Request for a Synth Tutorial

[Morgan C]

Dialing in a good synth tone is something I really struggle with, so maybe some of the masters here could help and provide a tutorial on how to get a nice, organic synth sound.

Some examples of synths I wish I could dial in:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU5Dn-WaElI&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
at 4:26
Joey posted this vid.. at first the synth sounds really dull and MIDI but then he alters a bunch of settings + automation and it suddenly sounds organic and alive.




(at 1;00 in, kinda hard to hear)

These two are very stacatto-like, rhythmic synths.. they really add a lot to the chorus, and the patterns are very simple, but when I try and add them into my mixes they come out very bland, either just a 'tic' of attack, or way too melodic. Wut du i du?


And finally

Love or hate the song, its a KILLER mix with a really organic synth sound. Hearing covers/parodies, the lead synth never comes out right, because there's a lot of very slight pitch modulation that makes it exciting, and without that its like 4 notes in a pretty terrible melody. I don't even know how to automate pitch bends with synths yet ><



I can (and have been) mess around with presets and fiddling with knobs for ages, but a lot of the aspects that make the synths come alive have to do with automation (either from the MIDI or DAW, don't think it makes a difference if you're programming melodies by hand instead of recording MIDI), and I have no idea what to do. So, this is my request - teach me/us!

 

[Seth Munson]

+1 to the idea

i like my synth sounds now, but I am always looking for improvements

 

[Seth Munson]

oh and btw, I LOVE the Kesha production

 

[jrx10]

The problem with providing a tutorial is that each synth will often automate in a different way.

I would reccomend picking one synth (NI's Massive is a fairly popular and versatile choice) and then just read the manual back to front and find a decent resource on wavetable/additive/FM synthesis (depending on which synth you choose) for reference.

Learning synthesis to an extent that you can just dial in a tone you want isn't really something that's possible with a single tutorial IMO.

 

[drew_drummer]

There are SHIT-TONS of tutorials out there already. Go check past issues of Future Music, Computer Music.... go to KVRAudio.com and browse the forums there. The Sneap forum isn't the only resource on the internet y'know!! :Spin:

 

[xFkx]

Download arturi'as minimoog demo, it's a classic construction.

Then read this and apply to minimoog: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesizer

Most modern synths are still a minimoog at heart.

To get that rythm gate'd effect you'll either have to have a synth that has a trace gate in it (vanguard, rob papen's stuff) or download a vst like http://www.audiodamage.com/effects/product.php?pid=AD022

Oh, and that big pop synth sounds are are hard to achieve with one synth, it's usualy layered, you can clearly hear that you've got multiple synths doing the same part in the kesha song.

ymmv.

 

[muckypup1]

A tutorial would be awesome!

I really want some good ambient synth sounds but I completely suck at getting good tones out of my synths

 

[SocialNumb]

I heard "Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming" by Jim Aikin is a good place to start. I must admit I've never read it. Download the ARP 2600 user manual. There is some good stuff in there.

I agree with what jrx10 said. Dialing in the sound you have in mind is not something you're going to learn to do via reading. Try to load up a preset and reverse engineer it. A lot can be learned like that. INT your synth and try to make very basic sounds from scratch to get an understanding of what does what.

In Logic I hit A which brings me to automation view. From there I can choose any perimeter in any given synth and go to town. I don't know about other daws.

Good luck.

Edit: What xFkx said too. Also, I LOVE Mila Kunis!

 

[Jind]

Simon Cann has written several books that have some very in depth information about "rolling your own" synth sounds. He has one that is not geared towards any specific synth, but more about the concepts one needs to understand about how each part of synthesis interact with one another to alter a sound. But he does give step by step instruction about crafting sounds.

That book is called: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Synthesizer-Wizard-Presets-Artistpro/dp/1598635506/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1"]Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard: From Presets to Power User[/ame]

Then he has one geared to the synthesizers that Cakewalk have released - from the more recent Rapture and Dimension Pro, to the classic Z3TA+, and also some of the more obscure ones like Pentagon, PSYN II, and Triangle. He has a great introductory section about the concepts of synthesis (much like in the other book mentioned) and then he luanches into tutorials for all the Cakewalk synths and goes into deep detail about their capabilities.

He recently released a new version of this book so here are links to the original and the new revision:

Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User


Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User, Second Edition

Both books gave me some great information about synthesis and in particular, for me at least being a Sonar user, insight into the tools I had that came along with Sonar. But they are useful for anyone looking into the art of synthesis and crafting your own sounds.

 

[DanLights]

Very interesting links Jind, I'm gonna look into that, and so should the OP

 

[James-Doolan]

Be warned synthsis is a fucking massive topic all on its own and like mixing takes years to progress in it, but yea im with socialnumb for getting usable results quickly the best thing to do is reverse engineer presets you like and get an idea of whats going on in your head.

sos have a lot of stuff on the subjuct http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm

 

[Sickan]

Dude, Refx Nexus 2 (&#8364;300 tho...) is amaazing.
Play around with the presets and customise to taste : 3

 

[wiiii]

An easy way to do the trance gate effect if your plugin doesn't already have one built-in is just use a noise gate with side-chaining. I know it's possible in Logic easily and I don't know what DAW you're using but I'm sure it has a noise gate. Of course this method can be applied to basically any sound be it a synth or just audio coming in from a guitar, etc.

 

[professorlamp]

If you're going to go shit crazy with learning Id suggest Reaktor, that thing has literally unlimited possibilities the only constraints are your abilities

 

[guitarded88]

Do people still run keyboards through guitar amps?

I always heard that was a trick... I think Janne from Children of Bodom used a Big Muff or something.

 

[wiiii]

You could also get Native Instruments Massive. It's the go-to for dubstep wobble. In the middle of your song, throw in a dubstep breakdown a la Attack Attack! Then you'll get all the bitches.

 

[TheDriller]

Do people still run keyboards through guitar amps?

yep,

that would be a huge part of the Prodigy sound incidentally,
of course a lot of it is Amp-Sims these days.