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Learning Synths

969 points| navidhg | 6 years ago |learningsynths.ableton.com | reply

172 comments

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[+] bbx|6 years ago|reply
The best resource I've ever seen for learning synthesis is Syntorial: https://www.syntorial.com/

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.

[+] omer_balyali|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] gameoflife|6 years ago|reply
+1 to Syntorial. I'd couple it with Serum where it's easy to implement ideas from Syntorial and build on top.
[+] fermentation|6 years ago|reply
That looks really great, but a little pricey. Any recs for someone who isn’t sure if they want to invest the cash into learning synthesis?
[+] jdietrich|6 years ago|reply
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.

https://www.soundonsound.com/search/articles/%22Synth%20Secr...

[+] H1Supreme|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] scarecrowbob|6 years ago|reply
I can second (or third) this thought: these articles taught me a whole lot a long time ago.
[+] SN76477|6 years ago|reply
yep the sos series the best I know of.

It deserves it own dedicated website, it is never easy for me to find.

[+] NikolaNovak|6 years ago|reply
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...

[+] davzie|6 years ago|reply
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!

[+] asher|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] CuriouslyC|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] ben7799|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] Sileni|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] sramsay|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] jacquesm|6 years ago|reply
If you do end up going the 'learn piano' route check out 'pianobooster', it is the most patient teacher you'll ever have.
[+] dfxm12|6 years ago|reply
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...

[+] anigbrowl|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] throwaway8879|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] wesleyfsmith|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] adamsea|6 years ago|reply
When you say “play synth” ...

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.

[+] fxj|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] abetusk|6 years ago|reply
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/

* 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...

[+] realshowbiz|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] flycaliguy|6 years ago|reply
Absolutely. There is such a wide variety of cheap analog monosynths, it’s definitely the way to go.

For me, the knobs are the most important part. It’s an expressive medium after all, you need to feel the movement.

[+] runarberg|6 years ago|reply
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

1: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Audio_A...

2: http://theremins.club

3: https://littlebits.com/products/synth-kit

[+] FigBug|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] robenkleene|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] komali2|6 years ago|reply
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...

[+] jacquesm|6 years ago|reply
This is very impressive. A ton of work went into it with all the interactivity and the explanation of what makes the sound sound like it does. Very impressive work and one of those things that really make me like the internet.

By the way, this thread is a goldmine of interesting links.

[+] ablation|6 years ago|reply
Not the first time Ableton tutorial/informational content has been posted on here, and it's always a delight to see and use.
[+] gtani|6 years ago|reply
Over in /r/synthizers, muffwiggler and gearslutz land (there might be other forums where the pretty hardcore hang out) they usually recommend getting a knobby synth and Ableton/logic/bitwig/reaper etc on an apple that won't overheat. So micro/mini brute, DSI mopho w/keys, monologue ($200 used or so), bass station2, ms2000, the Odyssey and ms20 recreations, there's a bunch.

Recommendations for my 2 favorite books, Snoman's book is great bc it covers the whole chain of what a EDM needs, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, DAW...: https://old.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/65o4r4/best_r...

https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/80bmj3/pickin...

https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/7g3uv0/best_a...

[+] habosa|6 years ago|reply
I am someone who loves music in all its forms (especially live music) but I have struggled to ever learn to play music. I don't have much natural rhythm, I have a bad ear, and I wasn't the best student when I took guitar lessons.

Recently I have gotten into synthesizers and electronic instruments in general and WOW. Suddenly music clicks for me. I think as an engineer there is something very appealing about deconstructing sounds. And thinking "this is a sine wave plus {x}" is easier on my mind than "this is an EMajor7 chord and here is the staff notation".

This is a world where you can spend a lot of money, but there's also really good cheap gear out there if you look for it. And you can learn something unique from almost any piece of gear.

While you can do it all in the computer these days (or almost all) I find that I need physical knobs and controls to unlock my creativity and make this something I look forward to after a long day of being on the computer coding.

[+] maxfurman|6 years ago|reply
This is very impressive! I know the web audio APIs are not new, but this is a very slick user experience. The way the corners of the box move as you drag the controls around - Italian chef finger-kissing gesture
[+] human20190310|6 years ago|reply
That drag-box UI does a great job of conveying the often-missed point that synthesizers can be very expressive instruments.
[+] jesuslop|6 years ago|reply
Not directly related, but do you know of recent achievements with a wow factor in the physical modelling synthesis field [1]? Just as some offline rendered 3d scenes are amazing, It'd be nice to have a pure virtual instrument with its string and resonance chamber model, inter-string effects, plucking mechanism, and so on.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_modelling_synthesis

[+] TheOtherHobbes|6 years ago|reply
Physical modelling peaked in 1993 with the Yamaha VL1 - which was an amazing synth that crashed right into the uncanny valley between sampling and real instruments.

PM is a complete nightmare to program - even harder than FM. Which was why the VL1 was a preset-only machine. The full programmimng system was never made public.

There are some modern remakes in the box, especially from TAS, but IMO they don't sound as impressive.

The appeal of analog isn't just the sound, it's the conceptual simplicity. Ditto for sampling. Almost anyone with an average-ish IQ can understand the basics.

There are plenty of alternative synthesis techniques, but they're not popular because most people find they're too much effort for too little reward.

PM, modal, spectral, and straight additive can all make some very wild sounds, but - ironically - they don't sound like most people's idea of a synthesizer, so they're used much less often, and usually only by people who are hardcore sound programming nerds.

[+] ssalazar|6 years ago|reply
Check out Geoshred[1], developed as a collaboration between Jordan Rudess and researchers at Stanford University. Its using a physical model for the guitar as well as audio FX (which tend to be easier to get good sounding than acoustic instruments).

In the domain of pure research, Kurt Werner's work in physical models of 808 circuits is also pretty cool [2].

[1] http://www.moforte.com/

[2] https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~kwerner/

[+] frabert|6 years ago|reply
Reaktor 5 ships with Steam Pipe 1&2, which are two cool physical modelling synthesizers. They're great for wind, string and percussive instruments
[+] atoav|6 years ago|reply
Check out Kaivo (Vst), Prism (for Reaktor) and Chromaphone 2 (Vst). They are not the freshest of the fresh, but certainly interesting.
[+] Jasper_|6 years ago|reply
Sample Modeling's The Trumpet and Audio Modeling's Swam Saxophone have been invaluable additions to my rack.
[+] jesuslop|6 years ago|reply
Thanks for all responses, a lot to explore!
[+] djohnston|6 years ago|reply
only tangentially related, but ableton is a personal dream job . anyone have experiences working there?
[+] hoorayimhelping|6 years ago|reply
This is fantastic. Incredibly helpful, and really really cool animations. Great metaphors and art style.

Love this - if you're reading the comments and on the fence, it's worth going through if for no other reason than to appreciate how well this is put together.

Works flawlessly on Firefox on Windows.

[+] Roboprog|6 years ago|reply
Check out Lorentz if you have an iOS device.

It’s a virtual analog synth, similar to something like the Roland Juno 106.

[+] comboy|6 years ago|reply
It's relevant also if you are interested in creating music and not specifically in synths because it very clearly explains many controls that you will find in popular music software.