Retro synth
With
Aamir YaqubA tour of Logic Pro's Retro Synth: its four engines (analog, sync, wavetable and FM) and how the analog oscillator, filter and envelopes shape a sound.
What's in the course
20 lessons (1h 47m) · 1 free
01. Welcome to synthesis
Free lesson0:53
02. Intro to synthesis, Subtractive synthesis
3:22
03. First stage - Tone generation
4:09
04. Second stage - Tone shaping & Filters
1:35
05. Volume shaping - ADSR
3:27
06. LFOs
1:54
07. Alchemy
4:11
08. Retro synth
You are here4:55
09. ES1 and ES2 synths
4:00
10. ESP synth
1:17
11. ESM, ESE, EFM1
8:54
12. Sculpture, EVOC20 and vocoding
7:53
13. Drum synth and Ultrabeat
7:11
14. Drum Kit and Drum Machine Designer
7:23
15. Keyboard synths - Vintage Organ, EP, Clav, Mellotron
9:03
16. Studio Horns and Studio Strings
4:48
17. MIDI Effects - Arpeggiator
21:21
18. MIDI Effects - Chord Trigger
5:45
19. Other MIDI Effects
4:33
Lesson transcript
Exploring Retrosynth
So now I'm going to open up Retrosynth. Retrosynth is a cool synth. As you can tell, it's a retrosynth.
Overview
When you look at it, what you're seeing is a 16-voice synthesizer that can produce a wide variety of sounds. Here are the four different synth engines at work:
- Analog
- Sync
- Wavetable
- FM
Analog Engine
Looking at the analog engine, this was probably designed to mimic some of the early Moog synthesizers. You can see:
- Oscillator Section: This is where we shape and generate our tones.
- Filter: Adjusts the sound frequencies.
- Amplitude Envelope (ADSR): Controls the attack, decay, sustain, and release.
- Filter Envelope: Shapes the dynamics of the filter.
- LFO: Low-frequency oscillator for modulation effects.
- Glide Functionality: Smooth transitions between notes.
- Effects: Options like flanger or chorus can be applied for additional texture.
Retrosynth is really cool in terms of the analog engine because it allows us to achieve vintage, old-school sounds.
FM Engine
However, if you look at the FM engine and how FM synthesis works, you can achieve much more belly-type, digital sounds.
Working with Presets
One of the best ways to understand how sounds are constructed is to experiment with presets and play with some of the available parameters. For example, if I wanted a synth lead, I might choose Vintage Doppler.
- Initial Sound
- Adjust the filter to make it sound a bit brighter.
- Increase attack for a quicker response to make it more percussive.
- Add more chorus to introduce a whistley tone.
As you can see, I'm starting to open up the world of synthesis using simple parameters.
Benefits of Using Retrosynth
Spending time playing around with something like Retrosynth can be very beneficial to your advancement in the world of synthesis. It allows you to gradually move up to more complicated synthesizers in Logic once you feel confident with the basics.
Example: Calming Bells
If you look at a preset like Calming Bells:
- Play around with it and think, "I want it to sound darker."
- You can bring the chorus rate down for a slower movement.
- Experiment with vibrato or LFO rates.
There's so much you can do when you use a sound as a preset or launch pad. You can learn a lot about how to make certain modules interact with each other.
In summary, embrace experimentation in Retrosynth to deepen your understanding and creativity in synthesis!
20 lessons
1h 47m of structured video lessons
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Aamir Yaqub is a music producer and engineer based in London. He has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Alicia Keys, David Guetta, Rihanna, Sia and will.i.am, as well as developing independent artists.
Across his courses he teaches his complete Logic Pro workflow - from the interface and recording through beat-making, synthesis and MIDI effects to mixing and finishing a track.
