- Thanks to its plus-one approach to teaching,
and its emphasis on ear training.
I think Syntorial is the best way
to learn how to use a synthesizer.
In this video, I'll explain why you'd even want
to learn how to make your own sounds in a synth,
and why Syntorial is the best way to do it.
(violin music)
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the channel.
My name is Ryan and here I talk about the craft
of writing music and these days using a synthesizer
is a big part of that.
However, learning how to use a synthesizer can be difficult.
- I tried so hard.
- A modern synthesizer has so many parameters
that it can be a bit overwhelming to a beginner,
especially if you're not a tech person.
Looking at a synth can feel a bit like looking at
the cockpit of a 747 when you don't know
the first thing about flying.
So why should you even learn how to program
your own sounds in a synth when there are
plenty of good default patches out there?
- It's good enough.
- I can think of three reasons.
First of all, it gives you
a sense of ownership over your sounds.
So your music doesn't sound just like
everyone else's out there.
There have really been times where I was watching TV
and I recognized the synth patch that the composer was using.
Now, no, most of your audience is not going to recognize
what patches you're using and if they heard that same one
in some different show they watched last week.
But creating your own sounds is an important step
in starting to craft your signature voice.
Number two, is that if you have a specific sound in mind
and you know how to use your synth,
you can just go and create it.
Instead of just endlessly scrolling through patches,
hoping you'll find one,
that's close to what you have in mind.
This can be fun when you don't know what to write,
and you're just looking for inspiration.
But when you actually know what you want
and you can't find it, you can just spend your entire day
going through patch lists.
- (laughing) What a waste of time.
- Reason number three, is that you can take existing patches
and make them your own.
So if you find a great patch, you really like,
but you want to tweak it.
You'll know exactly what you need to do.
If you want less vibrato,
if you need to change the mod wheel,
whatever it is you might want to do,
you'll have that much more control over your sound
and your production.
So I learned how to program synths back in college
and even though I understood conceptually how it all worked.
In my day-to-day work, I wasn't really doing it.
I wasn't creating my own patches.
It just felt like so much work to start from scratch,
to end up where I wanted
and I didn't really know how to fill in those gaps.
So when I discovered Syntorial, I was instantly hooked.
So three reasons that I really like Syntorial:
first is this plus one approach to learning.
So if you've ever learned a foreign language,
you probably know that the best way to learn new information
is when it's just a little bit more
than what you already know.
One new vocabulary word in a sentence,
as opposed to 10 complete new words in a sentence.
- That's a little too much information I guess.
Syntorial takes a similar approach
building one idea on top of another.
So when you first start using it,
they actually wipe away all the knobs
and sliders that you're not gonna need.
So you only see what matters and then piece by piece,
they add these different modules in.
It removes any of that sense of overwhelm
that you might get looking at the whole thing
because you actually know what to focus on.
Then as the lessons go on,
it gets more detailed and more refined.
Number two is that it really emphasizes ear training
so that you're learning to use the synth,
not by the names of the buttons and the numbers,
but by what it actually sounds like.
- I can hear it.
- So there'll be quizzes
like what kind of wave form are you hearing right now?
What style of detuning is being used?
And you have to use your ear to actually get it right.
The best part of the program is the challenges.
Where they play you a patch
and then you have to use the parameters
that you've learned up to that point to recreate it exactly.
So if you follow my channel, you probably know
I really like these practical approaches to things.
How can I actually use this as opposed to
just what's the abstract theory?
And so that's the point here with the ear training.
It's like, okay, how can I actually get what I want to hear?
If I hear a cool patch in another score
or in a song, how can I replicate it?
And Syntorial is training you for that.
And the third thing I like about it
is that it feels like a video game.
The lessons are short, the quizzes
and challenges have sound effects
if you win or lose, you really feel like you're leveling up
and improving as you go along
and as each challenge gets harder and harder.
The first time I went through it,
it really felt like a game where I just sat there for hours.
Like, okay, just one more level.
And then when you pass that one, you're like,
well, maybe I could do one more
and you just keep on going and going.
So the layout of Syntorial is pretty simple.
It starts with the lessons
where there's a demonstration portion.
They talk about the new thing
that you're learning in this lesson.
Then there's a challenge
which is that patch matching thing I talked about
and is really the best part of the app.
There are also quizzes to quiz you on the concepts
and a little bit of ear training in there.
And the last thing is this "on your own" section,
where they say, okay, now that you know how to do
X, Y, and Z go create a cool bass patch
or go create an ambient pad, actually put the things to use
and see what you can come up with.
You can also download extra lesson packs,
if you want to learn how to use these concepts
with a specific synthesizer.
So if you're using SERUM or MASSIVE
or any of these other ones,
and you want to apply what you learned
specific to that interface,
they have videos showing you how to do it.
So clearly you can see, I highly recommend Syntorial,
I think it's really awesome.
You can try it out for free to see if you like it.
You can actually do the first 22 lessons
without having to pay anything.
When I did the trial, I was pretty much hooked right away.
I was like, okay, I'm getting this.
I'll put an affiliate link in the description,
I think anybody could really benefit from using it,
even if you already know what the different knobs
and buttons do.
Just the whole ear training aspect of it
really makes the whole thing worth it.
For more videos about music software,
check out these two, where I tried out DORICO
before I really knew what I was doing.
Thanks for watching. And I will see you in the next one.