Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

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nopEda
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Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by nopEda » Sun May 05, 2013 10:07 pm

Where can we go to learn the basics of how to manipulate sound and use things like LFOs and and filters and oscilators and whatever all? What to search for in a Google search?

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syrup
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by syrup » Mon May 06, 2013 12:08 am

'What the fuck does the .... button/knob do?' works wonders
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bassbum
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by bassbum » Mon May 06, 2013 12:12 am

If you live in the UK we could meet up and I could rape... I mean teach you.

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by Brothulhu » Mon May 06, 2013 12:13 am

You will probably a lot more creative with the effects if you just play with them till you understand what they do. You might find something noone has thought of before
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bassbum
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by bassbum » Mon May 06, 2013 12:23 am

A LFO isnt really a FX its more of a modulator... well in fact its a oscilators.

If you want to learn about oscilators, LFOs and filters thats more synthesis and sound design. Things like reverb, flangers and bitcruchers are more FXs.

Youtube or Google the names and like the others said play around with the stuff.

Also have you seen this yet
http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=159713

charles1
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by charles1 » Mon May 06, 2013 12:57 am

EQ, reverb, delay, compression. those are the 4 standard basic FX that you must know in my opinion.

all of these have a dry/wet knob, which will effect the ratio of the non-affected signal (dry) to the affected signal (wet).

EQ can either boost or cut out different frequencies on the sound spectrum (for instance from 0 Hz to 22 kHz).
reverb simulates an atmospheric/spacey type effect.
delay is similar to reverb, but is more "echo-y". it will play a reduced form of the sound again instead of dragging out the original like reverb does. you can adjust the delay time (ie how many times it repeats).
compression does just what it says. it reduces the volume any sound that goes above a certain threshold according to a logarithmic scale. you can also adjust the ratio of the compression.

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Benji
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by Benji » Mon May 06, 2013 9:10 am

It's all about Youtube videos and experimenting

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Ada
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by Ada » Mon May 06, 2013 10:12 am

I just test everything... I haven't produced for very long but I learn everything by just testing shit. :mrgreen:

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by VirtualMark » Mon May 06, 2013 10:30 am

This free book will teach you the basics of oscillators, modulators etc: http://noisesculpture.com/how-to-make-a ... rogramming

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by NinjaEdit » Mon May 06, 2013 12:30 pm

Find "the art of mixing" video on youtube, and the "how to make a noise" ebook.

Also, the manual.

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futures_untold
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by futures_untold » Mon May 06, 2013 1:55 pm

nopEda wrote:Where can we go to learn the basics of how to manipulate sound and use things like LFOs and and filters and oscilators and whatever all? What to search for in a Google search?
Hi nopEda

Regarding Effects

Here is a list of standard effects http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=68714. (Be warned that some of the links are dead, so you'll need to search for the releavant terms manually on Google / Youtube.)

If you want a really detailed description of the uses and abuses of common studio effects, consider purchasing Sound FX by Alex Case which is a book focussed solely on effects. The book is available from Amazon from this link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sound-FX-Unlock ... 229&sr=1-2.

The Reason operation manual describes the function and uses of all the common effects. Even though it is program specific, the descriptions and explanations of all the effects are useful for generic effects in the same category. The Reason 7 manual is available from here http://dl.propellerheads.se/Reason7/Man ... Manual.pdf

As mentioned above, another way to find out what effects do is to experiment with them. Just be sure to load a peak limiter on the master output of your mixer to prevent any nasty unexpected sounds from damaging your hearing or speakers. Two good sources of free FX are the Portable Freeware Studio Pack which includes some great freeware effects and also gersic.com/plugins which lists most of the freeware effects plugins in existence.

Regarding Synthesis

In addition to the books proposed above (how to make a noise is good), another great book which covers every common synth control is Power Tools For Synthesiser Programming http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Tools-Syn ... sizer+book.

