this tutorial is missing one key component, Digital synths by its nature don't come in BOXES. Dave Pensado once told me that the bigger the box, the bigger the sound. I bought a Moog Modular and they had to helicopter that shit to my home just because the box was so big. But it was worth it. You can't compare the sound of the analog because your computer doesn't come in a real, analog box, it's a digital box. Even if the box is a big digital box, it's still just a digital box. You need a real, cardboard, locally wrapped and handled Cuboid

i really hope this is the future of tutorials. couldn’t have made it more simple. in 6 mins you gave me a clearer understanding of creating synths to your liking. thank you for this video.

For those who are interested about the wavetable synth and maybe don't know much about it i've got a little tip to have a huge variety of wavetables. Load a sample (let's say we've got a chord stab but it could be anything even something sampled from a record or a simple kickdrum) in the timeline and zoom until you can see the single sinusoidal cycle of the sample's waveform, cut the single cycle and consolidate it, so drag it and drop it into the wavetable osc. In this way every note you play will sound with the characteristics of the sample and you'll have a completely unique, inspiring and interesting sound from the start.

I apologize if I’ve caused some discomfort for using the word analog too lightly, I should have phrased it ‘making it sound less digital’ or smth idk, I still like how it sounds tho

Nicely done. Great patches.

I grew up using digital synths. Today I am designing both analog and digital synth circuits/code for hardware mostly. The key difference between digital and analog in terms of sound becomes ever smaller (unless we are talking about wild feedback-patches on a modular synthesizer). What is a difference tho, is the one between a plugin and dedicated hardware synths - regardless if analog or digital - on hardware you have the advantage that you usually have knobs that allow you to directly interface with a parameter and they are right there without you having to set anything up. This can change how you interact with the thing and therefore change what you make with it (not automatically leading to better results, but it is a different experience and that can have an impact on how you do music). I still use a lot of software synths if I am working on a sound design, but hardware can be more in the moment if you are in the rehearsal room with other musicians. Ah yeah, and certain filters still sound better in analog, e.g. I have yet to hear a convincing emulation of the Wasp Filter - but there are also digital things I have never heard in the analog world and would not like to miss.

Use what you like, it all sound truly amazing today. Hardware or software. General music listeners out there don't care how you create.

Something I do with all of my patches by default is to assign a value between 0.1-0.5 to the random column on the matrix for filter cutoff, oscillator fine tune, oscillator position, envelope attack and decay times, and amplitude. This means that every time you hit a key, you get a slight variation in the sound. I based on this on how the vintage knob on the P6 / OB6 works. The major limitation is that each parameter is taking the same random value on each key press, but I find if I vary the modulation amount from -0.5 - +0.5, it adds a certain something. Then you just need to add some saturation and/or tape emulation down the chain, and it usually sounds pretty good. I don't most people could tell the difference on a recording between a well-made VST patch and an analogue synth. I use analogue gear myself and I mostly keep it around because I like the device, more than because the sound is inherently better.

This was delightful, seeing the thought process behind it, all the individual steps explained and to top it all of this clean look that just makes it easier to follow. What a treat, thank you very much for sharing. I would love more of this pls.

I love the style of the editing here! it's so clean!

In a mix. Most if not all people wouldn’t even pick if it’s analog or not. And that’s the truth :)

Love the editing, so clean

Really loving these videos lately. Keep 'em coming!

always excited to see new phritz videos :]

Nice video! You’ve got some really cool sounds here

just discovered ur videos today. instantly went to spotify and listened every song from u. ur now one of my top fav producers lmao

I most make music in the DAW, but I enjoy playing with my analog toys sometimes. I think they do sound just a little better than my plugs, but I cant usually be bothered recording them. Vintage synths evoke a strong feeling if nostalgia too, for those of us old enough to remember when they were new.

