Instrumentation for electronic / synthesized sounds (noob)

[rrc2soft]

Dear all,

I am yet another newbie trying to express himself with music. In particular, video game-style music mostly created from synthesizers and synthesized sounds. Think Disasterpeace, C418, and simple but nice tunes from people like Flybyno. Also, old tunes from Genesis / SNES video games.

I have been studying various subjects (from music theory to melodic composition, from synthesizers to DAW's & co), and I plan to keep trying, little by little, as a lifelong goal. Still, there is one particular topic where I found very little information in the net: instrumentation for electronic / synthesized sounds.

Ok, I will explain what I mean as I am an utter noob. There is a lot of literature related to instrumentation and orchestration for the traditional orchestra. How the instrument groups (Or individual instruments) combine with each other. There are plenty of interesting books, and I have read some of them.

Still, as my goal is to make synthesized music, I get lost on this particular area. Whenever I try to have a simple sonic landscape with several instruments, the result is a mess similar to a cat meowing like there is not tomorrow.

Of course, the next logical step is to keep on walking, keep on trying, and (in this particular area) listen to whatever music I like - and then "reverse engineer" it, feel the sounds, how they combine together.

Still, as I found very little info on this subject, I am a bit curious .

Thanks!

Ps: I didn't find any info using the forum search, sorry if it is duplicated somewhere.

[RunBeerRun]

My cat meowed last night like there was no tomorrow. For video game sounds, there's that Plogue one, I think it's Chiptune, has a lot of video game engines in it. Not sure what this has to do with cats.

[DJ Warmonger]

Same rules apply to electronic music. The thing is, synths do not sound natural (like they played in real space) on their own, they start sounding natural by processing.

There are some basic things to manage spatial image of your composition:
- Unison changes one instrument into group of instruments playing close to each other.
- Panning moves sound direction from left to right.
- Reverb simulates propagation of wave in a room or space. Load convolution reverb with some "concert hall" impulse repsponse and you will know it.
- (Stereo) Delay widens sound across left-right axis.

As to "which instruments go well with each other" - this is arbitrary, depends partialy on sound programming and partially on processing you apply. This is your job.

[rrc2soft]

Thanks for the replies . Will try my best to keep the cats in check

[garryknight]

One reason it can sometimes come out sounding like a cat's chorus is if you're using sounds that overlap in the frequency spectrum. The fix is to learn how to use equalisation to carve out niches in that spectrum to isolate each different sound to some extent. Most DAWs come have the ability not only to set up an equaliser but to change it dynamically using automation.

Once you've learnt the basics, it should only take the rest of your lifetime to get good at it.

[Marte]

Synths are amazing when the parameters like filter cutoff, reso, envelopes and many many more are automated along their parts. As well as parameters from other effects in the chain: choruses, delays, reverbs etc

[Sendy]

One thing to note: if you're wanting to have some chiptune roots you need to learn how to work with basic materials. Squarewaves and different pulses and digital noise. Before you even get into EQ, compression, panning, etc, there is a lot that can be done. Chiptune artists don't have filters and effects to massage their sound, so it's important to choose the right sound for each part, and give it the correct octave, envelope, volume level, vibrato amount, etc. Learning chipmusic taught me all of this so that when and if I do reach for mixing tools, a lot of the groundwork is already done and I'm either just making small corrective tweaks, or doing creative EQ to colour the sound, often notching out the harshest frequency.

It's not neccicarily true that sounds need their own frequency range. Squarewaves are broadband signals and yet pass right through eachother. By giving each note the right attack the brain will be able to follow every note. It really is all about the envelopes. If you have four squarewaves playing and they're all sustained at max volume, it will be tiring on the ears.

I feel people reach for complex tools such as transient shapers before they even think about tweaking simple stuff, like ADSR envelopes. Compression when balacing note velocities will do, etc.

[willdub1]

Dear all,

I am yet another newbie trying to express himself with music. In particular, video game-style music mostly created from synthesizers and synthesized sounds. Think Disasterpeace, C418, and simple but nice tunes from people like Flybyno. Also, old tunes from Genesis / SNES video games.

I have been studying various subjects (from music theory to melodic composition, from synthesizers to DAW's & co), and I plan to keep trying, little by little, as a lifelong goal. Still, there is one particular topic where I found very little information in the net: instrumentation for electronic / synthesized sounds.

Ok, I will explain what I mean as I am an utter noob. There is a lot of literature related to instrumentation and orchestration for the traditional orchestra. How the instrument groups (Or individual instruments) combine with each other. There are plenty of interesting books, and I have read some of them.

Still, as my goal is to make synthesized music, I get lost on this particular area. Whenever I try to have a simple sonic landscape with several instruments, the result is a mess similar to a cat meowing like there is not tomorrow.

Of course, the next logical step is to keep on walking, keep on trying, and (in this particular area) listen to whatever music I like - and then "reverse engineer" it, feel the sounds, how they combine together.

Still, as I found very little info on this subject, I am a bit curious .

Thanks!

Ps: I didn't find any info using the forum search, sorry if it is duplicated somewhere.

Hey rrc2soft. I believe I know where you are heading with this. You're after instrumentation & knowledge as to how all these "electronic" sounds are suppose to come together. For instance there are various articulations for a violin that give specific sounds and a whole wealth of knowledge & resources for learning how & where to use them though I guess you haven't found anything on electronic music instrumentation because synthesizes are so dynamic in nature that it can be made to sound like anything from a bass guitar to a string section or a solo flute. All of this coming from a single instrument can seem overwhelming at first but what may help you is to start thinking in terms of volume envelopes and relating them to the volume envelops of real instruments. For instance do you want a sound that Plucks like a guitar, or do you want a sound that evolves like a string section or perhaps a sound that's sustained like a flute. You see the idea is to get well versed in music theory/orchestration/composing for real instruments and to apply that knowledge to synthesizes. The sound of a synthesizer may be different but essentially synthesizers just try to mimic real instruments with a bit of creativity here and there. Check out this guy Arkasia, he makes electronic orchestral music. It sounds wicked as hell here are some links:

[rrc2soft]

Thanks for all your replies!

One thing to note: if you're wanting to have some chiptune roots you need to learn how to work with basic materials. Squarewaves and different pulses and digital noise. Before you even get into EQ, compression, panning, etc, there is a lot that can be done.

Good advice . I feel very close to complex ambient sounds, but right now I should stick to the basics. Walk now, run later .

Check out this guy Arkasia, he makes electronic orchestral music. It sounds wicked as hell

It does! Very inspiring, thanks!