(synth numpty) i have a new synth and am overwhelmed about how to start learning it tbh.

racefaceec90

further to my other post about which beginner synth to get i am now the happy owner of an arturia minifreak (stellar edition) which i got on tuesday.

am loving the synth i have to say but all i am doing currently with it is going through the presets and finding sounds that i like then twiddling the knobs a bit whilst playing a few notes.

i would very much like to be able to come up with musical things on it but apart from my lack of talent i am completely overwhelmed i have to admit with where to even begin starting to learn the synth (i know that it is a great synth and have heard some great music people have created with it on yt).

basically i am a complete beginner with synths and the jargon etc that comes with trying to learn how to use it.

can any synth experts offer any advice as to how to begin to understand and learn how to use it in easy numpty speak if possible lol.

i would love to be able to make stuff on it like ambient soundscapes and vangelis type soundscapes etc as well as trying to learn from famous synth players like vince clarke etc.

thanks in advance :-)

monquixote

Create a sequence so you can concentrate on the sounds 

go to an init patch
learn about ADSRs first 
then filters 
Then oscillator features 

stay away from fx initially 

watch this

https://youtu.be/D9mZ_Mc2x90?si=-UstJGHkGKc4dNj0

Kittyfrisk

monquixote said:

Create a sequence so you can concentrate on the sounds 

go to an init patch
learn about ADSRs first 
then filters 
Then oscillator features 

stay away from fx initially 

watch this

https://youtu.be/D9mZ_Mc2x90?si=-UstJGHkGKc4dNj0

Great advice  
Now all I need to find out about is init patches, ADSRs, filters, oscillators & fx...  

hollywoodrox

Congratulations on your new synth ,must be very exciting  I was looking at those Behringer deep minds the other night lol . YouTube would be a good place to start & watch someone build a patch 
I was watching someone build a patch on A Juno 60 step by step . It really started to sound ace when they turned on reverb and chorus & added some delay . Hope you have fun best regards Paul . 

racefaceec90

Thanks Paul 

Thanks for the tips and replies, I will definitely try and follow them. I don't want to be stuck just using the presets and some know twiddling if you know what I mean (I would love to get good enough to make some soundscapes etc). Now just need to invoke the spirit of vangelis (rip).

blobb

1. flicking through presets and adjusting knobs to see what happens is 99% of what you do with synths, so you're not all that far away.

2. The next trick is to try to understand what is going on so when you adjust a knob you know, or at least think you know, what it is adjusting and how it interacts with other adjustments you can make. 

To get there you can't do worse than read Gordon Reid's epic Synth Secrets via the Sound on Sound website. It's such a great resource, get's real deep if you want and probably a fair reflection of the easy to use, difficult to master nature of synthesis. 

Don't be put off though, it's basically: create a sound (using oscillators or other such noise/signal/wave generators, there's a million innovative ways to do it), mix those sounds together, filter that combined sound by excluding (or subtracting) harmonics, modify that sound using things called envelopes which harden/soften/extend/curtail the sound and then amplify it (and sometimes add effects). 

Then it get's magical because you can use inaudiable waves called LFO's to automate your knob movements (fnarr), there is a whole world of connections you can make, this is what all those wires you see on big monster modular synths are doing. Your synth is like a package of modules, all linked together by invisible pre attached wires. once you have figured out the 'architecture' of your synth you can explore interactivity and automation. Most of this can be accessed by remote control from your computer using midi commands.

You can do it on one channel (mono synth) or multiple channels at the same time (poly synth). There are other typs of synthesis but start there.

Most synths will have a preset called 'init patch' or similar which is a basic simple patch with no modifiers. That's usually the place to build from. Or as you are already doing, pick a nice preset patch and see if you can figure put how it is creating the sounds and movements. There is no substitute for fiddling but if you think about what it happening it's not long until it makes sense. They should teach it in schools.

