learning synthesis

[LuIzA]

How did you guys do it?

it's obviously a lot different from making music from physical instruments (or samples of physical instruments). How does one go about learning their way around them? Sure, it's easy to just browse patches and find the one that suits the music than editing it superficially, but that can be inefficient. I want to know how to get some of the sounds out of my head.

Please don't just tell me to mess around with synths, with anything other than good ol' analog-ish synthesis, it easily gets over my head.

[Rozovian]

I think I really began to understand synths when I started thinking of it as signal flow. Oscillator->Filter->Envelope->Effects. Before then I was just messing with it, like "knowing" cutoff makes things sharper when turned up, softer when turned down, and one of the adsr thingies makes it longer or shorter.

Once you think ofm it more as signal flow, you'll wanna learn signal processing. What can you do to a signal to change it? Modulate its frequency? Use two identical oscillators tuned slightly differently? Change the pulse width? Morph between waveforms? Make the filter edge more prominent? Filter both highs and lows? Boost certain frequencies depending on note pitch? Boost certain frequencies regardless of note pitch? Make the filters move over time? Filter out specific frequencies?

Then you can start thinking of different kinds of synthesis, like subtractive and additive, fm, granular...

At some point during all that, you might wanna try to imitate real instruments. Vibrations on a string, or a wine glass; drums, wind, the human voice, etc.. I've done all that, with varying amounts of success. I've learned lots.

[SonicThHedgog]

i messed around with a moog in 98, when i wanted to make a sound, i would think of what the sound's base foundation is, then how many foundation bases and what types of foundation bases / let foundation represent your waveform.

for filters i would listen to hear is the sound was a shard pitched sound (High pass) or a low soft sound (low pass). if the sound i wanted in my head had some what strong poping thats normal or fuzzy for renonsance and lfo with wave forms for ocillation would take to much time for me to explain, same for evelopes or amp and as a filter.

[Yoozer]

How did you guys do it?

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-production/405559-synthesis-tips-tutorials-how-create-your-own-patches.html

Please don't just tell me to mess around with synths, with anything other than good ol' analog-ish synthesis, it easily gets over my head.

No, "just tweak knobs" is indeed shitty advice.

Put a method to the madness. Start with an init patch - that's usually a single sawtooth or square wave with the filter disabled. Just start auditioning different combinations of oscillator 1 and 2 - one set to pulse, the other to saw, then with different tunings (1 octave up, 5th up, third up, octave + fifth up) and all combinations of waveshapes. Then oscillator sync; what happens when you sync, what happens when you change the tuning?

When you've got those combinations learned by heart, filters are the easy part; lowpass emulates the loss of energy during vibration, envelope controls the speed of that; highpass and bandpass make the sound chitter (and they're usually not that useful, but nice to have - especially if you can layer the sounds).

As for learning other forms, check the thread I've linked to.

I've learned what I know on a Juno-60. Each slider does exactly one thing. Sliders and knobs are there for a reason; if one appears to not react to anything it's due to another setting it's dependent on. The advantage of learning it like that was that my 12-year old self didn't have a clue what "cutoff" actually did in electronic terms, but I sure learned what the slider did; I simply memorized its effect.

Dedicated control surfaces like that help immensely; but arguably nowadays you're far better off. More choice in everything for far less money.

[LuIzA]

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-production/405559-synthesis-tips-tutorials-how-create-your-own-patches.html

Put a method to the madness. Start with an init patch - that's usually a single sawtooth or square wave with the filter disabled. Just start auditioning different combinations of oscillator 1 and 2 - one set to pulse, the other to saw, then with different tunings (1 octave up, 5th up, third up, octave + fifth up) and all combinations of waveshapes. Then oscillator sync; what happens when you sync, what happens when you change the tuning?

When you've got those combinations learned by heart, filters are the easy part; lowpass emulates the loss of energy during vibration, envelope controls the speed of that; highpass and bandpass make the sound chitter (and they're usually not that useful, but nice to have - especially if you can layer the sounds).

As for learning other forms, check the thread I've linked to.

that much I already learned. I'll check out the thread, but yeah, I'm looking to learn other types of synthesis like wavetable, granular, and so on.

