Really Beginners Sound Design

[musicalmemoriesuk]

I'm trying to learn sound design have looked at and read countless tutorials but feel like I'm getting to bogged down with the theory. A lot of tutorials don't seem to be very hands on. I understand about the waveforms ? But from there I get stuck. Is there anything that shows you if you want a kick for example what oscilator and filters to use. A bit like building blocks.

[Aiynzahev]

hmm.. Well I make a kick in this video https://youtu.be/JUjfEjIiT0A?t=2m32s

And I'm sure I've seen others on youtube as well. I know you just gave the kick as an example though.

I have done a few tutorials for Groove3.com where I explain the parts of a synth then do some sound design. It's detailed. I've done Arturia SEM and U-he Diva so far.

[MOK19]

Interesting - My experience with sound design is that there's not much for over-arching theories. The only things I've seen and experienced have been hands-on. Specific tricks, the use of certain tools, the sound of particular combinations of signal processing, a lot of one-off stuff that come together with time, practice and acclimatization. Surely it's all connected via math and physics, but really that's not the perspective anyone's working from at the end of the day.

Normally I'm a system & theory oriented guy - it's just how I prefer to think - but in this case I'd suggest changing your approach entirely toward more practical uses of your time. Pick a sound, emulate it, figure out the specifics of that *one thing.* Ask for help on that one specific thing. Always have a goal to reach that is set in stone, not vague, so that you know whether you're succeeding or failing(both are good). Figure out why you succeeded or failed. Repeat.

The key is specificity. Especially if you're asking for help, or trying to figure out how to get 'that sound,' whatever it may be. The more general your question or goal it is, the less likely you'll find a real answer, one that sticks, one whose knowledge will actually help you in the future.

Also, read your synths' manual. Best move you can make.
And, unless you feel you've mastered your preferred synth, stop using other synths. Learn to use your one favorite synth to it's fullest potential, so that over time you develop a solid point of reference.

Additionally, if you feel like you've discovered something - learned a trick, managed to get 'that sound,' or really internalized why something is the way it is - write a post about it, and try to show others. This is a great way to make knowledge stick, and to iron all the vagaries and uncertainties floating around in your head. Writing out how to do something formalizes what you've learned in a way that's more easily referenced later. It also forces you to discover and fills in the gaps you didn't realize were there. Which is a big deal.

I learned sound design primarily here, by trying to figure out patches people would ask about, and then replying to the original poster what I learned in my attempt. After a year, I found that I'd improved significantly, pretty quick. It's worth trying.

Again, I'm a fan of theory, systemic knowledge, the nuts and bolts of why things are the way they are, and I would not espouse throwing all that stuff out the window, nor even that mindset. But with that said, in sound design I think you'll get a lot more mileage from raw practice, and the *right kind* of practice, where you know exactly what you're trying to do, and each practice session gets you something you can draw from next time.

So no freeform noodling and random knob twisting. There's not much to learn there, because the results don't stick in your head, and you can barely keep track of what you're doing once an interesting sound pops out. It has it's place in the creative process, but that's not what you're looking for at the moment, I suspect. A bucket of techniques that you can draw from is one major portion of how skill in sound design manifests. So if your time doesn't result in a significant step toward developing a particular technique or sensibility(what to expect from the manipulation of relative phase, as an example), then it's not really helpful.

In regard to specificity, for example, your question about how to synthesize a kick is a decent start, but it could benefit from a narrower range - WHICH kick? Because there's many ways you could do it, and many resultant sounds that are useful. So if there's something that prompted you to ask this question, a particular sound you're interested in from a particular song, then pursue THAT. You could identify the sample you want, then start a thread asking how to make it, and work from there. What you learn will add to your cumulative tool box, and over time that tool box will get big if you persist.

Kay nuf words.

[zenophilix]

My recommendation(though a bit impractical) for learning sound design in general would be to find someone that you can ask questions about sound design, or possibly just have a thread where you can ask questions. Using a well laid out synthesizer helps too, some have everything crammed together with a lot of knobs, others have things laid out intuitively with a lot of pretty graphs. Alternatively, just start messing around, pressing buttons until you figure out what they do. That's what I did.

[garryknight]

Shane Robbins (also known as Echo Soundworks) usually tells you why he's doing what he's doing while crafting a sound. He's got loads of videos on ADSR Tutorials (monthly subscription) and quite a few on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... soundworks

[gExpectations]

I'm currently doing this course and I can recommend it. It says skill level is "intermediate" whatever that means. I'm not sure what you're exactly looking for (and I'm not sure if there are any shortcuts) but for thoroughly investigating this topic in a digestible manner, this video series is splendid. https://vespers.ca/shop/synthesis-sound ... sterclass/

[zenophilix]

I'm currently doing this course and I can recommend it. It says skill level is "intermediate" whatever that means. I'm not sure what you're exactly looking for (and I'm not sure if there are any shortcuts) but for thoroughly investigating this topic in a digestible manner, this video series is splendid. https://vespers.ca/shop/synthesis-sound ... sterclass/

Intermediate is sort of in the middle. You're welcome. Looks like a good course, would be worth checking out. Might be some free offerings as well.

[ATN69]

I guess sound design is one of those things you learn best by just keep on doing it. It's a bit like cooking. In time you will know what ingrediences to use. I am absolutely no pro but I been doing it since back in the 80's, by using various hardware synths and over the years I kind of developed a feeling of what waveforms to use to create a specific sound, filters, modulations, etc. I never read any theory. I am still learning new things. I like to challange myself.

