It teaches you step by step all the aspects of a synth engine: oscillators, wave shapes, amplitude, filters, modulation, unison, FM… But most of all it trains your ear, which allows you to replicate the sound in your head and build it from scratch.
Syntorial is a charm, definitely the best resource to develop your ear. There are possibly waay extensive resources like books, but as the nature of the medium it's good for getting information, but for practice and developing the ear, Syntorial is #1.
VCV rack is free. Also look for the demo Nord Modular software, which has a few modules disabled and is limited to one voice but still insanely powerful. Synth Secrets is probably the best written tutorial on synthesis you'll find anywhere.
I learned through YouTube tutorials. Find a popular free virtual synth, I'd recommend Synth1. (Popular because you want lots of content available) and try to understand the very basics of the pieces of it.
Once you've got that down, most popular synthesizers use a very similar "subtractive" architecture, so once you understand the basics of your chosen one, it's simple to follow tutorials using other synthesizers. From there I'd recommend finding a youtuber you like learning from even if they don't use the same synth as you.
If you have an interest in synths, you owe it to yourself to read Synth Secrets by Gordon Reid. Published in 63 parts in Sound on Sound magazine, it remains the definitive tutorial on synth programming.
These are pretty technical articles, but absolutely amazing in terms of content. I remember reading them nearly 20 years ago when I first got into using synths.
Question: All of "learn synths" tutorials I've managed to dig up are really "sound creation" tutorials.
I have not found a good tutorial or paid online class on how to _play_ synths. Is taking a traditional piano course the best way to do so? Observationally, the play style seems quite different, even if some basics are the same. Most practically, I see synths typically played with right hand, left hand is on the modulator or knobs.
Basically, I'm finding it hard to find resources on how to play and make the most out of your synth (as opposed to piano), once you have dialed in the sound you want...
Literally practice :) Each sound you choose on a workstation or synth tends to bring out a playing style that reflects your own musical listening habits and learnings.
When I play a string patch in my band it tends to have slight flourishes to what are otherwise stabby block chords. When I play piano, it's kept light, jazzy and loungy, when I play synths I heavily use the pitch bend wheel and use the sustain pedal heavily (very old example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZBdjJiMkko)
Ultimately you just have to listen to examples of what you like and try your best to replicate what they're doing in those songs. This will improve your technique and skills to the point you can use a blend of your learnings to create your own style and feel :) Good luck!
Good question. Definitely learn the rudiments of piano playing, up to playing block chords (triads) with either hand.
Beyond that, I think they diverge too much. A lot of piano technique is getting both hands working together to play rhythm and melody - but generally synths are doing one thing at a time, and cooperating with other instruments.
A lot of classic synth lines are monophonic, aka "one-finger" lines, although to play them fluidly with one finger would be pretty hard. So pianistic skills would be wasted in this context.
When polysynths got common in the mid 80s, pianistic fingering of chords (but not necessarily rhythms) was used. I mean, to play the melancholy chords of "Drive" by the Cars, you need some of the skills of a pianist, but not rhythmic ones. You do need two hands.
(Of course the DX7 was played very much as a piano at times)
I do think you need the music theory though, such as awareness of chords and functional harmony.
Consider learning some of the classic synth basslines - they tend to have tutorials on youtube - like Material Girl or Tarzan Boy.
Learning piano is fairly valuable in terms of understanding/writing music, but not critical.
If you're interested in making music with synths, you could probably get away with a pad controller. You lose some keys, but you usually get a lot of control buttons. A 16 button pad controller can do a lot when configured with 4 banks of sounds, with root/3/5/7 of each. Most controllers have octave up/down buttons, so 4 pitches of a given sound is actually very versatile.
