I've been producing off and on for like 6 years and this explanation on subtractive synth blew my mind. I've always like.. kinda knew the different parameters did based on what I heard etc. but this was very informative. Thanks man!
The Microbrute is a great beginner synth often available for less then 200 bucks! alternatively, take a look at the Korg Monologue which is a bit more expensive but is said to be a bit more diverse and has an built in oscilloscope which is great for beginners! super secret tip: if you really want to learn about subtractive synthesis, try Syntorial, a kind of video game like learning software to learn how each parameter affects the sound so you can recreate sounds by ear!
I've been meaning to put out a video like this for ages because when I first started learning, I could not find this answer ANYWHERE. Every site I got to assumed I knew a bunch of stuff already. It's nice to see someone doing it right finally. I still may make my video, but I'll go deeper into shit like harmonics and the physics of it, to prime people for FM/PM and additive synthesis.
I've probably missed the boat on this one, because I've arrived late to the party, but I really enjoyed this. A lot of YT channels focus just on the gear, so it's nice to see the fundamentals behind this stuff. With that in mind, it would be SUPER interesting to see how you incorporate gear like this into the larger creative process (with a DAW and/or other gear), because it would give some context (direction?) for the people who buy something like this and then get a bit dis-heartened when they spend a while playing with sounds, but don't come out the other end with something.
Squarewave... the first two notes and I think ‘Zelda, yes, Zelda’ and then you play that tune. After a very stupid day in the office, you were the one who conjured today’s first smile on my face... THANKS!
dude, thank you for this video, I've been setting my eyes on the minibrute 2S and your approach of the different settings explains a lot to someone who's never touch a synth before
This is a great explainer for the basics of subtractive synthesis on a hardware synth. I will be linking to this anytime someone is looking for a tutorial at a measured pace. Well done as always, Jeremy.
This is my first synth (arriving soon) and this is the first explainer that really got me excited about how synths work and sound, without resorting to reverb.
After finally playing and now owning a MB2 I think it and the 2s version are 2 of the best mono synths ever created. Absolutely full of features with endless possibilities. And they look so amazingly utilitarian. That said, I feel like it doesn’t excel at being someone’s ONLY mono synth. There’s a few bread n butter sounds that it isn’t perfect for. I’m pairing mine with a Nyx 2 and they compliment each other perfectly.
I already knew most of this stuff but the pwm from lfo gave me some new ideas with my modular. Also, you can modify the pulse width of any waveform, it just works the best with square and saw.
There is an interesting feature/issue with micro/mini brutes oscillator. When you're increasing wave type to the top, you will get not a pure wave, but slightly distorted one. And to get a "proper triangle" for example you need to set wave type slider to ~50% of the value. You can check it on oscilo easily.
Thanks Jeremy, this is exactly what I needed to know! I had been wondering how to get started with building my own tones for a while, and your video really helped a lot.
this is awesome! such a good synth to make a tutorial with. I have a microkorg and it requires a bit of menu digging so it's nice to see all the knobs and sliders out in the open.
This is stupidly expensive here in Brazil, but goddamnit now I want one... Also, great tutorial! It's great to have stuff explained while they're happening.
You should do more basic demos on some other synths. I'm acquinted with subtractive synth but the way you explained it helped me understand how the mini brute 2 is routed. If you have a mini Korg Minilogue you should do a demo one that! Love your stuff!
Hey! Great vid as usual, and I'm really happy that you make tutorials about that kind of stuff, however I believe there's room for improvement. For example, the top right box which shows your signals in the temporal domain could have, at times, switched to the frequency domain. I don't expect you to give a full college course about Fourier transforms and signal theory, but I do believe seeing the spectrum of your sound is useful (if not essential) for a correct understanding of, for instance, filters, or synthesis in general. You kept mentioning that sounds were rich in frequencies, so showing the spectrum would have been a nice illustration. Anyway, besides that, your vid was amazing, just like the rest of your content!
I'm not that good with the language but do you mean he should show an equalizer sintead of an oscilloscope view? I think that would have been very good when explaining what a bandpass filter is, I needed a few days to understand it and the view of the oscilloscope wasn't helpful for a newcomer.
I'm gonna add that the Metalizer works on every shapes, not just the triangle, if you patch it (in the patch bay VCO1, take the out any shape to the Metal In, and voila ; don't forget to open the triangle slider on the synth).