Terrific. Clear and concise. Great format

This why i love sound designing !! I need to really work in it in order to master it ! Thanks for this video bro

love this kind of editing, great job

i highly recommend taking some stereo pink noise and slowing it down until it’s completely inaudible, layering whatever sound with that, running that thru distortion, and then highpassing it

Beautiful tutorial on sound design! Love it!

I love your video production! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! :)

love your style of video. so good

That was an incredible video. Thank you!

I finally learned how to make one of the osc’s in wavetable actually sound like noise instead of a single cycle wave from the noise. Very helpful, thank you.

Great video, great patches! - With regards to the SMP filter: Andrew Simper of Cytomic created these filters (for The Drop) and licensed the (custom) MD versions to Ableton + he said this about the SMP filter on KVR: "SMP = Custom MS20 Rev. 2 / OSCar"

love the format!

I love your minimalistic video style!

Great video, really love Wavetable. Now I love it more then before :) Thanks!

Best use of Helvetica on YT. Cuts through the crap and focuses on the sound. 👍

I use mostly hardware due to IT being my day job. I cannot click 1000 times like i used to. Started getting into Ableton more. Hybrid is where it's at for me. For edge and grit... unstable sounds it would not hurt to just buy a single analog filter or module to run sounds through. Get the best of both worlds. Looking forward to more videos!

I really like those sounds at the end

Very inspiring! Thank you

I really appreciated this tutorial and I signed up to your patreon for access to these presets.

Perfect demonstration!

I just got into EDM making and was a bit puzzled that I heard people talk about synths being somewhat complicated. Then I realized that my degrees in engineering of course made everything almost "intuitive", but if you haven't taken x classes in signal processing, filtering and mathematics, it might feel at bit more mysterious at the start...

ever since I started "making music" and designing sounds I was fascinated by the amount of things you can do with Wavetable, and as I became more and more invested in the hobby I started to move away from basic Ableton devices thinking they were "too simple" or "too default-sounding" and that I needed to buy expensive shit just to achieve decent sounds, but this video has reminded me why I love stock plugins so much :) thank you!

Very good demo! My main inhibition to using software synths for analogue tones is that most don't oversample at a high enough rate to do audio-rate modulation of anything besides oscillator pitch, and even then it's not consistently good. (Xfer Serum and the u-he titles are some notable exceptions; REPRO and Hive are pretty good at it.) I discovered a whole new world of textures with my Moog semimodular, but they are more like aliasing mush when I try them in software - which is so unfortunate, as I prefer softsynths for easy patch recall, portability, and DEFINITELY cost.