Nothing beats a teacher but there are some problematic things with piano teachers IME. (I've had 2 over the past 20 years)
- Piano is super super super biased towards classical music
- Huge emphasis on reading music and playing it back even if you're not understanding it
- Weakness on developing a sense of rhythm and playing by ear
- Weakness on learning to play with others
- The weakness on understanding leads to a difficulty in memorization AFAICT
All this stuff gets ironed out in piano lessons I'm sure but it seems to happen at a pretty late stage that isn't great for an adult beginner. It takes away some of the fun.
I have never taken classical guitar but in contrast to piano your typical guitar lessons are near 100% the other way around. Way more emphasis on using your ears, developing rhythm, playing with others, etc..
The only reason I mention this is a lot of synth music is pop music that has a lot more in common with guitar centric music.
The ridiculous thing is I haven't taken a piano lesson since 2015, I've been taking guitar. My sense of rhythm if I sit down at a keyboard/piano is way better now than when I was playing piano every day and taking classical style lessons. If I went back to some piano now I expect I would improve dramatically from where I was in short order.
FWIW (OP here), I've been playing guitar for years (not great, but fun enough:), have no knowledge of piano, and can have tons of fun with it just mixing up the basic chord progressions and playing around.
I mean, compared to the guitar - the notes are in order! One after another, in a neat sequence! What a concept! :-) :-) :-)
So I think we're in agreement - I feel (rightly or wrongly) that I could take two years of classical piano lessons, and get no closer to what I want to do with a synth than I am today :-/. Whereas I feel just from playing the guitar, I can already do, say, 10-15% of what I want to do with a synth, and want to explore further in _that_ direction...
I agree with all of this, which I why I generally play more guitar than piano. I find it more expressive and I "feel" the music more.
That being said, I think a midi keyboard is the best interface for controlling software synths. Sadly, using guitar as a midi instrument doesn't really work that well and this is an area where the keyboard really shines. Would be curious to hear your thoughts though.
Took a piano 1 class at a nearby college last fall, and I agree with all of your points. I did walk away with a firm grasp on major and minor chords, which is something that escaped me in the 20+ years I'd played music.
Two real ways to go about it, it works about the same as learning guitar for a specific genre. Either find someone competent in that play-style to tutor you, or take a beginner-intermediate class in piano. Up to that point it will conceptually be similar. Once you feel like your basic technique is sound (rolls, fingering, rhythm), start learning songs you like. You'll pick up the specific techniques you need as you go.
Taking a class early on is important though. You'll ingrain bad technique if you're entirely self taught, and reteaching yourself later when you realize your technique is holding you back is absolutely miserable. Taken from experience.
Thanks! I share that experience - I've been mostly self-taught electric guitar, only to realize many years later that my unconventional (but seemingly natural) way of holding the pick is completely messing me up :O
One hand on the keys and one hand on the knobs is a very specific way of "playing" a synthesizer. A lot of people don't really play the instrument live in this way.
I, personally, don't use keyboards to drive synths at all (even when the entire piece is written for synthesizer). I tend to work entirely in the box with step sequencers, and record directly into my DAW, where I go about rearranging things and mixing. So there's really no "playing" involved, and I've found it a lot more profitable to study composition and orchestration.
I have not found a good tutorial or paid online class on how to _play_ synths
Synths take many forms. If you want to play a synth with a keyboard, then learning piano would give you the concepts and techniques. Not all synths have a keyboard though...
It depends. What sort of music are you into? If you like funk and want to play weedly weedly bass sounds, you buy a Moog monosynth and you're set. If you want to play trance or dance styles then you figure out arpeggiators and sequencers and get to know the synth architecture so well that you can program it on the fly, because many styles of music are about taking a simple repeating motif and redoing it in different tonal colors. If you want to play synths as backing instruments in a rock or pop combo buy a workstation keyboard from Korg or Yamaha.
Tell me what you like to listen to and I'll recommend you something.
My first love is guitar, and I've been playing it (badly;) for decades. But I've just discovered synthesizers, got increasingly hyper excited, and it seems I can really really nerd out about them.
