
Synth Secrets (1999–2004) - Tomte
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm
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gtani
Upvoted, I consider these valuable for somebody that's going to systematically
learn synthesis but for someone just looking to make sense of
oscillators/ROmplers/wavetables, filters, envelope and what not, i would just
do tutorials on whatever you own: microbrute, bass station2, mopho, ES* models
in Logic etc (also probably wounldn't spend much time on theory of Yamaha FM,
Kawai additive, Casio phase distortion, which had more marketshare at the time
of the SoS series)

Or read the books by Brian Shepherd (Refining Sound) or Rick Snoman (Dance
music manual). For somebody serious, there's books by Miller Puckette and
Charles Dodge

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
Also worth looking out for a book by Allen Strange - Electronic Music:
Systems, Techniques and Controls.

There are plenty of good online tutorials too.

This is quite a dated series now, and I always found it slightly self-
indulgent even when it was fresh. Some of the theory is still useful, but
digital synthesis has moved on. You can do a lot more with digital code-based
systems, or even modern VSTs, than you can with vintage synths from the 1970s.

Pretty much everyone uses samples when they need the sound of a real
instrument or a classic drum machine, and this series doesn't spend nearly
enough time on the art of abstract electronic sound design or (say) using the
FFT features in Max/PD/some VSTs.

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systemizer
If you're interested in learning the basics of reductive synthesis, I
recommend Syntorial ([http://www.syntorial.com/](http://www.syntorial.com/)).
It teaches in an interactive way by first playing a tone and then asking you
to configure the synthesizer to make that same sound. It covers everything
from oscillators, adsr, lfos, reverb/delays, and more.

~~~
ezhux
I guess you mean subtractive, not reductive synthesis :)

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pavlov
An enormously valuable series on audio synthesis... With not a single audio
example you could actually listen to. It's all text and pictures of waveforms.

What a shame this was produced for a paper magazine rather than directly for
the web. It would make a huge difference to be able to listen to the
progression within an article, rather than having to imagine it from waveform
screenshots.

~~~
jdietrich
To get the most out of the series, you really need to follow along the
articles by patching up your own synths. An audio programming environment like
Reaktor or Pure Data is ideal for this purpose.

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diydsp
I have been reading and re-referring back to these articles for, well, 17
years!

One important point about them is they emphasize creating familiar instruments
such as guitar, flute, etc.

That is a bit different - and rarer and more valuabe! - than most synth
tutorials that teach ADSRs, VCFs, etc.

Also, to contextualize them a bit, they're from a magazine that mostly
reviewed gear for practicing/professional musicians. 90% of musicians don't
change the patches on their instruments at all. This is a highly niche,
technical series that doesn't cater to all of their readership, but fills in
one of its niches solidly and expertly!

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ideamonk
You may also find this useful - "Practical Synthesis for Electronic Music" \-
[http://www.analogindustries.com/b1764/](http://www.analogindustries.com/b1764/)

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toopok4k3
I have been looking for these for some time now. The old site that had these
stopped working a long time ago and I never found another source. Thanks for
posting!

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zumatic
Worth dipping into even if you're not really into synths, because some of the
anecdotes (like his quest for the GS1) are pretty funny.

