There are many ways to design soundscapes for many purposes.

I would like to take this opportunity to share a valuable way to get fat sounds using Analog emulation synthesizers.

Now that DSP (digital signal processing) is so fast we are able to use virtual instruments that are rivaling the analog hardware synths. Any of the virtual or Analog synths can produce a custom sound based on synthesis. One of my favorite ways to create my own sounds is based on ADSR envelopes. An ADSR envelope is a component of many synthesizers, samplers and other electronic musical instruments Its function is to modulate some aspect of the instrument's sound— often its loudness— over time.

A synthesizer's ADSR envelope is a way to tailor the timbre for the synth, sometimes to make it sound more like a mechanical instrument. A quick attack with little decay helps it sound more like an organ; a longer decay and zero sustain makes it sound more like a guitar. While envelopes are most often applied to volume, they are also commonly used to control other sound elements, such as filter frequencies or oscillator pitches.

So ill try to give you a cool exercise without being too technical.

First, here is the basic definition of Attack, Sustain, Decay, and Release

• Attack
  How quickly the sound reaches full volume after the sound is activated (the key is pressed). For most mechanical instruments, this period is virtually instantaneous. However, for some popular synthesized "voices" that don't mimic real instruments, this parameter is slowed down. 'Slow attack' is commonly part of sounds called `pads.`
• Decay
  How quickly the sound drops to the sustain level after the initial peak.
• Sustain
  The "constant" volume that the sound takes after decay until the note is released. Note that this parameter specifies a volume level rather than a time period.
• Release How quickly the sound fades when a note ends (the key is released).

Pick any of the leading virtual instruments that have ADSR and do this: Go to the "Amp Envelope ADSR section" and pick any preset or default setting and turn each of the values to 0 and trigger it with your midi controller. Notice that it wont make but a clicking sound. Slowly turn up the (A) Attack slider first while triggering it with a single key from your midi controller. Observe this same process by turning up the value on the remaining parameters (i.e. D,S,R) parameters. By knowing the response of each of these parameters you will soon learn that there are endless possibilities to designing your own sounds. T

ry starting with Reason synthesizers or Hybryd from Digidesign. Those can get you started in the infinite world of digital/analog synthesis design.

Have fun creating!