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About This Course
This classes uses the same system I’ve used for years in my college courses for teaching sound design: Identify and master the 4 main pieces of any synthesizer, and you will be flying when you first approach any other unit in the future.
This system keeps the technical jargon to a minimum and gets you making your own sounds quick.
J. Anthony Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer, and a PhD in Music Composition and Master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater.
He is currently an adjunct professor of composition at the University of St. Thomas, Macphail Academy of Music, and the CEO of Slam Academy in Minneapolis.
Praise for other classes by J. Anthony Allen:
- “Dr Allen does it again with his music theory for electronic musicians series. This course really opened up everything I learned from the 1st section and now I understand more about the composition side of things for music. I highly highly recommend this course to anyone!!! Really opened my eyes to many things I wasn’t aware of.”
- “The Best Teacher ever, who makes you understand the ins & outs of Music Theory by all mean without giving what you don’t want to know.”
- “I have never had any formal training in music at all. Trying to learn all the notes and how everything translated was a serious challenge. After going thru this class, Dr. J has totally brought down the barriers. The content was very useful and was easy to grasp for me.”
What are the requirements?
- This course uses both Reason and Ableton Live, but is designed to work on any software (or hardware) platform. So no matter what software you are using, this class will guide you through how to use your synthesizers.
What am I going to get from this course?
- Design amazing sounds using any synthesizer
- Work in Reason to understand synthesis
- Work in Ableton Live to understand synthesis
- Create any sound you can imagine using whatever software is at your disposal
Who is the target audience?
- This course is meant for anyone interested in making their own sounds to enhance their productions.
- This course does not go into complex terminology about synthesis, so it is ideal for students just starting out (or needing a refresher) in synthesis and sound design.
Our Promise to You
By the end of this course, you will have learned how to make your own sounds with the use of synthesizers.
30 Day Money Back Guarantee. If you are unsatisfied for any reason, simply contact us and we’ll give you a full refund. No questions asked.
Get started today and learn more about making your own sounds with synthesizers.
Course Curriculum
2h 46m
| Section 1 - Introduction To Sound Design And Synthesis | |||
| Introduction And Overview | 00:00:00 | ||
| About The Software We Will Use: Reason And Ableton Live | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Types Of Synthesis We Will Cover In This Class | 00:00:00 | ||
| The 4 Elements To All Synthesizers | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 2 - Fundamentals Of Subtractive Synthesis | |||
| The Sub-tractor In Reason: The Interface | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Oscillator | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Filter | 00:00:00 | ||
| Envelopes | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Amplifier | 00:00:00 | ||
| Putting It All Together In Reason | 00:00:00 | ||
| Using Ableton’s Analog For Subtractive Synthesis | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 3 - The Other Elements: LFO, Modulations, And Other Key Elements | |||
| The LFO | 00:00:00 | ||
| Portamento or Glide | 00:00:00 | ||
| Trigger Modes | 00:00:00 | ||
| Velocity Control | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 4 - Deconstruction: Part 1 | |||
| Subtractive Synthesizer Patch Deconstruction No. 1: Reason | 00:00:00 | ||
| Subtractive Synthesizer Patch Deconstruction No. 2: Ableton Live | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 5 - FM Synthesis | |||
| What Is FM Synthesis? | 00:00:00 | ||
| Using Ableton’s Operator: The Interface | 00:00:00 | ||
| Making Sounds Using FM Synthesis | 00:00:00 | ||
| Adding The Additional Elements | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 6 - Deconstruction Part 2 | |||
| FM Synthesizer Patch Deconstruction No. 3: Ableton’s Operator | 00:00:00 | ||
| FM Synthesizer Patch Deconstruction No. 4: Ableton’s Operator | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 7 - Wrap Up! | |||
| Coming Up In Sound Design Fundamentals: Sampling | 00:00:00 | ||
| Parting Thoughts! | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 8 - Bonus Videos: Ableton Live's Analog Instrument | |||
| Analog Overview | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analog Basic Outline | 00:00:00 | ||
| Programming Analog | 00:00:00 | ||
| Noise And LFO In Analog | 00:00:00 | ||
Course Reviews
Related Courses
FM for Beginners
Enjoyed the clear introduction to FM synthesis!
Informative, Concise, and Personable - Great Course!
Dr. Allen’s course lays out all the synth essentials in an accessible, focused series of videos that–even before the halfway mark–had me loading up FL Studio and generating my first-ever synth sounds from scratch. After 6+ years of producing and recording in FL, I can finally put words to and EXPLAIN, these oscillators and effect parameters. Really grateful for this course!
-J