Sound Reverse-engineering: How to?

[jackoo]

Hi all,

I've been thinking a lot about this:

Do you have a technique / algorithm for reverse-engineering sounds?

Suppose you have that sound in your head. Can you decompose it into its basic components on the fly? Can you build those components separately? Do you use special tools?

Is knowledge of the physical system that made that sound important?

Are there people who simply hear a sound and go 'ah! that's a sawtooth and a square wave detuned running through a LPF configured like so...'? Are there easier ways for folks who can't do that in their heads (is there software that can help?).
If you can do this how long did it take you to reach this level of mastery?

Often when I like to dissect a sound I do a combination of the following:
- Use paulstrech to freeze the instrument in time (or to get an accurate snapshot in frequency of an instant).
- This frozen snapshot of the sound helps me as a guideline when working with synths
- Use spectrum analysis tools (SPAN)
- Use oscilloscope views (usually the sounds that sound good are not periodic, they change over time)

What is your process of thought when you try to recreate a more complex sound?

Cheers & Merry Christmas!

[fluffy_little_something]

Wow, that sounds very technical -- algorithm, oscillator, spectrum analyzer etc.

I seldom have sounds in my head that I want to create. It is almost as if it is impossible for me to think of a sound I have not heard before, it's like imagining a color I have never seen before. At best I "hear" a sound that is a modification of a known sound. In other words, all I might do is try to create a more or less familiar sound. While fiddling around, of course I sometimes - not seldom accidentally - come up with a new sound, but it is not a planned sound in that case.

Anyway, when I recreate a familiar sound it is basically intuition and experience. I do analyze a sound in my head when listening to a song where it is used, but without tools. Usually I just concentrate on the two or three main components of the sound and try to emulate them individually. That is why I won't use a synth anymore that does not have at least two separate synth lines.

I do think it is relatively easy to tell whether a sound is based mostly on a specific basic waveform. Square sounds very different from saw or sine or noise But today many people use much more complex synths with exotic waveforms, wavetables and what not. So it is often very hard to tell what waveforms were used, simply because they are not conventional ones, or layered ones etc.

[dakkra]

Wow, that sounds very technical -- algorithm, oscillator, spectrum analyzer etc.

I seldom have sounds in my head that I want to create. It is almost as if it is impossible for me to think of a sound I have not heard before, it's like imagining a color I have never seen before. At best I "hear" a sound that is a modification of a known sound. In other words, all I might do is try to create a more or less familiar sound. While fiddling around, of course I sometimes - not seldom accidentally - come up with a new sound, but it is not a planned sound in that case.

Anyway, when I recreate a familiar sound it is basically intuition and experience. I do analyze a sound in my head when listening to a song where it is used, but without tools. Usually I just concentrate on the two or three main components of the sound and try to emulate them individually. That is why I won't use a synth anymore that does not have at least two separate synth lines.

I do think it is relatively easy to tell whether a sound is based mostly on a specific basic waveform. Square sounds very different from saw or sine or noise But today many people use much more complex synths with exotic waveforms, wavetables and what not. So it is often very hard to tell what waveforms were used, simply because they are not conventional ones, or layered ones etc.

I think this summarizes what many of us do After working with synths for a while you get the ear for it. You start to understand and imagine how you can recreate something without the need for tools (which, by the way are very handy even if you don't need them).