One more tip! Some times I bought presets for my vst synths and I study those presets to see what is the "magic" behind it. By doing so I learned new ways to set up modulations, filters, etc, that I never thought about before.

[MOK19]

I guess sound design is one of those things you learn best by just keep on doing it. It's a bit like cooking. In time you will know what ingrediences to use. I am absolutely no pro but I been doing it since back in the 80's, by using various hardware synths and over the years I kind of developed a feeling of what waveforms to use to create a specific sound, filters, modulations, etc. I never read any theory. I am still learning new things. I like to challange myself.

One more tip! Some times I bought presets for my vst synths and I study those presets to see what is the "magic" behind it. By doing so I learned new ways to set up modulations, filters, etc, that I never thought about before.

I agree with this, particularly the cooking analogy. Been learning to cook better recently, and it does map pretty closely with how I learned sound design. You have to learn particular topics one at a time - how a particular spice tends to go, what styles of heating are good for what, which vegetables ought to be treated a particular way(most of the time). Sound design is just like that. Hence my prior suggestion regarding the importance of specificity. Learn something real particular, then move on to the next, and keep it simple so that you know what you're learning. Over time it adds up.

[planetearth]

Interesting - My experience with sound design is that there's not much for over-arching theories. The only things I've seen and experienced have been hands-on. Specific tricks, the use of certain tools, the sound of particular combinations of signal processing, a lot of one-off stuff that come together with time, practice and acclimatization. Surely it's all connected via math and physics, but really that's not the perspective anyone's working from at the end of the day.

Normally I'm a system & theory oriented guy - it's just how I prefer to think - but in this case I'd suggest changing your approach entirely toward more practical uses of your time. Pick a sound, emulate it, figure out the specifics of that *one thing.* Ask for help on that one specific thing. Always have a goal to reach that is set in stone, not vague, so that you know whether you're succeeding or failing(both are good). Figure out why you succeeded or failed. Repeat.

The key is specificity. Especially if you're asking for help, or trying to figure out how to get 'that sound,' whatever it may be. The more general your question or goal it is, the less likely you'll find a real answer, one that sticks, one whose knowledge will actually help you in the future.

Also, read your synths' manual. Best move you can make.
And, unless you feel you've mastered your preferred synth, stop using other synths. Learn to use your one favorite synth to it's fullest potential, so that over time you develop a solid point of reference.

Additionally, if you feel like you've discovered something - learned a trick, managed to get 'that sound,' or really internalized why something is the way it is - write a post about it, and try to show others. This is a great way to make knowledge stick, and to iron all the vagaries and uncertainties floating around in your head. Writing out how to do something formalizes what you've learned in a way that's more easily referenced later. It also forces you to discover and fills in the gaps you didn't realize were there. Which is a big deal.

I learned sound design primarily here, by trying to figure out patches people would ask about, and then replying to the original poster what I learned in my attempt. After a year, I found that I'd improved significantly, pretty quick. It's worth trying.

Again, I'm a fan of theory, systemic knowledge, the nuts and bolts of why things are the way they are, and I would not espouse throwing all that stuff out the window, nor even that mindset. But with that said, in sound design I think you'll get a lot more mileage from raw practice, and the *right kind* of practice, where you know exactly what you're trying to do, and each practice session gets you something you can draw from next time.

So no freeform noodling and random knob twisting. There's not much to learn there, because the results don't stick in your head, and you can barely keep track of what you're doing once an interesting sound pops out. It has it's place in the creative process, but that's not what you're looking for at the moment, I suspect. A bucket of techniques that you can draw from is one major portion of how skill in sound design manifests. So if your time doesn't result in a significant step toward developing a particular technique or sensibility(what to expect from the manipulation of relative phase, as an example), then it's not really helpful.

In regard to specificity, for example, your question about how to synthesize a kick is a decent start, but it could benefit from a narrower range - WHICH kick? Because there's many ways you could do it, and many resultant sounds that are useful. So if there's something that prompted you to ask this question, a particular sound you're interested in from a particular song, then pursue THAT. You could identify the sample you want, then start a thread asking how to make it, and work from there. What you learn will add to your cumulative tool box, and over time that tool box will get big if you persist.

Kay nuf words.

All excellent ideas, and much of this could apply to learning anything--not just sound design.

Steve

[Lejurai]

Is there anything that shows you if you want a kick for example what oscilator and filters to use. A bit like building blocks.

Sine or triangle and no filter Except when you layer that little snap sound to your kick.

There are piles and piles of sound design books available in for example Amazon, so all you have to do, is to buy a few and read them.

http://designingsound.org/2009/06/sound ... als-books/
http://designingsound.org/2010/02/sound ... oks-links/
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/post-pr ... books.html

[musicalmemoriesuk]

I've tried some of the native fl studio plugins and synth1 but it's knowing where to start and getting to the point where you hear a sound in your head or on some music and being able to replicate it. I see someone on a video who is able to reverse engineer sounds.

[musicalmemoriesuk]

I particularly love the sounds from the 80s cars fade to to Grey. The lush pads and strings from then. Is Synth1 a good synth to learn on?

[Lejurai]

I read some books but only thing where I REALLY learned any sound design was, that I got my hands dirty and messed around with synth(s) like crap. I spent hours a day just tweaking and exploring.

I'd recommend some really easy synth to start with like Charlatan

And yes, synth1 is great, but it MAY be a little confusing with UI full of knobs. At least for me it was before I found my way around with synths

[musicalmemoriesuk]

Ok thanks I will look into that.Trouble is when you start using a synth you expectations are really high and you want to be able to hear a sound and replicate it bit like playing music by ear.