Posts Tagged ‘music tutorials’
Digital vs Analog
Analog vs Digital
The Analog vs Digital war battles on and will likely continue through the ages, however year by year digital has tightened the gap and is getting warmer all the time. Some of the softsynth reproductions of “analog” warmth has been pretty impressive as well. Although I’m not planning on taking sides, I am going to defend digital a bit for all the heat it seems to get from so called “analog purists”. I am also not planning on getting into the math on this one. That kind of stuff bores me to tears and defeats the point of this little blog.
Digital strengths vs Analog strengths
The Art of Mastering Audio by Bob Katzs makes some good points on this subject. Being one of the most respected mastering engineers, I take what he says as coming from years of experience in both the digital and analog world. This is what Bob has to say:
Analog recordings tend to excel at producing accurate detail in the lower frequencies and get less detailed and fuzzy at the higher frequencies.
Digital recordings excel at accurate reproduction of the higher frequencies and get fuzzy on the bottom end.
Bob uses this analogy to give you an idea of how this works:
Analog recordings would be like looking up at a skyscraper from the bottom whereas Digital would be like looking at the same skyscraper from the rooftop down.
From this perspective you can see where both digital and analog could both be used to good effect, depending on what you are going for. You can say that analog has a pleasant muddiness (I’m using this term loosely so don’t throw a fit) and digital has a sharper sound overall.
Imperfections
The thing many of us love about analog is that it’s imperfect and thus more human. The artifacts created in an analog recording keep a recording a bit more dynamic and unpredictable whereas digital recordings come across much more sterile and with virtually no artifacts or imperfections. Many producers keep this in mind when recording in the digital domain and do their best to inject some variation and unpredictability to the recordings. Many high end virtual instruments and fx plugin’s do a good job of recreating analog-like artifacts and “analog” warmth. If you know the right tools to use in the digital domain, you can fool most people most of the time.
Mastering
Many people think that a professional mastering studio only uses analog equipment to do their work but this isn’t the case.
Most engineers agree that taking your wav or aif file master recording, running it through analog equipment and then back into the digital domain will usually do more harm than good even if they are using excellent converters. More often than not, if an artist wants everything mastered in the analog domain, they will deliver their reel to reel masters to the mastering house, otherwise the work will most likely have the best results staying in the digital domain.
For Studios on a small budget, the cost of comparable analog gear, the converters and all the highest end cables would not be worth it. Also remember all the maintenance to keep the equipment working top notch. That isn’t cheap. On top of that, you can’t expect to have an artist come back to you years after your first session and have presets that will deliver identical results. Analog gear can’t be expected to get the same results day after day because its not crunching numbers like in the digital domain. There will always be a little chaos added to every piece of analog gear. This can be wonderful during the recording phase but can make it very difficult to master an album over the course of months or years.
The Real Test
Go ahead and go through your CD collection and pull out your warmest analog recordings. Pink Floyd? Stevie Wonder? Air? Notice the difference you hear in those recordings. Notice all the warmth from the tape saturation. Notice the difference between that and the most obvious digital recordings and these old recordings. Some of you might prefer the clean modern sound and that’s totally fine. To each their own.
The most important point that I want to end with is that digital must be pretty damn good at reproducing analog sound since the best CD you’ve ever heard is still a 16 bit digital representation. It might not be vinyl, but most of what you listen to these days ends up digital at some point. In fact, don’t doubt that some of your vinyl is just an analog representation of a digital recording.
This blog wasn’t meant to answer all the questions in the analog vs digital debate but rather to open up a healthy conversation on the topic. These days there is so much great technology at our fingertips whether it be Analog or Digitally produced that it’s hard not to be attracted to both. Even with free software you can create release worthy music. Don’t get hung up. Use what you’ve got. If it sounds good to you, roll with it. When it comes to your art, it’s your opinion that matters most.
Happy Music Making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
_________________________________________________
Monetizing your Music or Art – part 2
Monetizing your Music or Art part 2
(note: For those of you who are DJ’s or solo producers, don’t let the word “band” discourage you. Many of these techniques can be applied by anyone)
Monetizing with social media.
