Sound Advice DVD perfect for S90/ES owners

Everything you need to know about analog-style synthesis and digital effects.

Everyone needs to be a synth programmer or engineer nowadays. And not just S90/ES owners, either. Guitarists and songwriters using the free copies of Cubase LE that tumble out of the box along with a computer interface, drummers with a new DTX e-kit, remix artists running Reason, live DJ/musicians running Live!, videographers running Final Cut Pro or even iMovie. Garage Bandits… the list goes on and on.

Of course S90/ES owners are particularly in luck when it comes to the latest DVD from KEYFAX NewMedia because the platform used for the making of this epic program was the Motif ES which has, to all extents and purposes, the identical sonic features of the S90ES and effectively identical features to the original S90 as well.

Sound Advice features almost 9 hours of ‘no parameter left behind’ information and expertise on analog-style synth programming and digital effects.

Under the guidance of top sound designer Dave Polich, who has crafted the waveROM and presets and for many of the world’s most successful music hardware and software products of the past ten years (All Motif and S90 models to name but two), Sound Advice’s 3 DVDs encompass synth programming techniques, an exhaustive parameter-by-parameter guide, and everything you could possibly wish to know about digital effects.

Legendary producer and 2007 GRAMMY nominee Alan Parsons describes the DVD as offering: "All you need to know about oscillators, filters, envelopes, dynamics and effects that will enable you to produce the sound that you are looking for on your synth - totally from scratch."

DVD Contents

Disc 1 starts with how to create simple sounds; breaking down examples into three main categories: decaying sounds, sustaining sounds, and non-pitched sounds. The next section shows you how to tweak a series of classic sound types: brightening up a piano, changing the tone of an electric guitar, modifying the envelope of a brass patch, and many others.

Disc 2 comprises an exhaustive look at all the major analog-style synth parameters from Amplitude Scaling to Velocity Curves. Perfectly watchable from start to finish, with diagrams, text boxes, and plenty of real-world musical examples, Disc 2 is primarily designed as a reference guide.

Disc 3 is entirely devoted to digital effects - now an integral part of the sound design landscape. All major DSP effects - from reverbs and delays, to chorus, flanger, and phaser, to EQ and compression - are examined in minute, parameter-by-parameter detail.

Who Needs It

Produced by KEYFAX NewMedia, who has been making instructional videos and DVDs on music technology for more than 15 years, Sound Advice is filmed in a clean and uncluttered style, with supporting text boxes and simple diagrammatic material.

Talking ‘in plain English,’ Sound Advice is aimed at the novice to intermediate user who has a keen potential interest in sound, but who doesn’t exactly want to study the subject at college. Applications include computer-using musicians of all persuasions (with Motif and S90/ES owners at the very top of the list), technology-enabled DJs, to students and teachers in music education.

“There’s so much scope for creating new sounds today between powerful workstations, software applications, and plug-ins,” says KEYFAX founder Julian Colbeck. “But programming has become a dark - or at least lost - art for most people. We hope that Sound Advice will inspire a whole new generation to experiment with sound and unleash the full creative potential of the tools now at their disposal.”

Sound Advice is available in all good music stores, or can be purchased direct from www.sninety.com/soundadvice.