Getting into sound.
polycounter lvl 11
I've been thinking about getting into sound design a little bit. Just starting out with beeps and boops for videogames mostly but then hopefully trying something more complicated. Has anybody here explored sound design themselves? How many types of program would you need, or is there one that does everything (i.e. one that mimicks instruments and can be used as an editor)? What is the 'Blender' of Sound design? By this I mean awesome and free. Is Ardour the only real choice? I read it's only available on Linux and OSX.
I have started reading this site to learn more, seems very helpful:
http://audio.tutsplus.com/
I have started reading this site to learn more, seems very helpful:
http://audio.tutsplus.com/
Replies
While the methods / hardware and software used to create either are similar, their creation is entirely different obviously.
I can't help with the sound fx thing but I've been recording music, recording with various bands in studios, produced a few beats and messing with sequencers (the software used to 'piece together' recorded samples) for about 10 years.
Firstly, if you're really serious about this, then you will need to spend some money. Not necessarily a lot, but at least a bit.
Before you spend anything however, you want to consider what kind of thing you want to do. Do you want to create 'live' recordings of real instruments / vocals, or will you be primarily creating beats/melodies using electronic instruments a la ambient / electro / dance music etc.
If you're going the live route, then a decent mic should be high on your first shopping list. A good condenser microphone will do a good job of recording almost any instrument as well as vocals.
If you're going the electronic route, then I'd suggest getting some sort of midi-controller. Something like this:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Oxygen25.html
Now you're probably thinking 'but I can't play piano!'. Doesn't matter. It's quite surprising how much fun you can have messing with synthesisers / drum machines and creating some surprisingly great sounding stuff with no knowledge of how to actually play the piano. And besides, you'll start to learn quickly once you begin messing around.
Secondly, a good DAW (Digital Audio Workstation - where you do all your recording, mixing, beatmaking) is what you'll want to get hold of. If you've got access to a Mac, then Logic Express is pretty amazing. Others to consider are Reason, ProTools, and Cubase. All should have a 'cheap' version which is aimed at entry level consumers. Although 'entry-level' usually means anybody who doesn't record musicians or produce music for a living. The toolsets in most consumer suites are perfectly adequate for most people.
The biggest consideration when choosing your DAW should be the built-in synths/processors/effects. Most of the time, they come packaged with a lot of great synths / samples to get your started, but all have plenty (read-LOADS) of plugins available for purchase later on.. although you'll likely find the stuff that's included is adequate.
The included documentation with any of the software packages should at least get you started.
As Target_Renegade mentioned, Computer Music is a great mag to pick up which bundles loads of stuff on their cover CD and usually a write-up inside on how to use the stuff on the CD.
Music creation / recording is such a massive subject that I could go on talking about stuff for hours. If you need some further info, feel free to PM me.
Good luck, and have fun!
EDIT - One more thing, if you've got an iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch, I highly recommend 'NanoStudio'... it's an all-in-one DAW which has some pretty awesome synths/drum machines built in and is surprisingly powerful/versatile.
Reaper is great and free/small donation. Generally people seem to be saying it's the best of the free stuff.
www.reaper.fm/
If you're just starting out with sound design then you need to study synthesis and sampling. There's a lot of free vst plugin instruments out there, so just get messing around/playing. Microphone would also be essential.
A favourite of mine for interesting sounds is FM (frequency modulation) synthesis that can create anything from traditional digital sounds to natural sounds and evolving complicated soundscapes.