Ultimate Sound Design: Mastering Sound Design (Udemy.com)
Master sound design for music production, game audio development, film scoring, composition, and more!
Created by: J. Anthony Allen
Last updated May 2026
What you will learn
- Fundamentals of Sound Design
- Physics of Sound
- Manipulating Overtones
- Sound Generators
- Filters
- Envelopes
- FM Synthesis
- The FM8 Plugin
- Additive Synthesis
- The Operator Synthesizer
- Wavetable Synthesis
- Serum Plugin
- Physical Modeling Synthesis
- Analog Synthesis
- Moog Mother 32
- Making Leads with Synthesis
- Making Drums with Synthesis
- Making Bass with Synthesis
- And much, much more!
How it compares
Against the other 241 rated Udemy courses in Music Production on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.8 out of 5higher than 94% of them
- Reviews1,998#15 of 242 by number of reviews
- Length7.3 hourslonger than 75% of them
- Last updatedMay 2026more recently than 82% of them
Course Description
Welcome to the Ultimate Sound Design COMPLETE class!
➜ Now a UDEMY *Best Seller*, and UDEMY *Hot and New*!
This course is "5-Star Certified" by the International Association of Online Music Educators and Institutions (IAOMEI). This course has been independently reviewed by a panel of experts and has received a stellar 5-star rating.
100% Answer Rate! Every single question posted to this class is answered within 24 hours by the instructor.
This class is for anyone who has wondered what sound design is all about. Especially:
Producers: If you are making tracks that rely on presets, and you want to learn how to craft your own sounds, this is the course for you.
Aspiring Producers: If you are just getting started with music production, this course will be the swiss army knife that you will keep in your belt forever.
Musicians: If you have wanted to improve your compositions by understanding how the physics of sound and partials work, this class is for you.
Songwriters: Improve your compositions by understanding how to make unique and memorable sounds to use in your songs.
In this class, we start with the very basics of sound design and work all the way up to working with complicated plugins like Xfer Serum, Native Instruments FM8, and others. I'll walk you through every step of the process and explain the logic behind every decision I make.
The goal of this class is for you to learn how to make original, compelling, and memorable sounds for your music.
Software:
This course is NOT specific to any DAW program.
I'll be using Ableton Live Suite 10 in this course as my main DAW, but if you are using any other program you will be able to follow along just fine. That includes Logic, FL Studio, Pro Tools, Reaper, Reason, Cubase, or any of the others. My method in this class is to teach concepts, so whatever I do, you will be able to do it in your own software.
Genre:
I'm best known for working with electronic music, but I've designed this course to be as inclusive as possible when it comes to genre. We will talk about sound design techniques for all genres, sounds, and styles. All genres are welcome here!
Topics Covered:
The Essential Tools of Sound Design
Physics of Sound
Timbre
Harmonics
Partials
Overtones
The Oscillator
Sine Waves
Square Waves
Triangle Waves
Sawtooth Waves
Waveshapers
Noise Generators
Subtractive Synthesis
Filters
EQ
Low Pass Filters
High Pass Filters
Bandpass Filters
Notch Filters
Signal Flow
Envelopes
ADSR
Building Thick or Thin Sounds
Building High or Low Sounds
Building Short or Long Sounds
Building Motion or Still Sounds
The LFO
FM Synthesis
The Native Instruments FM8 Plugin
Modulators
Ableton Live's Operator
Additive Synthesis
Wavetable Synthesis
Xfer Serum Plugin
Wavetables
Creating Wavetables
Physical Modeling Synthesis
Analog Instruments
Moog Mother 32
Plugins: Serum and many more!
Working with game audio and game sound design
Sound Design Recipies
Creating Bass Synths
Creating Drum Synths
Creating Lead Synths
Software: Using Cakewalk, Garageband, Ableton Love, FL Studio, Logic Pro X, Cubase, Reaper, or any other application.
Principals of sound engineering
The art of home recording
And much, much more!
If you are ready to start making professional sounding tracks, this is the class that will start you on that journey. Get started today.
Dr. Allen is a university music professor and is a top-rated Udemy instructor - with nearly 100 courses and over 300,000 students.
In 2017 Star Tribune Business featured him as a "Mover and a Shaker," and he is recognized by the Grammy Foundation for his music education classes.
** I guarantee that this course is the most thorough sound design course available ANYWHERE on the market - or your money back (30-day money-back guarantee) **
Closed captions have been added to all lessons in this course.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Praise for Courses by Jason Allen:
⇢ "It seems like every little detail is being covered in an extremely simple fashion. The learning process becomes relaxed and allows complex concepts to get absorbed easily. My only regret is not taking this course earlier." - M. Shah
⇢ "Great for everyone without any knowledge so far. I bought all three parts... It's the best investment in leveling up my skills so far.." - Z. Palce
⇢ "Excellent explanations! No more or less than what is needed." - A. Tóth
⇢ "VERY COOL. I've waited for years to see a good video course, now I don't have to wait anymore. Thank You!" - Jeffrey Koury
⇢ "I am learning LOTS! And I really like having the worksheets!" - A. Deichsel
⇢ "The basics explained very clearly - loads of really useful tips!" - J. Pook
⇢ "Jason is really quick and great with questions, always a great resource for an online class!" M. Smith
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Students who register for this course will receive ongoing exclusive content and discounts for all future classes in the series.
Instructor Details
- 4.8 Rating
1,998 Reviews
J. Anthony Allen
Dr. Allen is a 2026 Apple Distinguished Educator.
Dr. J. Anthony Allen is a distinguished composer, producer, educator, and innovator whose multifaceted career spans various musical disciplines. Born in Michigan and based in Minneapolis, Dr. Allen has composed orchestral works, produced acclaimed dance music, and, through his entrepreneurship projects, he has educated over a million students worldwide in music theory and electronic music production.
