Sound Design and Synth Fundamentals

Summary

In this video, the fundamentals of sound design are explained in a clear and accessible way, focusing on key concepts like basic waveforms (sine, triangle, square, and sawtooth), additive and subtractive synthesis, unison, filters, ADSR envelopes, LFOs, and effects. The tutorial is designed to help viewers understand and apply these principles across different synthesizers and software, enabling them to create the sounds they desire. The instructor emphasizes practical examples and visual aids to simplify complex topics, making it an ideal resource for beginners.

Takeaways

• 🎶 The video covers the fundamentals of sound design applicable to any synthesizer or software.
• 🌐 It introduces four basic waveforms: sine, triangle, square, and sawtooth, each with unique characteristics and uses.
• 📈 The script explains how to visualize waveforms using an oscilloscope and frequency analyzer.
• 🔊 Sine waves are ideal for bass sounds and kick drums, while triangle, square, and sawtooth waves add harmonic richness.
• 🔬 Additive synthesis involves starting with a simple waveform and adding complexity, whereas subtractive synthesis starts with a complex waveform and simplifies it.
• 🎵 Unison is used to duplicate and pan voices around the stereo field, adding richness to sounds.
• 🎛️ Detuning in unison can thicken sounds but must be used carefully to avoid a poor sound quality.
• 📊 Filters, including low-pass, high-pass, and more complex types, are essential for shaping sound by removing frequencies.
• 🕒 ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) envelopes define the shape and volume of a sound over time.
• 🔁 LFOs (Low-Frequency Oscillators) add movement and automation to parameters like filter cutoff for dynamic sounds.
• 🔧 Effects chains in DAWs or synths, such as distortion, reverb, and chorus, further shape and enrich synthesized sounds.

Q & A

What are the four basic wave shapes mentioned in the tutorial?

The four basic wave shapes are sine wave, triangle wave, square wave, and sawtooth wave.

How does a sine wave differ from the other wave shapes?

A sine wave is the most simple wave shape with only one harmonic, making it smooth and useful for bass sound design, especially in sub-bass and kick drums.

What is the key characteristic of a triangle wave?

A triangle wave has a main fundamental note with additional harmonics, giving it a slight buzzing sound that is more harmonically rich than a sine wave.

How does a square wave sound and why?

A square wave has many harmonics, making it sound more buzzy and harmonically rich compared to sine and triangle waves.

What is the difference between additive and subtractive synthesis?

Additive synthesis involves starting with a basic wave shape and adding more waves to make the sound more complex. Subtractive synthesis starts with a complex waveform and removes parts of it to create a new sound.

What role does unison play in sound design?

Unison adds more voices to a sound, duplicating, panning, and detuning them around the stereo field, which enriches and thickens the sound.

Why is it important to be cautious with the detune amount in unison?

Excessive detuning can make the sound unpleasant and can also strain the CPU, so it's important to find a balance when detuning.

What is the purpose of filters in sound design?

Filters are used to remove certain frequencies from a sound. Common filters include low-pass filters, which allow low frequencies to pass and cut off high frequencies, and high-pass filters, which do the opposite.

How does ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) shape a sound?

ADSR controls the volume and shape of the sound over time. Attack determines how quickly the sound reaches its peak, decay sets how fast it drops to the sustain level, sustain holds the volume while a key is pressed, and release controls how the sound fades after the key is released.

What is an LFO and how is it used in sound design?

An LFO (Low-Frequency Oscillator) is used to add movement and modulation to sound parameters, like the filter cutoff, by oscillating at low frequencies. This can create effects like vibrato or rhythmic pulsing.

Outlines

00:00

🎶 Introduction to Sound Design Fundamentals

The speaker introduces the fundamentals of sound design, emphasizing that the knowledge is applicable regardless of the synthesizer or software used. The video will cover topics such as basic wave shapes, additive and subtractive synthesis, filters, ADSR, LFO, and unison. The goal is to simplify complex concepts for viewers, helping them understand the underlying principles of sound design.

05:01

📊 Exploring the Four Basic Wave Shapes

This section focuses on the four basic wave shapes: sine, triangle, square, and sawtooth. The speaker uses an oscilloscope and frequency analyzer to visualize these waveforms. The sine wave is presented as the simplest, smoothest wave, often used in bass sound design. The triangle wave introduces more harmonics, giving it a buzzing sound. The square wave is even richer in harmonics, and the sawtooth wave, with its distinct slanted shape, is the most harmonically rich. The speaker emphasizes the importance of familiarizing oneself with these wave shapes.

