From the original SynthMaker forum (2004–2014), with its members’ names and dates.
smueske ·
Hi, I finally finished the tutorial synth and am wondering what people generally do next? I'm going to modify it and turn it into a 3 OSC synth, maybe add an effect or two, but just wondering what the best way to proceed is. In the future I have a lot of ideas about synths I'd like to see, but I'm nowhere near the level of attempting that leap. Is there a newbie group or some such? Sorry, just looking for a little guidance. Up till now I've been using commercial synths and I'd like to explore creating my own more, if for no other reason than a deeper understanding of DSP synthesis.
I'm not a newbie to synthesis itself -- I've been making electronic music for about 10 years, and my first album is coming out next year. Recently I've been buying books on the history of synthesis because I want to understand WHY things sound the way they do when I move such and such knob, modulate this parameter, or whatever. I think synthmaker will be invaluable to me, but I'm sort of scratching my head going, I've got the tutorial done, now what?
Any ideas?
MichaelBenjamin ·
its nice if you do electronic music that youre interested in dsp, because thats the inner heart of electronic music and abstract sound in general.
here are some hints that may or may not lead in the right direction for you:
- try to understand how the numbers affect each other, connect lots of readout modules if you dont understand
- try to understand oscillators, filtering, delaying, distortion and feedback, synthmaker is quite good with that and you can do lots of stuff with it that has not been done yet.
- dont be too hung up on cpu efficiency, at first the things you build will probably eat up lots of unnecessary cpu - you can reduce that later with better understanding
- download and examine modules posted at the forum and the wiki, there are lots of them, play around
- read the forum here and also the other internet, and do searches about different general topics that come up while plaing around with modules
- also dont forget about the frontend, how you control and what you can control and how its presented on the screen.
- and finally you may ask questions like you already did
the soundonsound magazine has some good general tutorials here: http://www.soundonsound.com/search?page ... ummary=Yes
but at the end its unexplainable like the music - the inspiration, the dedication and the experience make it somehow together.
oddson ·
It's almost refreshing to see this post... we're more used to "I've just discovered SynthMaker and I want to make a multi-sampler with a granular flabistan like the one on MegaSoftSynth where do I start?" questions.
Where to go next? Modulate everything with everything - including things you don't think you should. Modulate phase, and pitch and volume and the input frequency to the OSC you're using to modulate something else. Modulate at sub-sonic and sonic ranges, with partials or near partials of the fundamental or with enharmonic signals... Modulate with envelope followers, side-chains and unrelated audio signals.
Later you may want to learn the code module and play with filter design - learn a bit about how digital filters work and then play with them in SynthMaker to really get a proper understanding.
Then start learning about sample playback... oh so much to know there. See if you can figure our how to play back a granular sound, how pitch shifting and interpolation work on sample playback in the stock modules, how to use different waves for various pitches or velocities.
Keep playing at it and keep reading about DSP and synthesis techniques.
I have a lot of ideas about synths I'd like to see, but I'm nowhere near the level of attempting that leap
Well, start by trying to see what you don't know that's stopping you... jump in and see where you go wrong. Then come here and ask what you're sure is the dumbest question anyone has ever asked and find out where to go and how to get there (and that it's not so dumb a question after all).
I've been playing with SynthMaker for over four years but I don't really try to release finished synths or effects. I just learn and play.
I'm not exactly expert at a lot of these things but I know a hundred times more than I did because of SynthMaker and I've learned how to get more out of soft-synths by having a better understanding of what's going on behind the scenes.
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