Interesting video, thank you. I agree, many digital synths and VSTs or AUs can be used to create lovely analog-sounding sounds. And people don’t necessarily need an analog synth. The difference with analog synths is that the “warmth” happens more or less by itself. (If the synth has been designed to have “warmth” at all, that is.) It is possible to add lots of analog-y quirks to a digital synth. But it is really hard to replicate the ease and directness with which an analog synth can produce them. Yes, analog quirks are instabilities and noise … and distortions. But there are also other subtle effects. Such as the subtle beating that multiple voices can have, which can be very characteristic for a synth. Or the subtle idiosyncrasies in oscillator waveforms, that end up in the overtone spectrum. And because everything is based on voltages and currents, there can be cross-influences across components. Something can change subtly when a key is pressed, for example. Everything is somewhat connected (although designers tend to try to isolate the components, but there is always a bit of a remaining influence between them). So, the artifacts can also synchronize in analog-typical ways. - And the typical analog artifacts appear by themselves. I believe that all of these idiosyncrasies can in principle be replicated with digital synths. But it is not easy. And the digital synth needs to be able to support all these. And the sound designer needs to try to avoid the digital artifacts as well. Analog artifacts can depend on lots of different things. But analog equipment typically behaves “smoothly” … and that usually means that the artifacts sound “warm”. Digital synths have long learned to simulate analog distortions, where they are prominent enough. (Digital artifacts, if not created intentionally, tend to behave “abruptly” … and that typically sounds “harsh”. But digital synths have learned to avoid these in many places, except when desired.) The remaining difference is that analog synths have smooth / warm artifacts even where digital synths do not simulate them. The sound designer can try to put them in, with some success … but it is really hard to do it in exactly the way analog equipment would do it … because it varies in idiosyncratic ways, and everything is somewhat connected. I have many plugins for my DAWs. But whatever I use, I find it really hard to replicate the sounds that people create on analog synths. (It doesn’t matter whether I use many parameters on a capable digital synth, or if I use a digital “clone” of the synth.) The differences are clearly audible even on youtube videos, and the sound has a different character. So, yes, it is easily possible to create analog sounding sounds. But the sheer emotion that a beautiful analog synth sound can evoke is hard to replicate. And no, I don’t own any analog synths … I cannot afford them, nor do I have enough space. But the cravings are there. Some people experience the character of a sound very consciously, even the more subtle parts. Others may not hear the character as clearly. But however much we hear it, it still influences us. The character of a sound makes us feel a certain way. All that being said, there are a few VSTs that go a long way to simulate analog sound. For example, the U-He synths: Diva in particular. The approach is to simulate the voltages and currents in the analog circuits of a synth. Thereby simulating all the analog artifacts along the way. And it sounds amazing. - Note that Diva is still limited, because as far as I understand, it uses shortcuts to simulate the circuits, to cut down on the enormous CPU processing costs of a full simulation. Some others use similar approaches: for example, the Yamaha AN technology is modeling analog circuits. All in all, I believe the main message of the video is fair: creating analog sounding sounds on digital synths is possible, and those sounds can be lovely. But I think it is also fair to say that analog synths are valuable for their effortless yet subtly complex analog character. - Would I pay 10k+ for them? Nope. Not unless I was super rich. But I do value them.

absolutely brilliant

I like that this has no talking and is straight to the point and efficient without any filler bs

I am always overwhelmed with Wavetable this video made it understandable. Thanks!

easily the best tutorial i've seen (about pretty much anything) and i don't even use ableton. if only all tutorials could be as clear and helpful as this one

that pre-last polyrhytmic patch and melody was just stunningly immersive. cool tutorial

While most of this I knew, some details were made clearer and a few things were new to me. Having said that, this video made me look at some of your other videos and I enjoyed them so much, I made a Patreon account just to subscribe to you! Great stuff. I can’t wait to explore all you have there.

been using ableton for 8 years and had no idea there were different filters in the stock plug-ins, i was freaked out by the acronyms so always left it😭 great vid, awesome sounding presets too 🤩

Really cool tutorial, thanks !!

Sounds great, I'll be signing up to the patreon for these! I do think there's a difference in some instances with hardware but once in context they're gone for most things. In a blind test I can't tell is a prophet plugin over a prophet once I add other instruments and drums, and even then, only when they're A to B Comparisions unless they're not patched right. I think a hybrid solution is where it's at. It's really only noticeable with specific monos I think when in context. I'm actually liking hybrid sounds now too, a digital synth with a couple layers of analog monos is a nice contrast to my ears. I've actually sold pretty much all my hardware over time, and mostly in Ableton. I only have an a moog (that doubles as my midi controller) and an and an analog 4 since that's damn fun to use and you can use it during a performance. (People seem to react to it better than pressing pads with a laptop next to you during a performance at a bar or something too. well, at least the ones I've been at)

amazing and simple !

Great tutorial, I’ve never used Ableton or bought a software instrument but have owned lots of vintage synths and samplers. Really interested in Ableton but also looking at arturia v colection that I can use with logic which I have used for many years. The sounds you created, sound much like my old ensoniqs. Thank you, feel happy to have let them all go and ready to start a new journey with software

OMG, can’t believe I didn’t know about the different filter types! The Ableton one sounds nice.

Thank you for the video💯

What an amazing video!

This is amazing, instant subscribe.

Great video!

lovely video

This is my first time looking into synthesis and all I can say is this is all beautiful XD

Wake up babe, new phritz video

Great vid!

