This is a big milestone for me as a beginner sound designer on what I hope will turn out to be a huge project when finished. For this post, I'm not going to do a walkthrough of a patch I find noteworthy--I'm just going to take some time to write some ideas I've had over the past two weeks.
One thing I think is important is having a goal. My goal is simple, of course: to build a comprehensive library of sounds using Reason and Absynth along with a few other synthesizers. To reach that goal, I need small, intermediate steps. My current level is just learning the software, specifically Thor. In the process I'm building my skills using FM synthesis to rebuild DX7 patches in Thor. I don't know the next step yet, but there's still plenty of time!
Another thing I think is important is writing things down, like this blog. I enjoy reading the SCI email list, and there's a debate that comes up from time to time about handwriting compositions vs. doing all work at the computer. Personally, I prefer writing all my music at the computer. I understand what they're trying to do, but that doesn't mean I'm into it! Besides, my handwriting ability is poor. I thought about that for a while, though, and I got inspired to do something similar: I'm keeping a sound design journal. That's right. I'm writing (by hand) in a little notebook describing the work I'm doing at any given point in time. It looks almost like a recipe book, and I'll try to describe what I'm doing.
When I start work on a patch, I write the date at the top of the page and the name of the program. Underneath that, I draw a diagram of the DX7 algorithm (derived from FM8. I don't exactly have the algorithms memorized, but I do try to reconstruct the algorithm to look more like the DX7 diagrams rather than the FM8 version). In the diagram, I write the ratios and FM amounts and indicate which ops have feedback loops and the amount. I prefer FM8's values for some parameters because they're a little more precise than DX7.
Next I draw a sort of key that relates operators or op chains to their actual function in the timbre. If something is a percussion attack, or if it's a pad within a more complex patch, or if it's a center frequency in a detuned chorus effect scheme, I write that down.
If I feel the need, I make some comments about the FM8 patch. That helps me solidify what I want to do when recreating it in Thor.
Then I'll make some notes on how I'll make 2 or 3 core sounds that make up the Thor variant.
Before I write anything else down, I go oscillator by oscillator, EG by EG, filter by filter, line by line in the router to find what it is I need to do to accomplish the previous step. Because of the differences between the DX7 and Thor, I can't set parameters in stone until I actually hear what they're going to do. The only part that corresponds exactly to the DX7 is the mod:carrier ratio. All of these have to be tweaked because DX7 patches almost always have ops detuned for chorusing effects. You can't do this in Thor. You compensate for it by detuning entire oscillators. When I get the results I want, I write the settings down. In my notebook, this happens in a semi-random way. My notebook routings don't appear in the same order as in the Thor UI. But they are good enough that I could copy patch settings straight from my notebook into Thor and get identical results.
I don't generally pay much attention to Amp EG settings because my default patches already have those programmed. If I need a pad, I load a pad and forget all about tweaking the amp EG. This becomes necessary when the amp EG is used to scale or mod something, but generally this is one of the parameters I leave out of my notes.
When I'm done listing my settings, I make a few comments on the sound, how it stands up to the original (if at all), and what it can be used for.
So basically that's my patch notebook. The best part is having a reference when I'm about to change another parameter. I don't have to worry about forgetting what I just did or what the next step should be. It also shortens the time it takes to create new patches. All I do is invest a few seconds here and there on writing these things down and be amazed at how easy making patches seems to be.
Anyone who reads this should consider doing something similar. Along the way you'll discover tricks other sound designers came up with to make a certain sound or you'll stumble on something accidentally that you'll want to use later. Write those tricks down, whether yours or others, and you'll find you have a valuable reference when those elements are needed.
OK, aside from keeping a notebook, I had another idea that I put into practice yesterday. I invested in an external floppy drive and a box of 10 floppies. Don't laugh, I know how archaic that seems, but hear me out.
I have a deep love for vintage equipment. I love it, but I just don't own it! So I'm stuck with a DX7 and an Alpha Juno until I can financially justify getting new things in. Floppy drives were common on older instruments although newer instruments have internal hard drives and slots for different memory cards. For me it's the image of the once-ubiquitous floppy drive that contributed to (or detracted from, either way) the look and feel of older synths and synth workstations.
My thinking is that the look and feel of equipment, no matter how irrelevant it SHOULD be, does influence in some way the work we do. I want to get in the mindset of working with hardware synthesizers despite my work now being primarily at a laptop. So I'm saving all my patches to floppy disk. I think I'll stop when I fill up all disks that I have at the moment. In the case of Thor, one patch is about 2k. The practical capacity of a floppy is about 1.2MB. So we're talking about at least Thor patches! That may seem like a lot coming from just one programmer, especially if you're a synth programmer with limited time and only program a few patches here and there for very specific purposes. But think about it: I've just finished 32 patches and some variants of them. Let's say, for the sake of argument, I make 10 variations of each. That's 320 patches. So if I go another round of 32 patches, make 10 variations of each, I'll have 640! In that sense, 640 patches aren't really a whole lot. My ultimate goal isn't rebuilding DX7 patches. Anyone can do that. I need to learn the ins and outs of my software and extend that knowledge and skill to creating good patches. Perhaps old-skool FD storage is a good way to set limits on how far to go with the work I'm doing right now. My iBook is starting to FEEL more like a synth workstation with it, anyway!
More to come later today: I want to get through 8 more patches and 1 more blog entry in which I'll discuss making one of those patches.
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