Ultimate SoundBank Synths Antology User manual

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A WORD ABOUT SYNTHESIS

A - Substractive (or analog) synthesis

(usually called “Analog” because it was the synthesis you could find on most of the
first analog synthesizers). It starts out with a waveform rich in harmonics, such as a
saw or square wave, and uses filters to make the finished sound.

Here are the main substractive synthesis components :

Oscillators: The device creating a soundwave is usually called an oscillator. The
first synthesizers used analog electronic oscillator circuits to create waveforms.

These units are called VCO's (Voltage Controlled Oscillator). More modern digital
synthesizers use DCO's instead (Digitally Controlled Oscillators). A simple
oscillator can create one or two basic waveforms - most often a sawtooth-wave ­and a squarewave. Most synthesizers can also create a completely random
waveform - a noise wave. These waveforms are very simple and completely
artificial - they hardly ever appear in the nature. But you would be surprised to know
how many different sounds can be achieved by only using and combining these
waves.

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Filters: To be able to vary the basic waveforms to some extent, most synthesizers
use filters. A filter is an electronic circuit, which works by smoothing out the "edges"

of the original waveform. The Filter section of a synthesizer may be labled as VCF
(Voltage Controlled Filter) or DCF (Digitally Controlled Filter). A Filter is used to
remove frequencies from the waveform so as to alter the timbre.

•Low-Pass Filters allows the lower frequencies to pass through unaffected and
filters out (or blocks out) the higher frequencies. This is controlled by a parameter
labelled as "Cut-Off Frequency" (or "Cutoff" or "Frequency").

• High-Pass Filters (or HPF). A HPF does the opposite of a LPF. A High-Pass Filter
allows the higher frequencies to pass through unaffected and filters out (blocks-out)
the lower frequencies.

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The Cutoff Frequency determines the position in the harmonic spectrum where the
filter will begin to filter (or cutoff) the higher overtones (ie frequencies) : some
overtones will be removed - and the waveform will become more "rounded". If the
Cutoff is set to a high position, then the timbre will be bright. If the Cutoff is set to a
low position, then the timbre will be dull. In other words the filter controls the
brightness of the sound.

Resonance is where the frequencies at the Cutoff position are boosted (made
louder). When a little resonance is introduced, the frequencies around the Cutoff
are boosted a little. With a lot of resonance, the frequencies around the Cutoff are
boosted a lot while the lower frequencies will start to diminish a little. When too
much resonance is applied, the frequencies around the Cutoff are so pronounced
that the filter will itself start to oscillate and "howl" (like feedback, but in a tuned
way).

Amplifier: The amplifier section on a synthesizer may be labeled as VCA (Voltage
Controlled Amplifier) or DCA (Digitally Controlled Amplifier). An Amplifier uses an

Envelope to control the overall loudness (or amplitude) of the sound over time.

Envelopes & LFO: Nowadays, there are many variations of envelopes available.
However, the most common envelope has 4 parameters: (1) Attack time, (2) Decay

time, (3) Sustain level, and (4) Release time. This is usually called ADSR
Envelope.Envelopes can also be used to control other sections of a synthesizer.

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> Classic Analog Synthesizers

Arp 2600 & Odyssey,
Moog Modular 55, Minimoog & Memory Moog
Oberheim Xpander, OB8 & Four Voices
Roland SH, Jupiter & Juno Family, System 100 & 700
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 & Prophet T-8
Yamaha CS60, CS80 & CS70M
Alesis Andromeda / Korg PS3100/3200/3300 & Trident MkII

Sound is always the first priority!

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B - Frequency Modulation (FM) synthesis

FM synthesis produces an output signal by oscillating the frequency of a source
oscillator's signal. This process can generate fairly complex output containing
multiple frequencies/sidebands with only two oscillators, requiring minimal
computations. This computational efficiency is the reason for its invention and great
popularity in the form of synthesizers (the YAMAHA_DX7 is the best example) and
PC sound cards.

> FM Synthesizers

Synclavier II, Yamaha DX1 and the whole DX family, Korg DS8, Elka EK44.