What is the best way to learn sound design?

[Tianzii]

Hello there.

What is the best way to learn sound design?
Just started synthesis with Syntorial.
Are there any other tools to learn sound design?

Thanks!

[Benedict]

Start by getting rid of the Best: https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2019/03/1 ... -the-best/

This article (one of many) talks about the central skill of learning to see in your mind what you (and the synth) are doing. I am not sure much (of value) can be achieved without this: https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2015/09/0 ... aking-art/

[tehlord]

Just start loading up patches and reverse engineer them. Look at the controls and settings, then look at the mod matrix or modulation settings. It's that investigation that teaches you about sound design.

Learning what an LFO or envelope is only teaches you what an LFO or envelope is, and it only takes five minutes to learn that. It's how everything works relative to everything else that's key.

[igorius]

An advice that I got from Tonepusher, whom I consider to be a great sound designer, when I asked him what he thinks would be the best way to learn sound design:

I started with books and playing with hardware synths, but that was a long time ago XD haha

I'd say that the best way today would be a mix between Youtube tutorials (not all of them haha there's a loooot of bad ones....) and deconstructing presets. Also learning the basics of synthesis (but don't get too deep into that one, imo it's a waste of time to get into ''why this and why that''). At the end of the day, pretty much all synths works the same. Watching people work too is a good way to learn fast!

Basic synthesis first, YouTube and presets... but most importantly having fun hehe That's the best way I think.

[Viktor [TUC]]

For me it was this:
1. Take a (not too complicated) synth whose basic sound you really like, one with as few extra menus as possible.
2. Delete all presets. I mean ALL, delete them.
3. Go turn some knobs! And always stay curious.

You'll find out soon enough if it's something you enjoy.

[chk071]

For me it was this:
1. Take a (not too complicated) synth whose basic sound you really like, one with as few extra menus as possible.
2. Delete all presets. I mean ALL, delete them.
3. Go turn some knobs! And always stay curious.

That would by my take too (or, at least, it's what I do mostly ). Reverse engineering presets on rather complex synths can be quite a tedious task. And, there are a gazillion of ways leading to Rome, so, it might even confuse you more than being helpful.

I still consider myself a beginner though, of course. And, I'm sure the approach will be different from person to person.

[Tianzii]

Start by getting rid of the Best: https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2019/03/1 ... -the-best/

This article (one of many) talks about the central skill of learning to see in your mind what you (and the synth) are doing. I am not sure much (of value) can be achieved without this: https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2015/09/0 ... aking-art/

Thank you sir! I really needed that awakening call with “What’s the best” article. Thanks for sharing it.

[Tianzii]

For me it was this:
1. Take a (not too complicated) synth whose basic sound you really like, one with as few extra menus as possible.
2. Delete all presets. I mean ALL, delete them.
3. Go turn some knobs! And always stay curious.

You'll find out soon enough if it's something you enjoy.

What an interesting way to learn, to remove everything that helps you atm but not really learn from them (presets). Then try to twist knobs until you get the idea out of them.

I could do that, next project to try to create all synths sounds right from the start (init). A nice challenge for me. Thanks!

[bluesawsq]

Deconstructing and recreating your favourite synth presets is a great way to learn.
Some things to make learning easier and faster:

- Use a synth that is easy to learn with. It should have ability to bypass and enable parts (like oscs, filters, modulation assignments, effects, etc) without modifying the parameters of those parts. This helps a lot in deconstructing and recreating presets. It should also have realtime visual indicators of modulation, and modulation matrix where you can easily see all active modulation assignments. And it should have consistent sound, i.e. there should not be any random variation in sound, unless you intentinally apply randomness in sound design. Good examples of such synths are Serum and Vital.

- Human hearing is not accurate or precise. And we quickly forget what we just heard. I would highly recommend to use various analyzer plugins to verify that your mental model of the sound is actually correct. Learn to use tools like spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, spectrograms, volume/loudness meters, correlation meters, goniometers and tuners.

- When recreating your favourite sounds from existing presets or from tutorial videos, try also to recreate the sound in different synth. This way you can't cheat so easily, because you can't just copy the same slider/knob positions. You need to better understand what you are doing.

[chk071]

For me it was this:
1. Take a (not too complicated) synth whose basic sound you really like, one with as few extra menus as possible.
2. Delete all presets. I mean ALL, delete them.
3. Go turn some knobs! And always stay curious.

You'll find out soon enough if it's something you enjoy.

What an interesting way to learn, to remove everything that helps you atm but not really learn from them (presets). Then try to twist knobs until you get the idea out of them.

It's rather about learning what the different parts of the synthesizer do, not just twist some knobs and see what comes out.

Good manuals help a lot with that as well, of course.

[Synthman2000]

void

[vurt]

dont know if its the best, but it certainly helped me.
reaktor, following a couple of the instrument builds, just the simple 3 oscillator thing and a couple of others, as you piece together the building blocks, you learn what each component part does to the audio.

doesnt have to be reaktor these days, theres plenty of modular options, including vcv which is free for the standalone and just as useful, youll be building synths from the modules, rather than from component parts, but same principle applies.

following/reconstructing presets will come easier after this, once you know how each part effects the whole

[bluesawsq]

Use 1 filter - a filter removes harmonics from a waveform lows or highs or changes timbre (tone)

Learn what an envelope does (a volume envelope to start with) Clue - changes something over time.

Learn what an LFO does and assign it to the filter. Clue - varies a parameter automatically using a low frequency oscillator. (waveform)

Once you know what and LFO and envelope does they are all the same and can be assigned to different sound changing targets. That is where you start.

You're trying to help, but that is a bit too vague, inaccurate, and potentially misleading.

[Benedict]

Start by getting rid of the Best: https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2019/03/1 ... -the-best/

This article (one of many) talks about the central skill of learning to see in your mind what you (and the synth) are doing. I am not sure much (of value) can be achieved without this: https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2015/09/0 ... aking-art/

Thank you sir! I really needed that awakening call with “What’s the best” article. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks

Don't skip the mindset stuff in the second article as that is where most people fail: thinking that it is just ticking technical boxes. If that were the case, by knowing of a) the Ramones and b) there is an E string, I would be a super guitarist. Sadly not.

A couple more:
The concept of Envelope shapes for Level over Time and Tone over Time.
https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2017/01/0 ... ery-sound/

This holds a couple of videos on Oscillator forms from simple to scary:
https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2019/03/0 ... synthesis/

These talk about "real" instruments but give you all the basics that can be applied to anything from TB-303 to paint stripper Wubbery. Focus on your basics first tho or you will waste a lot of time and energy.

[Fannon]

To throw another idea in: Try to recreate your favorite presets from Synth A in Synth B.
This will not always be completely possible, but will force you to think about how you achieve the sound you want instead of just re-doing the same settings on the same synth.