Historically on the electronic side I've enjoyed Depeche Mode, some Daft Punk, and a mix & variety of other stuff; but I've just found synthwave, such as Kavinsky, and am somewhat in love:). I've been geeking out for a few weeks, love the deep warbles and hard tones of the bass monophonic analogues, piercing leads of some others, and the rich pads of some of the digital polyphonics.
To start with I bought a Roland Gaia; I know it doesn't get a lot of love, BUT... compared to UltraNovas and such, it has no menu diving - I have all these wonderful sliders and knobs to learn with and really understand what's going on. I've developed intuitive understanding of ADSR and other basic concepts like modulating LFO with it way better and faster than I imagine I would with a book - so if I outgrow it one day, it'll still have been a wortwhile purchase:).
Also played a bit with an old old USB Midi keyboard I had and Caustic software, and have access to Casio CTK-6250 regular electronic keyboard as needed.
Basically, I've discovered a fertile new ground and am looking to deep dive :).
But as I said - there's tons of reviews and suggestions on equipment out there; a fair amount of courses (good or bad) on how to create sound; but far less on how to learn to play synth in any kind of accelerated, non-traditional/classical way. As per my other post to fellow commenter - I find I can "play" piano/synth just from my guitar experience enough to have fun and run some chord progressions etc; and fear that first "two years" worth of classical piano would not substantially advance me in the direction I want to move. Perhaps I'm wrong... we'll see! :)
For learning to actually "play" any instrument, I'd recommend starting out learning some songs you like. The theory/effects/gear stuff develops in parallel. Songwriting will help too, even if it's something simple.
Depend on your taste in music, learning songs from classic synth era can be very useful too, whether it be prog-rock or anything else. I'd recommend songs by Camel, Allan Parsons Project etc.
Once your ears gets used to learning and playing whatever you hear off records, jam along to some classic Vangelis or something like that. Improvising is key to learning to play without sounding "stiff" if you will.
You might want to check out the roli seaboard, I have one and it's great for playing synths. A bit pricey but I enjoy it a lot. I got it because I was tired of making music through a UI and wanted to 'feel' it more like I do on the guitar.
I would also say any MIDI compatible keyboard is a good fit too, try to get something that has a pitch wheel though. The wheel will let you "bend" your sound and add some expressivity that just hitting the keys won't. I still think a midi keyboard is the best first interface for people that want to step into synth music.
Start with taking piano lessons for the basics and then learn to play some of the classics. Genesis, Toto, Saga, Herbie Hancock, you name it. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube.
What got me when I first started learning is to understand the difference between sound synthesis (which this link is basically for) and music composition. Maybe you're asking for something in between the basics of sound synthesis and full music composition. There's also all the different aspects of composition like drum arrangement, chord progression, melody creation, general music theory, etc.
I've collected some notes on what I've found so far [1] but be warned that I'm not a musician nor have I made anything that I would consider even remotely passable as music.
Here are some links that I found helpful:
* David Clements. He recreates many songs on his Studio Logic Sledge but it's applicable to other synths as well. Here's one where he recreates the opening to Stranger Things: https://youtu.be/HGufVBDfPvs
* InThread. A forum for Sonic Pi users. They have many coded examples of scores that can be used as a reference: https://in-thread.sonic-pi.net/
Possibly unpopular opinion, but IMO to learn a synth it’s best to start with a simple physical subtractive monosynth.
Software synths are often built to model popular hardware instruments in both sound and interface. So learning the basic concepts on a “real” subtractive synth builds a foundation to learn more.
Plus a physical synth is far less distracting than a multitasking device. I find it much easier to create, experiment and learn when a screen is not involved.
Or go a step further and build them yourself. You get to keep the house, but you won't be able to make much use of it because every available space is taken up with a random assortment of wires, op-amps, resistors and capacitors.
