Unlock the Secrets of Musical Sound Design!

Musical sound design is a fascinating collection of techniques that can spice up your music and add a real contemporary vibe. It's fascinating and great fun and in this video composer Guy Michelmore introduces to a checklist of the main techniques you'll need to master.
00:00 Intro
00:55 Digital Audio Manipulation
04:01 Reverse
06:20 Stutter
08:22 Pitch Shifting
13:28 Effects
18:40 Sampler
23:41 Synth & layering
29:06 Final thoughts
Check out Guy’s "How to Write Music" course!
Download our FREE guide: thinkspaceeducation.com/htwm/
- - - - How To Write Music - - - -
How To Write Music explores the fundamental skills that underpin every great piece of music whether it’s a song or a film score, string quartet or video game sounds track.
Check out the free guide here to get you started: thinkspaceeducation.com/htwm-...

[@LeeGee]

I'd better make a cup of tea for this.

[@drindy5166]

Right!?! Spending time with Guy, is time well spent. Such a wealth of knowledge 👊🧡👍

[@AndyMan-mr1hy]

I'm so glad I have alerts on. You are a national treasure sir. Thank you for uploading consistently fantastic videos. 👍😁

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

My pleasure

[@Scott_Gordon]

International treasure, to be sure. ;)

[@BillyHayes79Music]

Video looks even better than usual. Unless my eyes have got better. Love these videos so much. They’ve been a huge help to me

[@BillyHayes79Music]

@@r.kapaun01 of course the video quality has no bearing on the quality of the content, but we all appreciate our posh kit being noticed so just paying it forward 😊. I’m very interested in the courses and it won’t be long before I join the club

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Its interesting - we noticed that too but the kit in the shed is identical. Further investigation needed - decent lighting helps

[@LindaMissad]

fun stuff.... I see you have a Keylab II -- I love mine. Hey everyone, Thinkspace has sound design short courses which are GREAT!!.... As always, THANKS Guy!!

[@mikehall5835]

This was great! An insightful peek into the world of sound design. I for one would love to see more if you can. I use Logic, although quite new to it, I understand there are some very useful tools in there for this purpose. Videos like this really help highlight the potential. Thank you Guy!

[@ingreynelg]

I had no idea you also design sounds. You are an awesome teacher. Thanks for all the inspiration and for making learning process super fun and interesting.

[@BF-up5xw]

Very nice job! This is the sort of stuff I love, and you demonstrated these techniques very well. Nicely musical, too!

[@NigelMerrick]

This was great 🙂I've been creating my own sounds like this for a while, but I managed to learn a new ideas here that I hadn't considered before, so thanks for putting this together. You're right in that creating these kinds of new sounds is a lot of fun, and it also goes a long way towards making our music unique because no one else is able to use those exact same sounds. In many ways, I think this method is far more valuable than using sample libraries or VST instruments because many of those are so overused these days. One effect that I've found to be extremely useful in this process is eFX Fragments from Arturia. Other granular effect engines will also work well. I think Output has one called Portal, UVI Falcon has a great granular engine and effects for manipulating samples, and the incredible modulation abilities of Kilohearts Phase Plant are also very useful. Thanks again and all the best to you over there in good 'ole Blighty from a displaced Brit here in Memphis, Tennessee 🙂

[@beatledrama8689]

Been following for some years via my other channel but as I’m now moving deeper into sound design and scoring .. happy to continue the Michelmore tutorial journey here as well. And this was a good ‘un, Guy! Cheers

[@neilingle794]

Always enjoy your videos, because you are just roll with it, try things, try again, let it all evolve - and for those of us out there who doubt ourselves and our ability, that a really disarming and inclusive approach. Well done!

[@marc_2398]

Fantastic (again): so nice to see your uploads!

[@terrybowen9256]

Great tutorial. Thanks!

[@Multi_ToBi]

Thank you, Guy, for your ongoing inspirations...!

[@ElectronicMusicTips]

+ 1 for outboard guitar effects for sound design. They’re great for making unique textures to existing samples! Great tutorial 😊

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Love em

[@dboudah1]

Awesome video. Thank you!

