I’ve always been a heavy sampler. Never used synths much but I want to start leaning into them more.

Idk why but any time I use a synth, it always sounds weird and off putting. It doesn’t mesh well with the drum beat, and it always sounds stiff. I always hear beats with crazy synth leads and arps that weave in n out the beat and the s*** puts me in a trance. I just can’t achieve it tho

What is the key to making your synths work with the rest of your beat?

Posting in music sxn because creative sxn is a wasteland

try to mix it so the bass of the synth wont clash with the bass of the drums

layering and effective filtering

eq ur s*** brother

thats what i meant

You onto soemthing. EQing is an art in itself

oh and honestly just intensive sound selection

idk if u build ur own synths or just browse preset banks but take plenty of time to make sure it sounds right

I usually take presets and strip them down to make soemthing new
Any synth recs? I use sylenth, nave, and omni

idk what synth beats ur going for but it rlly doesnt matter this tip applies regardless

cut out the low end. lower frequencies rlly easily accumulate. one low-ish synth and ur bass is all u need down there. cut the low end out of basically everything.

oh and if ur going for the sound u hear in starboy type jawns they do that by cutting out the fundamental frequency (lowest/loudest frequency) on simple saw/square leads.

@op

honestly since I switched to Mac I can't rlly pirate s*** anymore lmao. Omni was like the one thing I could get so ive stuck 2 it.

in omni check out the manual synth generator and the waveforms section of the samples

Thanks for this knowledge

Do you gotta amp up the high end frequency when you cut out the lows

not rlly

I mean if ur doing the thing where u cut out the fundamental of a lead, yeah. usually the harmonics are quieter and need boosting.

but in most cases u don't need to boost the high end. subtractive eq'ing is enough

Gatchu. My s*** be sounding muddy af sometimes lmao, I gotta get in my EQ bag

yessir

remember. A little low end goes a long way. And the human brain finds high end naturally appealing.

Once you find a synth sound you like. Begin cleaning the sound with subtractive eq to make sure it leaves space in the mix for other instruments. Synths can tend to take up a wide space in the frequency spectrum so you’ll have to make some decisions on where you want to eq and what you want to make space for. A lot of times it’s just a matter of gain staging all your channels so that the volumes are first in check and then I go for the eq if it’s still needed. Pm me if you ever need help with mixing I’m here to help.

eq, delay and reverb are ways i fit them in.

filter sweeps, volume automation, and envelopes can help bring them in and out of sections easier too. that way it gives the listener's ear a chance to accept the new sound and it isnt so harsh

It’s all about sound selection. Ya Eq will def help but you should be able to make/find something that’ll fit before any processing

1. use the right drum samples
2. Dont overthink it if its not meshing either it just doesnt fit sound/melody wise or ur leveling is off

Some things I do when making melodies, playing with major minor chords to come up with a nice progression, and strumming it (like how you strum a guitar and all the notes in the chord are slightly spaced apart).

Also kinda advanced but shifting notes slightly off to give it a humanized feeling. Can be very hit or miss tho

That strumming s*** I think can really bring a melody to life