With the huge range of synthesisers available today, comprising both DAW factory instruments and 3rd party synth plugins, a knowledge of how to use them is an essential part of modern production. This course aims to give you all of the fundamental skills and confidence to tackle sound design with any synthesiser with ease, to enable easier patch editing and creation of your own presets from scratch.

The tutorials work through all of the main sections of a synth, including oscillators, filters, envelopes, LFOs, arpeggiators and more, explaining the function and control set of each one. To make the course as universal as possible, a wide range of synths are featured in the tutorials, with many of the most popular synth plugins and DAW built-in instruments shown.

The tutorials are punctuated with white board demonstrations, to help convey the main synthesising principles, combined with numerous examples of patch creation every step of the way. Students will learn how much can be done with relatively little on a synth, whilst also absorbing a wealth of techniques that will provide a solid foundation for designing many different types of sound. Although the course is primarily aimed at beginners, due to the technical nature of sound design, the level is mostly intermediate with an occasional foray into more advanced territory in one or two places!

Signing up to the course provides immediate access to 3 hours of streamed tutorials, as well as an included assessment, to provide some interactive feedback on students’ synthesising knowledge. As with all Producertech courses, free sample module(s) are available to enable viewing of excerpts before signing up, for an example of the course style and content, which will have you mastering synthesis in no time!

Sample Module - Making a sweeping pad

Module Descriptions  

Module 1 - Introduction

Rob introduces the course, with an overview of the basics of synthesis, explaining the structure and main sections on a synth, with audio examples along the way. Then, he provides a demonstration of how oscillators can be layered to create different sounds.

Lesson 1 - What is synthesis?        04.10

Lesson 2 - Layering Oscillators        04.09

Module 2 - Waveforms Demo

A guide to the main types of waveform available in most oscillators, how they sound and what they are normally used for.

04.20

Module 3 - Oscillators

A thorough look at the foundations of the synthesiser, the sound-generating oscillators, beginning by working through the basic controls and then exploring additional features that are commonly found.

Lesson 1 - Oscillator Controls I - Waveform and Tuning            05.11

Lesson 2 - Oscillator Controls II - Blending, Sync and Unison       09.00

Module 4 - Designing with Oscillators I

2 examples of patch creation using only the oscillators, one that shows how to create intervals and chords and another showing how to make a detuned patch.

Lesson 1 - Creating Chord and Interval Patches       04.30

Lesson 2 - Creating Detuned Patches     05.03

Module 5 - Designing with Oscillators II

2 further examples of patch design using just the oscillators with increasing complexity, layering multiple waveforms together and combining many of the techniques introduced so far on the course.

Lesson 1 - Simple Layered Patch               04.18

Lesson 2 - Layered Bass with Unison      05.51

Module 6 - Filters

A guide to filtering on a synth, explaining the most important considerations and unique aspects of filtering presets.

Lesson 1 - Filters Overview                        03.35

Lesson 2 - Serial and Parallel Filtering       03.00

Lesson 3 - Filter Routing & Keytrack          06.54

Lesson 4 - Filter Blend                                 03.58

Module 7 - Envelopes

An introduction to a fundamental part of synthesis, the ADSR envelope, beginning by looking at the amplitude and then filter envelope.

Lesson 1 - Amplitude Envelope            07.32

Lesson 2 - Filter Envelope                 05.20

Module 8 - Classic Envelope Patch Design

Two examples of using filter enveloping to create classic synth presets.

Lesson 1 - Simple Pluck                    02.39

Lesson 2 - Old School Mwarp Bass    03.43

Lesson 3 - Emerging Pad                04.56

Mod 9 Quick Simple Synth Focus - Maschine’s Bass Synth

A look at a cutdown synth, to emphasise the most important controls seen so far on the course, and show how much can be done with a relatively limited control set.

03.18

Module 10 - LFO Modulation

How LFOs work on a synth, beginning with an overview and then walking through the creation of a popular LFO-modulated synth preset, the wub wub bass, before showing how to modulate pulse width and the sound it creates.

Lesson 1 - LFO Modulation Explained               08.21                                    

Lesson 2 - Wub Wub Bass                           05.28

Lesson 3 - Pulse Width Modulation               02.52

Module 11 - Pitch Modulation

A guide to modulating the pitch of synth presets, including both envelope and LFO modulation. The last 2 lessons then show how to design 2 classic pitch-modulated sounds, a sub bass drop FX and kick drum patch.

Lesson 1 - Pitch Envelope                 06.09

Lesson 2 - LFO Pitch Modulation         04.00

Lesson 3 - Sub Bass Drop Patch        02.49

Lesson 4 - Kick Drum                     01.52

Module 12 - Sequencers & Arpeggiators

A demonstration of additional modulators and sequencers found on synths, including complex curve modulators, step sequencers and arpeggiators.

Lesson 1 - Sequencers                     06.12

Lesson 2 - Arpeggiator                     04.43

Module 13 - Effects

Some general tips for using effects to process synth presets.

07.41

Module 14 - Common Synth Settings

Some brief tutorials explaining fundamental synth settings, for creating performance effects and patch characteristics.

Lesson 1 - Monophonic/Polyphonic         01.56   

Lesson 2 - Portamento/Glide                  01.13

Lesson 3 - Legato                                 02.33

Lesson 4 - Velocity                              03.05

Lesson 5 - Key-tracking                           01.20

Lesson 6 - Pitchbend                               01.26

Lesson 7 - Aftertouch                           01.29