Sound design is truly so fun 🎉

the warmth of the pitch is not just a simple vibrato with a geometric shape at constant speed , but with random variations , it must be alive. For pseudo analog synths one guy was suggest a LFO with a mix triangle shape + random S/H . For the natural "drift" of the voice i have seen 3 S/H random wave at different speed , for a good natural variation. We can do it with a Gauss Band modulation too. When there is a good variation we can see on the specter slight variations of the level of high harmonics. For a polyphonic synth the real trick, even on modern analog synths which are too straight , is the Voice Component, variations of parameters by voice : pitch, filter, envelope, etc.. where every voice act independently , at different speed. For exmeple filter sweep instead of being synchronized for every voice, has different sweep speed for each voice, giving this organic sound we like. And the overdrive is important in the sound of analog synths, it give them all the meat. The best mono synths like the minimoog, etc.. have an over-driven sound.

These presets have a really cool Boards of Canada kinda sound to them. Great tutorial!

You're an incredible sound designer.

Amazing tutorial

incredible vid!!!!!

The most useful 7 minutes for today! Thank you.

@phritz thanks for vid! Really cool lo-fi ish, analogu-ish patches! Would love to recreate them for myself. I would like to add some words - I totally agree with everything in video, and nex step for analog emulation - is making an fx chain, that emulates analog sound path on circuit board. For example - you need to put an saturator for adding harmonics after the OSC makes sound, also, you need limiter at the end, to emulate analog clamping and cliping the sound, cause the limits of wire and analog output. And etc. I think, we need to make ultimate guide on how to emulate analog circuit in digital world.

nice sounds

Excellent tutorial. I decided to avoid GAS when getting back into music during the lock downs, and do all my sound design with virtual modular (Cherry Audio Voltage 2). That gives very close parallels to hardware sound design. The one thing I missed was the physicality of twisting knobs and 'playing' the synths. I purchased an akai midi mix (great value) but still wanted more. I purchased an electra one (beautiful and very funtional device!) but it still left me feeling divorced from the synths. Then I got a Faderfox pc 12. Its awesome! All the knobs i want!. My dream midi interface to give a me that 'last mile' feeling would be a faderfox pc12 with 14bit midi / midi 2. In short, for me, analogue synths are not just the sound, but the tactile feel of playing with them. So gimmie lots of sensitive knobs to play with and I will be a happy man!

Some crazy Boards of Canada sounds right there at the end. That's freaking neat!!! 🔥

Really well done video! I think a lot of producers (myself included) see hardware synths and think "I need that to get (xyz) sound," but lately I've been a huge fan of trying to recreate sounds through synths, and that reverse engineering is a priceless experience. Likewise, the knowledge of making beautiful textures only helps when you get your hands on that hardware piece in the future. Thank you for sharing this :)

0:30 I noticed the same thing on my Reface Cs. It's a virtual analogue and when you modulate the oscillators pitch with a very slow, very subtle LFO it sounds much nicer!

beautiful.

you are the coolest tysm for this !! super helpful for a novice wavetable user :)

I loved this!!!!!

Great 👍 video. I’ve subscribed.

i have been using ableton for years and this video gives me what i need to know about those acronyms on drive choices lmao

great video. i made all of my sound design with wavetable. it's a great synth. Need to upgrade to live 12 now

thank you!

One thing that I find really contributes to the "analog" sound are the waveforms itself. Since they're synthesized with circuitry, they have a certain sound or warmness to it, I sampled my SE-02's waves for use in Serum and it already makes a huge difference for emulating an analog sound in software, even without all the modulation. Still, great video!

I love the feature Error on Analog and Drift on Drift which give them the "Analog" feel. The strongest thing about physical device is actually the tactile workflow, which enable you to experience in a intuitive and fast way, also the instrument design itself can guide you in a meaningful way.

good quality content here ! very informative, no bulshit, and highly usable !

Funny. I like Voice Table in TAL products. There are times of randomisation for osc, envelopes, filters, etc. But real deal is FUNNY to tweak and it affects your inspiration.

