Guide To Synthesis

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Guide To Synthesis

Beatportal's ongoing Guide To Synthesis is dedicated to exploring the often complex and confusing subjects of synthesisers and sound production. Written by studio guru Francis Preve, it's an essential stop for anyone interested in making electronic music.

Latest from Guide To Synthesis

Product Spotlight: Way Out Ware KikAXXE

24 April, 2008 | 12.00PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

I’m an analog guy.

Sure, I’ve used a ton of softsynths over the years, but ever since I picked up a Prophet 08 and dug my SH101 out of the garage, I’ve become increasingly finicky about virtual analog emulations.

So when I stumbled upon a virtual ARP softsynth made by a tiny one-man operation out of San Luis Obispo called Way Out Ware, I was intrigued.

Way Out Ware’s products are so impressive that they’ve even got the support of M-Audio behind them as their worldwide distributor.

Let’s take a look at this beastie.

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Sampling Essentials – Part 2

15 April, 2008 | 11.41AM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

In our previous installment, we tackled the specifics that govern the sample recording process, including sampling rate and sample resolution.

This time around, we’re going to cover how samples are edited and prepared for playback via a software or hardware sampler.

From there, we’ll go over how to make the most of your sampler’s resources.

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Sampling Essentials – Part 1

10 April, 2008 | 12.00PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

Now that we’ve covered the ins and outs of subtractive/analog synthesis, we’ll begin exploring other popular methods of tone generation.

This week, we’ll tackle the specifics of sampling.

Since most samplers also rely strongly on subtractive synthesis techniques, the material in the previous tutorials is equally relevant here.

If you haven’t already checked out the earlier lessons, you might want to do so before reading further.

On the other hand, if you’re already up to speed, it’s time to dive in.

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Grasping MIDI Controllers

26 March, 2008 | 12.00PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

In our previous tutorials, we covered the specifics of synthesizer audio modules such as oscillators and filters, as well as modulators such as envelopes, LFOs and such.

These are the essentials for preset design, but for adding character to a performance, the next step lies in creative use of MIDI controllers.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover some of the techniques that allow you to morph the character of your synth parts over time.

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Essential LFO facts

5 March, 2008 | 10.00AM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

In the analog arsenal of modulation resources, low frequency oscillators – a.k.a. LFOs – are right up there with envelopes when it comes to usefulness and flexibility.

While the most common uses for LFOs are vibrato, tremolo and wah-wah effects, there’s a lot more that can be done with LFOs — if you’re crafty about it.

In this installment, we’ll cover the specifics, along with a few more exotic applications to get your juices flowing.

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Understanding Envelopes, Part 2

18 February, 2008 | 3.50PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

Last week, we covered the essential components of an ADSR envelope and the purpose of each envelope segment.

This time around, we’ll touch upon envelope looping as well as more complex multistage envelopes.

After that, we go deeper into the sound design possibilities of modulating various synthesizer functions like filter and pitch.

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Understanding Envelopes, Part 1

11 February, 2008 | 3.57PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

After a brief hiatus, Beatportal’s Guide To Synthesis has returned.

Now that we’ve covered the essentials of oscillators and filters — a.k.a. the audio signal path of subtractive synthesis — it’s time to delve into modulation.

The term “modulation” covers components like envelopes, LFOs and MIDI continuous controllers, to name a few.

These modulators allow sound designers to effectively automate various parameters and elements — such as filter cutoff and volume — within the audio chain.

But there’s a lot more to it than just those two parameters.

In this tutorial, we’ll begin by addressing the essential components of the envelope itself.

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Filters: The Wow Factor

28 November, 2007 | 11.59AM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

Once your oscillators are configured to generate the basis for your sound, it’s time to shape the frequency content via filters.

At first glance, filters appear to behave like an equalizer, but there are subtle differences that give them a very different sonic character.

The most significant distinction is the fact that filters subtract frequency content, whereas EQs can raise or lower the volume of entire frequency ranges.

That doesn’t mean filters are less powerful than EQs. Far from it! Different tools for different jobs, that’s all.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover the four main types of filter and how each mode affects the sound generated by the oscillators.

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Logic Studio: Music for the Masses

21 November, 2007 | 10.06AM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis
Written by: francispreve

On September 12th, 2007, Apple stunned the world of music production with the announcement of Logic Studio.

In one fell swoop, they upgraded Logic Pro, threw in a bunch of related software, included five of their critically acclaimed Jam Packs, dropped the accursed dongle and get this: they lowered the price to $499 US.

Rather than expound on the political and competitive ramifications of this, let’s dig right into the details.

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Oscillators: Mixing and Blending

31 October, 2007 | 1.52PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

Once you understand the harmonic characteristics of the basic oscillator waveforms, the real fun begins. By tuning and mixing various waves, you can create entirely new sounds from scratch.

This week, we’ll cover the essentials of how to tune and mix oscillators.

Note: If you want to follow along at home, fire up your demo version of Reason, create a Subtractor synth and make sure oscillator two is turned on (the orange box next to “Osc 2” should glow).

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Oscillators: Essential Waveforms

25 October, 2007 | 12.18PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

Now that you have a handle on the signal flow of subtractive synthesizers, it’s time to dig into the specifics of the oscillator module.

To begin, let’s take a look at the most common waveforms you’ll find in an analog-style synth.

Each has its own distinct sound, so it’s important to understand their individual strengths.

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Some call it Analog: How subtractive synthesizers work

18 October, 2007 | 2.51PM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

The term ‘subtractive synthesis’ refers to the sound generation method used by many modern software synths, as well as all analog synthesizers – new or old.

The fundamental principle consists of taking a sound source, called an ‘oscillator’, then feeding that signal into a filter.

The filter then subtracts frequency content from the oscillator signal, allowing it to be made brighter, duller, squeakier, and so on.

After the filter, the overall volume of the resulting sound can be adjusted to create percussive sounds, long swells, and so forth.

If this sounds too complex to grasp, fear not.

The secret to understanding subtractive synthesis lies in comparing it to other, more familiar, concepts from the DJ world.

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Part 2: Introduction to Synthesizer Programming

10 October, 2007 | 4.22AM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

Last week, I kick started my ‘Guide To Synthesis’ blog by taking a look at the different types of synthesis: sampling, subtractive and FM (frequency modulation) and discussed the pros and cons of each.

Now in part two, we’ll continue by looking at the remaining types of synthesis, physical modeling and exotica, before jumping into the longest running debate in the electronic music world - hardware synths versus software synths.

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Introduction to Synthesizer Programming

3 October, 2007 | 9.03AM

Section: Music News Topics: Guide To Synthesis, Technology
Written by: francispreve

To kick off our first series on music production techniques, we’ll begin by going deep into synthesizers. Sure, we all know that synths are musical instruments that form the essence of all club music (a broad statement, but that’s a fact).

But did you know that there are upwards of five distinct types of synthesis technology that serve as the basis for most software and hardware synths?

When producers talk of a “synthesizer” they are generally referring to analog synthesizers like Moogs, Prophets and classic Roland gear, but that’s only one type of synthesis.

In the pantheon of synthesis techniques, there are quite a few methods for creating new sounds that can be played via keyboards, drum pads, even MIDI-fied wind instruments and guitars.

So, to get everyone warmed up, here’s a round-up of the most common sound generation tools available today.