Ten Steps To Becoming A Synth Dynamo

[jhan303]

Hey Abletonians

So. I wrote an article called Ten Steps To Becoming A Synth Dynamo and put it up on Syntorial's site at www.syntorial.com/dynamo.php. If anyone's interested I'd love to hear what you think. Love it. Hate it. Inaccuracies. Stuff I missed. Unabashed praise. Ya know. Opinions.

[Martin Gifford]

Haven't read it all yet, but I am finding this to be exactly true:

"That being said, are presets the anti-Christ? No. Like I said, they often sound fantastic, so they can serve as a great starting point for a track. This way you're not trying to wedge it into an already-built track, but instead building your masterpiece around it."

Yep. It's funny how you can have a cool drum beat and then create a great melody or bassline using a cool preset and it will sound fantastic and you can't imagine ever changing the preset. But then when you have a project nearly finished and you need to add a new solo to change the mood, and you have the exact sound in mind... nope, not 1 out of 2,000 presets fits! Weird!

You've inspired me to download some Sylenth video tutorials even though I love the presets.

[re:dream]

Very sound advice, and nicely written.

But I am struck by your advice to start with subtractive synths. Why that, and not FM? At the moment I am pretty much doing what you are saying in the article, but with Operator, not Analog. Why would Analog be a better place to start?

[Schiggy]

Very sound advice, and nicely written.

But I am struck by your advice to start with subtractive synths. Why that, and not FM? At the moment I am pretty much doing what you are saying in the article, but with Operator, not Analog. Why would Analog be a better place to start?

+1

About your writing style, i like that you are able to keep it short.
But your nonsensical jokes like the one with the woodland elf or OBGYN are neither useful nor funny... 2 cents.

[slatepipe]

All interesting stuff, cheers. And i love that TAL noisemaker

[bytheriver]

Seeing this reminded me to download the VST version, very cool!

Tips and tricks were good, hows the Ipad version coming along? I think having that will make primer a very good one synth to start with as you can use it anywhere.

[jhan303]

But I am struck by your advice to start with subtractive synths. Why that, and not FM? At the moment I am pretty much doing what you are saying in the article, but with Operator, not Analog. Why would Analog be a better place to start?

I feel that there are so many more synths out there built off of the subtractive model. So the skills you learn on one subtractive synth are going to apply easier to other synths. FM is a very different beast when it comes to the oscillators. Plus, many subtractive synths have basic FM functionality as well so you can get a taste of FM with Subtractive.

That being said, after the oscillators the rest is very similar so I think the MOST important aspect is sticking with one synth (at least for a while) whether it be FM or Subtractive.

[jhan303]

hows the Ipad version coming along?

It's still on the to-do list. A rather large list. But it is happening.

[jestermgee]

Nice write up. Doesn't waffle on and is pretty much tips on getting to grips. I'm not too keen on some of the humour either it seems kind of tacked on and though it tries to lighten the mood I find myself trying to skip over the analogy between a synth and a relationship. IMHO the humour isn't needed since it's easy enough to stick with the topic.

3. Get To Know Your Synth

Okay, so you've finally committed to a monogamous relationship. Now how do you get to know him/her/it?

First, go through each preset one by one, playing them and saving the ones you like in a separate folder. Do this until you have about 50 of your favorite presets with a variety of leads, basses, pads, and whatever other categories your synth offers.

Next, open up two instances of your synth, and initialize the second one, so that it's just a plain saw wave sound. Then, one by one, open up each of your 50 presets on the first synth and re-create them manually on the second, by visually matching the controls, and consulting the manual when necessary. While doing this, play the second synth every time you tweak a control. This way you'll hear how each step gets you closer to the preset sound.

You'd be amazed at how much you'll learn about your synth doing this. You'll get to know every nook and cranny, but more importantly, you'll start to discover which aspects of your synth manipulate sound in a way that you like. Because after all, these are patches you picked out according to your own personal tastes.

That is a great tip that applies to everything. Also a reminder that I need to go back and do more of this as it's been a long time since I sat down and tried to program everything from scratch.

[re:dream]

Well I have been trying this with the Zebra and it is a humbling experience.

I am copying those patches dial by dial and even the simplest FMOs sound totally different, no matter how exactly I replicate them.

I am totally baffled

[xbitz]

+1 should / worth to check the :

Refining Sound is a practical roadmap to the complexities of creating sounds on modern synthesizers. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of learning to create sounds on a synthesizer is understanding what all the individual synthesizer components contribute to the complex finished sound. Author and veteran synthesizer instructor Brian K. Shepard draws on his years of experience in synthesizer pedagogy in order to peel back the often-mysterious layers of sound synthesis one-by-one. The result is a book that allows readers to familiarize themselves with each individual step in the synthesis process, in turn empowering them in their own creative or experimental work.

--

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Companion Website
Introduction: Getting the Most Out of This Book
1: Synthesis and Synthesizers: Digging Beneath the Surface of Your Synthesizer
2: Oscillators: Mining the Raw Materials of Your Synthesizer
3: Oscillator Combinations: Creating Exotic Compounds from Your Raw Materials
4: Amplitude Envelope Generators: Shaping Your Sounds
5: Audio Filters: Refining the Color of Your Sounds
6: Internal Modulation Sources: Dynamic Shaping of Your Sounds
7: External Control Sources: Shaping Your Sounds with Playing Techniques
8: Effects Processors: Polishing Your Sounds
9: Putting It All Together: Creating and Refining Your Own Synthesized Sounds
Appendix I: Further Reading and Information
Appendix II: Suggestions for the Instructor
Index

272 pages | over 175 illustrations | 279x216mm
978-0-19-992294-9 | Hardback | 28 November 2013

http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199922949.do

it's a very good and informative one, with many working examples based on the Max Runtime > http://global.oup.com/us/companion.webs ... pter1.html

ps. Amazon link is here (kindle) http://www.amazon.com/Refining-Sound-Pr ... _kstore_15

[jhan303]

Well I have been trying this with the Zebra and it is a humbling experience.

I am copying those patches dial by dial and even the simplest FMOs sound totally different, no matter how exactly I replicate them.

I am totally baffled

I don't have any personal experience with Zebra, but I do know that it is very complex. I can only say that if the surface settings match, and it still sounds different there must some buried parameters (in menus perhaps) that you can't see that are set differently? Just a guess.

[re:dream]

Yes. I been digging around in the hope of finding some. No luck yet

*sigh* I expect this is how one learns

[tedlogan]

Well I have been trying this with the Zebra and it is a humbling experience.

I am copying those patches dial by dial and even the simplest FMOs sound totally different, no matter how exactly I replicate them.

I am totally baffled

Odd. Have you checked your global settings as well? Is Bypass FX on or off (it stays off even if you load another patch, until turned on again manually)?

Perhaps you're already doing this - but place 2 empty chains in a rack. Place the one Zebra patch you want to try and emulate/recreate in one chain. Place Zebra's initialise patch in the other, which is where you're gonna start tweaking. This way, you can have both VST windows open at the same time, and easily see what needs copying, while also learning by listening to the patch you're copying. Could help to assign a controller knob to crossfade between the two patches so you can hear yours in isolation etc.

[re:dream]

That's exactly what I am doing. Plus you can position the two Zebra's GUI's exactly on top of each other so that by changing channels back and forth different settings are easily visible.

And, yes, I have checked global settings.

What I am doing at the moment is muting every channel on the Zebra except the one I am working with on the moment, inactivating every effect, so that I just have the raw sound of the FMO1, and copying the FMO and Envelope settings exactly.

And the sounds are totally different.

It is just baffling