Hope that helps! :)

Patrick

nopEda
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by nopEda » Mon May 06, 2013 3:57 pm

Thank you folks! I ordered both books "How to Make a Noise" and "Sound FX". That should be enough to get a good basic idea what's going on...I hope.

frenchboy
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by frenchboy » Mon May 06, 2013 6:17 pm

I learned by reading an old school mixing engineer book that talked mostly about analog and then reading the ableton manual.

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drake89
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by drake89 » Mon May 06, 2013 9:07 pm

nopEda wrote:Thank you folks! I ordered both books "How to Make a Noise" and "Sound FX". That should be enough to get a good basic idea what's going on...I hope.
that sound FX book is really a great read. I loaned it to a friend but I want it back now to learn more about reverb and distortion types.

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by rusto » Mon May 06, 2013 10:24 pm

charles1 wrote:EQ, reverb, delay, compression. those are the 4 standard basic FX that you must know in my opinion.
EQ and compression are processing not fx.

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by charles1 » Tue May 07, 2013 12:35 am

rusto wrote:
charles1 wrote:EQ, reverb, delay, compression. those are the 4 standard basic FX that you must know in my opinion.
EQ and compression are processing not fx.
why? can you back this up? my DAW (Ableton) classifies all 4 of those as "Audio Effects".

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by bassbum » Tue May 07, 2013 12:46 am

jonahmann wrote:Find "the art of mixing" video on youtube, and the "how to make a noise" ebook.
That was a golden nugget for me in a sea of how do I bleep bloop 101.

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by frenchboy » Tue May 07, 2013 1:30 am

charles1 wrote:
rusto wrote:
charles1 wrote:EQ, reverb, delay, compression. those are the 4 standard basic FX that you must know in my opinion.
EQ and compression are processing not fx.
why? can you back this up? my DAW (Ableton) classifies all 4 of those as "Audio Effects".
Lol they're "audio effects" because in ableton everything is either an instrument, audio effect or midi effect. EQing and compression isn't technically an effect but there's nothing wrong in calling it an effect. I guess it's called processing when you remove or modify the audio signal, and a effect when you add to the signal something that wasn't already there(delay, distortion, reverb). LFOs and envelopes would probably be part of synthesis.

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bassbum
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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by bassbum » Tue May 07, 2013 1:39 am

frenchboy wrote:
charles1 wrote:
rusto wrote:
charles1 wrote:EQ, reverb, delay, compression. those are the 4 standard basic FX that you must know in my opinion.
EQ and compression are processing not fx.
why? can you back this up? my DAW (Ableton) classifies all 4 of those as "Audio Effects".
Lol they're "audio effects" because in ableton everything is either an instrument, audio effect or midi effect. EQing and compression isn't technically an effect but there's nothing wrong in calling it an effect. I guess it's called processing when you remove or modify the audio signal, and a effect when you add to the signal something that wasn't already there(delay, distortion, reverb). LFOs and envelopes would probably be part of synthesis.
I though a process was something that didn't happen live, like a permanent change to the audio. Also a EQ is just a posh filter, would you say a filter is not a FX?

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Re: Where to learn basics about effects, etc?

Post by charles1 » Tue May 07, 2013 1:56 am

frenchboy wrote:Lol they're "audio effects" because in ableton everything is either an instrument, audio effect or midi effect. EQing and compression isn't technically an effect but there's nothing wrong in calling it an effect. I guess it's called processing when you remove or modify the audio signal, and a effect when you add to the signal something that wasn't already there(delay, distortion, reverb). LFOs and envelopes would probably be part of synthesis.
Do you have a source for any of that? Reverb, delay, and distortion are not "adding something that wasn't already there". They are not generating any new sound.

Wikipedia's page on "Audio Signal Processing" talks about reverb, delay, EQ, and compression, so....

And at the top of the page, it says:
"Audio effect" redirects here. For special sounds used in media, see Sound effect. For a device that processes sound, see Effects unit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_signal_processing

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