10:02

➕ Additive and ➖ Subtractive Synthesis Explained

The speaker explains additive and subtractive synthesis. Additive synthesis involves starting with a basic wave shape and adding more waveforms to create complex sounds. Examples include combining sine and square waves or sine and saw waves. Subtractive synthesis, on the other hand, starts with a complex waveform and removes parts of it using filters to create a new sound. The speaker demonstrates both techniques, showing how they alter the waveform and sound.

🔊 Unison and Detuning for Richer Sounds

Unison and detuning are introduced as techniques to enhance sound richness. Unison adds multiple voices to a sound, which are then panned and detuned across the stereo field. The speaker demonstrates how unison can make a sound fuller and more professional, and cautions against excessive detuning, which can lead to undesirable results. The speaker also notes that adding too many unison voices can strain a computer's CPU, advising careful experimentation.

🎚️ Understanding Filters and Their Effects

Filters, a common feature in synthesizers, are explained. The speaker compares filters to EQs, highlighting their role in removing frequencies from a sound. The demonstration covers low-pass and high-pass filters, as well as more complex combing and phasing filters. The speaker shows how filters can drastically alter a sound by removing high or low frequencies, emphasizing their importance in sound design.

⏳ Mastering Envelopes and ADSR

Envelopes and ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) are explored, with a focus on how they shape the sound's volume and behavior over time. The speaker explains how attack affects the sound's initial rise, release determines how it fades, and decay and sustain control how the sound holds. The graphical representation in Serum is used to illustrate these concepts, and the speaker emphasizes that understanding ADSR is crucial for effective sound design.

🔁 Low-Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) for Dynamic Movement

The speaker discusses Low-Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) and their role in creating dynamic movement in sound. LFOs oscillate at low frequencies and can be linked to various parameters, such as filters, to automate their behavior. The speaker demonstrates how LFOs can create complex and evolving sounds, highlighting the efficiency of using LFOs over manual automation. The flexibility of LFO shapes in Serum is also showcased.

🎛️ Adding Effects for Final Sound Design Touches

The final section covers the addition of effects such as distortion, chorus, EQ, and delay to further shape the sound. The speaker illustrates how these effects can dramatically alter a simple sound, making it richer and more complex. The speaker also ties the entire tutorial together, encouraging viewers to apply the learned concepts across various synthesizers and to experiment with different settings to achieve the desired sound.

Keywords

💡Sine Wave

A sine wave is the most basic and pure waveform in sound synthesis, characterized by its smooth, undistorted shape. It contains only a single frequency without any additional harmonics, making it ideal for creating simple and clean tones, especially in bass sound design. In the video, the sine wave is demonstrated as the fundamental building block for other sounds and is commonly used in creating sub-bass tones.

💡Triangle Wave

A triangle wave is a waveform that has a triangular shape and includes more harmonics than a sine wave, giving it a slightly 'buzzier' sound. It is described in the video as having a richer harmonic content while still retaining a smooth character, making it useful for sounds that need more depth than a sine wave but less complexity than a square wave.

💡Square Wave

A square wave is a waveform that alternates between two levels, creating a sharp, edgy sound with a rich harmonic structure. This waveform is used in the video to demonstrate a more complex sound compared to sine and triangle waves, often used in synthesizing sounds that need a pronounced, 'buzzy' quality.

💡Sawtooth Wave

A sawtooth wave is a waveform characterized by its sharp rise and gradual fall, resulting in a sound that is extremely rich in harmonics. It is described in the video as the most harmonically complex of the basic waveforms, making it ideal for creating bright, full sounds like those used in lead synths or brass emulation.

💡Additive Synthesis

Additive synthesis is a sound design technique where multiple simple waveforms (like sine waves) are combined to create a more complex sound. In the video, additive synthesis is demonstrated by layering different waveforms, like combining a sine wave with a square wave, to create new timbres and textures in sound design.

💡Subtractive Synthesis

Subtractive synthesis is the process of shaping sound by starting with a complex waveform and then removing certain frequencies using filters. The video explains how this technique is used to create new sounds by filtering out specific harmonics, such as reducing the high frequencies of a sawtooth wave to create a warmer tone.

💡Unison

Unison refers to the technique of layering multiple copies of the same waveform, slightly detuned and panned across the stereo field, to create a thicker and more complex sound. The video shows how unison can enhance a basic waveform, making it sound richer and fuller, often used in creating lush pads or thick leads.

