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Good lord what a horrible recommendation. This is like telling someone to learn programming by starting with assembly. If you want to actually learn subtractiv

Good lord what a horrible recommendation. This is like telling someone to learn programming by starting with assembly. If you want to actually learn subtractive synthesis minus the complexity use an all in one synth VST like Surge which is free and open source and you won't have to worry about tedious fundamentals that don't actually matter unless you're doing modular synthesis. Helm is another great VST. Once you understand subtractive you can graduate to more complicated methods of synthesis like FM, vector, ETC.

xtagon 2y ago
> This is like telling someone to learn programming by starting with assembly. Believe it or not, this is some people's preferred learning style. See also: Nand2Tetris, Linux From Scratch
mtizim 2y ago
I don't agree at all, vcv rack helped me understand synthesis in a much deeper way than I would have otherwise. What's a retrigger? Oscillator drift? Why do you modulate with a lfo? These are much simpler to understand when you're patching modules by hand in vcv, especially when you start with a blank slate. On the other hand, before vcv, seeing a vst synth just had me overwhelmed instead. I'd recommend everyone reading this to get free vcv + the surge vcv library, and just play around with it.
AnthonBerg 2y ago
One man’s horrible recommendation is another’s… emancipation? We’re all uniquely different!, I promise; After a number of other paradigms had failed to teach me programming, assembly was what finally did it. And with synthesis, it was FM first and then subtractive. The picture is more concise when looking at it from the perspective of frequency modulation because all oscillators can do everything, you know? –That’s the sense it made to me, privately and personally.
- javier123454321 2y ago
  Don't have a dog in this fight as I don't know much about synthesis, but I always remember the old saying. The best book to learn about "hard subject" is the third book you read on it. How many people will comment on a youtube video, course, strategy or book, and say something like - It's the best explanation. I tried all these different things and only this worked. The common denominator is previous failed attempts at the subject.
officeplant 2y ago
Free VSTs are great and all, but VCV Rack + a wealth of online tutorials and synth knowledge seems like the perfect option to me. Especially if someone is actually more interested in the synthesis part than being musical. Plus VCV Rack is also free to start with until you want to go much much deeper. I think they are both acceptable places to start and learn.
import 2y ago
Came here to say this. I would recommend surge or vital as a starting point.
weatherlight 2y ago
I disagree... those "tedious fundamentals" is how all synths work, irregardless of synthesis type. Watch the video. It's 15 minutes. I wish I could learn assembly in 15 minutes! You build the synth one module and one connection at a time all connected to an oscilloscope. If I gave someone a SH-101 with no context, and let them noodle around with it and then asked them, to explain the architecture, they wouldn't be able to. Sure, they may make some cool noises buy they wouldn't understand, what is what, why is hooked up to what and how that might differ on some other fixed architecture synth.
- dingnuts 2y ago
  > You build the synth one module and one connection at a time all connected to an oscilloscope. making my music hobby feel like my job sounds terrible lol
  - weatherlight 2y ago
    I’m sorry :( I get it. It’s how I feel about DAWs.
  - officeplant 2y ago
    Some of us are just synthesis hobbyists and the musical part comes second. Exploration is a joy.
- brudgers 2y ago
  Sure, they may make some cool noises That is the point of making music. The rest is exhaust fumes. You don’t have to know how something works to know how it sounds. And nobody ever danced to a lecture on signal flow.
  - weatherlight 2y ago
    Again, the OPs post is an introduction to synthesis. Good luck finding those “sounds.”
    - 2y ago
rambojohnson 2y ago
OP actually gave pretty sound advice. maybe be a little more constructive next time and less edgelord.
webstrand 2y ago
I actually really think that starting with assembly would be a great place for someone to start learning programming. But not x86 and not on a traditional PC. Instead using some microcontroller attached to a breadboard with a few simple peripherals like a keypad, simple LCD (or maybe an 8-segment). The control-flow is obvious, the syntax is simple enough that novices shouldn't struggle with it, and writing directly to pins to control the peripherals gives immediate concrete feedback.
beAbU 2y ago
Surge is incredibly complex and powerful and will be way overwhelming to a new user. They will be rediced to browsing the patch library not really understanding how things work. With VCVRack and the right tutorial, a user will build a basic synth with an oscillator, filter, amp and envelope generator - which together make up the fundamental core of subtractive synthesis. The manual patching of modular is a great way to actually learn how these building blocks interact with one another to create sound.