FWIW, the metallizer can fold other waves too, if you patch something else through it. Being able to metallize non-triangle waves is new on the Minibrute 2 though. I'm a little sad my Microbrute can't do it, since it's a really cool effect.
Hey great video! Summed things up really consicely at a great speed! Ps. Video recomending hardware synths of different price brackets? (If you want, I'm not the boss of you. Make the videos that you want!! Tbh I'd watch any vid youd make haha) ♥♥♥
I'm looking for the academic approach to the underlying design of substractive sound synthesis in general… Tough to find when everybody is just trying to sell you on a synth or just doesn't have much of an idea how and why it functions, only how to make it do what you want.
Even though I've been playing with subtractive synths for years this was a great refresher especially since I just bought the Minibrute 2. Would you be able to do another video delving into the patchbay? It confuses me so! I still don't entirely grasp it. I've worked with mod matrixes with the DeepMind and Micofreak but I'm a noob to modular/semi-modular.
Woooow.... This mindblowingly fuckin cool!!! :D as a total noob been rearching for a good ground up tutorial to all this how different waveforms sound and what parameters you can tweak and how does it look. This was exactly that! Thanks man!!! :D
Hey there Jeremy. Thanks for everything you do. Your technical knowledge knows no bounds! But how in the hell do you display your soundwaves?? That totally blew my mind and gave me a deeper understanding on the functions manipulating sound.
so after knobs jeremy now steals loopop's style?! outrageous!
i'm a terrible person with no original ideas of my own
Nah. It's not a loopop video if it doesn't have outrageously useful timestamps listed on the side.
3 am is the best time to know about basic of subtractive synthesys
This is one of the most understandable explanations of envelopes and other synthesizer lingo that I have heard. Well done, sir.
I've been producing off and on for like 6 years and this explanation on subtractive synth blew my mind. I've always like.. kinda knew the different parameters did based on what I heard etc. but this was very informative. Thanks man!
You're an absolute god send for putting the oscilloscope in there, too.
I just got the PolyBrute. It’s so helpful having someone explain subtractive synthesis with a Mini Brute. Thank you!
This is honestly the greatest, most easy to understand guide I've seen on synthesis. Awesome job!
This was amazing. It singlehandedly convinced me to look into buying one of the brute lines as an intro synth. Thank you so much!
The Microbrute is a great beginner synth often available for less then 200 bucks! alternatively, take a look at the Korg Monologue which is a bit more expensive but is said to be a bit more diverse and has an built in oscilloscope which is great for beginners!
super secret tip: if you really want to learn about subtractive synthesis, try Syntorial, a kind of video game like learning software to learn how each parameter affects the sound so you can recreate sounds by ear!
I've been meaning to put out a video like this for ages because when I first started learning, I could not find this answer ANYWHERE. Every site I got to assumed I knew a bunch of stuff already. It's nice to see someone doing it right finally.
I still may make my video, but I'll go deeper into shit like harmonics and the physics of it, to prime people for FM/PM and additive synthesis.
ok do it
I've probably missed the boat on this one, because I've arrived late to the party, but I really enjoyed this. A lot of YT channels focus just on the gear, so it's nice to see the fundamentals behind this stuff. With that in mind, it would be SUPER interesting to see how you incorporate gear like this into the larger creative process (with a DAW and/or other gear), because it would give some context (direction?) for the people who buy something like this and then get a bit dis-heartened when they spend a while playing with sounds, but don't come out the other end with something.
Almost three years later, I still like this and I still kinda want one.
6:14, I see you with that Quiet Riot/Slade reference. One of my all time favorite songs. Appreciate it, RIP Frankie Banali and Kevin Dubrow.
As someone that just got the 2s and learning about synthesis this was very helpful. Thanks
what's the 2s
Wow! I have a 2s and have learned more about it in the last 27 minutes than what I’ve done myself in the last 2 years. Thanks! 🙏
Squarewave... the first two notes and I think ‘Zelda, yes, Zelda’ and then you play that tune. After a very stupid day in the office, you were the one who conjured today’s first smile on my face... THANKS!
He also did this with the wave before, I was like "oh man, didn't expect that." xD
Table of Contents:
0:49 - Oscillators (Sound Source)
2:23 - Filter
6:43 - Envelope (Volume)
12:07 - LFOs
16:01 - Extras
Thank you!!