💡LFO (Low-Frequency Oscillator)

An LFO, or Low-Frequency Oscillator, is a tool in synthesis used to modulate various parameters of a sound at a low frequency, typically below the range of human hearing. In the video, LFOs are shown as a way to add movement and dynamic changes to a sound by modulating elements like filter cutoff, creating effects such as vibrato or rhythmic pulsation.

💡ADSR Envelope

ADSR stands for Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release, which are the four stages that describe how a sound evolves over time after a note is played. The video uses the ADSR envelope to explain how these parameters shape the volume and timbre of a sound, such as creating a slow fade-in with a long attack or a sharp pluck with a short release.

💡Filters

Filters are tools used in synthesis to alter the frequency content of a sound by removing or attenuating certain frequencies. In the video, different types of filters, such as low-pass and high-pass, are shown as essential tools in subtractive synthesis, used to shape and sculpt the sound by cutting out unwanted frequencies, thereby creating a new sonic character.

Highlights

Introduction to the fundamentals of sound design, focusing on basic wave shapes and synthesis techniques.

Explanation of the four basic wave shapes: sine, triangle, square, and sawtooth, with visual and auditory demonstrations.

Discussion on how sine waves are simple and smooth, often used in bass sound design and kick drums.

Overview of triangle waves as harmonically richer with a slight buzzing sound, useful for more complex tones.

Introduction to square waves, characterized by their rich harmonic content and a more pronounced buzzing sound.

Description of the sawtooth wave as the most harmonically rich waveform, essential for creating full and buzzy sounds.

Comparison between additive and subtractive synthesis, explaining how sounds are built or reduced to create new tones.

Demonstration of how unison and detuning can thicken and enrich sound by adding multiple voices to a waveform.

Explanation of filters, including low-pass and high-pass filters, and their role in shaping the frequency content of a sound.

Introduction to ADSR envelopes (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) and their impact on the volume and shape of sounds over time.

Discussion on the importance of attack and release settings in creating pluck-like or sustained sounds.

Explanation of LFOs (Low-Frequency Oscillators) and their role in adding movement and automation to sound parameters.

Demonstration of how LFOs can be used to modulate filters, creating dynamic and evolving sounds.

Overview of adding effects like distortion, reverb, and chorus to further shape and enhance synthesized sounds.

Conclusion encouraging viewers to experiment with different synths and effects, and to provide feedback for future tutorials.

