Learn what waveforms sound like

If you’re into writing electronic music then you should learn what the different waveforms sound like. Can you imagine a sine wave? What about a triangle wave? A square wave? A sawtooth wave? What specifically makes those waveforms distinct from one another. That’s something to learn if you want to be able to design your own synth sounds.

A lot of synth sounds come from some combination of those. Being able to identify what each different waveform sounds like will add a whole other level to your music production process.

It’ll allow you to start thinking of music in your head and more easily get those ideas into your DAW because you’ll be able to identify right away how to make the different sounds you’re imagining.

It might take a while, but it’s definitely worth it to be able to hear the differences between those. Think of it like ear training for electronic musicians. You don’t necessarily need to be able to hear all the different harmonic progressions of jazz, but being able to hear the difference between a sawtooth wave and a square wave will help.

You can also practice it by listening to songs you already know.

Try to figure out how your favorite producers made their sounds. Can you pick apart what went into making a specific sound?

You can test yourself with this by trying to recreate sounds from songs you like. It’ll add a lot to your music production and music composition process. It’ll open lots of possibilities to making music and producing electronic sounds.

ISJ