I’ve seen far too many people misuse social media in promoting their bands. Probably the most popular Social media outlet for bands is MySpace.com. In fact MySpace has become so misused that is has become almost useless in selling your music and bringing people to your shows.
Some poor promotional strategies include:
Randomly adding as many friends as you can. This used to give others the impression that you had a lot of people into your band, but these days people know that the amount of friends you have on MySpace doesn’t translate to people who buy your music or come to your shows. It simply shows how more often than not, people accept your friend requests out of politeness or in interest of promoting themselves. Everyone is trying to play the same game and no one is succeeding.
Leaving Spam comments, fliers, links and other promotional jargon on on your “friends” pages. Leaving these “comments” is just rude and it’s also a complete waste of time. Do you have any idea how many comments people get from bands they’ve never heard of? Unless you have had conversations back and forth and have determined that they are indeed a fan and are actually local enough to be able to make your event, you are wasting your time, and theirs. Think about it.. have you tried this and actually had succeess with this lame strategy? I didn’t think so. For unsigned bands, the only people who will support you are those who know you personally, or has heard great things about you through friends. If you are going to leave a comment, make it about them, not about you. The whole “I think you’re great, check out my band too” doesn’t cut it.
Spam bulletins. In the early days, bulletins were a pretty good way to let your friends know what was happening with you. Unfortunately now there is just too much traffic with bulletins once you have 500 or more friends. They are most likely going to miss your post. On top of that, most or your “friends” are in bands as well and are too busy trying to promote themselves to pay any attention to you or your bulletins. The “what are you doing” features in Facebook and Twitter are far more effective. It’s also not considered spam to write on your own wall so it comes across much less intrusive. Don’t write a book though. It’s better to keep it text with possibly a link with more information or pictures. Post pictures on your own page, and your friends will see it as well. The 140 character limit on twitter is a very good guideline as it makes you get to the point.
Sending invites to everyone you know in hopes that you will land 10 people who are interested in trading their money for your music or performances. This is another waste of time. For every 1 person you get (if you actually get 1 person from this strategy) you will annoy or piss off 100′s or even 1000′s more. Is this how you want to treat your potential fans? Is this how your favorite bands get you to buy their music or come to their shows? Have you actually given some random band your time and money through any of these tactics? I didn’t think so.
So am I saying you should delete your MySpace page if you are a band? Absolutely not. MySpace is still an incredibly good way for people to find you. It’s a great way for actual fans to check your show schedules or new music releases. It’s a great way to create new friendships by common interests. I have met a number of people that I keep in touch with although I usually spend most of my time deleting irrelevant friend requests, irrelevant comments and irrelevant emails. Fun huh?
What should you do then?
From personal experience I’ll tell you what worked for me and my band. Although several of these are tactics I used as many as 20 years ago, they worked so effectively that we are planning a reunion show that already looks like it’s going to sell out and it’s still a year away!
1. Don’t suck – This might seem obvious, but some people get so into the idea of self promotion that the actual music takes a backseat. Whatever your sound is, refine it and play it well. You need a great product and you need it to stand out. Don’t settle for sloppy half-assed music with no hook. If you are going to go through the work of getting people to your shows and buying your music, you are going to want them to have an amazing time and keep coming back… with more friends.
2. Make a list – Every person in your band is going to want to make a list of every friend you can think of. Really take the time to do this, don’t leave anyone out unless it’s clear that they aren’t interested in what you do. Tally up all of these people and hunt down their phone numbers. It’s time to get yourself SO pumped about your own music that it’s completely infectious. You don’t want a conversation to leave anyone you talk to on the fence. You want to convince them that your band is going to be the next band to break out of the scene and go huge! It is not time to be humble but then again, it’s also never time to lie to yourself and others. If you don’t really feel that what you are doing is great stuff and worthy of interest nobody else is. Remember, this is going to become your core audience and they are going to be your biggest fans and advertisers. If you can’t get your friends excited about your music, they will never promote you to their friends and you may end up with a handful of friends who will come and see your shows out of pity. Everyone wants to be the first person to discover a great band. It makes them even more proud when they know you personally. This all starts with you and your band. Make sure when you make your calls that you ask your friends for their help in contacting their friends. Have them give you names so you can follow up. Make sure to add all of these people to your MySpace, Facebook and Twitter accounts. I think you should have all three and don’t let a week go by without something to say, new pictures uploaded and of course new music (Just don’t leave this stuff on other peoples comment page without their permission) . Within a few months, you should have at least 50-75 people that you can count on to come to your shows and help your promote. If you can’t muster that up at the moment, you’re going to want to start meeting more people both online and off.