Transcripts

hello and welcome back to the channel

today I'm going to be teaching the

fundamentals of sound design so that no

matter which synth or software you use

you can start understanding what's going

on and start creating the sounds that

you really want to create all the topics

covered in this video are going to be

written in the description along with

time stamps and we're going to be

covering the four basic shapes additive

and subtractive synthesis filters adsr

LFO unison you might have heard of some

of these terms before maybe not but

either way I'm going to be simplifying

it all in this video so let's just dive

right in almost every complex

synthesized sound stems back to the same

four basic wave shapes so let's learn

them right now

on my screen I have an oscilloscope and

a frequency analyzer here to help me

visualize what's going on and I'm using

a very basic synthesizer called the

three times oscillator it's called that

because it has three oscillators now an

oscillator is pretty much an engine that

is going to create this wave form or

this sound for us so the first basic

wave form is called the sine wave so

I'll just play here it's the most simple

wave shape as you can see your basic

sine wave you may have seen this in

maths or physics but I'm not going to go

into anything technical and on the

frequency analyzer we have only one note

one harmonic that's all it's the most

simple wave and you can hear that it's

very smooth this waveform is

particularly useful in bass sound design

if you lower it down a couple of octaves

you can get a really nice sub and often

kick drums are reinforced with the sine

wave so that's all you really need to

know for now that's what it looks like

that's what it sounds like with just one

note playing the second basic wave shape

is the triangle wave here so on the

display you can see these pyramids two

sloped sides and you can see that it's

got that main fundamental note but

there's many more harmonics added which

gives it that slight buzzing sound it's

a little bit more harmonically rich you

might say

with just one note that's what it sounds

like the third basic wave shape is the

square wave so I'm gonna select it most

since we'll show it like this and it

sounds like this so as you can see

perfectly squared off wave form there

and many more harmonics added you've got

a lot more buzz a lot more harmonically

rich in the top and there and the fourth

and final waveform is the sawtooth wave

this can be mistaken for the triangle

wave it sounds very different and as you

can see there Sawtooths here only one

slanted side there's no pyramids like

the triangle wave and this one sounds

even more harmonically rich again it's

really really buzzy really really full

in the top end

different synthesizers will have

different ways of changing the wave

shape in the oscillator for instance

serum this is the oscillator looks a bit

different and there's different ways to

select your basic waveforms sine

sawtooth wave triangle wave the square

wave etc and all through the

oscilloscope showed you the waveform

just to clarify again if I record out

those sounds and I put them on to my

playlist you'll see that on the actual

playlist the waveforms are signs

triangle square and saw wave just like

this to summarize this section just

learn those four basic wave shapes try

to identify what they sound like try

playing them with single notes and also

chords and just get used to it so the

next thing we're going to look at is

additive and subtractive synthesis I've

got each type of synth just playing one

note and they're all sent to the mixer

and this analyzer is on the master

output so if I take all the volumes down

and just press play and raise the sine

wave up you can see that I have a sine

wave if I raise the triangle you can see

that I have this triangle wave here now

the idea behind additive synthesis is

that you start with one wave shape and

you make it more complicated by inducing

more waves and more sound on top of it

so say for instance I start with a

square wave but then I add a sine wave

to it you can see that the tops of the

square wave are rounded off and now we

have a combination between a sine and a

square or if I was to start with a sine

wave and then introduce a saw wave to it

you can see that I'm getting all that

buzz enos and we're combining those two

wave shapes this is really the basic

principle of additive synthesis I'll go

into it more in more detail later now

let's look at subtractive synthesis

which is the opposite of additive this

is where you start with a complex

waveform and you take away from it to

create a new sound so if I start with a

saw wave and

I put in EQ and filter off the top and

you can see that I'm subtracting

frequency away and I've changed what it

sounds like so it's not no longer as

harsh in the top end but instead of

having to use external plugins like eq's

many synthesizers have these all built

in they have various filters and effects

which allow you to modify the sound from

within the synth itself the next topic

that I'm introducing is unison because

this is a really quick way to completely

change the sound so we're still only

playing one note and I'm working inside

serum and this is the oscillator so

don't worry about everything else here

it's not important this is what's

creating the sound you know you've got

your volume your pan and whatnots and

what I'm gonna do is increase the unison

and this adds more voices to the sound

so instead of having just one saw wave

just buzzing it's going to sort of

duplicate pan and D tune them around the

stereo field and if you look down here

to the ozone imager this vectorscope is

going to help you see the stereo

information change but you'll be able to

hear it so as I increase the Unison

amount listen and look here and see what

see what changes

you can add unison to any of the basic

wave shapes so if I was adding unison to

a sine wave it would sound like this or

to a saw wave to triangle wave or to a

square wave and that really goes a long

way in the making the sound a lot more

rich and getting it sounding really

professional so far we've just been

playing one note so I'm going to change

it play some chords to make it more

interesting and the next closely tied

thing to unison is D tune and so far we

you know we've got we've created all

these extra voices and we've panned them

but to make them sound thicker and

fuller you slightly detuned them from

the original voice but you've got to be

careful you don't detune them too much

I'll show you what I mean so I'll play

this chord and I'll start adding some

unison it'll make it sound a lot better

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

now if I change the detune amount

at one point it starts sounding really

bad so you've got to be careful you

don't do too much detuning and while

more voices of unison sounds good when

you start off it can be common just to

add sixteen voices or as many voices of

unison as you can to everything

definitely experiment some of the best

sounds I've made only have three voices

of unison some have seven adding too

much unison can also just really hammer

your CPU of your computer so be careful

with that

the next topic we're going to look at is

filters almost every single synth has a

filter they all act in slightly

different ways but they follow the same

basic principles

so usually you select a filter type and

if you don't know what a filter is

you've probably heard of EQ where you

can remove frequencies from a sound a

filter does pretty much exactly the same

thing so in this case I have a low-pass

filter try to ignore everything else in

the synth it's not very important right

now

I've got this oscillator creating the

sound here and I've got this filter

that's all that's really important I

have a low-pass filter so as I move the

cutoff it's going to allow the low

frequencies to pass and it's going to

cut away the high frequencies so let's

take a listen to this now you can only

hear the low frequencies of the sound

the high frequencies are cut off now I

can introduce them again

and usually you can select different

filter types so I could actually select

the high pass filter which instead would

cut away the low end and only let the

high end through like this and as well

as those normal filters you've also got

all sorts of crazy combing and phasing

filters that sound like this

[Music]

