How do you find/make your desired sound?

[Drayde Wernick]

Okay, so I've been fiddling around with FL Studio a lot, and I'm confident that I can structurally create music that can sound good, but now I'm stuck at the most important part of actually choosing the precise sounds and related characteristics to turn my notes into actual music.

As of now I've just been using presets and some soundfonts, completely unaltered in any way, as placeholders until I learn how to find/make something better, and my stuff sounds okay enough that I can see the potential in it. I just don't know how to start the process choosing good combinations of sounds if you know what I mean. I know all the instruments I want to use (I'm shying away from wacky synths for the time being), but all the sound samples and soundfonts that I have tried obviously don't automatically sound perfect together. I guess I have to just experiment with effects repeatedly until something just sounds right, but in the meantime is there anything you can tell me that might be of help? Very open ended question I know, I just need some form of feedback. :p

Here is the most complete piece of music I have so far, but even this is still embarrassingly primitive at this point. Nonetheless it gets the gist of what I'm trying to create (because I just don't know how to describe it other than "Tetris Theme meets unce-unce-unce meets shitty default drumkits").

http://soundcloud.com/drayde-wernick/evil-weavil

Also I'm really bad at describing music, so pardon my awkward, vague wordings. XD I guess this is also something I'll learn over time.

[Facade]

i just mess around until i find something good i never really set out to make a specific sound rather i just mess around until i get something cool or good

[ArtAttack]

Facade's got it nailed down. Just DICK AROUND! Especially with electronic music. You think Skrillex and deadmau5 got their sounds from carefully thinking about which waveforms they needed to achieve their desired synth choice?

NOPE!

When I write complextro, like I am now, I just go through my massive library of custom-edited presets until I find some that sound nice together. Then I mess with them until I get something that sounds like Porter Robinson! It's all experimentation.

[Drayde Wernick]

There's a few instruments/sounds that I'm interested in trying out, but I have no idea what they are called / what instrument makes them or how to describe them. I'm gonna find examples from other songs I know and post them here, if you all would like to help identify them for me I'd really appreciate it.

[Facade]

There's a few instruments/sounds that I'm interested in trying out, but I have no idea what they are called / what instrument makes them or how to describe them. I'm gonna find examples from other songs I know and post them here, if you all would like to help identify them for me I'd really appreciate it.

no problem i'll be happy to help

[Versilaryan]

If there's a synth from a well-known song that you really like, look up tutorials on how to make that sound. You probably can't get away with using that exact sound in one of your own songs (or maybe you can, I dunno), but it'll give you greater insight on how pros create sounds and what you can do with the synths at your disposal.

And especially with synths, do what the other guys said and just mess around. Sometimes, I create new sounds just for fun and then completely ditch them without using them. It's good practice, and if I want to make that sound later, I know how to do it.

And you've got it right with "experiment with effects repeatedly until something sounds right". If it's something like reverb or EQ, you might start with solid ideas on what you want to do, but in the end, you just have to see what sounds the best. And a lot of the best sounds come from when you just say, "Oh, screw it" and try something crazy. A lot of my sounds come from me trying to emulate other sounds, giving up, and just sticking to the one I made.

[bartekko]

I usually have a general idea for a sound (trance'y lead, wobble bass, choir pad, acid bass, something)
and then make something close to the desired sound.


and then.... I TWITCH THE HELL OUTTA ALL THE KNOBS

[Drayde Wernick]

Wow, I've been fiddling around with Sytrus in FL Studio for a few hours, and this is fun as hell! I'll load up a preset, listen to the synth and try to identify all the pieces that make up the sound and how to modify them. For instance, I opened a preset called Deformed and another called Kloug. I noticed that one had sort of an echo effect and the other did not, so I spent a good half hour playing with every parameter available until I found out exactly what is causing that effect and how to remove it without altering any other characteristic of the sound. It is quite reassuring to figure out something like that on my own. It's not much, but it's a start.