[@juni1553]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I'm sure I'm not the only one always learning by watching your videos. Thanks a lot and keep it up!

[@ALT3R1D3M]

Very interesting! Eye opening... Thank you sir Michelmore! !

[@ADHSo_undnichtanders]

lots of value here. Thanks a lot!

[@grobinson9352]

Thank you. My kind of music! Love the tips and tricks! Thank you

[@eilrach299]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@thomaswindfeld728]

Great video. It’s always fun to stack and reverse stuff . A friendly suggestion. , Set your b cam to manual focus or higher aperture to avoid it coming out of focus 🎶

[@fireflythehybrid6612]

That reverse piano unlocked a childhood memory. Huey Lewis Heart of Rock n Roll intro

[@bridgerseibel591]

Wow! This is so cool! I wanted to know how to do this for a long time. Thanks Guy!

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

I wonder how you compare that particular Arturia keyboard to the other one you use, the Komplete Kontrol. Which is the easiest keyboard and best compatibility with Daws? I read that the weighted action is heavier with the Arturia. Is it just as nice to play? What about compatibility with Daws? Could you do a video review of that keyboard and compare them?

[@AfonsoComposer]

I like your studio a lot. Much better than previous videos. You did a great job!

[@CplcDesbiens]

Really cool knowledge to have. Thank you Guy; it gives me a lot of new ideas. 😊

[@wisdomteller]

The choppy sound instantly made me fall into the realms of Dark side of the moon. Love it! Imagine these guys back then sitting there with actual machines fumbling around with tons of cables and knobs to get the effect we now just add with a simple click.

[@TracyLee7777]

These videos are amazing thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I am learning so much

[@nigelworwood8530]

Love this!

[@Genital.Wartzenegger]

I went on a tear this past week unfollowing and blocking hacky youtubers so my algorithm wasn't filled with those spcieal "producers" and "engineers" (we all know who they are) This was probably the best recommended video I've seen in a while, wish I was shown this channel sooner.

[@johnryder8464]

Thanks for this information 👍👍

[@dizbeliefdanbackhouse5807]

I love these videos thanks so much for putting them up.

[@DanielaTocan]

Wave is for some time shure a no go @Guy Michlemore. Make no sense to announce it inexpensive.

[@joegrint6280]

Great video as always Guy. The otherwise excellent (& free!) Cakewalk doesn't have a sampler yet but there is a major update coming so we live in hope!

[@rano12321]

On your previous video, on the dock, there was pro tools, logic and cubase but in this video there is Reaper, logic and cubase, so did you switch to Reaper?

[@keithlancaster5489]

This was great! I did some sound design back in the dark ages when reversing a sound meant cutting the tape and splicing it back in the other way round. This is much easier! :-). I do have one non-music question: I do videos for my CS students and I have an ATEM Mini Extreme that I really underutilize. Would you consider doing a video where you share your ATEM setup for zooming in on the screen, etc?

[@lovestreaming]

Very, very inspiring. Thank you very much! 🤘

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Glad to hear it!

[@brodytrumpet]

A nice session. Thanks from Berlin

[@VeviserB]

Been watching you for a while, trying to absorb some inspiration or glean some insight in to the creative process as a total beginner. This showcase might be the push I needed to start playing around in my DAW and throwing things out to see what sticks. Starting with the goal of making "music" can seem daunting, especially when feeling "I know what music is but have no idea what makes it musical" and having little in the way of technical instrumental ability. Making ambient sounds however could be a gateway to understanding how to create a mood, and at the very least will build knowledge around how to perform actions inside the DAW and understanding the tools through practical application :)

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Go for it! Check out my how to write music and learn music theory courses as well

[@hilanoga1486]

Thanks!

[@Daniels_Rose-3.7]

verry intresting thank you

[@StutzVanH]

Fantastic as always Guy! Would you consider covering something on realistic sounding drum programming?