3. Don’t play locally every week – You don’t want to give people the same show week by week. I’d suggest 1 show every 3 months. This gives you time to change up your performance and add new songs. This also gives you time to promote and get everyone pumped again. Playing every week will make each individual show less important and your attendance will suffer. Better to play less and make each show a real event.
4. Flyers – Get the band out of the house and into the clubs. Your band should be going out once or twice a week handing out fliers, talking to people and getting people to listen to your music and become a fan. The flyer should have a place they can hear your music. It’s not a bad idea to bring some burned CD’s with 1 or 2 or your best songs to give away Don’t go overboard. it’s better for each member of the band to bring 1 or 2 CD’s and give them away very selectively. This will create much more value to the people you choose to share your music with.
5. Get the clubs playing your music. If you can get in tight with the DJ’s, give him/her the most club friendly song you’ve got (If your song isn’t club friendly, find someone to remix one of your tunes). There is nothing cooler than having everyone in your favorite clubs know your songs. This is a no brainer when it comes to recruiting new fans. If the clubs have video screens or TV’s you can become instant celebrities with a good video. Find an art student who’s good with a video camera and knows how to edit it in a cool way and you’re golden.
6. Look unique, stand out – You are going to want your band to have a look. I know a lot of you want to make it all about the music and I would agree that is of utmost importance but it certainly won’t hurt you if your band has a style that sets you apart from your fans. It’s much more appealing than having a bunch of average Joes in jeans on a flyer. Think of your idea of what a “star” looks like and go with that. If you can stimulate the eyes and the ears, you’re in pretty good shape.
7. Take all negative comments as a challenge for any truly successful band to endure. When you take yourself and your music seriously, it will initially make some people uncomfortable. Nearly ALL successful people tend to get a backlash from the people around them when they attempt to make a dream or goal reality. The drive you have will make others feel like slackers. They might try to bring you down by saying “You’re being ridiculous, you’re acting like your going to be a big star”. Don’t worry, just keep doing what you’re doing and they will soon come around and realize that in fact you seem to be going places and when they DO come around, they will influence and turn other doubters into fans. It’s also important though to not mistake some helpful critiques for negativity. There are some people that want you to succeed and want to help you improve. Try to distinguish between the 2 before writing it all off as negativity.
8. Open for bands who are more popular than you. Of course you want to be sure that the band you are opening for is similar enough to attract the same type of people that might be into your band. This is probably the best way to get new fans as long as you are great live.
9. Know your environment. Some Artists or bands fit perfectly in a coffee shop environment while others have a much bigger sound that requires more space, better lights and a bigger soundsystem. If you are trying to uphold a certain image, don’t settle for a place that can’t offer the type of show you would like to deliver. Obviously you aren’t going to start off in stadiums (if that is your goal) but you should be doing the most you can with what you have to work with. If the club you are considering can’t meet your minimum requirements, pass on it. You are not desperate to play live. Live venues are desperate for good bands that can bring a lot of people. Be that band and the doors will open. When you DO play a good venue, make sure you get a couple camera guys to video it from different angles. You may want to record your mix to a laptop or DAT machine (anyone use those anymore?), that way you have good sound to sync to the video. This can make a great promotional tool to get more shows.
10. Make and manage a mailing list. Yet another forum for keeping in touch with your fans. More about that below.
11. Blogs and Radio Shows. Find music bloggers in your music genre. Chances are they are searching for new bands to talk about and share. What’s great about this is that you have someone who has built him/herself up as an authority on the subject. This is great to have a trusted voice putting your name out to all their readers. The same goes for online radio shows. Getting your music on a genre specific radio show can definitely get you new fans as long as they post their setlist and talk about the artists they are playing.
