Not really sure how to program synths..

[Genevieve]

I'm more bugged by people having such strong opinions about how 'stuff should be done'. Srsly, it's art. Art is personal and people should do whatever the fuck the wann' do. Just because you can have an opinion doesn't mean it's worth anything. Just seems so arrogant.

But yeah, personal thing myself. Not really saying everyone like that IS arrogant or attacking anyone in particular

[rockonin]

anyone who says don't emulate doesn't understand how art works, that's all i was saying, and they're probably just pretending to be a hipster. but i think every time i have to say this (every couple of weeks on here), i tend to use more and more 'fucks' and capital letters.

I said there's nothing wrong in being inspired by your favourite producer and their sound there's just no need to emulate it down to a T. That's my opinion, if you don't like that's your problem. I'm not against back engineering sounds to see how stuff works if anything i'm for it.

"anyone who says don't emulate doesn't understand how art work"

Lucky thing your about then.

I'm more bugged by people having such strong opinions about how 'stuff should be done'. Srsly, it's art. Art is personal and people should do whatever the fuck the wann' do. Just because you can have an opinion doesn't mean it's worth anything. Just seems so arrogant.

But yeah, personal thing myself. Not really saying everyone like that IS arrogant or attacking anyone in particular

I never said my opinion was worth anything in the first place. You guys need to get of you high horses and let people have their say whether you agree with it or not.

[fragments]

^A Korg MS2000R would probably be really good for a beginner. I *think* there is a knob per function. Even if not, I know a few guys who use them, they are dead simple to program. And I totally agree with this. Synthesis made way more sense to me after I got my first VA synth.

I learned everything I know about basic synthesis [except ancillary stuff like MIDI] by buying a Roland Juno 60 at a garage sale for $35 back in 1994. Literally knew squat about it beforehand, although did have some music/production knowledge already. "What do these A-D-S-R thingies mean? What is 'res'? What happens when I switch the LFO like this?" - even if I didn't know the terminology for what I was learning, I was still learning it directly and not in theory. When I'd mastered that, I bought a Korg Poly 800 which has more internal routing/modulation capabilities, and then learned about sequencing, digital modulation, oscillator syncing, and MIDI. It was fun and natural.

Conversely, my first expeditions into virtual synths were NOT that fun, intuitive, or easy. Things have changed a lot since the early days of softsynths and I now use them more than hardware at present, but would not trade the knowledge gained from those hardware models for anything.

I continuing to find hardware more pleasing for getting ideas down quickly and jamming things out. I know, I know, some people will scream "MIDI controller", but there is something about a synth being a limited instrument. How far can I take a sound just inside THIS box? ...it really pushes me to make something unique. Typically I dub stems from my synths and sequence and mix ITB. But I like to start with hardware most of the time.

I still use softsynths for things. Still love Absynth. Even if I went all back in the box, I agree...even though I'd been programming soft synths for years it all clicked when I got my ESX and so on from there. Wouldn't trade that knowledge/experience for anything either

to be clear...I think it's fine to take what someone else has done and put your own twist on it. That's post-modernism in a nutshell and how all artists work.

anyone who says don't emulate doesn't understand how art works, that's all i was saying, and they're probably just pretending to be a hipster. but i think every time i have to say this (every couple of weeks on here), i tend to use more and more 'fucks' and capital letters.

glad you're aware of this though, wasn't talking to just you, more of a psa kind of thing.

Right on. No worries. And I completely understand, I've mostly lurked on DSF, but have been here for a while. I know what you mean. Emulation is the foundation of how humans learn : )

[Genevieve]

anyone who says don't emulate doesn't understand how art works, that's all i was saying, and they're probably just pretending to be a hipster. but i think every time i have to say this (every couple of weeks on here), i tend to use more and more 'fucks' and capital letters.

I said there's nothing wrong in being inspired by your favourite producer and their sound there's just no need to emulate it down to a T. That's my opinion, if you don't like that's your problem. I'm not against back engineering sounds to see how stuff works if anything i'm for it.

"anyone who says don't emulate doesn't understand how art work"

Lucky thing your about then.

I'm more bugged by people having such strong opinions about how 'stuff should be done'. Srsly, it's art. Art is personal and people should do whatever the fuck the wann' do. Just because you can have an opinion doesn't mean it's worth anything. Just seems so arrogant.

But yeah, personal thing myself. Not really saying everyone like that IS arrogant or attacking anyone in particular

I never said my opinion was worth anything in the first place. You guys need to get of you high horses and let people have their say whether you agree with it or not.

Some people do hate reading the last paragraph

[rockonin]

No i read the last paragraph, i was just explaining that my opinion does not meaning anything. I really don't see what the point of getting angry at someone saying try not to copy other peoples work, that's what i meant by emulate.

[Dustwyrm]

Honestly, I'd forget about recreating synths of other producers until you know what turn all the knobs in the tutorials is actually doing to the sound.

I'd forget trying to sound like anyone else period. There's nothing wrong being inspired by other producers and their sounds but instead Innovate rather than Emulate lol You're a beginner so you have loads time to develop your own style and sounds while your learning.

Right. Totally agree. Was just sayin' if he is insistent on doing "Sound like..." tutorials he'd probably get more out of them when he understands how all the parameters of his synth change a sound. Knowing, in technical terms, what synth parameter does to sound is really useful. At least it was for me.

There is probably still value in doing some of those "Sound like..." like tutorials. I did a couple for reese basses that really gave me the foot work to go out on my own and try stuff. I try not to automatically assume people's intentions with "Sound like..." tutorials are to copy cat.

this tired fucking argument again?

no, do whatever the fuck YOU WANT. if you want to emulate a sound, fucking do it. if you want to try to come up with your own sound, fucking do it.

every great artist in the world ripped off other artists. that's just how it is. fucking nirvanna's teen spirit was kurt trying to rip off the pixies sound (he's said this), skream has said he was just trying to copy another artist and that's how his sound came about. jim jarmusch on creativity and inspiration: http://www.sundoginteractive.com/images ... eJuice.png

rip people the FUCK off if you want to (just don't plagarize). no matter what you do, YOUR sound will come out on it's own... and you won't have a choice in the matter.

I agree here. Just don't pull a Zomboy.


OP - If you are a hands on person just go to Youtube and start watching tutorials on how to make different sounds. You'll learn a lot that way because you can follow along and pause etc. And as others said, it just takes time to learn. So remain patient and it will come.

[alphacat]

This surfaced in another discussion, really good stuff - easy to understand:

http://noisesculpture.com/how-to-make-a-noise

http://noisesculpture.com/how-to-make-a ... rogramming

[Inconnu]

Zomby

[bassinine]

no, zomby is a beast. zomboy is what he meant.