[@samphelps856]

Thank you

[@rastanick]

brilliant video as usual! 👍. Was thinking maybe you could do a video making some background music for knocking over a cup of coffee (another one of my favourite videos 🤣)

[@michaelpearson915]

I think this is the musical equivalent of walking down a street and noticing there's a delicious smell of coffee in the air and then running home to enjoy the whetted appetite. Two words, simply inspirational.

[@DSWL_]

thank you

[@CallMeSmigl]

Hey Guy. I have stumbled across your channel a couple of weeks ago and have watched a lot of your videos already. You really are a wonderful person and a fantastic teacher. The way you tackle songwriting and production with equal parts of extreme professionalism and pure joy is inspiring. Thanks to you I have been messing around with orchestral themed stuff a lot lately, but my sound library in that regard unfortunately is limited to the Ableton Suite orchestral packs so far. They don't quite cut it anymore for me and I want to step up my game and buy some better VST instruments. What do you think would be a good starting point? I see you doing a lot of stuff with Kontakt. Can you recommend any particular packs/libraries? Or any other orchestral libraries beside NI? Thanks in advance and keep being you. Kind regards, a fan from Germany

[@genuinefreewilly5706]

good stuff. I really like the kilohertz free essentials I think 30 little tools including the mentioned trance gate. They are pretty handy

[@Cubase-sb8nn]

Hahaha - I can imagine playing around with all the sound design possibilities for hours ! Loved the end result - very mesmerising. Also, I notice that the Komplete Kontrol keyboard has been replaced with an Arturia. Did you not get on with it ? (Ha - have just found answer in a reply below !)

[@meis18mofo77]

You should really do a dive into colourbass techniques they're some relatively new ways of making harmonic sounds out of relatively atonal material that have soarked a kind of revival of more melodic styles of dubstep, I'm sure they'd work in other genres too.

[@YoureNowOnTV]

Neat ! 😀👍

[@edidepedi]

I took a beer or two, he is great!

[@rockstarjoe]

The Keylab has replaced your Komplete keyboard? Curious to hear your opinions about the pros / cons. I waffled for a long time between the two before deciding to buy the Keylab last week.

[@peterbond12]

I was about to ask the same. I’m trying to make a decision and have heard some bad long term reports recently concerning the NI keyboard.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

They're both great - NI in the shed and Keylab in the studio. I need to do a proper review really

[@blackboard_sx3488]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Please do! I find KK burdensome while equally practical, would be nice to see your take on it versus Keylab.

[@peacefulpigeon7254]

Love the pitch shifter envelope- wish it was a vst! Great ideas as always and big thanks Do you have any videos where you give tips on position of faders when cross fading samples - I struggle a bit to get a really smooth transitions sometimes cheers

[@kiyoshi67]

One big thing that helped me was adjusting the shape of the crossfade--even when fading something like white noise I can hear the sound get quieter when crossfading linear out and linear in. But when I do slow out-Fast in I don't hear the fade at all. You might need a limiter or something as a volume safety depending on the audio, but I haven't had any problems.

[@rezaghasemi4395]

Thank you for your unique way of musicality… I have a question: You never do paning , And your projects have a wonderful depths and perspective… So .. What is the secret?

[@karayuschij]

Very interesting Guy. (Did you change studio?)

[@High-Tech-Geek]

Did you move into a new studio? The video seems so much better.

[@kennethstavis9953]

Hey Guy. Would you please explain how your computer is set up? Are You PC or MAC based? On my computer (PC) - Serum and Omnisphere just once on my computer - is a strain. My "C" drive is filling up. I like Toontrack, Spitfire and Native Instruments as well. Do you use external drives? What's on your "C" drive and your external drives. What is the size of your "C" drive? Mine is 1 TB.

[@mercerfamilyadventures4613]

Hi Guy a newish subscriber here and brit 😊, ive been at all this music production stuff for 25 years with a few tv/ web shows. I have some amazing fresh connections I can pass a demo reel to. Do u have a video explaining a solid approach to making a show reel, mainly aimed at movies and documentary tv guys?. Would appreciate some info please.. the spitfire guy said "kick off your shoes" and basically go abit mental with reel. But does a travel doc producer want to hear me clanging a tongue drum with a pencil? Or should it be right tailored for each production team I approach?. Cheers wayne

[@makeaguitarnoise]

Sugar Bytes have interesting plugins. Seems limitess theses days what can be done. Just down to imagination really.