Also some kind of "philosophy" for working with synths, as like I said, it seems to me like a whole different deal than working with real instruments

[Yoozer]

Wavetable is really not different except that you substitute basic waveforms with morphable digital waveforms. PWM on a regular subtractive is available for every wave in a wavetable synth.

FM, now, that's another kettle of fish; but as you can see in the thread someone linked "The Tao Of FM" which should get you going with the basics. Start with only 2 operators; lots of sonic space to explore already.

Also, don't hesitate to have a reverb/delay hooked up by default (but switched off in most cases). Sometimes a simple square blip gets really nice if you add a long, lush reverb.

The philosophy is different as such that with regular instruments, you only have that and nothing more. Any special effects have to achieved by using only that instrument. On the other hand, you'll get way more expressiveness, while achieving the same with synths requires several pedals to be hooked up.

[Arcana]

that much I already learned. I'll check out the thread, but yeah, I'm looking to learn other types of synthesis like wavetable, granular, and so on.

Also some kind of "philosophy" for working with synths, as like I said, it seems to me like a whole different deal than working with real instruments

What do you mean when you say philosophy? Like sound design? When to use what kind of sound, where, and stuff?

You seem to be asking for more than "How do I make patches" but I'm not quite clear yet.

Do you know what all of the typical synth parameters are already, like filters, routing, LFOs, oscillators, and how to get a good sound out of a typical subtractive synth?

[LuIzA]

What do you mean when you say philosophy? Like sound design? When to use what kind of sound, where, and stuff?

You seem to be asking for more than "How do I make patches" but I'm not quite clear yet.

Do you know what all of the typical synth parameters are already, like filters, routing, LFOs, oscillators, and how to get a good sound out of a typical subtractive synth?

I'm not sure how to explain it myself, but it's something like that, yes.

it's like, when working with real instruments, you get ideas in the form of "so the piano plays this melody and the guitar plays the rhythm" for instance. How do electronic artists go about in their craft? do you start with a synth texture and then create a melody or whatever, or do you create your melody and then mess around with sounds for it?

most of the time, I tend to think of instruments, before notes. it's like I get textures in my head, but they are called "piano", "guitar", "sax", "violin", etc

so yes, part of my question is pretty much "how do I make patches" or "how do I get the sound that's in my head". I know how subtractive synthesis and its parameters work, though my head kinda spins at how many possibilities there are, in contrast to just "a piano"... I can add a crapload of FX, and I'm not afraid of doing so, but first and foremost, it's a piano.

Finally, when it comes to other forms of synthesis, I just simply don't know how they work.

[Arcana]

I'm not a sound design expert, but I have the perspective of a beginner so that might help.

A lot of synthesis simply mirrors what you might do with real instruments. A rock band has a lead guitar, rhythm guitars, and a bass guitar (and drums). You can pretty much mirror that setup for a synthesis setup: make a high-pitched lead, with fast amp attack and a fast release for your lead sound, put in some mid-ranged synths, detuned a bit for body for harmony, and put a low bass with fast attack and release to fill out the low end. In addition I often have extra synths for "accents" and "backing". Arppegiated synths for example make a really good background harmony that might come through as a lead as well for variety.

Generally for a synth-based song I use the following rough guidelines:

- Leads are high-pitched, have fast amp attacks and releases, and an LFO doing something (doesn't really matter though tremolo/vibrato/filter modulation are common). Depending on the song I might leave them a little less wet on reverb than other synths so they stand up front.

I tend to like using squares and saws for my leads but that's personal preference.

- Arpeggiated synths and anything that plays a repeated sequence is usually made up of fast attack/fast release, single waveform (squares and triangles work well). I try not to add too many harmonics to these.

- Pads usually have a long release and maybe a long attack, depending on how long your pad is around for. LFO routing is pretty important. Use multiple oscillators and detune them for that "wide chorus" effect. Sweep your pads for extra coolness. Drown them in reverb for that huge feel.

- Harmonies really depend on your song, I might construct them like leads or more like pads.

- Bass that plays a groove should be short attack/short release. Triangle and square waves work well for groove bass. I usually set 12dB filter midway to filter out the high ends. Keep the bass pretty dry and close to centre.

