Really Beginners Sound Design

[Lejurai]

Not sure if it's progress but I managed to replicate a kick preset from tal noisemaker to charlatan not sure if I got and exact copy but end result was a kick.

Congrats!! That's how it starts Soon you'll be creating soundscapes so unique that you'll be pissing honey ^^

[zenophilix]

Not sure if it's progress but I managed to replicate a kick preset from tal noisemaker to charlatan not sure if I got and exact copy but end result was a kick.

Congrats!! That's how it starts Soon you'll be creating soundscapes so unique that you'll be pissing honey ^^

Sounds uncomfortable. Are you sure you really want to do that?

[Lejurai]

Not sure if it's progress but I managed to replicate a kick preset from tal noisemaker to charlatan not sure if I got and exact copy but end result was a kick.

Congrats!! That's how it starts Soon you'll be creating soundscapes so unique that you'll be pissing honey ^^

Sounds uncomfortable. Are you sure you really want to do that?

Well at least it tastes good, if you're in to that

[musicalmemoriesuk]

I may have missed some of the settings basically I started with copying both the envelopes then the waveforms and filters. But due to both synths being layed out differently and some of the controls having different names ie found out in the filters that the resonance control is 'Q' don't know why this is? Next to try an electric piano type sound. Ideas on a postcard

[Lejurai]

About Q https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_factor

[cake builder]

Next to try an electric piano type sound. Ideas on a postcard

Charlatan may be difficult to pull off an electric piano sound. It would be better to have more than one volume envelope so you could set a short decay sound for your initial hit (link the volume to velocity for more expressiveness) and a separate volume envelope for your sustaining tone.

[MOK19]

Synth1 is free, solid, and decent enough to learn on. There's a few vids on youtube as well, to assist the initial learning process. This is why I learned on. And it's a good synthesizer overall.

Massive is also a good instrument, one a lot of people have used, and you'll find no shortage of youbube tutorials to learn from. A large user community is undoubtedly useful for learning any software.

Sound design is more than just learning how to use premade synths. Unless the OP meant synthesis instead of sound design.

I would suggest that, ultimately, sound design is about applying a creative understanding of physics to create sonically useful results for the intended application. However, in the beginning - lots of trial and error.

As the OP mentioned an understanding of waveforms, I would suggest extending that to an understanding of wave theory and acoustics. Psychoacoustics or the interpretation of sound via the human brain also needs to be addressed. Understanding the human hardware is quite important.

Learning sampling theory will be useful for working within the constraints of a digital environment. Also, learning more about sound recreation using loudspeakers will help when making processing choices.

Getting some hands-on experience with recording and learning about different microphones will also help to expand your options.

Further down the line, I recommend obtaining something like Reaktor, Max or maybe starting with PureData so that you can learn to create and adapt signal processors for your own uses.

And keep experimenting. Never stop asking, "I wonder what would happen if...?"

In theory, this suggestion has merit, but in practice this isn't doing an average newbie any favors. In what I've experienced, getting their hands busy with something serviceable enough, that sparks enthusiasm, and gets them engaged with the craft sooner is best. Placing waypoints in front of that goal, like first understanding acoustics, is not particularly likely to net faster learning, and will instead slow people down. It's indeed useful to know this stuff eventually, but realistically the most important thing is enthusiasm and fun. Moments of homework drudgery ought to be minimized and mostly put off until necessary.

Though I'd count reading a synth's manual as a notable exception. So important.

As for the breadth of sound design, fortunately learning synthesis creates knowledge that is directly applicable outside of synthesis. After learning some synthesis, you know roughly how to use a number of new things that exist independent of a synth. I think it's a decent place to start, regardless of sound design intention.

[Lejurai]

Popped in my mind that if you're willing to put some money in to learning, you could try this http://www.syntorial.com/
If not, at least you can get the demo and see if it's good for you

[Lejurai]

Sadowick also has superb vids. Here's a subtractive synth course in youtube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... RT15CnUGxH

[Unaspected]

Sound design is more than just learning how to use premade synths. Unless the OP meant synthesis instead of sound design.

I would suggest that, ultimately, sound design is about applying a creative understanding of physics to create sonically useful results for the intended application. However, in the beginning - lots of trial and error.

As the OP mentioned an understanding of waveforms, I would suggest extending that to an understanding of wave theory and acoustics. Psychoacoustics or the interpretation of sound via the human brain also needs to be addressed. Understanding the human hardware is quite important.

Learning sampling theory will be useful for working within the constraints of a digital environment. Also, learning more about sound recreation using loudspeakers will help when making processing choices.

Getting some hands-on experience with recording and learning about different microphones will also help to expand your options.

Further down the line, I recommend obtaining something like Reaktor, Max or maybe starting with PureData so that you can learn to create and adapt signal processors for your own uses.

And keep experimenting. Never stop asking, "I wonder what would happen if...?"

In theory, this suggestion has merit, but in practice this isn't doing an average newbie any favors. In what I've experienced, getting their hands busy with something serviceable enough, that sparks enthusiasm, and gets them engaged with the craft sooner is best. Placing waypoints in front of that goal, like first understanding acoustics, is not particularly likely to net faster learning, and will instead slow people down. It's indeed useful to know this stuff eventually, but realistically the most important thing is enthusiasm and fun. Moments of homework drudgery ought to be minimized and mostly put off until necessary.

Though I'd count reading a synth's manual as a notable exception. So important.

As for the breadth of sound design, fortunately learning synthesis creates knowledge that is directly applicable outside of synthesis. After learning some synthesis, you know roughly how to use a number of new things that exist independent of a synth. I think it's a decent place to start, regardless of sound design intention.

It depends on what one considers to be fun. I find learning all subjects under the umbrella of sound design to be fun because they are interesting to me. I therefore expect someone interested in sound design to be equally so. Though I completely agree that this should be accompanied by constant practical experience, which is why I suggested to keep experimenting no matter how many years you have spent learning.

The learning, I think I find to be most fun.

[dlawlis]

There's some good suggestions in this thread for synths that are ideal for learning. And I especially like the idea of using spectrum analysis as a visual learning aid. FAW Circle and Addiction Synth come with it. But with a third party analyzer VST, I suppose any synth can be used in this way.

Also, read your synths' manual. Best move you can make.

I've seen this suggestion pop up a few times in this thread. This leads me to ask what synths come with good & informative documentation?

[ATN69]

I have Zebra 2 and Uhe made some nice instruction videos and posted in youtube. After watching all of them Zebra 2 made much more sense and it was a great way to learn and understand how it works. Just as an example.

[Chris-S]

Hi,
oldie but goldie is Synth Secrets series on Sound On Sound.

http://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/synth-secrets

[dlawlis]

I have Zebra 2 and Uhe made some nice instruction videos and posted in youtube. After watching all of them Zebra 2 made much more sense and it was a great way to learn and understand how it works. Just as an example.

Thanks for the suggstion! That money might be better spent on getting a controller, though. I'll just have to do some looking around for a well-documented freebie that I like

[ATN69]

I have Zebra 2 and Uhe made some nice instruction videos and posted in youtube. After watching all of them Zebra 2 made much more sense and it was a great way to learn and understand how it works. Just as an example.

Thanks for the suggstion! That money might be better spent on getting a controller, though. I'll just have to do some looking around for a well-documented freebie that I like

Yes, and Youtube is actually a good Place, Believe it or not. There you can find any plugin and also see what tutorials there are at the same time. And you can also get a feel for the sound even Before you download any demo.