Introduction
Sound synthesis and sound design
Psychoacoustics
Happy accidents
Technology and sound design
Types of synthesizers
Short history of electronic musical instruments
Nineteenth century
First half of the twentieth century
The fifties and sixties
The modular synthesizer
The prepatched synthesizer
The polysynth and preset synthesizers
The multitimbral synthesizer and MIDI
Digital sound synthesis techniques
Digital signal processors
The sampler
Digital effect units
Basic principles of sound synthesis
The three parameters of sound
Loudness
Dynamic range
Amplitude
The loudness contour and amplitude envelope
Pitch and frequency
Monophony and polyphony
Timbre
The exciter/resonator model.
The VCO-VCF-VCA model synthesizer
Playing style
Sound imitation
The waveshaping model
Timbre and acoustic instruments
Playing the timbre
Analysis of timbres
Harmonic spectrum
Sound spectrum
Formant spectrum
Sonogram
Summary
Patchsheets and schematics
Making patchsheets
Block schematics
Introduction to the G2 system
Hardware and software
Signal types
The G2 system
Audio and control signal types
Meaning of cable colouring scheme
Actual sample rates in the G2 system
Signal levels
Signal levels in the G2 system
Signal levels
The G2 numbering system
Waveform levels
Manipulating signal levels
The G2 levels and units standard
Attenuation of signals
Summary
Signal routing
Switches
Matrices
Sources and destinations
Chaining switches into ‘multiple-deck’ switches
Exceptions to the rule
Multiplexers and sequencers
A/B compare switching to turn a module function on or off
Mixing
Importance of mixer modules
Different types of mixing
Relative mixing
Add along mixing
Dynamic reference for add along mixing
Matrix mixing
Summary
Handling musical events in a logical way
Introduction to logic
Keeping time
Combining logic signals
Triggers and triggering
Summary
Conclusion
Sound sources
External sources
Internal sources
Common oscillator waveforms
Filtering
Waveshaping
Amplitude modulation or AM
Frequency modulation or FM
FM modulation index
Phase modulation
Zero Hertz FM
Oscillator synchronisation
Combinations of AM, FM and oscillator sync
Feedforward and feedback
Feedforward
Convolution
Convolution on control signals
Feedback
Integration and lowpass filtering
Stability issues
Preventing overload in a feedback loop
Preventing high frequency oscillation in a feedback loop
Selfmodulation
Summary
Filters
Introduction
Filter classes
Passband characteristics
Playing the filter
Filter parameters
Cutoff
Keyboard tracking
Resonance, Q and emphasis
How filter resonance comes about
Steepness of filters
Filter building blocks and filter poles
Combining filters into more complex filtering functions.
Common filter types
6 dB lowpass and highpass
6 dB allpass
12 dB State Variable or multimode filter
Peak filter
Combining two or more state variable filters in bandpass mode
Modal synthesis
Variable width bandpass filters
Morphing from lowpass to bandpass
An ‘overeasy’ tone control
Spectral crossfader
The 24 dB classic ladder filter
Other 24 dB filters
Using filters when doing audio processing
Crossover filters
Multiband filters
Multiband panner
Grunge in low with echo in a small mid band and some panning
Resonant filters
Introduction
Background
The ladder filter
Patching your own filters
Basic schematic
Basic patch
Adding options
Filter warmth
Tuning the maximum resonance
Balancing the output level
Adding some slightly grungy even harmonic distortion
Effects of even harmonic distortion
Another way to implement the distortion
More filter inputs and outputs
The pole outputs
Peak filter
Highpass filter
Bandpass filter
Asymmetric 6dB/18dB bandpass filter
Morphing the outputs for more responses
Multiple input filters
Two input LP/HP spectral crossfader filter
Spectral crossfader patch
More options for the spectral crossfader
Noise, randomness and chaos
Noise
Randomness
Chaos
Building a chaos generator
Dynamic processing of signal levels
Introduction
Algebraic operations
Headroom issues
Conclusion
Waveshaping and distortion
Introduction
Transfer function
Waveshaping
Clipping
Soft clipping
Wavewrapping
Nonlinear waveshaping
Harmonic distortion
Introduction
Emulation of analog circuitry
Transfer curves
A VCA-based harmonic distortion element
Increasing distortion depth
Frequency modulation synthesis
Introduction to FM
Modulating the frequency parameter
Creating timbres
Linear FM with two oscillators
FM tracking modes
Capturing and looping audio
Delaylines
The principle
The basic recirculator patch
Setting the loop length
Outputs on a recirculator
Soft switching the capturing
Multi-track looping
Individual voice settings
Conclusion
Creating evolving patterns
Shift registers
Circular pattern buffers
Canon effects
Using the circular buffer principle on audio