- I also like to put in some low bass sometimes, or some crunchy long bass. Sine waves as a starting point work well. Modulate the filter at a really high rate for some blasting harmonics.

- Drums are, well, drums. You can often synthesize the drum parts yourself too for variety. Kicks are generally sine waves, snares/hi-hats are made mostly of noise.

As you can tell the amp envelope is pretty important when shaping sounds, probably more so than the effects/filters that you apply. But, a lot of the time synths can simply be dropped into place of a real instrument as long as it's playing a similar part at a similar pitch.

And also, FX are overrated. Well, not really, but you often don't need to throw on tons of effects to make something sound good. Many synths benefit from some reverb. Compress and EQ according to your mixing preferences. Delay can be fun. But it's easy to overdo it and not everything needs these effects.

There's a lot of other synth types out there that you mentioned. They all kind of have their "sound" but even within subtractive synthesizers there's a lot of sound variety. To learn what TYPE of synth to use where you really have to listen carefully to a synth and learn it.

I find that there's really no shame in making seven instances of the same synth, writing different patches, and using them for every part of your song. Don't be afraid that everything sounds the same or that you're cheating - you aren't.

In general I find that most synths can be used for, pretty much every part of a song. Subtractive, granular, and wavetables can be used for everything. Physical modeling synths are more for emulating real instruments; the one I have is good at bells, mallets, and wind instruments. FM is great for bells and bass and gives a little more of a digital metallic sound compared to subtractive synthesis.

Again, I'm not an expert (I don't even really consider myself any good) so take the advice at face-value. I am also not sure if I told you anything that you haven't already figured out yourself either. But maybe something in here helps a bit?

[Yoozer]

it's like, when working with real instruments, you get ideas in the form of "so the piano plays this melody and the guitar plays the rhythm" for instance.

Yes. Consider why that is so.

A guitar has a range. About 44 notes and then it stops. Violins also begin and stop somewhere in terms of pitch. If the instruments don't get in eachother's ways during playing because they occupy different niches in the frequency range melodies can be heard without clutter.

How do electronic artists go about in their craft?

Arcana's pretty much spot on with the mimicking of real-life instruments; the difference is in polyphony. For wind instruments you have an ensemble playing single notes each, which gives you usually far more creative ways to construct chords (and have each note sound different). On a synth you have exact duplicates of everything.

The same ideas about call/response and contrast (a single trumpet vs. softly playing background brass or strings) are applicable in electronic music; it's just that there's no limit to the range of an instrument because you don't have physical constraints.

do you start with a synth texture and then create a melody or whatever, or do you create your melody and then mess around with sounds for it?

For melodic music I've just found it the most effective to simply start with a piano sound. If the melody, chord progressions or rhythm doesn't work with just a piano, chances are that it's not going to work with synths either.

Finally, when it comes to other forms of synthesis, I just simply don't know how they work.

Sound has three properties: volume, pitch and timbre, the last being a complex mish-mash of pretty much everything that concerns filters, oscillators, audio-rate modulation and all that. With volume there's not much choice - it takes either zero time to climb to full volume or a timespan of arbitrary length, and the same thing for it to go to silence again. By triggering repeatedly you denote rhythm and structure with the sound.

With real instruments you put constraints on the timbre; a saxophone can't imitate a guitar. While synthesizers can't imitate saxophones perfectly either, they do a better job of imitating the guitar than the saxophone does.

But if you go back in musical history, another important part is that you want to use musical allegories. In

the instruments mimic a tableau; the xylophone is used for the skeleton's rattling bones.

With synthesizers you have the same thing - it's just that you don't necessarily need a dozen instruments, plus the whole symbolism is kind of taken out of it. Still, the cadence of snare drum rolls in trance (or nowadays, white noise) is to lead to a climax of sorts - a rollercoaster going up, and then dropping down in free fall again, for instance.

Anyway - the only drawback is that not every sound on a synth has the exact (well-known and loved) frequency range of real instruments; it usually goes outside of those bounds in terms of frequency content. This means that EQ advice for guitars (boost X to achieve Y, cut Z to achieve W) isn't useful for synth sounds; you'll have to find out those for yourself.