DIY synth making will take up every bit of spare time you think you have left, and then some. Your hands will become a puzzle of soldering iron scars, and you'll slowly lose your hearing from accidental speaker pops. You have been warned.
Non-snarky question: how much music do you finish?
Every time I think about getting more into synths, I worry that I'll just end up endlessly noodling and never actually complete any songs. Years ago, I bought a copy of Reason and had tons of fun playing with it, but eventually I realized that after every session, I was rarely any closer to having a completed work I could share with others.
I've sold off an Elektron Analog Four, Elektron Analog Rytm, Elektron Octatrack and an Access Virus Ti 2 less than a year ago and started working exclusivley in the box and using two ableton push 2 as midi controllers and I honestly do not miss my hardware at all.
Sure I lose out on some of that analog warmth but I've come pretty close by emulating it with various VSTs.
Agreed. For example I never really noticed how expressive the feedback is on a moog until getting one. Once you get the mixer into a sweet spot, the teeniest knob change makes a huge difference in tone.
And so I tried the same thing with the "Monark" VST thinking "yeah analog still wins" and nope, Monark does the exact same thing. But I never discovered it until I actually had the knobs in front of me.
I've since gotten a BCR-2000 and tried mapping all my soft synths but none of them map completely and it's just... not the same somehow. It is better though.
A while ago I recorded two songs (inter alia) that each used a Logic / Garageband synth. I can't perform these songs live without using my laptop. Currently my setup is with a Nord Piano 2 (which does not use Apple synthesisers and there does not appear to be a way to convert to Nord's file format).
Is it possible to go from first principles, starting with a sound that I have in mind (an Apple Logic default synth) and build a similar sounding (digital) synthesiser in some (hopefully open) format that can cross convert?
Not necessarily unpopular but kind of a hassle. If you need to go through all that trouble just to learn something you might end up not being interested in seems a tad much. Software is definitely the way to go for the vast majority.
If you like to create sound with software I can’t recommend the Web Audio API[1] enough. It is a really low level API modeled after subtractive analogue synths where you create several nodes and connect them together just like you would do with voltage controlled synths.
When using it to create multiplayer online theremin[2] for fun, I got really impressed with synthesizers and inspired to learn more about them. That is, the Web Audio API inspired me to learn physical synthesizers.
Regrettably physical analog synths is an expensive hobby, so the only physical synth set that I’ve gotten so far is a LittleBits toy synth kit[3] (kind of like legos of synths), which I also do recommend, as an adult I can have tons of fun with it and learn and experiment, even though it is meant for kids
Just don't get into writing synths or effects if you want to make any money. Kind of like making games, it's flooded with people who do it for the love and willing to do it for salaries far less than other fields. The stereotypical musician has no money. There are currently over 3000 synths listed on KVR. It's tough to do something unique and stand out.
I've read tons of books on synthesizers, I've built my own in Max/MSP and Reaktor (this drum synth for Ableton Live I still maintain https://github.com/robenkleene/thwomp).
The best resource I've found for learning synthesis is Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook (https://www.synthesizer-cookbook.com/). And it's not even close: A few years ago I went all in on ebooks, I got rid of everything. I recently went through a bunch of PDFs trying to find a replacement resource for this book (which isn't available as an ebook). Let's just say I gave up and now I own a physical copy of exactly one book.
Max is a visual programming language[1] (arguably the most popular/relevant one?). There are some good screenshots of what it looks like here https://cycling74.com/products/max/ It requires using the Max app, an IDE-like environment, to use. The `.maxpat` files are JSON but not meant to be edited by hand (although I do it all the time).
Reaktor is also a visual programming language. Both cost money, a lot actually, I think Max and Max for Live (which you need to run plugins in Ableton and is sold separately) are $600 or so total.
Visual programming languages are especially popular for synthesis, I'm assuming there's a reason for that, but honestly I've never tried doing this stuff in another language (most "native" VST-style plugins are written in C++), so I can't really compare it to that or give a real explanation for if it's better. But it is simply an environment that brings me joy to work in (despite its warts), so beyond doing a bit of work in Reaktor, I've never even looked into other ways of doing these things.