26:44 - good boy
16:36 Soft Knob
dude, thank you for this video, I've been setting my eyes on the minibrute 2S and your approach of the different settings explains a lot to someone who's never touch a synth before
Channel is so dope from top to bottom
This is a great explainer for the basics of subtractive synthesis on a hardware synth. I will be linking to this anytime someone is looking for a tutorial at a measured pace. Well done as always, Jeremy.
seriously great tutorial! Thanks for doing all the work! I know exactly how much went into this!
So cool!! Love the oscilloscope visualization.
This is my first synth (arriving soon) and this is the first explainer that really got me excited about how synths work and sound, without resorting to reverb.
im getting started on synths and this was literally the most helpful, easiest to understand video ive seen yet
Red Means Cutoff
cutoff shorts
Brilliant intro. Love both my Micro and Minibrute 2. Underrated in my opinion. I think the name is limiting. Brutes don't have to be brutish 😊
After finally playing and now owning a MB2 I think it and the 2s version are 2 of the best mono synths ever created. Absolutely full of features with endless possibilities. And they look so amazingly utilitarian. That said, I feel like it doesn’t excel at being someone’s ONLY mono synth. There’s a few bread n butter sounds that it isn’t perfect for. I’m pairing mine with a Nyx 2 and they compliment each other perfectly.
omg i was looking for this for ages!!!! thank you so much
I spent an entire day with it's designer Yves Usson last week playing some synth and especially this one !
This is the quality content we came for. Thanks for putting it together!
I already knew most of this stuff but the pwm from lfo gave me some new ideas with my modular. Also, you can modify the pulse width of any waveform, it just works the best with square and saw.
There is an interesting feature/issue with micro/mini brutes oscillator. When you're increasing wave type to the top, you will get not a pure wave, but slightly distorted one. And to get a "proper triangle" for example you need to set wave type slider to ~50% of the value. You can check it on oscilo easily.
do I know all of this? yes. am I glad it’s here? will I watch the shit out of it? will it be very amusing? YESYESYES
Great video! Geez I'm glad I caught this. I don't like the new RUclips video feed algorithm.
Red Means Really Good Explainering
I thank you for the oscilloscope. The only way I would understand and enjoy it.
Thanks Jeremy, this is exactly what I needed to know! I had been wondering how to get started with building my own tones for a while, and your video really helped a lot.
Best video I've seen on the Arturia Minibrute 2.
Finally I can stop randomly smashing my face into the synth to make sounds. Now I can do it purposefully.
lmao same
lmao
Purposeful face smashing!
this is awesome! such a good synth to make a tutorial with. I have a microkorg and it requires a bit of menu digging so it's nice to see all the knobs and sliders out in the open.
cat hair is an important synth component
the most
Ofc
Without question
🤣🤣🤣🤪👍😁 true
Great explanation, thank you for using your time to share this with us!
This is stupidly expensive here in Brazil, but goddamnit now I want one...
Also, great tutorial! It's great to have stuff explained while they're happening.
Congrats on 200k subs! You deserve it with all the awesome stuff you make!
Really great videos for begginers
You should do more basic demos on some other synths. I'm acquinted with subtractive synth but the way you explained it helped me understand how the mini brute 2 is routed. If you have a mini Korg Minilogue you should do a demo one that! Love your stuff!
Ha! Love Nick's picture while discussing pwm!
This synth needs reverb and delay.
That was exactly what I needed to understand this stuff. Thank you very much.
Hi This is Awesome, will try and share this with the rest of the SEM students in my class. Manchester (school of electronic music)
This is super cool, you have a great approach at teaching. Learned some new things :)
Love the photo of Nick Batt when talking about PWM.
Great video! You always explain things so much better than everyone else.
Amazing, at last a practical, easy-to-understand, and well-produced tutorial on synthesis. More of these please. More of everything, actually.
Very cool video, makes me want to actually get a synth, since now I actually know something about how they work.
Very good explanation...ty...like the PWM with Nick's pic
Great walkthrough, delivered with your awesome energy as always! :D I really want to buy a minibrute 2 now xD
Superb walkthrough 👏🏾
Pretty dope. hooked on Red Means Recording ever since.
Thank you so much for explaining this so well and in a simple way :D
Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. That's all I have to say.
