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My Synthesizer Programming Trick

February 4, 2007 on 1:08 am | In Articles |

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Today I am going to teach you how to program a synthesizer patch the easy way. Some people think that you need to know all the functions of a synthesizer to be able to program it. Some think that it is a dark art.

This is not true.

Most of the time we are searching for new sounds in our music. This technique I use lets you do that. Instead of programming it intentionally, we will program it by solely by our ear. Most people use this technique, but not to its full potential. People get frustrated when a synth they are using makes a crappy unusable sound; they screwed up the envelops OR they think they can dramatically change the character of a sound without going to the source - the original synth wave forms being used.

The instructions:

1. Find a patch that you already like and load it up on your synthesizer.

2. Start out with the synth controls on the far left of the machine. Use only controls that affect the sound. You ideally want to start out by changing the synthesizer waves used. These are the Sine waves, Square, triangle etc. Take the first control, and slide it through its full range of sound, while hitting the keyboard keys a lot to test it. Stop when you hit a “sweet spot,” This meaning, a spot in the control that sounds just right.

3. Go onto the next adjacent control, that affects sound. Now we are going to do step 2 again….and again. Do this to every single control on your synthesizer.

4. Once you are done changing all the parameters on your synthesizer, you might have a usable sound. If you want a little bit more, go through step 2 again until you find a sound that is “just right.” You will eventually come to something that will make you go “wow.” Usually you had no idea that your synth could make this sound!!

What’s nice is when you use this technique to make a lot of patches that will interact very well with each-other in your music. Sounds will be “related” because you made them off the same base patch AND because you made them at a time similar date; meaning you were in the same frame of mind.

I hope that helps anyone who is struggling with making great synthesizer patches!

On an unrelated note: Help save the TV show Jake 2.0.

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12 Comments »

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  1. Sounds like a good way to start using the synths. Most of the people I know either use presets in their original form, or tweak them until they like the sound.

    I personally don’t feel confident if I don’t know a synth inside out. Most of the time the results are unpredictable when you fiddle around turning knobs, which is cool sometimes, but if you have a certain sound in your head which you would like to reproduce exactly, I think you do have to know the synth well. And really, there’s not much to subtractive synthesis. I’d say, start with the theory behind it first, visualize a wave in your head, and how it’s shaped by the filters, how the oscillators’ frequency is changed by the LFO, and how the envelope affects the overall sound.

    Oftentimes, I’m thinking something like “bobbly squarish bassline”. Knob here, fader there, and there I am, with an exact replica of the sound in my head.

    Now, FM is a whole ‘nother thing :) )

    Comment by earpick — February 5, 2007 #

  2. Yea, I should do an intro to FM programming!! That would be kind of nuts though.

    Comment by Taters — February 6, 2007 #

  3. It would be kind of useful, actually. I find the whole “just use the presets” thing quite ridiculous. I think people whine a bit too much about not wanting to be techs and just “wanting to compose without needing to program the thing for hours”. Well, you end up sounding like everyone else then, or like the whole 80s era actually. I am a big supporter of learning synths inside out, and being able to program them. I’ll get to that FM7 manual one day, but if you gave an intro, it would be cool. Explain the science behind it :) . I think it helps to know what is going on under the hood, how FM synthesis works, so that when you have a particular sound in mind that you would like to put together, you can do it quite easily.

    Comment by earpick — February 7, 2007 #

  4. Synth Programming Tip from Chip

    Check out the secret to making new sounds on your synth from “The Chip Collection” blog. I think he is

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  5. I find another good way is to take your synth (while it’s plugged in) and just throw it on the floor, kind of sideways and upside down so that it slides across the floor (carpeting works better than tile or wood). This will usually move the knobs and controls (make sure it’s in edit mode before you throw it)and just keep throwing it and picking it back up again until you find a sound that is just like…wow!

    Warning:The damage caused by throwing your synth around the room is never covered under the manufacturers warranty, but you will be amazed at some of the sounds you will come up with.

    (our little secret)

    Synth salesman

    JC

    Comment by John Chase — March 15, 2007 #

  6. I think i agree with what JC is trying to tell us. Randomly twiddling the knobs is an ok way to get a sound that you want, but you never really learn anything. What you should do is start with a standard plain ol’ beep sound (like a saw wave with NOTHING else to it). Then start turning knobs. Take descriptive notes on what each knob does. Name each knob for what it does, for instance, the portamento knob could be called “slider” because it makes the notes slide from one to another. This will help you remember what they do. Do this, because if you don’t, someday you will want to do something specific to one of your presets and you won’t know which knob to tweak. I’m speaking from experience from my early days of playing with an old MS20 at my uncle’s place.

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