Sound Design, personal lessons, tutorial, idea

[rob_lee]

Your gonna have to buy alot of synths it's probably going to cost you more to set this up than it's worth with the initial outlay involved im sorry to say.
It's a good idea but if i were you i'd just put together one big pdf manual starting with the basics of sound design working upto modular synthesis/hcm and the likes.
Include things like diagrams etc as i don't think a chatroom will suffice due to some people (no offence) just can't take it in what is being explained to them.
Iv'e been designing sounds since 1988 but unless i had the actual person sitting with me while i showed them the techniques i use to design sounds i don't see what they could possibly learn in the long run, however writing a manual with diagrams + explanations would probably be the better way forward but i wish you look on your venture and i hope it works out for you.

best

rob

[liqih]

wise words rob, just the synths could be used in Demo or I could get some NFR as I would support the product.

Include things like diagrams etc as i don't think a chatroom will suffice due to some people (no offence) just can't take it in what is being explained to them.

Maybe diagrams could be prepared in advance and showed during the chat time, and if a chat appl for software support can be used, it would be almost the same as being in the same room.

As I said writing a book is not what I'm after.

[rob_lee]

wise words rob, just the synths could be used in Demo or I could get some NFR as I would support the product.

Include things like diagrams etc as i don't think a chatroom will suffice due to some people (no offence) just can't take it in what is being explained to them.

Maybe diagrams could be prepared in advance and showed during the chat time, and if a chat appl for software support can be used, it would be almost the same as being in the same room.

As I said writing a book is not what I'm after.

Well then that's a good idea if you were to do it that way There's always people PM me on here asking how to make that sound so maybe i could just point them in your direction when you get set up.
I really hope this takes off for you as it could be a winner and by using demos etc you would be doing everything legally.
Go for it and if you want any input or help i could even put a link to your sound design on my site at www.basslinerecords.com (under construction atm)no problems at all.
Goodluck

Rob

[liqih]

Thanks mate!

[kelvyn]

great input you both! Could be one to have a small class by on-line chat, where everyone could ask questions while we tweak the same synth. Yes "interaction" is the key word, by that can grow a question/answers PDF, but this would be after some time.

So, one topic, 4 pupils on chat, 5 bucks each, 45 minutes lesson ?

Would work for me... The problem with one way tuition for me is that sometimes things can be taken in different ways and the ability to get immediate feedback saves a lot of head scratching.

[liqih]

right, I should include your words in the presentation: "...with the ability to get immediate feedback"

[Musical Gym]

How about a subscription service like Wusik?
Pay monthly for unlimited chat and Sound Advice Magazine, plus bonus goodies (sounds, plugs) for subscribers.

[liqih]

Could work Jim, but it's something different, anyway something to think about as well

[Musical Gym]

It can be hard to balance too many things.
You might want to keep it simpler.
You can get bogged down in programming/development and not get sound/mags out on a consistent basis. Then customers don't know what to expect. I speak from a customer point of view.

[D N A]

once (well, more than just once) I had an idea of payable synth programming tutorials website. but since it doesnt look like it'll be ever created then here are my thoughts

1. My concept is quite simple. Every content would be an article about "how to create bass in plugin x", "how to create pad in plugin y". Lots of screenshots, few mp3 previews and text.
When user enters such tutorial - he sees just a beginning with mp3 preview of the final effect. If he likes it, he buys the whole tutorial.

So it's pay per tutorial model.

1. user can decide and pick those tutorials he's interested (which includes: certain sound design, picking tutorials for plugins he has, level: there may be beginner tutorials, intermediate, advanced etc.)
2. user can print such tutorial
3. monthly subscription for all it's nice for users but my concern is that there will be a lot of users who'll buy 1 month subscription for like 10 bucks and download the entire tutorials database and cancel. The solution would be to pay instantly for let's say 6 months but honestly I dont like it.

I also had an idea to present such tutorials as streams (for example similar to those switched on synthesizer synth1 tutorials - just stream + subtitles) but my concern is bandwidth and possibility to pirate it easier. However there are websites that work this way and it seems they're doing fine But creating good movie probably requires more effort than writing good article.

who knows, maybe i would be interested in writing one or two synth programming tutorials

ok, saturday night - time to go . tomorrow i'll write something more :d

[liqih]

It can be hard to balance too many things.
You might want to keep it simpler.
You can get bogged down in programming/development and not get sound/mags out on a consistent basis. Then customers don't know what to expect. I speak from a customer point of view.

Exactly my concern as well

[bluedad]

How about a subscription service like Wusik?
Pay monthly for unlimited chat and Sound Advice Magazine, plus bonus goodies (sounds, plugs) for subscribers.

I couldn't imagine liqih getting much done following that !
good luck friend, whatever you choose to do.

[liqih]

Hi D N A,

Thanks very much for your insight, your project sounds worakable. But it's missing the immediate feedback we were talking about,
the interactivity of the chat or the e-mails dialogues.

You can find a lot of articles for free on the web, ok, not all good stuff or easy to read.
And anyway the way now should be making videos, which as you said are not easy to do in quality.

Yesterday I saw a Video tutorial for Ableton Live on sale, 5 hours! For only 45 bucks or something.

But read on, <grin>

I think that diffrent people have different needs, and surely someone would like the chat approach.

Also please note that I already have a job dealing with making products to sell later (the plugins)
therefore I really would like a change interacting with the users for the Sound Design advice job.

What about "pay per tutorial lesson" ? Like this:

The tutorial would be a short article freely downloadable, E.G. "Making pads with synth X and Y"

The tutorial would be used for a 2 hours on-line chat lesson (4 users, they pay about 10 USD each).
During the lesson I will explain the tutorial with guided examples and answer to users questions.

Also individual lessons avaible on request.



BTW you are very welcome to collaborate on this, <grin>

ciao

[liqih]

More ideas,

maybe if we do a team, E.G. with Rob and D N A, users would trust more the larger knowledge behind the lessons, <wink>

We could write the short tutorials together, then I would take care of doing the chat lessons,

Rob and D N A, you'll take a percentage from the lessons revenue.

Doable?

[D N A]

sorry but at the moment I just can't. Too much work ... at work + my blog I seem addicted too hehe and plugins i'm developing.

Also, I'm not native english speaking person - I just feel that my english is not good enough to write hmm commercial articles.

You can find a lot of articles for free on the web, ok, not all good stuff or easy to read.

good point. shame on me - I'm running blog about free music production stuff (tutorials too) and forgot about this

well, maybe then it's worth trying chat approach ? Actually the idea seem nice. For example:
1. 15 July 2009 - "How to make pads in plugin xyz" (2 hours) (max 4 users)
2. 16 July 2009 - "How to create bassline in synth abc" (2 hours) (max 4 users)

Users would signup for lessons, pay the $$$, learn something they want to learn

Individual lessons also seem nice. I know that there are enough people who want to learn about synth programming but the problem is that articles, movies doesnt seem to help them. Maybe organised lesson would be the way to go for them ??

I do have one concern. I'm wondering if pure text on chat is enough to satisfy customers. I mean, it's easier to create screenshot with attack set to 0, Decay 43, Sustain 13, Release 99 than just writing it on chat. Also, as user, I would like to have this lesson recorded someone (printed to pdf, saved as movie - with chat approach, I guess it would be some logs).