Synthesizer design is the practice of developing the instrumentation of the synth through configuration and applied effects. Whenever you see, for example, a YouTube tutorial on how to make a particular sound with a synthesizer, you are learning how the synth is configured, thus designed, to achieve a desired outcome. This wiki is dedicated to fleshing out this particular subject matter.
Back in the day, there were all kinds of synthesizers that tried to find technologically revolutionary methods of creating complex synth designs. From these synthesizers, we have documented a number of schools of thought for synth design.
Basics of Synth Design[]
Synth design has a variety of methods that musicians use to approximate a specific sound[1]. Some believe that synths are designed through modification of a specific sound. Others believe that it should be built from ground up. Still some propose other possibilities, and each of the approaches are described here.
- Additive synthesis starts with silence and gradually adds sine waves of different frequencies to build the desired harmonic structure. This was a common method of synthesis in the early days before the cheaper subtractive synthesis came to replace it. With the advent of softsynths, additive synths made a return.
- Component modelling synthesis is the application of algorithms to generate the harmonics and acoustics of the sound being created. Typically, this method is reserved for synthesizing realistic-sounding instruments.
- Wavetable synthesis involves the use of a wavetable, which is a table made up of different frequencies played in certain orders. As the note is held, the sound smoothly transitions its shape into the next wave. This synthesis form is common for bells, pads, or harsh noises.
- Vector synthesis employs a two-dimensional version of the wavetable.
- Linear arithmetic synthesis is where they mash two wavetables together; the first and more complicated attack half with the more simplistic release half of an instrument. These wavetables would consist of half-waves meant for the other half. Roland was going for more realistic instruments, here.
- Subtractive synthesis is the idea that harmonics can be generated by combining oscillators and then modifying its harmonic character through filters and effects. This is the most common approach to designing synths, especially by ear. Because additive synthesizers needed a new oscillator for every harmonic in its desired sound, subtractive synthesis overtook the synth industry for a long time, and is probably the single most prevalent synthesis method, today.
- Phase-distortion synthesis is a subtractive synth whose oscillators are made up of configurable wavetables.
- FM (frequency modulation) synthesis employs an oscillator that varies the frequency of the signal to produce new harmonics. Good for producing percussive sounds like cymbals and bells, as well as harsh digital noises. Getting complex waveforms for the cheap price of two sine waves lead some companies to produce multiple FM synthesizers.
- Sample-based synthesis (the cheating of synthesis) assigns samples for every five or so notes and are played back with some pitch shifting. Soundfonts are an example of this type of synthesis.
- Granular synthesis is like the linear arithmetic synthesis of sample playback. They break up lots of samples into tiny 10-50 millisecond parts and stitch them together wavetable style to create complex timbres for each sound. Highly expensive, processor-wise.
End of the Topic of Basics[]
Some of the pages of this wiki were arranged in the form of a help manual to assist new producers in understanding how synthesis works. Given that there are hundreds of synthesizer mechanics, it was necessary to reduce the number of concepts and mechanics as to avoid overwhelming the reader with information.
In the next page, you will be leaving the topic of basics. This wiki's home page will provide a number of resources that is gradually growing, such as a breakdown of certain synthesizers that come with the installation of a particular music making software, or an index of the different kinds of ways to configure a synth. This wiki refers to these as synth design mechanics.
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