matrixsynth
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 6 months, 2018–2022
56:12 · 712K views · Jan 5, 2012
Dean Friedman's near-hour-long introduction to synthesis, covering the building blocks of sound and the controls on a synthesizer. He slowly adjusts knobs so viewers hear what each parameter does.
Repeatedly called the best beginner course on audio synthesis, since the concepts have not changed since it was made.
7 comments from Hacker News
My problem with informational videos on YouTube is that the majority of what I see in search results is ten minutes or less, often like two-three minutes. So if I want somewhat more information than ‘I wonder what is that thing anyway’, I pretty much can't get that on YouTube. Like, I'd expect thirty minutes to an hour to be a reasonable length for explaining a topic superficially but in more depth than a dictionary entry. Compare that to the three-part introduction to sound synthesis from the 80s where the dude twiddles knobs for three hours and explains what each of them is doing. Just dialing in one sound takes him ten minutes. It's the best educational video I've seen on YT: this video
That's exactly why this three-hour ‘Intro to synthesis’ series is one of my favorite explanations on musicmaking: this video Instead of running through all the parameters in ten minutes and one second, the dude keeps twiddling the knobs and lets you hear what they do. He spends ten minutes on dialing just one sound. As a bonus, since the vid is from the early eighties, you can occupy yourself by guessing exactly how high the man is.
I highly encourage you to watch this and P2 on synthesis. The concepts haven't changed since then. You will find the same things on all synths. this video Also, go ahead and try Propellerhead Reason (free to play with, you can save, but can't open saved files). It's the best one on the UX side. However I have to admit I'm using it for 10+ years now.
This has been my favourite course to learn about Audio Synthesis; it's old school but has all you need to know, in a digestible format: this video
Yeah, I'm kinda getting into these vids from the seventies and eighties. “Introducing The Amazing Compact Disc, 1982” [LINK] — “You can pick it up and move around, even shake, and nothing happens”, yeah sure bud. “Introduction to Microsoft Excel, 1992” [LINK] “Susan Kare explains Macintosh UI ergonomics on the Computer Chronicles, 1984” [LINK] — the control panel is just astounding by modern standards, especially seeing as for me the control panel is a litmus test of an OS interface. Also one of my favorite music-making tutorials is the three-part, three-hour series ‘Intro to Synthesis’ from sometime in the early 80s: this video — instead of going through all the terminology in ten minutes and one second, the guy takes his time twiddling knobs and showing what each one does.