Sound Synthesis Theory/Introduction

This book covers a sub-eld of Music Technology called

sound synthesis. Although the tone is generally aimed at
musicians and people with little prior knowledge of music
systems, there may be some mathematical concepts and
programming techniques that are not familiar. The book
focuses on synthesis from a digital perspective rather than
an analogue one, since it aims to demonstrate the theory
of digital synthesis rather than applications to a specic
medium or piece of software.

about nine hundred in 1906. This massive instrument dened a fundamental synthesis technique called additive
synthesis which used combinations of pure tones to generate its sounds. Other early synthesizers used technology derived from electronic analog computers, laboratory
test equipment, and early electronic musical instruments.
However, it was not until the late 1960s that technology
had developed far enough for synthesizers to be a commercial success, most notably with Robert Moogs modular and mini-modular analogue synthesizers.
Since the late 1980s most new synthesizers have been
completely digital. At the same time analogue synthesis
has also revived in popularity, so in recent years the two
trends have combined in the appearance of virtual analog synthesizers, digital synthesizers which model analog
synthesis using digital signal processing techniques. Digital synthesizers use digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to make musical sounds. Some digital synthesizers
now exist in the form of 'softsynth' software that synthesizes sound using conventional PC hardware. Others use
specialized DSP hardware.

The Korg MS10 is an example of an early analogue synthesizer.

What is sound synthesis?

Sound synthesis is the technique of generating sound, using electronic hardware or software, from scratch. The
most common use of synthesis is musical, where electronic instruments called synthesizers are used in the performance and recording of music. Sound synthesis has
many applications both academic and artistic, and we
commonly use synthesizers and synthesis methods to:
Generate interesting and unique sounds or timbres
incapable of being produced acoustically.
Recreate or model the sounds of real-world acoustic
instruments or sounds.
Facilitate the automation of systems and processes
(text-to-speech software, train station P.A.s)

Background and history

One of the earliest musical synthesizers was Thaddeus

Cahills Teleharmonium, presented to an audience of
1

3 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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Text

Sound Synthesis Theory/Introduction Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sound_Synthesis_Theory/Introduction?oldid=1957571

Contributors: Damien Karras, Jake Wasdin, QuiteUnusual, Adrignola and Atlanteanrecords

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File:Korg_ms10.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Korg_ms10.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Originally from nl.wikipedia; description page is/was here. Original artist: F J Degenaar, Original uploader was Felix2036 at
nl.wikipedia

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