some LFO settings and seeing what happens.
Follow the signal flow and make adjustments each step at a time along the signal flow to test out each thing. Just turning dials randomly is not advised. Some parameters are linked closely with other parameters and work together. Some things like LFOs have a separate dial like an "amount" or "atenuator" that sets how much the LFO effect is applied. If that dial is turned down, no amount of tweaking the other LFO controls is going to make any audible difference to the sound at all.
Also on most synths, the Filter Res dial is especially not something to be tweaked randomly and blindly. You could very well end up with blown speakers or ear drums if you're not careful with the Filter Res.
Anyway that's exactly how I learnt. Each section at a time. Amp Env then Filter Env then LFOs. Then it's just time and practise and experimentation.
you should, a LOT of stuff improved in last 4 months and therr is now also decent amount of presets inside (some made by me cough cough )
I'd say IceGears Lagrange is one synth that covers quite a few synthesis methods with it's various oscillator types.
Can we already choose which types of oscillators for each of the 5 slots we can use or will we always be stuck with the 2WT, 1FM & 1Sample configuration? If so that's one serious limitation I'll have hard time to ignore...