52 Reason / Record Tips - Week 44: Synth School with the Subtractor

As electronic music producers, we rely on synths as our bread and butter sounds
for leads, bass lines, effects, textures, and so on. Knowing that, how crazy is it
that so many of us don't REALLY know how to use them?! I mean, it's not our fault
in some ways. The presets we get from the factory soundbank and ReFills are very
good. Usually one of those with a couple random knob adjustments get us off and
going just fine.

But imagine the power you'd have if you could sculpt a sound and control a sound
with precise knowledge of what you're doing and the effect it will have. Imagine if
you had your own folder of custom patches that you created; your own stash of
secret sauce that nobody else has. Imagine if you could think of a sound you'd like
to create and to know instantly how to do it.

I'm going to embark on a multi-week exploration of synthesis theory to do just that
for you. This week we're starting with the most basic synth there is - the Subtractor.
But don't let its simplicity fool you. It's capable of some amazing sounds.
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