Thanks to today's über-powerful, super-affordable software instruments, making synth-based music has never been easier. However, while it's possible to buy, download and install a plug-in in seconds (there are many that you don't even have to pay for), the fundamentals of synth programming still apply.
Happily, MusicRadar is here to help you master them: we have an abundance of step-by-step guides, videos, tips and other tutorials that will get you to the sound you're looking for in no time. Whether you want to emulate a synth patch that you've heard on record or create something completely original, there's a lesson for you.
Below, you'll find a directory of MusicRadar's very finest synth tutorials. Find one that grabs you, click through to it and get busy.
Step-by-step guides
How to make a Prodigy Breathe-style bassline
Six steps to a Liam Howlett-esque growl
How to make a massive synth bass sound
A house/trance bassline using a virtual Minimoog
How to make a Justice-style bass sound
A free route to their mighty low-end
How to make a massive lead synth sound
Craft a beefy high-end patch using Sylenth1
How to make a Giorgio Moroder-style bassline
Feel the love using Reason's Thor synth
How to make a Kanye West Stronger-style synth sound
Create a polysynth patch for chords and leads
How to make a Prodigy Voodoo People-style lead sound
Get ready to wreak some distorted havoc
How to make a Tiësto-style Dance 4 Life stab sound
Get some detuned dirt going on in Albino 3
How to make a dubstep bass sound
Program one today in Albino 3
How to make a Dr Dre Gin & Juice-style lead sound
Recreate a classic G-Funk synth
How to make a Deadmau5 Faxing Berlin-style synth sound
Tweak your way to a progressive house patch
NEXT: More essential synth tutorials
Step-by-step guides (continued)
How to make a Van Halen Jump-style synth sound
An '80s classic recreated
How to make an 8-bit video game FX sound
Get the '80s lo-fi vibe using a free synth
How to make a Noisia Diplodocus-style old-skool bass sound
A Jurassic drum 'n' bass monster
How to make a Pink Floyd-style lead synth sound
Welcome To The Machine via Logic's ES2
How to make a Calvin Harris-style '80s lead synth sound
We think you'll find this more than acceptable
How to make a 303-style acid bassline in Ableton Live
Have yourself some squelchy low-end fun
Better synth bass in 9 easy steps
Improve your sound today
Videos
How to make a dirty drum 'n' bass lead sound
Create a throbbing monster in ZebraCM
How to make a swelling pad sound
Use modulation to give your synth some movement
How to make a Chicago house bass sound
Give your low-end some bounce
Other synth tutorials
Old-school synth tips
Learn some classic synth programming techniques
Classic synth sounds revealed
Discover the machines behind the great synth sounds
6 synthesis methods in a nutshell
And a brief guide to the rest of them, too
8 seriously useful synth tips
Sound design ideas you might not have considered
The best hardware synths available today
We reveal MusicRadar users' favourites
“Training a model based on the 13-year-old Brenda Lee, using original masters, was both a challenge and a creative breakthrough”: BT on the new Spanish version of Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree that was made possible by his SoundLabs AI MicDrop plugin
"Manipulate any audio source into a hauntingly immersive soundscape": SSL releases Halloween-themed free plugin X-Orcism II: Voices from the Crypt
