If you’re ready to start making some music with SynthCell, the brilliant softsynth for Pro Tools, but you’re a little intimidated by all those knobs, fret no more! Eli Krantzberg will teach you everything you need to know about using this instrument in this vast collection of video tutorials. From the basic building blocks of synthesis (oscillators, filters, envelopes, etc.) to tips on designing all types of classic synth tones, you’ll learn how to make SynthCell an invaluable addition to your sonic arsenal. These videos are for new SynthCell users.
After a brief overview of the plugin to get you acquainted with the basic layout and features, Eli shoves off with a tour of the oscillator section. Learn to tell the difference in sound between a sine wave, square wave, triangle wave, sawtooth wave, and more – a crucial factor in understanding how to build sounds of your own. Then discover the two available filters, their differences and similarities, and how they can interact to create harmonically-rich tones.
Next, explore the filter envelope and learn how it affects the cutoff frequency of the filter, along with the amp envelope, which allows for precise control of a note’s volume through its duration. Taken together, these two controls form the bulk of the sonic-shaping power.
Eli covers many more important topics over the rest of the course, including LFO waveform shapes (how they can be used as modulation sources, etc.), the Modulation Envelope, playback modes and Glide (for dealing with overlapping notes), the Arpeggiator, Effects (delay, reverb, distortion, etc.), and more. To wrap things up, learn how your newfound knowledge can be put to use as you follow along when Eli demonstrates how to create six different sounds (percussion, synth bass, synth pads, plucks, arps, and synth lead) from scratch before checking out a final play-through of an arrangement featuring each of these custom-built patches!
You can get more detailed information on the videos by checking out the descriptions for each below. Don’t be intimidated by SynthCell’s sea of knobs any longer; they all serve a logical purpose, and Eli will shed a light on each one in these SynthCell Explained®!