I have been looking for something like this, thanks so much!
Wow! I love this demo! Good job!
omg THANK YOU for making me finally understand the controls of my synth VSTs.
I liked when you touched the soft knob and made them beat against each other.
This made so much sense. Thank you!
Hey! Great vid as usual, and I'm really happy that you make tutorials about that kind of stuff, however I believe there's room for improvement. For example, the top right box which shows your signals in the temporal domain could have, at times, switched to the frequency domain. I don't expect you to give a full college course about Fourier transforms and signal theory, but I do believe seeing the spectrum of your sound is useful (if not essential) for a correct understanding of, for instance, filters, or synthesis in general. You kept mentioning that sounds were rich in frequencies, so showing the spectrum would have been a nice illustration. Anyway, besides that, your vid was amazing, just like the rest of your content!
I second this
I'm not that good with the language but do you mean he should show an equalizer sintead of an oscilloscope view? I think that would have been very good when explaining what a bandpass filter is, I needed a few days to understand it and the view of the oscilloscope wasn't helpful for a newcomer.
Yes, the equalizer.
kudos for the nick batt photos !
Great video! And congrats on 200k!
Excellent instructional video.
Im deep into sin
21:42 metallizer works on any audio, including all the other wave shapes, via the patch bay
Great video man. 'Preciate ya! This is exactly what I needed.
Squelchy sound is neat!
Hnnng I want one. Also your oscilloscopigram is pretty nice
Very helpful thanks! After messing with my 2S for a few hours, I was like, "Should probably learn something." ;+)
Beautifully explained 😎
What's funny is that all my training in the Navy helps me understand what you're talking about lmao
Sonar/ adar Photonics audio even video all kind of work similarly.
go harmonic engineering!
Ahh more of this stuff pleaseeeeee
Fantastic informative video. Maybe include a spectrum analyzer next time to help more visually display filter resonance
I'm gonna add that the Metalizer works on every shapes, not just the triangle, if you patch it (in the patch bay VCO1, take the out any shape to the Metal In, and voila ; don't forget to open the triangle slider on the synth).
Love this, more tutorials like these please... I’m learning so much, also you defo need a cat face reveal 🐱
Thanks a lot, very clear and helpful for a biginer
I really enjoyed watching, although I knew it all. MB2 - monster
Love routing my adsr to pitch. Wonder how I could manage that output / input routing for a kinda brute factor on my modular...
FWIW, the metallizer can fold other waves too, if you patch something else through it. Being able to metallize non-triangle waves is new on the Minibrute 2 though. I'm a little sad my Microbrute can't do it, since it's a really cool effect.
Dope
how am i supposed to impress the ladies with my subtractive synthesis skills if now everyone else can learn it too :(
Hey great video! Summed things up really consicely at a great speed!
Ps. Video recomending hardware synths of different price brackets?
(If you want, I'm not the boss of you. Make the videos that you want!! Tbh I'd watch any vid youd make haha) ♥♥♥
That's a good idea
the guy from sonic lab made a cameo appearance. around 18::50 . :). Good video
Dangit Jeremy. This is RUclips I don't come here to LEARN stuff!
I like these breakdown
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Cool video, but you got my like for the Zelda theme :D
this is so good!
I'm looking for the academic approach to the underlying design of substractive sound synthesis in general…
Tough to find when everybody is just trying to sell you on a synth or just doesn't have much of an idea how and why it functions, only how to make it do what you want.
great vid, really fun
Even though I've been playing with subtractive synths for years this was a great refresher especially since I just bought the Minibrute 2. Would you be able to do another video delving into the patchbay? It confuses me so! I still don't entirely grasp it. I've worked with mod matrixes with the DeepMind and Micofreak but I'm a noob to modular/semi-modular.
You're a good teacher
Great video 👌
Woooow.... This mindblowingly fuckin cool!!! :D as a total noob been rearching for a good ground up tutorial to all this how different waveforms sound and what parameters you can tweak and how does it look. This was exactly that! Thanks man!!! :D
Hey there Jeremy. Thanks for everything you do. Your technical knowledge knows no bounds! But how in the hell do you display your soundwaves?? That totally blew my mind and gave me a deeper understanding on the functions manipulating sound.
it was made in after effects
Subscribe for the OP-1 videos, stay for the audio engineering instruction