Ive been solely relying on samples taken from various vinyls in my music creation but there's just too many sounds floating in my head that i cannot realize using only sampling technique. Since Ive been using kontakt a lot, i started playing around with absynth 2 and i really like it. The "problem" is that it is so flexible, it feels that im just guessing what oscilators, effects, waves etc. to use. What im wondering is, how did you learn how different kinds of effects, oscillator settings etc, affect a sound? When you shape a sound, how close do you come to that what you originally intended?
If someone knows a tutorial/book on synthesis (like, what's FM synthesis?) feel free to share because Im really really lost here.
The art of synthesis
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- KVRer
- 22 posts since 19 Feb, 2004
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- The Teach
- 8273 posts since 23 Jul, 2002 from flatness
start with a simple (one or two oscilator) freeware subtractive synth and go from there ...
... the less parameters you have to tweak - the easier it is to see / hear what effect each has on the sound ...
... once you get the hang of one of these you can move on to the more complex VA / FM / hybrid machines ...
... (relatively) simple ... free ... subtractive synth suggestions ...
ichiro toda (sp ??? ) synth1
linplug free alpha
rgc:audio triangle 2
(heehee) experimentfour GRunT
slainte
rob
... the less parameters you have to tweak - the easier it is to see / hear what effect each has on the sound ...
... once you get the hang of one of these you can move on to the more complex VA / FM / hybrid machines ...
... (relatively) simple ... free ... subtractive synth suggestions ...
ichiro toda (sp ??? ) synth1
linplug free alpha
rgc:audio triangle 2
(heehee) experimentfour GRunT
slainte
rob-
- KVRAF
- 12235 posts since 18 Aug, 2003
Trial and error and years of practice, really. Probably not the answer you wanted to hear. I've been programming synths for 15 years or so, still don't think I'd consider myself an expert.now_continue wrote:What im wondering is, how did you learn how different kinds of effects, oscillator settings etc, affect a sound? When you shape a sound, how close do you come to that what you originally intended?
The good news is that some kinds of synthesis are fairly easy to grasp. Start with analog modelled subtractive. It's the most straightforward, as it really is just follow the signal path and figure things out. And the best thing about subtractive, it is almost always instant gratification.
Rob's suggestions are all good. I'd also suggest considering a modular synth (Synthedit is free for use) as it breaks down every necessary part of a synthesizer and lets you build the signal path. Very useful for learning the nitty gritty.
Here's a link to a tutorial on FM synthesis from Computer Music magazine that should shed some light.
Unfortunately there aren't really any great books on programming synthesizers out there. The best ones are out of print and are now hard to find. You'll find more immediately useful beginner info on the web.
Just go on Google and search for any of the following:
subtractive synthesis
additive synthesis
programming synthesizers
fm synthesis
modular synthesis
modular synthesizers
synthesizer tutorial
audio filters
sound design
This guyhas collected links to all the Sound on Sound Synth Secrets columns. They'll give you a ton of information (probably too much).
Also for learning effects, Harmony Central's Effects Explained is invaluable for starting out.
[edit]Here's another link to some great articles on sound design. search up the directory and you'll come across good recording and acoustics articles, too.
Cheers,
Steve
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- KVRist
- 104 posts since 9 Oct, 2003
almost every synth has oscillators/filters/lfos
take it one step at a time and learn about each one in that order. a good way to learn how oscillators work in absynth is by drawing a waveform of your own and listening to it as you experiment.
look at a waveform display of a sine waveform and a square and then listen to each one. keep in mind that "hz" represents how many times a waveform loops itself in 1 second. 50hz is subbass if you're using a sine wave. 1,000hz (or 1k) is like an emergency broadcast system test on the radio.
If you speed up a low frequency oscillator (lfo) to a really fast speed, it sounds similar to fm synthesis, mainly because it's working along the same principles of fm synthesis hehe.
filters:
lowpass filter only filters through the low end
hi pass only filters high end frequencies.
bandpass is unique because it looks like an upside down U on the frequency spectrum.
notch only does a subtle boost and leaves everything else at 0 level instead of -
take it one step at a time and learn about each one in that order. a good way to learn how oscillators work in absynth is by drawing a waveform of your own and listening to it as you experiment.
look at a waveform display of a sine waveform and a square and then listen to each one. keep in mind that "hz" represents how many times a waveform loops itself in 1 second. 50hz is subbass if you're using a sine wave. 1,000hz (or 1k) is like an emergency broadcast system test on the radio.
If you speed up a low frequency oscillator (lfo) to a really fast speed, it sounds similar to fm synthesis, mainly because it's working along the same principles of fm synthesis hehe.
filters:
lowpass filter only filters through the low end
hi pass only filters high end frequencies.
bandpass is unique because it looks like an upside down U on the frequency spectrum.
notch only does a subtle boost and leaves everything else at 0 level instead of -