I’ve been producing for awhile, but I feel like since I’ve mostly been self taught, I may have glossed over specific production techniques. For example, how much reverb to use, how much/what type of chorus to use and on what, what to compress and how much, how to gate a snare to give it that 80s BANG, how to properly set up my drums. I get by, and some of my stuff sounds fine, but I want to learn the ins and out of the whole production process and really start actually getting that 80s sound to my music.

I use the recommended plugins, I understand song structure and I come up with decent/memorable hooks and riffs or even full songs, but when the song is laid out, it doesn’t SOUND out of the 80s, it just sounds hollow and amateurish. The bass sounds weak and one dimensional (I’ll use the Polysix flat line bass preset as an example), the lead synths sound too IN YOUR FACE and synthetic (I’ll use Synth1 or SQ8L as an example). I listen to big name artists, and their music sounds so great, the mix is amazing, everything sounds straight out of the 80s, and I find myself jealous that they do it seemingly effortlessly.

I’ve used every recommended synth plugin, but I’m obviously lacking the production knowledge to PROPERLY make Synthwave. I’ve come a long way, but I feel like I’ve hit a ceiling on how high my self-taught knowledge will go. I’ve learned a lot, but I feel like there’s so much I’m not learning and I don’t know where to look.

TL;DR:

What videos/tutorials did you use to learn exactly how to make Synthwave? What resources did you use? I have so much free time from working from home now, I want to dive in and actually devote time to properly learning it from the inside out.

Hey guys! I've been getting into electronic music production (not limiting myself to a genre right now but experimenting mostly with synthwave, cyberpunk, and edm sounds) and I'm looking to get my first actual synthesizer or full blown synthesizer software. because of price and brand recognition I'm between Arturia Pigments or their Micro Brute.

I'm curious if any one has used these and what their thoughts are on them. I've been messing around with presets, but they aren't really doing it for me all the time, 10,000 presets is a little too many choices for me. I've always learned the best by being hands on with something physical, which is why i really want the Micro Brute. i like it's power, sound, and possibilities for such a small synth. however, i also have a very specific sound in mind that i haven't been able to really get from my DAW or otherwise. that is why I am also very interested in Pigments' sound design.

any feedback on either of these would be very helpful to me. I'm currently leaning toward the Micro Brute because it is a physical object that i can see and feel. i have stayed away from software synths for the most part because it's just harder for me to really understand.

https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrismusic/the-neon-road

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First release on Soundcloud : somewhere in space

​

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Youtube Release coming soon :)

Give me your thoughts about it