12. Join forums. This probably goes without saying, but getting your band into conversations (and not strictly self promotional stuff) can definitely put off a good vibe with the online community. Having a name people recognize in regular conversation can make people actually care when you’ve made a new song or have an upcoming show. One warning though is to not get involved with a lot of negative talk that has become a bit of the norm on most forums. Keep it positive and don’t freak out if someone says you suck. I’ve honestly turned many of those people into friends or followers by just keeping positive. Those who don’t come around will just start to look like an embarrassment to the rest of the community in due time.
Free Stuff
As I said in the last blog, don’t give away your music and get stuck in the “Free” zone. I said that and I meant it. However, giving things away for free can certainly lead to you selling more in the long run or getting more people to your shows. You just want to make sure to be wise about what you make available for free. A great example of Free might be to plan and promote the heck out of a Free concert. This will obviously expose you to more people who wouldn’t have otherwise paid to see you. A good performance can then lead to selling your music, shirts or other merchandise. Also don’t lose this opportunity to collect emails at the door. Don’t be forceful but definitely have someone asking if they would like to join your mailing list.
Although you certainly want your music to hold value, the “try before you buy” approach can be very effective. One technique I use is to offer a 6 song EP for free download in lower quality mp3 format and offer a high quality version with bonus tracks. Sure most people will just keep the free stuff, but at least they will be listening to your music, sharing it with others and possibly coming to your shows. Otherwise these people would have skipped over you and never been exposed to your music.
You can also trade free music for emails. This is a great way to build your mailing list and keep in touch with new potential fans. Personally, I would give away a few songs for free and then offer more in trade for an email. It comes across less “business-y”. Make sure not to give everything away for free as your goal is to build value, not remove it. As you make more music, you should get yourself out of the habit of making it available for free download and rather allow people to stream the songs at your webpage or on YouTube with a simple graphic or picture Make sure to put a link to where they can purchase your music in the info section and make an annotation pointing to it. Also be sure to use “http://” in front of links on YouTube or they won’t become links. YouTube has become a major “go to” place for finding music. Joining this community opens you up to a whole lot more people. Soundcloud.com is another site to check out. It’s a pretty innovative way to share music.
I hope this has given you some ideas that can take you from a starving artist to an empowered one.
Happy music (and money) Making!
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
Finishing tracks: Some tips to improve your songwriting productivity
Finishing club tracks:
Of all the roadblocks musicians run into, I would say that finishing tracks sits at the top of that list (or very near the top).
You are working on your favorite producing platform and you’ve got a rocking groove going on a 16 bar loop. You are moving and grooving
but you can’t seem to get yourself past this point. Everytime you return to this track to finally get this song done, you end up just spending
hour after hour listening to the loop and pondering each sound and component and at the end of the day are no closer to that elusive finished
track.
If this is you, realize that you are further along than you may think. Especially if after a week or so you are still liking the groove you created. Below are a few thoughts that may help get you over that hump of countless unfinished songs and on the track to more productive songwriting habits.
Don’t wait for inspiration:
Perspiration always beats waiting for inspiration.
Why?
Because energy in motion creates ‘emotion’ and emotion inspires.
In other words, allow inspiration to follow a consistent work ethic. You will find that your mind tunes in to your habitual actions and will set your music as a higher priority. This will lead to being inspired much more often. When I started writing this blog an hour ago I wasn’t in the mood. I had to push myself to just start. But now that I’ve put my writing in motion, one idea after another began to pop up and this blog pretty much started writing itself. Don’t think you have time to devote to regular music sessions? Why not take my 30 day challenge and see how it works for you.
Samples vs. Sound design:
Although there is nothing quite like creating your own unique sounds from scratch there are some things you might want to consider.
If you aren’t an expert on designing your own sounds, this process can take you from inspiration to mental exhaustion. When you are trying to bang out a tune, speed is of major importance. You don’t want to have too much time to ponder and second guess. You want to get in the flow and stay in that flow with as few distractions as possible. Many of the successful producers out there don’t seem to be great sound designers, but rather very organized and fast moving. They usually have many “go to” sounds, fx and presets. They often have templates ready to go as well so they have an idea how the song will be structured in advance. They also use sample libraries for drum hits and drumloops just to get the track moving and may change them later on. Bass can be a pretty tricky business to get right and often finding a preset and tweaking it will keep you from getting lost in sound design. As I have talked about in another blog, it’s important to separate your sound design time from your songwriting time. Trying to do both in one session can really slow you down or bring your productivity to a screeching halt.