I've also been watching tutorial after tutorial on Youtube and reading all sorts of synth-making guides, even ones that don't apply to me, just so that I can see multiple contexts and better understand the broader concepts behind synthmaking. Because I also like to get down and dirty, I'm also researching the concept of sound in general from the ground up. One of my personal beliefs is that understanding the physics behind something is one of the best tools to facilitate creativity.

[Interrobang Pie]

By accident, most of the time.

[Stars In Autumn]

By accident, most of the time.

This. I'm like, "What happens if I merge a square with a sin... and then put a BP on it... and wtf is this filter thing do? Oh wow, that sounds kind of cool!"

[Tsyolin]

Agreed, I may have wrote out and planned the initial melody for "Ovation of the Night", but then I pretty much made up the rest and goofed around with effects. Do what the Beatles did, play around with the track until you come up with a really cool sound.

[Drayde Wernick]

^That's what I'm doing, and so far so good! Thanks for the advice, everyone. Now I have a few questions about instruments.


First of all, what's the jingling noise that plays constantly through this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUgja4wkAO8
I want to say it's a tambo, but it just sounds... a bit different than what I'd expect a tambo to sound like.

Secondly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSSLXMzxxP8#t=05m45s
Am I listening to a guitar or what? This sound is in a lot of music I listen to, but I just don't know how it's done.

Thirdly, this is a more difficult question, but the keyboard sounds amazing in this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhSLhQEnESs#t=01m45
What kind of piano is it simulating? I have a really good use for it if I can get that sound or a good estimation of it.

[Dr_Dissonance]

1) Pretty sure it is a Tambourine, it was just back when vsts were less than stellar...
2) Dunno, I guess it is a guitar, but I don't know how to get that sound, as it doesn't sound like a typical pure guitar sound...
3) Is that not just a piano? I was expecting a piano with some weird effect, but it sounds like a regular piano!

I hope any of that helps...

[Drayde Wernick]

3) Is that not just a piano? I was expecting a piano with some weird effect, but it sounds like a regular piano!

Well yeah, but even regular pianos sound different from one another in subtle ways. That reminds me though, if you go to the very beginning of that same song, the keyboard makes a completely different noise that I also might like to use.

[ArtAttack]

Piano almost sounds like it has a tiny chorus effect on it.

[Versilaryan]

2 sounds like layered guitars with REALLY heavy reverb.

[PinkieGuy]

^That's what I'm doing, and so far so good! Thanks for the advice, everyone. Now I have a few questions about instruments.


First of all, what's the jingling noise that plays constantly through this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUgja4wkAO8
I want to say it's a tambo, but it just sounds... a bit different than what I'd expect a tambo to sound like.

Secondly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSSLXMzxxP8#t=05m45s
Am I listening to a guitar or what? This sound is in a lot of music I listen to, but I just don't know how it's done.

Thirdly, this is a more difficult question, but the keyboard sounds amazing in this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhSLhQEnESs#t=01m45
What kind of piano is it simulating? I have a really good use for it if I can get that sound or a good estimation of it.

So, not sure what part of the song you're asking about here.The noise at the exact time linked is a guitar that is distorted and heavily reverbed, and I'd wager they're using an E-Bow to avoid attack on the notes. After that is a section with a moog keyboard. There are VSTs for that.

In terms of how I get my desired sounds, I seem to be the only one in here who designs my sounds as opposed to fiddling.

I mean, there is some random tweaking elements, but generally I'll know what range/frequency I want the instrument/synth in, and how I want it to sound and will build it that way. It's more the amounts of distortion and reverb that I then have to tweak until happy.

[VScratch]

The first one is either sleighbells or a tambourine. It's what you generally hear in a lot of winter/christmas-y songs.

The third one sounds like a generic "grand piano" patch being played in octaves, or with a chorus effect added (OR BOTH)

Second one I have no idea.

[zorg]

to me, first one sounds like both sleigh bells and tambourine
second is most likely guitar with loads of effects on it
third sounds like a generic grand piano, it sounds really bright