Dr. Allen's musical influence is global, with compositions performed across Europe, North America, and Asia. His versatility is evident in works ranging from Minnesota Orchestra performances to Netflix soundtracks. Beyond creation, Dr. Allen is committed to revolutionizing music education for the 21st century. In 2011, he founded Slam Academy, an electronic music school aimed at increasing accessibility to music production education. His innovative approach to academia was highlighted in 2024 when he received tenure and resigned from his university position on the same day.
As a composer, Dr. Allen is known for his unique synthesis of diverse musical influences, often blending acoustic music with electronic dance music elements. With a Ph.D. in Music Composition, multiple master's degrees, and numerous awards, Dr. Allen's academic and professional achievements are substantial.
More courses by J. Anthony Allen
Music Theory Comprehensive Complete! (Parts 1, 2, & 3) (2025)
4.7 (23,763 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 12.3h
$124.99
Music Theory for Electronic Music COMPLETE: Parts 1, 2, & 3 (2026)
4.7 (9,404 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 12.6h
$149.99
Music Theory Comprehensive Complete: Part 4, 5, & 6 (2026)
4.8 (3,968 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 10.2h
$19.99
Ultimate Ableton Live 10 COMPLETE: Parts 1, 2, and 3 (2023)
4.5 (3,508 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 8.2h
$11.99
Ultimate Ableton Live 9 COMPLETE: Parts 1, 2, & 3 (2026)
4.7 (3,467 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 8.5h
$12.99
More Music Production courses
Electronic Music Production with Ableton Live (2025)
4.9 (2,479 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 11.9h
$84.99
Garageband IOS (iPhone/iPad): The Complete Beginners Guide (2021)
4.9 (535 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 3.5h
$10.99
How to Become a DJ - Learn How to Start DJing Online Today (2021)
4.8 (5,221 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 10.8h
$17.99
Ultimate Ableton Live 9 Complete: Parts 4, 5, & 6 (2026)
4.8 (512 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 11.8h
$89.99
Music Production + Composition in FL Studio - Complete Guide (2023)
4.8 (466 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 21.6h
$10.99
Reviews
By Pedro Chalela on 10/23/2025
Very nice course! Jasson goes through all the fundamental elements of ssound design and synthesizerss. With that, you can get a solid base to start playing around with those and, most importantly, start to actually understand what you are doing, rather than just messing around with some knobs. Thanks for the course, Jason!
By Matt Kear on 10/3/2025
This class was wonderful. I learned so much! I think it shoulf be required for anyone new to synthesis. Now I am very confident in my ability to design sounds because I know the reasons why certain things work together. I can't wait to start practicing and developing my skillset. Mr. Allen is very personable and enthusiastic and does not waste time. An excellent class!
By Kai Wenzel on 9/17/2025
The course is really good if you're new to sound design since it's very broad and covers a lot of topics so that you'll be able to apply most of it to most other synthesizers/devices. What is though missing is sometimes the depth. For example for FM synthesis he's saying that one modulator modulates an oscillator. While you get to know how those elements are arranged (at least for me) it's still unclear to how and why you can produce certain sounds with FM synthesis. It's looking to me more like a trial and error thing. Anyways, the class is pretty good and suits you very well if you're new to sound design. If you're looking for something more advanced you should probably look for another course.
By John Emelio on 12/5/2023
With virtually no previous knowledge of sound design coming into this class, I found this course extremely helpful in bridging that gap. It was an intimidating subject going in, and now at the end of the course I feel I have a solid handle on the basics on which to build. I love Jason's approachable teaching style, and I have taken and benefited from many of his classes as a result. Thanks Jason. Now I'll jump in to those recipe books!
By David Pulcifer on 4/27/2022
Excellent course! The mystery of what the heck all these knobs do has finally been solved. After taking this course I feel like I have a very strong grounding in how to create instruments and sounds, and tweak existing ones. I really enjoyed the last section where you build different kinds of sounds along with the instructor.
By Saffo Papantonopoulou on 10/24/2021
I'm a huge fan of Jay Allen's courses, and this one is no exception! Really well organized and thorough. It's a very helpful introduction to the basic principles of sound design. Be aware though, this course is an introduction and there's still lots more to learn.
By Raisa Meutia on 10/4/2021
quite hard at first, but with the recipe walkthrough i can finally get it. this course is great but of course more practice and experience are needed to really understand how they linked and what they do to the sound. This could be better with more simple illustration, but overall i've learned a lot!
By Samagra Kamble on 8/7/2020
see the teacher is good, the explanation is good he covered basics so a beginer can understand. But very important that i felt the whole way during the course is HE IS CRAZY BEHIND EAR HURTING SOUNDS.... i gave 4 for explanation... so if you yourself are reading this, i get that you love those weird gnarly sounds to create, but you can keep your wild desires a little away while teaching, because again and again it hurts and very few in start want those type of sounds to be created in first place..... Just a tip make same explanation with little pleasant sound would work better
By Ella Lyons on 7/15/2020
This course gave me a great understanding of the basics of Synthesis/Sound Design. It was explained clearly and I found it easy to follow. I would recommend this to anyone new to Synthesis/Sound Design trying to develop a deeper understanding. It's provided me with a solid foundation to build on.
By Scott Vincent on 4/6/2020
This was a really worthwhile and well organized course. The course provides great insight into the many sound design tools and principles, and it answered so many questions I had about all of the many sound device settings. I'm really happy I took this course and look forward to the Recipe reference J. talks about with the many sounds that others make. Excellent course!
Quality Score
No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.
Overall Score : 96 / 100