Wow weird coincidence, I've just started getting into Ableton and production, a sort of lifelong goal of mine, and just last night finally started watching some videos on Wavetable.
I was completely blown away by the infinity x infinity possibilities. Totally overwhelming! This tutorial is great for helping me understand the concepts, very fortuitous.
Now if I could actually sit down and make a song instead of just tweaking knobs on controllers...
I'm in a similar place as you. Best advice I got was that you learn to make great tracks by making lots of crappy tracks. Don't sweat it, just keep going, keep improving. So ignore your ego and just make a damn song already.
This is so true! I was the exact same when I started with abelton.
Someone told me you have to make 100 crap songs before your first good one. Best way to get better is to just start trying to make stuff and stop comparing your work to what you listen to on spotify. You'll improve faster than you think.
I started out with the Ableton 10 trial on a Thinkpad x1 carbon (newest generation and max'd to the gills on components) running windows 10. I am taking lessons on production at the local Guitar Center.
That was "good enough" to teach me the basics, which at first was just figuring out how the UX of Ableton works (the intro tutorial is good for that as well). The teacher teaches me stuff about sidechains and etc but that can be learned through youtube videos. Really I should spend more of my time with him bringing in my material and working with him to tweak it.
Anyway, because there's MIDI tools like "chord builders" (literally one called "jazz for dummies") and arpegiators, it's not exactly necessary to get a keyboard. I'd just plug one of those in, bang out a few chords, and hit ctrl+d (duplicate) a bunch of times, trying to learn more about the basics of songbuilding than really making custom tracks.
It's been fun and simple, and I bet it'll be even more fun when I figure out how to map the knobs to stuff and learn more about synths.
As for version of Ableton, now I'm running a pirated version until a few months go by without any big purchases, at which time I'll pick up Live Suite.
Readit News
It teaches you step by step all the aspects of a synth engine: oscillators, wave shapes, amplitude, filters, modulation, unison, FM… But most of all it trains your ear, which allows you to replicate the sound in your head and build it from scratch.
https://www.soundonsound.com/search/articles/%22Synth%20Secr...
Once you've got that down, most popular synthesizers use a very similar "subtractive" architecture, so once you understand the basics of your chosen one, it's simple to follow tutorials using other synthesizers. From there I'd recommend finding a youtuber you like learning from even if they don't use the same synth as you.
https://www.soundonsound.com/search/articles/%22Synth%20Secr...
It deserves it own dedicated website, it is never easy for me to find.
I have not found a good tutorial or paid online class on how to _play_ synths. Is taking a traditional piano course the best way to do so? Observationally, the play style seems quite different, even if some basics are the same. Most practically, I see synths typically played with right hand, left hand is on the modulator or knobs.
Basically, I'm finding it hard to find resources on how to play and make the most out of your synth (as opposed to piano), once you have dialed in the sound you want...
When I play a string patch in my band it tends to have slight flourishes to what are otherwise stabby block chords. When I play piano, it's kept light, jazzy and loungy, when I play synths I heavily use the pitch bend wheel and use the sustain pedal heavily (very old example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZBdjJiMkko)
Ultimately you just have to listen to examples of what you like and try your best to replicate what they're doing in those songs. This will improve your technique and skills to the point you can use a blend of your learnings to create your own style and feel :) Good luck!
Beyond that, I think they diverge too much. A lot of piano technique is getting both hands working together to play rhythm and melody - but generally synths are doing one thing at a time, and cooperating with other instruments.
A lot of classic synth lines are monophonic, aka "one-finger" lines, although to play them fluidly with one finger would be pretty hard. So pianistic skills would be wasted in this context.
