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Keep shoppingMastering Analog Synthesis with U-He Diva
145 students
Mastering Analog Synthesis with U-He Diva
A ridiculously detailed Sound Design course about the world's most beautiful sounding synthesizer
Created byJor van der Poel
Last updated 4/2026
English
What you'll learn
- Analog Sound Design
- Subtractive Synthesis
- FM Synthesis
- Advanced Modulation Techniques
- Expression, Unison & Polyphony
- MIDI & Microtuning
- And much more..
Explore related topics
Course content
8 sections • 40 lectures • 6h 20m total length
Requirements
- No prior knowledge is needed, you will learn everything you need to know in the course
Description
U-he's Diva is a modern classic, there I said it.
She simply sounds unbelievably good.
Diva models individual circuit components (you know? stuff like capacitors, resistors, transistors), not just overall behavior. This results in extremely accurate emulations of vintage hardware. It's also the first virtual synth to use a modern circuit simulation technique, which models analog circuit behaviour with extreme accuracy.
Did I mentioned already that this sounds very very good?
Here are some more buzzterms to get us going:
Interchangable Models
Zero Delay Feedback Filters (This stuff is gold)
Minimoog, Jupiter, Juno
Analogue Oscillator Drift
Component-Level Modeling
Circuit Simulation
Accurate Polyphony Behaviour
Diva looks beautiful and perhaps pretty straightforward on the surface, but she can go very deep, and can be a little mysterious..
It's really a musician's synth, which means we want to adapt our mindset a bit when we come from a more 'producer-like' approach to sound design. That’s why I wanted to make this course, to teach you how to think about Diva and to show you how powerful this synth really is when we dive in. We will go way beyond the presets and into the gritty details of how this thing actually works. From the very basics to the juicy, nerdy stuff
The course is split into 6 levels, all designed to build on each other:
Level A – The Basics
Before we get going, there is some stuff to get out of the way. Here we will take a look at some of the most important parts of the UI, we discuss analog emulation and why it matters, and we make our very first sound.
Level B - Oscillators & Filters
The raw sound generators, and the heart of Diva. The oscillators model real hardware behavior, drift, instability, weirdness and knowing how to use these subtle features is key to getting a good sound. We’ll look at every oscillator model in detail, compare them, and build some beautiful patches along the way.
As for the filters, they filters are serious, I can honestly say I never heard such sounds with a virtual synth..
Zero delay feedback , crips resonance, real analog-style non-linearity. We’ll break down every filter model, hear the not so nunaced differences, and mostly, push them to their limits, where they really shine.
Level C – Modulation, Polyphony & Variance
There is actually much more to this chapter than the headline can show. My guess is here you are going to pick up a lot of new techniques that really come from the analog days. Clever ways to come up with very unique and beautiful sounds. These are the techniques not often taught or found on YouTube, I think they are mostly obscurely hidden away in he minds of old-skool sound designers.
Level D - Advanced Modulation & Modification
This and the previous chapter are the central focus of this course, it's where you meet truly analog sound design.
Voice stacking and stealing, per-voice modulation, detuning tricks and modulation routing that gets weird in all sorts of ways. You’ll learn how to create evolving, organic patches that feel alive and unpredictable, massive bass sounds as well. You will come up with many cool tricks once the techniques here sink in.
Level E – The Effects
Diva’s effects might not look too fancy, I mean, when was the last time you thought about a rotary cabinet? Turns out, doesn't matter when you did. They, once again, sound fantastic. We’ll go through all of them, talk about fancy tricks, how they interact with the analog signal path, and how to get the most out of them for both subtle and extreme sound shaping.
Level F – Sound Design Examples
This section is optional, just some examples to see a bit how I work with Diva. Think of it as a cookbook: real-world patches, design walkthroughs, and creative experiments. Bass, pads, leads, FX, weird noise textures, you name it. You’ll see how to apply what you’ve learned, and hopefully find inspiration along the way.
As a conclusion, whether you’re brand new to Diva, or together you are already deeply involved in a toxic relationship, this course will be for you. There's a ton of advanced techniques, and a library of practical ideas to fuel your creativity. Oh yeah, I didn't even mention it comes with
Let’s dive in.
Who this course is for:
- Musicians
- Experienced and beginning Sound Designers