Create your peak first:
The peak of a track is the point at which your song has the most excitement and energy. This is the point that all the other parts in your song reference and point to. This should be the hands in the air and jumping up and down moment of your song(or the part that conveys the most intense emotions). This is the payoff you deliver from any break downs and build up’s. If you don’t nail the peak of your track, then you don’t have a song.
Once you have your peak, you can stop adding parts to your song as more parts will begin to muddy up and drop the energy level you’ve just created. . Usually this will also be where more parts are playing at the same time. If all your parts are working together in the right way and aren’t conflicting with eachother, you are half way home.
In many cases, the peak of your song is about 3/4 of the way into your track. This isn’t a firm rule, but if you aren’t yet in the habit of finishing your tracks, you may want to follow guidelines that have worked for others until you build your own confidence in completing tracks.
If you are having difficulty creating the peak of your track and can’t seem to figure out what your track needs, a simple solution is to find other songs in the same key, match the bpm’s and play them together with your song idea(your song should be 6-10db louder than the songs you are mixing). When you hear something that grabs your attention and drives the groove forward take note of it and mimic it in your track. Sometimes it’s the sound you are going for, other times you just want the groove of the part and in some cases it sounds perfect as it is.
Song structure:
In it’s most basic form, the structure of a dance track is going to follow this format. If this format doesn’t work for you, simply analyse the structure of a song you would like to emulate.
Intro (8-16 bars) – Usually a simple beat that makes your track easy to mix
Bassdrop (32 bars) – Like it sounds, this is where the Bass comes in. The intro gives the DJ time to transistion from one Bassline to the next.
Breakdown/build up(4-8 bars) – This is usually where the kick drum is removed and a key melody or emotional aspect is introduced.
Meat of the song (32-64 bars) – This is where the song really comes together and sets the tone. this should make you move but not yet give you everything
Breakdown/build up 2(4-8 bars) – similar to the first breakdown but may feature elements that make it even more intense.
Peak(32-64 bars) – this is the moment everyone lets loose and the track gives you everything it’s got. Typically after 32 bars, the intensity should back off a bit like the way it was after the first breakdown.
Outro(8-16 bars) – this is similar to the intro and is there to allow the DJ to transistion to the next track without conflicts.
Besides the intro and outro, each section should have something of interest happening every 4-8 bars (crashes, atmospherics, fx etc) with new sounds being introduced throughout. To create more interest on parts that repeat, experiment with the filter, lfo’s or effects on some of the parts. Even slight changes will keep the mind interested.
Partnerships:
Many successful producers (especially DJ’s) have a team of engineers and sound designers that can take a basic song idea and take it to the next level.
Unless you have the budget to do this, my suggestion would be to find a partner to work with who has skills that you are lacking and vice versa. This way when one of you burn out, the other can pick up the slack. With 2 of more people you can multiply your productivity. The power of 2 (or more) minds becomes much more than the sum of the parts.
Less is more:
When your goal is to finish a song, it’s a good idea to get a basic groove up and running and not get too nit picky about all the details quite yet. In my opinion, it’s a good idea to create your groove that will become the song and then work out the structure of the song. You can always touch up the kick or bass tone once you see how everything else is playing off of it.
Only after you’ve got the structure in place would I suggest you start putting in all the crashes, filters, atmospherics, incidentals and automation. Having your song structured will motivate you to finish the song more than an elaborate 16 bar loop will (of course if you work differently and are having success with it, by all means carry on).
Solo each part:
Nearly every part of your track should be able to stand on it’s own (in some cases, multiple sounds create 1 final sound). If you continue to feel that your track needs more and more and more, you may want to consider that the key components to your songs are not right and need to be replaced. Try not to get your ego involved here. Sometimes that sound you spent ages on just doesn’t work and a preset does. Don’t get caught up in trying to force things. Maybe that sound can be used in another tune, but for now your focus is finishing the song in front of you. This also goes for overusing effects and EQ to compensate for a lousy sound. It’s much better to mangle a sound that is already great.