When polysynths got common in the mid 80s, pianistic fingering of chords (but not necessarily rhythms) was used. I mean, to play the melancholy chords of "Drive" by the Cars, you need some of the skills of a pianist, but not rhythmic ones. You do need two hands.
(Of course the DX7 was played very much as a piano at times)
I do think you need the music theory though, such as awareness of chords and functional harmony.
Consider learning some of the classic synth basslines - they tend to have tutorials on youtube - like Material Girl or Tarzan Boy.
If you're interested in making music with synths, you could probably get away with a pad controller. You lose some keys, but you usually get a lot of control buttons. A 16 button pad controller can do a lot when configured with 4 banks of sounds, with root/3/5/7 of each. Most controllers have octave up/down buttons, so 4 pitches of a given sound is actually very versatile.
- Piano is super super super biased towards classical music
- Huge emphasis on reading music and playing it back even if you're not understanding it
- Weakness on developing a sense of rhythm and playing by ear
- Weakness on learning to play with others
- The weakness on understanding leads to a difficulty in memorization AFAICT
All this stuff gets ironed out in piano lessons I'm sure but it seems to happen at a pretty late stage that isn't great for an adult beginner. It takes away some of the fun.
I have never taken classical guitar but in contrast to piano your typical guitar lessons are near 100% the other way around. Way more emphasis on using your ears, developing rhythm, playing with others, etc..
The only reason I mention this is a lot of synth music is pop music that has a lot more in common with guitar centric music.
The ridiculous thing is I haven't taken a piano lesson since 2015, I've been taking guitar. My sense of rhythm if I sit down at a keyboard/piano is way better now than when I was playing piano every day and taking classical style lessons. If I went back to some piano now I expect I would improve dramatically from where I was in short order.
So I think we're in agreement - I feel (rightly or wrongly) that I could take two years of classical piano lessons, and get no closer to what I want to do with a synth than I am today :-/. Whereas I feel just from playing the guitar, I can already do, say, 10-15% of what I want to do with a synth, and want to explore further in _that_ direction...
That being said, I think a midi keyboard is the best interface for controlling software synths. Sadly, using guitar as a midi instrument doesn't really work that well and this is an area where the keyboard really shines. Would be curious to hear your thoughts though.
Taking a class early on is important though. You'll ingrain bad technique if you're entirely self taught, and reteaching yourself later when you realize your technique is holding you back is absolutely miserable. Taken from experience.
I, personally, don't use keyboards to drive synths at all (even when the entire piece is written for synthesizer). I tend to work entirely in the box with step sequencers, and record directly into my DAW, where I go about rearranging things and mixing. So there's really no "playing" involved, and I've found it a lot more profitable to study composition and orchestration.
Synths take many forms. If you want to play a synth with a keyboard, then learning piano would give you the concepts and techniques. Not all synths have a keyboard though...
Tell me what you like to listen to and I'll recommend you something.
My first love is guitar, and I've been playing it (badly;) for decades. But I've just discovered synthesizers, got increasingly hyper excited, and it seems I can really really nerd out about them. Historically on the electronic side I've enjoyed Depeche Mode, some Daft Punk, and a mix & variety of other stuff; but I've just found synthwave, such as Kavinsky, and am somewhat in love:). I've been geeking out for a few weeks, love the deep warbles and hard tones of the bass monophonic analogues, piercing leads of some others, and the rich pads of some of the digital polyphonics.
To start with I bought a Roland Gaia; I know it doesn't get a lot of love, BUT... compared to UltraNovas and such, it has no menu diving - I have all these wonderful sliders and knobs to learn with and really understand what's going on. I've developed intuitive understanding of ADSR and other basic concepts like modulating LFO with it way better and faster than I imagine I would with a book - so if I outgrow it one day, it'll still have been a wortwhile purchase:).
Also played a bit with an old old USB Midi keyboard I had and Caustic software, and have access to Casio CTK-6250 regular electronic keyboard as needed.
Basically, I've discovered a fertile new ground and am looking to deep dive :).
