sound creation

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locket
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2009/07/26 10:50:39 (permalink)

sound creation

hey guys and gals,

Iv just had my head blown off, not literally, just been messing with massive and the first thing you do in the manual is start creating your own sounds with filters and envelopes and man its complicated but man its awsome, I really want to learn how to do this, Im familiar with terms like filters and envelopes but I actually dont know what they are or what they mean, and iv just been learning alittle about it and its deep, but I think this is the way to go for me really.
Do any of you know of any good tutorials online or books on the matter or do you just recommend experimenting, im sure you all have to be into this to make the music your making.
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    badbib
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 13:42:52 (permalink)
    Hey Locket.

    Learning substractive synthetis is not very hard, but really useful. Once you know the basics, it's all about being creative and knowing your synths inside out.

    I don't have a tutorial I could point you to, I never used one, but I'm pretty sure there are a lot of online tutorials on substractive synthesis.

    Really, once you know what an oscillator and its different waveforms, a filter, an envelope, a LFO, and modulations work, you don't have much to learn.

    If you have a few knobs on a midi keyboard, try to map them to as many parameters as you can, starting with filter cutoff and resonance, filter and amplitude envelopes, it's a lot more fun to tweak a synth with real knobs than with a mouse.
    #2
    badbib
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 13:47:18 (permalink)
    also, if you start experimenting and can't find anything you like, just add delay and reverb to your effect chain, maybe a chorus. Sometimes, a simple synth sound can be enough, sometimes, adding some effects can make your sound interesting.

    one thing I'd suggest is to start from a blank synth sound, just one oscillator, going through a low pass filter. What I mean is that if you start from a complex preset in a synth such as Massive, you can feel lost trying to find what is affecting the sound. Starting from scratch is a better way to figure out what each component of your synth does I think.
    #3
    locket
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 14:39:11 (permalink)
    Thanks for that badbib, its encouraging to know that this is nt impossible to learn thanks for the good advice.

    post edited by locket - 2009/07/26 14:41:46
    #4
    AT
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 14:57:31 (permalink)
    like all audio, it is signal flow.
     
    Oscillator = sound source.
     
    Filter (usually) = controls bandwidth of sound source.
     
    Filter envelope = amount of filter effect
     
    Envelope = gain control.
     
    Once you get a sound going simply as above, then add:
     
    LFOs to create tremelo or vibrato, while adding it to filters opens and closes the filter effect rhythmically.  Once you get those basics down, you can start piling on more controls.  Look at the front panel of a mini-moog to get a visualization of subtractive synthesis.
     
    @

    https://soundcloud.com/a-pleasure-dome
    http://www.bnoir-film.com/  
     
    there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
    24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
    #5
    locket
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 16:08:58 (permalink)
    yep thats basically it, I just read a more complicated version of what you just said.

    I did nt get what 2 pole and 4 pole filters do something to do with db, but I did nt understand it.
    #6
    cryophonik
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 16:25:15 (permalink)
    A great place to start is Simon Cann's "How to Make a Noise":

    http://noisesculpture.com/htman_free.html

    The link will take you to the free downloadable version, or you can buy the book (it's pretty cheap).

    Other good resources:

    Simon Cann's "Cakewalk Synths: From Presets to Power User" -highly recommended if you're using CW synths.

    Jim Aiken's "Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming: The Ultimate Reference for Sound Design" - a good reference for all things synth-related, but not really a "recipe book" like the previous two books above.

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    #7
    ChristopherM
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 17:09:49 (permalink)
    Also try SOS synth secrets.
    #8
    locket
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 17:11:30 (permalink)
    Thanks for that cryo, I just checked out the making noise book and it said its based on using certain synths rhino i think zeta was mentioned do you think I can use the info to use with synths not used in the making of it?
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    AT
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/26 17:55:24 (permalink)
    A lot of the info in any book will be generic, not specific.  There are different ways to make sound - analog subtractive (shaping tones produced by oscillators w/ filters and envelopes), replicating waveforms in digital, samples, FM, additive.  Most (not fm) following the analog model of producing a rich sound and then filtering it.  There are only so many ways to skin a sound.
     
    2-pole and 4 pole bascially refer (and in the analog world make) a sharper filter depending upon how many poles.  2 pole gives you a 12 dB slope, while 4 pole falls or cuts sharper - 24 dB.  You will see both ways refered to.  Usually they are low pass (cutting out the highs), but there are high-pass, bandwidth etc.  BAsically you have to listen to the effect they have and you'll know how they "sound."  A book will help you understand what is happening scientifically/intellectually and grok the effect and apply it theoretically.
     
    @

    https://soundcloud.com/a-pleasure-dome
    http://www.bnoir-film.com/  
     
    there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
    24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
    #10
    locket
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    Re:sound creation 2009/07/27 08:26:11 (permalink)
    Christopher - ye forgot about synth secrets should probably check that out also

    AT - thanks for explaining that alot simpler than what I read online cheers.
    #11
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