Steal, then replace:
In the name of speed and keeping the process flowing. If you hear a sound that inspires you, whether it be a kick, a stab, or some atmospheric, just steal it and keep moving. you can go back later and recreate the sounds if you are paranoid of licensing issues (although most of the sounds you are stealing were already stolen from somewhere else). I’m not saying you should just steal your way to success, but in the name of finishing your track, there is no point in spending a week trying to get that perfect kick tone when you can just steal it and move on to the next stage. I feel that paranoia holds more musicians back than it ever serves. If you really feel your track is going to be successful enough to worry about being sued, you can always hire someone to recreate sounds for you later.
A couple other tips on mixing and EQ:
Make sure when you are mixing to listen to everything BUT the part you are mixing. This way you will hear conflicts and things getting buried right away.
If you only focus on the part you are mixing, often times the last part you mixed will end up being the loudest and the first parts you mixed will get buried.
When EQing, unless you are going for an extreme effect, don’t over EQ to compensate for a poor quality sound. Your song will practically mix itself if you are using the right sounds from the start. Over EQ’ing everything in sight is a sign that the content may be flawed.
Best of luck on your music making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
____________________________________________________________
Basic Synthesis and Sound Design essentials made easy
Basic Synthesis and Sound Design essentials:
I wanted to give you some basic concepts to synthesis that you can quickly use to better your sound design abilities. My hope is that I am able to help people who haven’t yet had the ability to grasp it quite yet. I will do my best to share what I understand in a way that is easily digestible. This stuff has taken me years to understand. With any luck, this will shave a lot of time off of your learning curve. Feel free to correct me if you find more useful or more simplistic definitions for the following terms.
Waveforms
Sine wave – The simplest of all waveforms. It has no harmonics so is quite pure in sound. a Sine wave is best used for Sub-bass.
Square wave – This waveform only exsists as highs or lows with nothing inbetween. It’s produced by only odd harmonics which gives a more hollow sound. Good for creating wind instrument tones, widening strings and pads and deep wide bass tones.
Pulse wave – This is basically like a Square wave with adjustable highs and lows which can vary the harmonic content of the sound. can create reed like tones.
Sawtooth Wave – Produces all odd and even harmonics which is great for raspy dirty tones as well as brassy sounds. Also good for lead sounds and in your face bass tones.
Triangle wave – This only contains odd harmonics and is great when mixed with Sine, Square or Pulse waves to add some brightness or glitter.
Noise wave – A random mix of all frequencies instead of actual tones. White noise has an equal amount of amplitude throughout the frequencies which Pink noise has differing energies giving it a perceived deeper tone.Noice waves are excellent for percussive sounds (especially snare and handclaps) as well as wind or ocean sounds.
Additive Synthesis:
If you are using a waveform that is more complex than a simple Sine wave, then you are using a form of Additive synthesis. Anytime you add harmonic content to a wave to create a Saw, Square, Triangle or Pulse wave, you are using Additive synthesis. When you see wave options that say, for example, Saw 16, Saw 32, and Saw 64, just know that the higher the number (16, 32, 64 etc), The more high frequency harmonics have been added to the sound. You may want to think of this as fuller or brighter in tone.
Oscillators:
An oscillator is basically a sound generator. This oscillator generates a Sine wave in its most basic form. Square, Triangle and Saw waves are all derivative of the Sine wave. The only difference are the harmonics added to the sound at different frequencies and amplitude (volume) levels. The process of adding harmonic frequencies to a sine wave is called Additive synthesis.
Lets use the Operator instrument as an example…
The Operator instrument has 4 Oscillators, meaning 4 simple sound generators, which can by mixed together in a number of ways to create a final sound. Operator offers both Subtractive and FM synthesis algorithms.
One approach would be to to make 4 separate waveforms and mix them together(This could also be a form of Additive synthesis). This would give you more predictable results as you can fairly easily distinguish each separate sound of each oscillator that creates your completed sound. In it’s most basic form, this is similar to having a 4 track recorder and simply mixing each instrument together to make a song by adjusting the volume and a few other parameters.
