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Learning Synths

learningsynths.ableton.com

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Re: Learning Synths

#2
Related. Others?

Getting Started Making Sounds - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31434208 - May 2022 (3 comments)

Abletone Learning Synth - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31279526 - May 2022 (63 comments)

Synth Playground - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26429207 - March 2021 (21 comments)

Learning Synths - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20272346 - June 2019 (172 comments)

Re: Learning Synths

#4
post #3

For those so inclined, that want to play with synth in some more programmatic way, there is a lisp dialect ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyquist_(programming_language) ) for it.

There's also stuff like Sonic Pi (https://sonic-pi.net/) and most things live coding related, but I found that I don't really like that approach even though I love synths and programming. For some reason I don't think they go together well. But some people are really good with that and it's fascinating

Re: Learning Synths

#5
post #2

Related. Others? Getting Started Making Sounds - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31434208 - May 2022 (3 comments) Abletone Learning Synth - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31279526 - May 2022 (63 comments) Synth Playground - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26429207 - March 2021 (21 comments) Learning Synths - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20272346 - June 2019 (172 comments)

I'm glad I'm not going mad thinking I've seen this link 5 times before here; I had an off-by-one error by including this example in the tally.

Re: Learning Synths

#7
post #3

For those so inclined, that want to play with synth in some more programmatic way, there is a lisp dialect ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyquist_(programming_language) ) for it.

Similar to this, a while ago I made this online playground (Lambda Musika) where you can program sound realtime in your browser (using JS) in a functional-ish way:

https://lambda.cuesta.dev/ (repo: https://github.com/alvaro-cuesta/lambda-musika) -- check out the examples on the bottom toolbar's blue button.

The basic idea is you write a function `t => [l, r]` where `t` is time and `l`, `r` are output samples for the left and right channels in `[-1, 1]` range. You can think of it like ShaderToy but for sound synthesis.

It includes a small utility library but it's meant to be just a few helper functions instead of a full-fledged framework like SuperCollider, Sonic Pi, et al. I.e. it's still sample-oriented instead of module-oriented. E.g. in Sonic Pi you script modules, their parameters, and how they connect with each other, while Lambda Musika is all about outputting samples of a waveform.

It's very barebones -- I'd love to get some time to upgrade this to Monaco editor and add TS, intellisense, etc. -- and possibly buggy, but I still find myself coming from time to have some fun with it.

Re: Learning Synths

#9
post #6

What's the best way to learn piano via keyboard like a professional ?

Take lessons with a piano teacher and practice a lot on your own.

As a lazy synthdad, father of a piano virtuoso who makes fun of my musical clumsiness, I concur: listen to music, watch music being played and read about music all you want... It won't get you very far: music requires practice, practice and practice daily, even if just a little - and memorizing some scales and chords goes a long way too.

Re: Learning Synths

#10
I've been playing synths and piano for a while, but I've been struggling to get some solid intuitions about what is going on when I tweak the synths. One thing that really helped on this site, is the «dot» that is bouncing back and forth on https://learningsynths.ableton.com/en/playground . Try tweaking the nobs and see how the dots movement changes. It helped me visualize something that I wasn't able to grasp before. Nice link!
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