[@mullewap6670]

Sounds like tension in a scary shocker in the cinema. It actually looks easy when you know how.

[@Pitchhelmetlens]

Is that an old model A Bechstein behind you? Beautiful instruments 🎹

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

well spotted!

[@bjulin]

Reverse Piano + Gong = Intro to "Eye of the tiger" 😜

[@gaylewayne]

What piano patch/plug in did you use??

[@maxlensherr]

I don't know what I expected from this video, but it certainly wasn't how to make a demonically dark soundtrack of hell itself

[@ReyArteb]

Someone got a new Camera..... lookin Sharp! (and a bit younger????).

[@DreamStarGalaxy]

Can I do this with any Daw like Reason, Garage Band, Logic Pro? Or it only works with the one you have?

[@rano12321]

01:20

[@martin42382]

How much Computer Power do you need to run all of these plugins? Heavyocity, and Native Instruments plugins, are they on separate SSD? Does Mac work better with these plugins or Windows? Great Vid!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

This kit uses an M1 mac mini

[@cornodk]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation If you wouldn't mind me asking: What are the specs of the M1 Mac Mini and are the samples on USB or Thunderbolt drives (or only on the internal SSD)? - do you find any limitations writing orchestral music on the M1 Mac Mini?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

@@cornodk MAC MINI/8C CPU/8C GPU PROCESSOR APPLE M1 CHIP WITH 8-CORE CPU MEMORY 16GB UNIFIED MEMORY HARD DRIVE/SOLID STATE DRIVE 512GB SSD STORAGE GRAPHICS 8-CORE GPU

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

The SSDs are in an external USB3 housing

[@cornodk]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Thanks for sharing. Impressive. Base spec CPU with ram upgrade? Does it handle a fair number of orchestral instruments well or is the ram a limiting factor?

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Sound design is soooo much fun. Basically, how to turn to a toddler again to make funny noises, and get paid for it. TOP! 😋

[@nedfarrell]

After the Gong at 1:09 ,did anyone else sing Wow Oh Black Betty Bambellam.

[@algonquin7306]

Yep!

[@Plexyglazz]

Sure did!

Have you ever tried Bitwig for sound design?

[@MilkShake]

👌

[@mikec2660]

where are you right now? Is that a new studio?

[@MartinJG100]

Is that grand a new addition to the family? :)

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

No been there a while just havent shot that many videos in the main studio recently

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Old studio actually!

[@martinjh999]

New Studio Guy? Not in the shed?

[@TheUnderscore_]

I believe this is just his "big" indoor studio. He's mentioned it before.

[@JoanieAdamms]

By Uncle Albert! Is that a new profile picture I spy Guy?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Yes - the kast one made me look like I had a shellfish allergy or something

[@JoanieAdamms]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation I wasn't going to say anything about it... Chic, it is now!

[@ImmersionaudioLTD]

Blackhole is my favorite reverb, i use it daily

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

For SD its absolutely wonderful

[@ImmersionaudioLTD]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation agreed and thats exactly what i use it for :)

[@HA3MISH]

noice

[@TheOfficialLCProductions]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@geoffwatson]

What happened to your Native Instruments keyboard?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

NI in the shed and the new arturia in the studio

[@geoffwatson]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Why have you ditched the NI ?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

@@geoffwatson I havent I have on in the shed and this one in the main studio

[@clivechandler8817]

Are you related to Phil.

[@han-dell]

Rule #1 FAFO 👍

[@rachidbendadande9750]

why did You Stop it just Got interesting (Sad Face)

[@davidcottrell1308]

There are no secrets...just experiment and have fun!!!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

True - what if..... these are just jumping off points really

[@davidcottrell1308]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation :)

[@jockojohn3294]

I tried unlocking the secrets of sound design........and a voice said ..... No secrets for you/not with that crap you're trying to pass off as music......Best get into another line of work......say, garbage can scrubber...... :(