But as I said - there's tons of reviews and suggestions on equipment out there; a fair amount of courses (good or bad) on how to create sound; but far less on how to learn to play synth in any kind of accelerated, non-traditional/classical way. As per my other post to fellow commenter - I find I can "play" piano/synth just from my guitar experience enough to have fun and run some chord progressions etc; and fear that first "two years" worth of classical piano would not substantially advance me in the direction I want to move. Perhaps I'm wrong... we'll see! :)
Depend on your taste in music, learning songs from classic synth era can be very useful too, whether it be prog-rock or anything else. I'd recommend songs by Camel, Allan Parsons Project etc.
Once your ears gets used to learning and playing whatever you hear off records, jam along to some classic Vangelis or something like that. Improvising is key to learning to play without sounding "stiff" if you will.
I would also say any MIDI compatible keyboard is a good fit too, try to get something that has a pitch wheel though. The wheel will let you "bend" your sound and add some expressivity that just hitting the keys won't. I still think a midi keyboard is the best first interface for people that want to step into synth music.
I just wish Roli made an iOS config utility.
Do you mean compose music with a sequencer or DAW like ableton?
Or, read and play sheet music using a keyboard to control the synthesizer itself?
The synthesizer and it’s means of control being separate make it a little different from traditional acoustic instruments.
But, no musician ever went wrong by learning to play piano and/or taking lessons.
Also, no musician ever went wrong by listening to the music they loved and trying to imitate it on their own.
Lastly, it helps to be around other people playing or making music.
I've collected some notes on what I've found so far [1] but be warned that I'm not a musician nor have I made anything that I would consider even remotely passable as music.
Here are some links that I found helpful:
* David Clements. He recreates many songs on his Studio Logic Sledge but it's applicable to other synths as well. Here's one where he recreates the opening to Stranger Things: https://youtu.be/HGufVBDfPvs
* InThread. A forum for Sonic Pi users. They have many coded examples of scores that can be used as a reference: https://in-thread.sonic-pi.net/
* Lines Forum. A forum of synth enthusiasts: https://llllllll.co/
* How Music Works. Goes from sound synthesis to composition/music theory: https://www.lightnote.co/
* Dylan Lane on melody writing. Don't let the Youtube personality or religiousity turn you off, she's knowledgeable and had many useful tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlrLHhpp8-E&list=PL5PNXIkCYn...
* Signals Music Studio. More music theory oriented but I found it very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPDVo-7Ua28&list=PLTR7Cy9Sv2...
* Open Music Theory http://openmusictheory.com/
* Some other algorithmic music generation links: http://maximecb.github.io/Turing-Tunes/ , http://maximecb.github.io/Melodique/ , http://www.playonlinedicegames.com/mozart
[1] https://github.com/abetusk/dev/blob/release/notes/MusicNotes...
Software synths are often built to model popular hardware instruments in both sound and interface. So learning the basic concepts on a “real” subtractive synth builds a foundation to learn more.
Plus a physical synth is far less distracting than a multitasking device. I find it much easier to create, experiment and learn when a screen is not involved.
[1] https://imgur.com/a/chegsO5 (my setup)
DIY synth making will take up every bit of spare time you think you have left, and then some. Your hands will become a puzzle of soldering iron scars, and you'll slowly lose your hearing from accidental speaker pops. You have been warned.
Every time I think about getting more into synths, I worry that I'll just end up endlessly noodling and never actually complete any songs. Years ago, I bought a copy of Reason and had tons of fun playing with it, but eventually I realized that after every session, I was rarely any closer to having a completed work I could share with others.
For me, the knobs are the most important part. It’s an expressive medium after all, you need to feel the movement.
I've sold off an Elektron Analog Four, Elektron Analog Rytm, Elektron Octatrack and an Access Virus Ti 2 less than a year ago and started working exclusivley in the box and using two ableton push 2 as midi controllers and I honestly do not miss my hardware at all.
