Mastering Analog Synthesis With U-He Diva

A ridiculously detailed Sound Design course about the world's most beautiful sounding synthesizer

What you'll learn

Analog Sound Design

Subtractive Synthesis

FM Synthesis

Advanced Modulation Techniques

Expression, Unison & Polyphony

MIDI & Microtuning

And much more..

Requirements

No prior knowledge is needed, you will learn everything you need to know in the course

Description

U-he's Diva is a modern classic, there I said it. She simply sounds unbelievably good. Diva models individual circuit components (you know? stuff like capacitors, resistors, transistors), not just overall behavior. This results in extremely accurate emulations of vintage hardware. It's also the first virtual synth to use a modern circuit simulation technique, which models analog circuit behaviour with extreme accuracy. Did I mentioned already that this sounds very very good?Here are some more buzzterms to get us going:Interchangable ModelsZero Delay Feedback Filters (This stuff is gold)Minimoog, Jupiter, JunoAnalogue Oscillator DriftComponent-Level ModelingCircuit SimulationAccurate Polyphony BehaviourDiva looks beautiful and perhaps pretty straightforward on the surface, but she can go very deep, and can be a little mysterious..It's really a musician's synth, which means we want to adapt our mindset a bit when we come from a more 'producer-like' approach to sound design. That’s why I wanted to make this course, to teach you how to think about Diva and to show you how powerful this synth really is when we dive in. We will go way beyond the presets and into the gritty details of how this thing actually works. From the very basics to the juicy, nerdy stuffThe course is split into 6 levels, all designed to build on each other:Level A – The BasicsBefore we get going, there is some stuff to get out of the way. Here we will take a look at some of the most important parts of the UI, we discuss analog emulation and why it matters, and we make our very first sound.Level B - Oscillators & FiltersThe raw sound generators, and the heart of Diva. The oscillators model real hardware behavior, drift, instability, weirdness and knowing how to use these subtle features is key to getting a good sound. We’ll look at every oscillator model in detail, compare them, and build some beautiful patches along the way. As for the filters, they filters are serious, I can honestly say I never heard such sounds with a virtual synth..Zero delay feedback , crips resonance, real analog-style non-linearity. We’ll break down every filter model, hear the not so nunaced differences, and mostly, push them to their limits, where they really shine.Level C – Modulation, Polyphony & VarianceThere is actually much more to this chapter than the headline can show. My guess is here you are going to pick up a lot of new techniques that really come from the analog days. Clever ways to come up with very unique and beautiful sounds. These are the techniques not often taught or found on YouTube, I think they are mostly obscurely hidden away in he minds of old-skool sound designers.Level D - Advanced Modulation & ModificationThis and the previous chapter are the central focus of this course, it's where you meet truly analog sound design.Voice stacking and stealing, per-voice modulation, detuning tricks and modulation routing that gets weird in all sorts of ways. You’ll learn how to create evolving, organic patches that feel alive and unpredictable, massive bass sounds as well. You will come up with many cool tricks once the techniques here sink in.Level E – The EffectsDiva’s effects might not look too fancy, I mean, when was the last time you thought about a rotary cabinet? Turns out, doesn't matter when you did. They, once again, sound fantastic. We’ll go through all of them, talk about fancy tricks, how they interact with the analog signal path, and how to get the most out of them for both subtle and extreme sound shaping.Level F – Sound Design ExamplesThis section is optional, just some examples to see a bit how I work with Diva. Think of it as a cookbook: real-world patches, design walkthroughs, and creative experiments. Bass, pads, leads, FX, weird noise textures, you name it. You’ll see how to apply what you’ve learned, and hopefully find inspiration along the way.As a conclusion, whether you’re brand new to Diva, or together you are already deeply involved in a toxic relationship, this course will be for you. There's a ton of advanced techniques, and a library of practical ideas to fuel your creativity. Oh yeah, I didn't even mention it comes with Let’s dive in.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction

Section 2: A - The Basics

Lecture 2 A1 - What's the deal with Diva?

Lecture 3 A2 - The Control Bar

Lecture 4 A3 - Our First Sound

Lecture 5 A4 - The Preset Browser

Section 3: B - Oscillators & Filters

Lecture 6 B1 - The Triple VCO

Lecture 7 B3 - The DCO

Lecture 8 B4 - The Dual VCO Eco

Lecture 9 B5 - The Digital Oscillator

Lecture 10 B6 - Post & Pre High Pass Filters

Lecture 11 B7 - The Ladder Filter

Lecture 12 B8 - The Cascade Filter

Lecture 13 B9 - The Multimode Filter

Lecture 14 B10 - BITE

Lecture 15 B11 - Uhbie

Section 4: C - Modulation, Polyphony & Variance

Lecture 16 C1 - The Envelopes

Lecture 17 C2 - The LFO's

Lecture 18 C3 - Amplifier & Arpeggiator

Lecture 19 C4 - Tuning

Lecture 20 C5 - Polyphony, Unison & Voice Modes

Lecture 21 C6 - Voice Map & Detune

Lecture 22 C7 - Variance, Phase & Stack Tuning

Section 5: D - Advanced Modulation & Modification

Lecture 23 D1 - Modifications Part 1

Lecture 24 D2 - Modifications Part 2

Lecture 25 D3 - MIDI Assignments

Lecture 26 D4 - Preferences

Section 6: E - The Effects

Lecture 27 E1 - Chorus

Lecture 28 E2 - Phasers

Lecture 29 E3 - Plate Reverb

Lecture 30 E4 - Delay

Lecture 31 E5 - Rotary

Section 7: F - Sound Design Examples

Lecture 32 F1 - Sound Design Pt. 1 (Monster)

Lecture 33 F2 -Sound Design Pt. 2 (Bass Phunk)

Lecture 34 F3 - Sound Design Pt. 3 (Rolling)

Lecture 35 F4 - Sound Design Pt. 4 (Knights and Castles)

Lecture 36 F5 - Sound Design Pt. 5 (Synth Kick)

Lecture 37 F6 - Sound Design Pt. 6 (Noise Rhythm)

Musicians,Experienced and beginning Sound Designers