Synthesis

This lesson is part of the Electronic Music & Sound Production category.

Objectives

• Students will be familiar with the basics of sound synthesis, including waveforms, envelopes, and filters.
• Students will be able to use a synthesizer to create a sound that meets given criteria.

Resources

Readings

• Haas, Introduction to Computer Music:
  • "Synthesis Waveforms"
  • "Analog Synthesis Concepts"
  • "Envelopes and Gates"
  • "Patches: The Basic Patch"

Tools

• Additive Synthesis Waveform Generator
• Harmonics Explorer
• Hronco, "Making Music in the Browser: Web Audio/MIDI — Envelope Generator"
• Online Synthesizers:
  • Viktor NV-1
  • Web Synths
  • Basic Online Synthesizer (beta)
• Synthesizer Apps:
  • VCV RACK

Class Activities

• Discussion and demonstration of an additive synthesizer
• Synthesis of a various sounds
• Identification of synthesized sounds in music of different styles
• Improvisation using synthesized sounds

Assignments

• Identification of different basic waveforms used in recorded excerpts
• Creation of a synthesized sound to meet given musical criteria