[SOLVED] OT: where to learn synth?

[oldcastle]

Hi,

Off-topic question. Do you have any material recommendations for learning synthesizer?

I know that I can just Google it, but that's one of the problems. There is "too much" information. I would like something more practical and beginner-friendly. I'd like to learn the fundamentals first before trying to learn anything advanced.

Cheers.

[kv5132]

From a sound design perspective, I can highly recommend Syntorial for starting out. It does a great job of starting from the basics and getting you hands on with turning knobs, listening, and understanding what each parameter does. I had been messing with synths (lightly) for a few years by the time I ran through Syntorial and it really helped contextualize a lot of the things I already knew and revealed a lot of what I was missing.

[dakkra]

What did it for me was mimicking and reproducing other synth sounds that I liked and then tweaking to learn what pieces changed the sounds in what ways. Looking at how presets are made is also a good way to get started. I learned a lot of sound design by looking at how presets were put together.

Above all else, experiment! Just try new things, see how they sound. I made Wavework back in the days of M6 by just playing around with MFO modules and filters. Turned out to be quite the preset/template synth for quite some time before I moved onto VSTs.

[pljones]

I used to love the Sound On Sound Synth Secrets tutorials by Gordon Reid back in the day.

[ElVincente]

Daniel fisher's synth clip series is great too...
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlcz ... z1QmxytbIf

[Michael L]

I would like something more practical and beginner-friendly.

Here are some beginner-friendly steps:

Open up MuLab with the default -- and pretty great-- Basic Synth.

Turn down VOL on OSC 2 so you only hear OSC 1.

Click on the LAYERS label and change to its Quick Edit popup window. For the default Single Layer, the Start Phase is Free and Detune is 1. Hear what happens when you change each of the Quick Edit parameters (click+scroll)

Go into Deep Edit and listen to changes you make in those parameters.

Click the LAYERS icon to go from the default Single to a Chord or a Unison. Hear what that sounds like while changing the Quick Edit and the Deep Edit parameters.

Once you are familiar with all the LAYERS parameters, click on the gear to open the nine OSC 1 Options, and hear how they affect different arrangements of LAYERS. By revisiting the same parameters in different contexts, you hear what they do.

Change the Waveform, and then listen to how LAYERS and OSC 1 Options affect it.

Follow the same steps with OSC 2, and then listen to OSC 1 and 2 together, while tweaking their respective VOL and COARSE / FINE.

Copy the waveform from OSC 1 and Paste into OSC 2, changing the two parameters in the popup window.

Listen to changes with the Vibrato, Filter and Echo effects.

Click the ZigZag to open the Basic Synth Modular Area, then open the modular areas of the Polysynth and the effects modules to listen to more parameter changes you make.
The Oscilloscope in the modular area lets you also see the changes.
Shift+ Show Front Panel button to put Basic Synth and its Modular Area side by side.

Save every waveform, module etc that makes a sound you like.

You get a twofer by learning MuLab at the same time -- very practical!

Docs page: https://www.mutools.com/info/M9/docs/mu ... dules.html
Synth terms halfway down: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesizer

[oldcastle]

Great resources here. Thank you all!

[fde101]

ADSR has a number of sound design courses if you are willing to pay a bit for them:

https://www.adsrsounds.com/csoftware/sound-design/


Some of the courses on that page are for specific products, but there are also a handful of more generic ones for specific types of synthesis or for types of sounds used in specific genres.

[ReverendLove]

I used to love the Sound On Sound Synth Secrets tutorials by Gordon Reid back in the day.

They are still there.
https://www.soundonsound.com/series/syn ... ound-sound

[pljones]

Yes, that's the link I gave.