All this work just for ableton to release drift, which is designed to sound analog and get you there faster than wavetable. amazing tutorial regardless. Very deep understanding of synthesis demonstrated here.

Finally someone put it into video/words very well. I always thought of analogue gear in the modern age as kind of... Dumb. Unless you're a hardcore enthusiast and have the money, there's is NOTHING special about analogue except that it's prohibitively expensive.

Thanks ! I learned something

Well, I have an impression that some of us think that analog sound is just a messed dirty sound with added noise ... There is something in analog synths that to me simply cannot be emulated with any plugin or digital synth ... At least not just yet, but i am not saying we're not close, and also that it is bad, it's just the taste 😊

Analogue has instability in old circuit cities unique to the board. This is an interesting synthesis all the same

For synthesis you can get great results in software but recently I tried the minifreak for example and there's nothing stimulating programming the software version Vs the hardware, I guess there's a whole psychology behind it too. I'd say I'm a kinesthetic learner and sound design/synthesis didn't click with me until I got a real synthesiser and I'd used software synths, I really loved Arturias CS-80 but hardware helped me learn within weeks. I can't go back now, plugins I love for FX and also sampled instruments with great UI like this here but I'm forever down with hardware now. Digital or analogue ☺️🤟 Nice patches btw! You don't need pur

this is actually really helpful holy shit

Owning analog synths + Eurorack for more than two years now, i can defenetly tell you that the "analog" sound does not only come from drifting oscillators. Analog oscillators will sure drift but in a much more annoying way than a stable, pleasing vibrato (which you did). I mean sure you can get sounds that will remind you of analog synths but the real thing sounds different. Difficult to put it into words but one can notice. But the title of your videos is still right.. you do not need analog synths to produce. It is a lot, lot of fun though and it just sounds superb. I personally like the sound of analog a LOT, for me its much more than a "80s retro sound". If you think outside the box and bring the synth to new limits you can get VERY interesting sounds that you never heard out of a DAW. Greets!

I’m really I got recommended this video because I learned stuff and it was entertaining. 😊

Great digital sounds

Spent years using soft synths. Bought a couple of hardware synths and my productivity x10d overnight. The thing is, it's not about the sound at all. It's about workflow and how I personally enjoy to interact with my synths. I realized I hate virtual instruments. I hate to program synths on a screen, recording midi etc - so hardware synths changed everything for me. If you love soft synths use soft synths. If you love hardware, use hardware. It's really as simple as that. Nobody who listens to your music will care what instruments you used to make it.

I don't know wavetable but the best type of analog sound (in my opinion) revolves around assigning random pitch (just a tiny tiny bit) to every key pressed. You can do it in serum by plugging in NoteRand1 in Matrix to Osc or Master pitch. It will give you the real deal :)

Some nice sounds. A lot can absolutely be accomplished by way of understanding how to get "that sound", if that's your bag. For me it's not the only the sound(non-linearities) that keep me from selling of my gear. It is the way each of them inspire performance not only through control but also the quirky(non-linear) way those controls combined with human performance, make the sound respond (their personalities). That said, I will never part ways with my computer or my myriad of digital plugins (and a few synths) which also have their own personalities. Also, analog filters are Truly lovely in the way they respond to material via various ways of modulation(s). They have a "character" I can't get with Cytomic or U-he's awesome models, but again,... I love All synths. You don't need analog hardware but if you love synthesis, well,.. I absolutely highly recommend trying that wonderful drug and decide for Yourself ;)

I've made some insane sounds with just serum. I want analog, but technically I don't need it for the sound design I do, and the sound design I do is like Mick Gordon stuff. Do with this information what you will. If anyone ever struggles to make real feedback loops in their DAW, get blue cats connector.

Would love to see a "Coca Cola vs. Pepsi" style test with analogue vs. digital synths, see if people can really tell the difference 😂 Great video though, I think wavetable is an underrated VST, can produce some great sounds!

That last sound was cool