Sure I lose out on some of that analog warmth but I've come pretty close by emulating it with various VSTs.
And so I tried the same thing with the "Monark" VST thinking "yeah analog still wins" and nope, Monark does the exact same thing. But I never discovered it until I actually had the knobs in front of me.
I've since gotten a BCR-2000 and tried mapping all my soft synths but none of them map completely and it's just... not the same somehow. It is better though.
Is it possible to go from first principles, starting with a sound that I have in mind (an Apple Logic default synth) and build a similar sounding (digital) synthesiser in some (hopefully open) format that can cross convert?
You'd have to explore sampling the output of the Logic synth, and then converting and loading them into the sample engine on the Piano.
https://www.nordkeyboards.com/software-tools/nord-sample-edi...
https://singlecellsoftware.com/caustic
And it is free for iOS, Android, Windows, Linux/WINE
When using it to create multiplayer online theremin[2] for fun, I got really impressed with synthesizers and inspired to learn more about them. That is, the Web Audio API inspired me to learn physical synthesizers.
Regrettably physical analog synths is an expensive hobby, so the only physical synth set that I’ve gotten so far is a LittleBits toy synth kit[3] (kind of like legos of synths), which I also do recommend, as an adult I can have tons of fun with it and learn and experiment, even though it is meant for kids
1: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Audio_A...
2: http://theremins.club
3: https://littlebits.com/products/synth-kit
The best resource I've found for learning synthesis is Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook (https://www.synthesizer-cookbook.com/). And it's not even close: A few years ago I went all in on ebooks, I got rid of everything. I recently went through a bunch of PDFs trying to find a replacement resource for this book (which isn't available as an ebook). Let's just say I gave up and now I own a physical copy of exactly one book.
Or do you hand-code Max? The .max files look a bit more like configuration files than code.
First time seeing the Max language:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_(software)
Reaktor is also a visual programming language. Both cost money, a lot actually, I think Max and Max for Live (which you need to run plugins in Ableton and is sold separately) are $600 or so total.
Visual programming languages are especially popular for synthesis, I'm assuming there's a reason for that, but honestly I've never tried doing this stuff in another language (most "native" VST-style plugins are written in C++), so I can't really compare it to that or give a real explanation for if it's better. But it is simply an environment that brings me joy to work in (despite its warts), so beyond doing a bit of work in Reaktor, I've never even looked into other ways of doing these things.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_programming_language
I was completely blown away by the infinity x infinity possibilities. Totally overwhelming! This tutorial is great for helping me understand the concepts, very fortuitous.
Now if I could actually sit down and make a song instead of just tweaking knobs on controllers...
Someone told me you have to make 100 crap songs before your first good one. Best way to get better is to just start trying to make stuff and stop comparing your work to what you listen to on spotify. You'll improve faster than you think.
That was "good enough" to teach me the basics, which at first was just figuring out how the UX of Ableton works (the intro tutorial is good for that as well). The teacher teaches me stuff about sidechains and etc but that can be learned through youtube videos. Really I should spend more of my time with him bringing in my material and working with him to tweak it.
Anyway, because there's MIDI tools like "chord builders" (literally one called "jazz for dummies") and arpegiators, it's not exactly necessary to get a keyboard. I'd just plug one of those in, bang out a few chords, and hit ctrl+d (duplicate) a bunch of times, trying to learn more about the basics of songbuilding than really making custom tracks.
But that did get obnoxious not being able to tell which keys on my keyboard mapped to notes, so I got an entry level midi keyboard recommended on wirecutter, the Arturia MiniLab MKII https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MSNIVKE/ref=ppx_yo_dt...
It's been fun and simple, and I bet it'll be even more fun when I figure out how to map the knobs to stuff and learn more about synths.
As for version of Ableton, now I'm running a pirated version until a few months go by without any big purchases, at which time I'll pick up Live Suite.