xtagon 2y ago

> This is like telling someone to learn programming by starting with assembly. Believe it or not, this is some people's preferred learning style. See also: Nand2Tetris, Linux From Scratch

mtizim 2y ago

I don't agree at all, vcv rack helped me understand synthesis in a much deeper way than I would have otherwise. What's a retrigger? Oscillator drift? Why do you modulate with a lfo? These are much simpler to understand when you're patching modules by hand in vcv, especially when you start with a blank slate. On the other hand, before vcv, seeing a vst synth just had me overwhelmed instead. I'd recommend everyone reading this to get free vcv + the surge vcv library, and just play around with it.

AnthonBerg 2y ago

One man’s horrible recommendation is another’s… emancipation? We’re all uniquely different!, I promise; After a number of other paradigms had failed to teach me programming, assembly was what finally did it. And with synthesis, it was FM first and then subtractive. The picture is more concise when looking at it from the perspective of frequency modulation because all oscillators can do everything, you know? –That’s the sense it made to me, privately and personally.

javier123454321 2y ago
Don't have a dog in this fight as I don't know much about synthesis, but I always remember the old saying. The best book to learn about "hard subject" is the third book you read on it. How many people will comment on a youtube video, course, strategy or book, and say something like - It's the best explanation. I tried all these different things and only this worked. The common denominator is previous failed attempts at the subject.

officeplant 2y ago

Free VSTs are great and all, but VCV Rack + a wealth of online tutorials and synth knowledge seems like the perfect option to me. Especially if someone is actually more interested in the synthesis part than being musical. Plus VCV Rack is also free to start with until you want to go much much deeper. I think they are both acceptable places to start and learn.

import 2y ago

Came here to say this. I would recommend surge or vital as a starting point.

weatherlight 2y ago

I disagree... those "tedious fundamentals" is how all synths work, irregardless of synthesis type. Watch the video. It's 15 minutes. I wish I could learn assembly in 15 minutes! You build the synth one module and one connection at a time all connected to an oscilloscope. If I gave someone a SH-101 with no context, and let them noodle around with it and then asked them, to explain the architecture, they wouldn't be able to. Sure, they may make some cool noises buy they wouldn't understand, what is what, why is hooked up to what and how that might differ on some other fixed architecture synth.

dingnuts 2y ago
> You build the synth one module and one connection at a time all connected to an oscilloscope. making my music hobby feel like my job sounds terrible lol
- weatherlight 2y ago
  I’m sorry :( I get it. It’s how I feel about DAWs.
- officeplant 2y ago
  Some of us are just synthesis hobbyists and the musical part comes second. Exploration is a joy.
brudgers 2y ago
Sure, they may make some cool noises That is the point of making music. The rest is exhaust fumes. You don’t have to know how something works to know how it sounds. And nobody ever danced to a lecture on signal flow.
- weatherlight 2y ago
  Again, the OPs post is an introduction to synthesis. Good luck finding those “sounds.”
  - 2y ago

rambojohnson 2y ago

OP actually gave pretty sound advice. maybe be a little more constructive next time and less edgelord.

webstrand 2y ago

I actually really think that starting with assembly would be a great place for someone to start learning programming. But not x86 and not on a traditional PC. Instead using some microcontroller attached to a breadboard with a few simple peripherals like a keypad, simple LCD (or maybe an 8-segment). The control-flow is obvious, the syntax is simple enough that novices shouldn't struggle with it, and writing directly to pins to control the peripherals gives immediate concrete feedback.

beAbU 2y ago

Surge is incredibly complex and powerful and will be way overwhelming to a new user. They will be rediced to browsing the patch library not really understanding how things work. With VCVRack and the right tutorial, a user will build a basic synth with an oscillator, filter, amp and envelope generator - which together make up the fundamental core of subtractive synthesis. The manual patching of modular is a great way to actually learn how these building blocks interact with one another to create sound.