Before you dismiss this post as a history lesson, please do me a favor and read through it. There’s a point to all this, one that might be of use to you.

I’m frequently asked how I learned so much about synthesizers. The question usually comes from people who’ve never met me in person because if they had, the gray hair would be a giveaway to the fact that I born only a couple of years before Robert Moog showed his first synthesizer at the AES convention in 1964. So, I’ve pretty much grown up with the modern synthesizer in one form or another.

Because of my age and the luck of being born in Denton, Texas (home of one of the finest music schools in the country), I was exposed to electronic music fairly early in life. The year I was born, a man named Merrill Ellis came to the university and eventually established the electronic music program at the school. Over the years, I was able to hang out with faculty in the program and students who were taking classes in the program, due in large part to my father who was a professor in another college and an ardent supporter of my hobbies and interests.

Synthesis in those days was sometimes crude, sometimes unpredictable, but always wonderful. I had access to the most wonderful playground a kid like me could have. While my friends were off learning how to throw a football or do a layup, I was learning what oscillators were and why certain waveforms sounded the way they did. Heady stuff for a pre-teen who had a love for both music and electronics.

In junior high, my school bought a synthesizer (which I recall as being a Micromoog) for use in the band. I played saxophone, and the synthesizer was really the domain of the percussion section. But my band director would let me come in the band hall before school and during lunch and tinker with it. What a glorious time that was, having a synth all to myself even for short periods of time, and I created what I thought then were some pretty cool sounds.

Over the years, I owned various synthesizers. Arp, Moog, Sequential Circuits, Roland, Korg, and others came and went. Some stayed (much to the chagrin of my wife who even now is eyeing my Roland SH-1000 with a glint that says “Someday, my friend, you are off to the rubbish heap…”). Some continue to be used in my work (the same SH-1000 for instance). And all were a part of the ongoing education that has led me to today.

Ah, today. Today I carry around spot-on software versions of some of the best synthesizers in the world, which I could never afford nor did I have the space for (unlike my friend Mike Kent who seems to have figured out how to have a synth museum and keep peace in the family!). But I digress.

The point to this post is that there’s very little that can substitute for the long road through synthesizer history. I learned how to turn knobs and plug cables from one place to another and how waveforms worked because I had to. While I still fondly recall the feverish repatching of a synth onstage in the middle of a song just to get to the next sound, I’m not all that interested in returning to that work process when I can click a button my controller and call up the same sound on my laptop in just seconds (and not have to remember which cable goes where).

So how do people in 2010 (I know you can hear the “you kids today!” in my voice…) learn synthesis? And more specifically, the concepts of analog synthesis that are the underpinnings of many of the software synths we use today? You can certainly buy books, you can scour the web for information, and you can do a lot of experimenting. All very good approaches to the craft.

But here’s the (potential) pot of gold you’ve been waiting for while suffering through this walk down memory lane. What if I told you there was a way that you could learn from a master, right on your computer, from a master instructor who can show you the analog world related to today’s software synths? What if I told you it would only cost you a day or two of your time and a dollar on your credit card? You can, and here’s how.

Head over to macProVideo.com, one of my absolutely favorite video training companies. And look for the “3 days for $1″ button in the upper left-hand corner. Or heck, just click on it below:

That will take you to a page where you can sign up for a trial subscription to every tutorial offered, and you’ll only pay $1 for three days of access. Now understand this: you do have to cancel your subscription before your trial is over, or you will end up being renewed at a monthly cost. In fact, let me state that again:

You do have to cancel your subscription before your trial is over, or you will end up being renewed at a monthly cost.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let me say that I suspect you will want to become a subscriber at some point. All of their tutorials are top-notch, and I am a very satisfied customer. But… BUT…

Before you go gorge yourself on Logic Pro or Ableton Live or Pro Tools tutorials, be sure to check out A/V Fundamentals 201: Analog Synthesis in a Digital World. I ran across this course while doing some scanning through the titles, and I’ve been watching it this morning because a) you can always learn something and b) Richard Lainhart, the instructor, is phenomenal.

Just have a look at the samples if you’re not convinced by my sales job. And by the way, I get absolutely no kickbacks or any sort of compensation from macProVideo.com. I’m just a very satisfied customer who is always happy to tout the products of such a great company).

So, what are you waiting for? Spend a buck and spend the next day or two learning synthesis from a master. You’ll thank me later!

Now get out of here and go learn!!

The idea of creating video tutorials has intrigued me for a very long time (probably since college when I did a series of fire safety videos for my home town). In another life, I used to teach software development, and one of the tools we used was video lessons. In fact, my first exposure to non-linear editing was on an Avid system we purchased to create training tapes (yep, VHS in all its glory!) for some of our clients.

I’ve been scouring the web recently for good examples of tutorials and have found quite a few. You can go to YouTube and be overwhelmed by the number of videos on Ableton Live, Apple Logic Studio, Propellerhead Reason, and others. People teach guitar, keyboard, organ, bass, and even the hang drum (one of my new favorite instruments). But most of these teaching videos are fairly abbreviated and usually not done with a significant level of commitment to quality. (There are exceptions, however, such as the very excellent video series on Logic by SFLogicNinja.)

Over the last couple of years, I have been informally documenting and teaching some of the techniques I use in production and performance. And I’ve amassed a fairly sizeable archive of videos that I’ve produced for other folks that I am planning to repurpose for Sacred Loops. While I’m never going to give MacProVideo or the other commercial sites a run for their money, I am interested in doing something along the lines of what ChurchMediaDesign.tvis doing for media work.

With that in mind, about six months ago I started editing and reshooting some of the more interesting video topics and preparing them for use on a sister site that will be launched in January. You can see the logo at SacredLoops.tv, and I’ll have some sample content up around Christmas to whet your appetite.

But I’m not just interested in putting up my own work. I want to open it up to others who have things to say and teach in the areas of music and audio for worship. If that’s you, let me know. If you need or want help in producing your videos, let me know that, too. The first videos I plan to post are basic stuff (audio interfaces, one-man worship leading setups, etc.), all drawn from my own personal experience. I also have tutorials on basic mixing, production techniques, and other related topics that I think people will find interesting and useful.

Let me know what you think!