Envelopes:
Any thing that happens to a sound over time involves envelopes. Amplitude(volume), Oscillators and filters all have Envelopes as can pitch. Each of these Envelopes can be completely different within one sound which can drastically influence the final sonic results.
In any sound or effect there are 4 components over time that make up an envelope. We will use an amplitude envelope as an example:
Attack – how quickly a sound reaches it’s peak level after a key is hit to trigger the sound
Decay – how quickly a sound drops to a level that it will remain at after the Attack peak. Sometimes the sound will remain at it’s peak level. Other times the sound will jump up quickly in volume and then settle at a lower volume.
Sustain – The level that that sound remains at after the decay until the key is released (this is a volume setting not a time setting)
Release – How quickly the sound level fades to nothing after the key is released.
Since each sound can have multiple envelopes, a sound can get really complex, but that doesn’t mean the building blocks of these sounds can’t be made from a basic knowledge of synthesis.
Subtractive Synthesis:
Subtractive synthesis is a model of sound design where you chip away at the frequencies of a simple or complex waveform with a filter (Complex waveforms being the result of additive synthesis, or, the adding of harmonics to a simple sine wave). You are subtracting certain frequencies from a rich, full range sound to create a tone you find satisfying. You can think of subtractive synthesis sound design in a similar way to how a sculptor creates his art. The “art” is already their, he just needs to chip away what isn’t needed.
FM Synthesis:
With this approach, the results of how each oscillator will effect your final sound is less predictable. Basically FM synthesis uses 1 oscillator as the main sound and each other oscillator as a waveform that modulates the first sound. This combination makes for much more complex results. You can look at subtractive synthesis like a salad. In a salad you have a combination of vegetables but with all it’s separate parts completely recognizable. FM synthesis is more like baking a cake. The sum of each ingredient may result in something that looks nothing like the original raw ingredients. The math involved would make your head spin, so just trust me on this. Another way to look at it is that subtractive synthesis is like a mixture of wet and dry signal on a reverb whereas FM synthesis is like having the reverb set to 100% leaving none of the original signal. This isn’t the perfect analogy however as Subtractive synthesis can be a mixture of several tones whereas classic FM synthesis is the processing or modulating of one single tone.
With FM synthesis you will need to rely on experimentation in order to build a vocabulary of familiar combinations. If you have never heard what a square wave sounds like when it is modulated by a triangle wave, which in turn is being modulated by a saw wave, you won’t be able to predict in your head the outcome. Do not feel like an idiot that you can’t simply think of a sound in your head and bang it out using fm synthesis. It’s going to take some time to understand how one waveform alters the sound of another. For now, just clear your mind and mess with the oscillators until something sounds cool, then take note of how you created it. You’ve now built your vocabulary. Repeat this step until you can start to predict how something will sound. Then you will move to a combination of predicting and experimenting.
Whereas with Subtractive synthesis frequencies can be altered with a filter, FM synthesis can create rich harmonics when one oscillator is modulated by one or more other oscillators. It is advisable to start with a darker tone and build the harmonic frequencies with other oscillators and then use the filter at the end if desired. The use of a filter on FM synthesis is supposedly not necessary since modulating oscillators can do that for you and classic FM synthesis doesn’t involve a filter. The use of a filter is kind of a mixture of FM and Subtractive synthesis.
Other forms of synthesis:
Other forms of synthesis includes:
Granular synthesis which uses a sequences of short grains(waveforms) to form a longer output sound.
Physical Modeling which uses some very complex mathematics and waveforms to create a realistic sound of wind a drum hit or bowed instruments.
Wavetable Synthesis which is usually made with a small collection of waveforms spliced together and looped. These loops can be measured in milliseconds. Think of it as microscopic audio samples mixed together to create a complex texture.
I’m not going to dive any further into those as my goal was to help you dive into the basics of synthesis. If you would like to really elevate your sound design skills, I highly recommend you purchase the Sampler or Operator video collections by Nick Maxwell at www.NicksTutorials.com. Much of what I am sharing with you has been made much more clear through watching his videos and being lucky enough to chat with him on the phone. This guy goes DEEP into what is possible with sound.
Hopefully this has cleared a few things up for you, now go make some music!
Jason
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