so there's all sorts of different

possibilities I'm just going to quickly

set it back to that low-pass filter

because I quite liked it

the next topic we're going to look at

our envelopes and adsr which stands for

attack decay sustain and release and

this determines the volume and shape of

the sound when we press the keys and

then when we take our fingers off the

keys so we have attack decay sustain and

release serum also has a value called

hold I'm going to use this because this

has a really graphical way of showing it

looking at this graph from bottom to top

we have no volume all the way to the

maximum volume at the top and then from

left to right we have zero seconds and

then we go along in time so one second

two second three seconds so if I have an

incredibly short attack and I hold my

fingers on the keys like this the sound

is just going to jump up to its maximum

value instantaneously but if I have a

much longer attack it's gonna take more

time for the sound to develop and grow

to its maximum

so you can see that might be better for

like a pad sort of sound the next

important parameter I would say is the

release so this determines how the sound

dies away once you release the keys or

once the MIDI stops if I have a very

very short release it just cuts away

immediately the sound just dies away

very sharp and sudden if I have a longer

release the sound dies away quite gently

and gradually and usually you can adjust

the shape of these curves as well so

maybe I have a longer release but it's a

more sharp curve you know so you can

really fine-tune it using serum which is

why I like using serum the decay and the

sustain in the middle are very very

closely linked so what the sustain is

says okay after we've reached that

maximum value what value do we actually

want the sound to hold on so say for

instance I want the sound to rise up to

the top and then cut down to a certain

value and just just sustain there whilst

I'm holding the keys let's play this

[Music]

and the decay is about how long it takes

to decay from that top value to where

it's going to hold so in this case let's

just take a listen in that case it

decayed very quickly to the sustained

value but say for instance I want it to

start very loud slowly decay and then

hold at this value here in my opinion

simply adjust in the Unison filter and

adsr is where you really create the

majority of your sound like at least 80

or 90% of it so instead of having

sustained sounds if you adjust the

attack and release like this you can

have a nice little pluck sort of chords

sound just like that it's now time to

look at LFOs which stands for low

frequency oscillators and this is where

people can often go quite wrong when

you're starting out low frequency

oscillator it doesn't mean that it's

affecting the low-end of our sound or

the bass it means that it's oscillating

at frequencies which are relatively low

so you know maybe 0 to 30 or 40 Hertz

something that we can recognize if I

have this LFO here again the graph is

exactly the same as the adsr is zero to

maximum and then this is time and the

LFO is just going to keep going

backwards and forwards the way I like to

explain what an LFO is is it can add

movement and automation to mode well in

serum any parameter in the synth really

but usually the filter instead of having

the filter just be static in this case I

have it set to this value and it stays

there it just stays there all the time

what you can do is you can assign an LFO

to the filter and then have that cutoff

move all the time in serum you just drag

it together how I create this link

doesn't matter it only really matters

that it can be linked for the sake of

this tutorial what you'll see is that

the cutoff starts very closed and then

it opens up and closes back down again

and you can adjust how quickly it does

this so right now it's every four bars

now it's every two bars and you can

start creating all sorts of complex and

interesting sounds and right now I have

it triggered to the BPM but you can

actually just set a certain value of

Hertz like this and the reason LFO so

great is because to achieve this sort of

modulation or automation you would

usually have to create an automation

clip on your playlist and assign points

and then link the two controls together

which can be done but if you do it with

the LFO it just saves you an awful lot

of time and what's great about the LFO

and serum you don't have to have it

follow a shape like this you can have

any sort of shape you want so say I just

want it to rise very slowly over the

course of two bars you can just set it

to have any shape you want which could

be awesome for sidechaining or any sort

of sound design really and the final

topic I want to look at is just adding

extra effects on to this because sound

design doesn't just stop with the synth

engines so in your DAW or in the synth

there's usually an effects chain where

you can add distortion chorus EQ delay

all sorts of stuff so in this case I

have this simple plug sound and I can

introduce some distortion some

downsampling distortion just add a

little bit of reverb simple some chorus

and you've highly affected the sound

there if I turn off these effects you'll

match something very very simple so

there's all sorts of different ways to

design your sound but that really is it

for this basic tutorial but it was

hoping to achieve with this video is

that no matter which since you use serum

three times oscillator an analog modeled

synth that you'll start recognizing what

these names are the adsr the envelopes

the oscillators and you'll start to sort

of understand how they're linked and

what they do to the sounds so hopefully

that's worked please do let me know in

the comments how it went or it was all

just too confusing I want to make more

videos like this I want to keep

making them really really helpful so

feedback is much appreciated but anyway

thank you for watching I hope you have a

great week please do leave a like if you

enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next

video bye for now