SYNTHESIS

Synthesis has traditionally been something of a geeky area of music technology it is potentially a complex area of the subject as it examines in a detailed manner exactly how electronic instruments produce particular sounds. To synthesise something is to create an end product the implication is that the end product is in some way artificial and not organic. The sounds that synths produce are usually not found in the natural world, and this is probably their most interesting feature. To understand how a synth generates a sound it is useful to understand what elements make up any sound. We hear sounds because the ear detects vibrations of air within the ear, and our brain detects this as a particular quality of sound, and is able to distinguish accurately between a huge number of sounds. Most what follows refers to analogue or virtual-analogue synths (digital hardware and software synths, which allow you to shape sounds like an analogue synth). Any sound always has three main elements: Pitch Tone Volume We understand and recognise different sounds by the proportion of these three qualities, and how these proportions change throughout the duration of the sound. Pitch The ear detects pitch by the number of vibrations of air per second within the ear. A high note has many vibrations, and a low note has fewer vibrations these are detected in Hertz (Hz): for example a frequency of 50 Hz means that there are 50 vibrations per second. The range of a human with excellent hearing is typically within the range 20 Hz-20 kHz. Pitch is sometimes called frequency because of the frequency of sound vibrations per second within the sound wave. A higher sound wave will have its peaks closer together than a lower note hence they occur with greater FREQUENCY. Tone Musical sounds consist of a number of different related pitches sounding simultaneously. The loudest part of a sound (and the one that enables us to perceive the pitch of the note) is called the FUNDAMENTAL pitch. In addition to the fundamental pitch, there are other related pitches called HARMONICS it is the relative loudness of these harmonics which allows us to distinguish various qualities of sound. For example, when we hear a flute and a trumpet play the same note we can tell which instrument is which it is the harmonics present within each sound that allows us to distinguish between the two instruments.

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SYNTHESIS
Volume The loudness of a sound is sometimes called its amplitude, and relates to how large the sound waves are. The wave forms of the same note played loud and soft would have the peaks the same distance apart, but the louder note would have taller peaks. A synthesiser functions by taking these three elements, and allowing the user to control them and other parameters to create the desired sound. Typically a sound will follow a path similar to this:

Oscillators

Filter

Envelope Generator

Oscillators The oscillator is the main sound source in that it generates the, basic waveform that will make up your patch (sound). Depending on the quality of the synth, an oscillator can produce five or six basic waveforms some synths have a number of oscillators to widen your sonic arsenal. Filters These shape your raw sound. They are used to filter out certain frequencies within the spectrum. Filters can be used to change preset sounds, or used to create sweep effects: this is controlled by two filter controls frequency and resolution. Envelope Generator This part of the synth controls the four main parameters of a sound envelope. The envelope of the sound is the last stage in determining the character of the sound, and is usually called an ADSR envelope this refers to the four volume stages of a sound: Attack the time it takes for a sound to reach its loudest point; Decay the time it takes for the sound to move to the sustain level, and begins immediately after the attack. During this time the sound is usually quieter than the attack; Sustain this is the level at which the sound settles down to for most of the duration of that sound; Release the time taken for the note to die away when the synth key is released. A short release time means that the note will end immediately the key is released. A long release would mean that you would hear the note die away to nothing.

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SYNTHESIS

Waveforms As I mentioned earlier, a synth can produce a number of basic

waveforms, which have varying harmonic make-up, and therefore different sound qualities.

Sine waves are the simplest types of sound, because they have no harmonics
just a fundamental pitch. For this reason their sound is extremely pure and they are often used as test tones or for tuning instruments.

Sawtooth waves also called saw waves, have a very strong, clear, buzzing

sound. A sawtooth wave can be made by adding a series of sine waves at different frequencies and volume levels. The frequency of the first, loudest sine wave is what we hear as the frequency of the resulting sawtooth. This is called the fundamental frequency. Each of the other, progressively quieter, sine waves that make up a sawtooth have frequencies which are integer multiples of the fundamental frequency. These frequencies are called harmonics.

Square waves have a rich sound that's not quite as buzzy as a sawtooth wave,

but not as pure as a sine. Old Nintendo game soundtracks were made almost exclusively from square waves. Like sawtooth waves, square waves can be generated by adding a series of sine waves with decreasing volume. However, the square wave contains only the odd numbered harmonics.

Triangle waves sound like something between a sine wave and a square

wave. Like square waves, they contain only the odd harmonics of the fundamental frequency. They differ from square waves because the volume of each added harmonic drops more quickly. Below is a diagram with the visual descriptions of each of the above waveforms, these will look very similar when you are working with Logic synthsas such do get to know and recognize the symbols..

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