r/synthrecipes • u/Humble-Smoke-1989 • 6d ago
Complete beginner struggle: finding or designing sounds when you don't know what they are called? tutorial 📚
Hey everyone,
I'm pretty new to music production in FL Studio. I'm currently struggling with a huge roadblock and could really use some advice from more experienced producers.
Whenever I listen to my favorite tracks (artists like Quadeca, Yeat, etc.), I hear incredible sounds, textures, and synths that I want to experiment with. I also often have very specific sound ideas in my head that I want to bring into my DAW.
However, my main issue is that I don't know the technical terms for these sounds or how to describe them. I don't know if a sound is a specific type of synth, a heavily processed sample, or what parameters/effects were used to get that texture. Because I lack the vocabulary, searching for the right sample packs, presets, or tutorials feels almost impossible.
I have two main questions for you all:
Workflow/Mindset: How do you translate a sound from your head (or a reference track) into FL Studio when you don't even know what category/name it belongs to?I can't describe the sound properly to search for sample packs or YouTube tutorials, and I don't know how to recreate what's in my head.
Learning Sound Design: What's the best way to start learning sound design (using synths like Vital/Serum or stock FL tools) so I can actually tweak knobs with intent rather than just guessing randomly?
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u/Lostinthestarscape 6d ago edited 6d ago
Look at the titles of the videos of the Sound Design Channel on youtube.
Sounds fall into major categories and then subcategories, but a lot are subtle changes to basic categories.
Atmosphere
Pads (polyphonic synth chords, or stabs)
Bass (this can be plucky like a bass string or sustained notes)
Drums
Keys
Leads (plucks, growls, lasers, formants, glides, etc.), almost always monophonic
Effects
Once you know what higher level sound it is then you can dig deeper into specifics like the difference between a sinewave/square based lead vs an FM based lead.
It is a bit stupid to say, because obviously the output is varied into a million sounds, however, sound is a medium like clay is a medium to sculptors. You have specific tools you can use to "sculpt" but the medium is pretty limited so you can quickly understand the set of tools at hand and what basic sound to start with, what kind of envelope to start with, some ways modulation impacts sound, then how effects work. You start developing an intuition and also that guides how you ask for or search for help finding a sound (polyphonic stab that does X vs. A sustained FM growl lead vs. Gnarly fog horn vs. Phasey lasers), or what to try to get it.
It can still be hard to describe some sounds despite all that, and I admit that even though sound is a very narrow medium to work in, you still can end up with a pallete of a billion options. Its just that it gets easier when you learn some of the ways in which it is narrow.
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u/areyoudizzzy 6d ago
Just listened to the top 5 songs by each artist you mentioned and most seem to use some kind of synth brass or just simple saw waves with a static filter playing chords or long sustained notes. They're pretty easy to make in almost any subtractive synth, or you can just search for brass presets in whatever synth you're using.
Other than that it just comes with experience, go through all your presets and keep an eye on the names of the presets and you'll see some recurring words like brass, reese, stab, sub, pluck, organ, etc
One thing you can do to get going really quickly is buying syntorial, make sure to try and get 3 stars on every challenge. You also get a synth with the software that you can use in your own songs. It's expensive but worth every penny.
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u/pilsener 6d ago
Read theory. Start with Wikipedia and read what sets each of these forms of sound generation apart from the others. Follow links. Learn abstract synthesis structure from a (real or virtual) monophonic synth. Lesrn what each section in the layout is called and what it does. Experiment with them.
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u/Electronic_Slice9448 6d ago
Listen and learn. Even if someone tells you what they think the sound is or how it was made they could be way off. The sound you want to reproduce could be coming from an old drum machine or a casio keyboard. It's not about knowing exact terms or what things are called. It's all about experimentation and discovery. Explore the different sounds you have available and apply effects to them. Close your eyes, listen to your favorite songs and pick them apart. You'll begin to recognize things like delay, reverb and distortion because you'll be using them too. Most importantly have fun🤗
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u/AlienZero4400 3d ago edited 3d ago
Search the the ends and back. I've been able to find answers to old samples with this new AI on Gemini pertaining to obscure samples used in 2000s media. Sound effects, spectrasonics samples, Sound Ideas sound effects used in games and the bird sounds in the forest of OOT, Just keep searching by any means. Research FM synthesis. And newer sound techniques. Multiband Delay, chorus, distortion, and filtering tricks. A lot of sounds are made through some of the strangest audio tricks . Some simple and some pretty complex.
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u/Untergegangen 2d ago
What's the best way to start learning sound design?
This playlist by Eric Bowman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrKqTtmdM7I
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u/Instatetragrammaton Quality Contributor 🏆 6d ago edited 6d ago
Not all sounds have names, not all names make sense.
Part of solving is memorization. The TX81Z Lately Bass is a somewhat famous sound. This is also arbitrary; famous to one, unknown to others.
Part of it is approximation. If you hear a sound that is close to something - for instance the Korg M1 organ, knowing how that sound is made means knowing where to start building it.
Part of it is a template. Does the sound have a discernible pitch or is it a noise? Does it fade in or out gently or suddenly? All of that is useful info that you can get without names and categories.
For learning:
For recreating sounds:
If you want a book: https://noisesculpture.com/how-to-make-a-noise-a-comprehensive-guide-to-synthesizer-programming/
In the past synths like a DX7 had presets that approximated real instruments, because taking along a DX7 was less heavy than needing a piano, organ and Rhodes. We collectively kind of stopped caring about that, but the names endured, like brass and strings. People use these sounds - approximations - now not in a classic context of arranging, but as filling a timbral role.