TTony

For the principles of what's going on, and why, when you flick through the presets and twiddle the knobs, @monquixote recommended Syntorial when I was at a similar stage of learning.

I also found a udemy course by Steve Lydford really good.  It's step=by-simple-step and a lot cheaper than Syntorial (£14.99 currently, which is a steal for the knowledge it shares).

Al_Nico

That synth sounds really good. It has pre-sets. My SH101 in the 1980's didn't have pre-sets. Adjusting something close to what you need can be a quick way to something of your own.

If you can initialise the synth so you get a saw wave beep/buzz sound, start by using the filter with it to make wah sounds.

Next, assign a sine wave LFO to the filter cut off. That's Dubstep.

Change the LFO to Saw wave and increase the speed. That's future rave.

hollywoodrox

racefaceec90 said:

Thanks Paul 

Thanks for the tips and replies, I will definitely try and follow them. I don't want to be stuck just using the presets and some know twiddling if you know what I mean (I would love to get good enough to make some soundscapes etc). Now just need to invoke the spirit of vangelis (rip).

I loved it when Vangelis teamed up with John Anderson & did I hear you now &  somehow I’ll find my way home . Loved 80s stuff 

personalnadir

If you want something to read which takes you from the basics Gordon Reid’s guide is free to read on the Sound on Sound website

https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-sound

I found finding videos where people take you though how to make a patch on the synth in question is a great boon. I found Oscillator Sink’s videos very helpful in that regard 

rpr

Here's a tutorial on synthesis, kinda long and bit waffly, but covers the basics in detail 

rpr

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/back-to-basics/8995

Chris.B

personalnadir said:

If you want something to read which takes you from the basics Gordon Reid’s guide is free to read on the Sound on Sound website

https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-sound

@personalnadir I'm enjoying working through the Sound On Sound articles, it helps to make sense of all the synth demo videos by explaining the details of the elements of a synth.  Thanks for posting the link. 

DuploLicks

Another useful thing is to stop watching Bad Gear, audiopilz YT channel to eliminate gas in the workflow.  

Funkfingers

Chris.B said:

personalnadir said:

If you want something to read which takes you from the basics Gordon Reid’s guide is free to read on the Sound on Sound website

https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-sound

@personalnadir I'm enjoying working through the Sound On Sound articles, it helps to make sense of all the synth demo videos by explaining the details of the elements of a synth.  Thanks for posting the link. 

Gordon Reid is Grod. 

hollywoodrox said:

I was watching someone build a patch on a Juno 60, step by step. It really started to sound ace when they turned on reverb and chorus & added some delay. 

The JU-60 is hamstrung slightly by only having one ADSR envelope generator. Sound programming sometimes involves compromises. The onboard BBD chorus compensates for the lack of oscillator detuning. Even with these limitations, the JU-60 is still capable of some huge sounds.

TBH, a lot of programming is just mucking about with the controls until you stumble over something interesting.

Decorativeed

I've got the Microfreak, which is a downscaled version of the Minifreak. Despite being pretty familiar with synth, it's a machine you don't have to operate like one, and the sounds you can make from scratch have pretty much already been made and installed as a preset.

There are tons of other presets you can download from the Arturia website, so a lot of what I've done with it involved downloading and installing them, auditioning each preset and deleting those I don't like and would never use. 

I made a few basic patches of my own, saved a few variants of my favourite presets and uploaded some samples to use as a waveform and made a few presets from there. 

I find it's capable of being anything you want it to be, really, but there's no shame in tweaking presets and having fun with it. 

Only thing I find confusing is the matrix system, so I've left it alone pretty much! 

personalnadir

Decorativeed said:

Only thing I find confusing is the matrix system, so I've left it alone pretty much! 

I found the Oscillator Sink videos super useful for getting my head around that

Decorativeed

personalnadir said:

Decorativeed said:

Only thing I find confusing is the matrix system, so I've left it alone pretty much! 

I found the Oscillator Sink videos super useful for getting my head around that

Thanks - I'll check that out.