Vortex Sound Research

Hello all I'm a musician and recently ran into this idea that diving into the world of synths will help me create the sound I envision. But I'm not sure what a synth, even is actually, what the functionality is and where to even begin educating myself since im very keen on doing my own research. I'm sure I'll get a synth soon but I see videos of people playing and along with absolute amazement I feel absolute confusion since I have no idea what all the bells knobs do. Could someone point me to the start line of my journey?