Assignment 6 - Synthesis!

Hello fellow students!

My name is Hans Hendriksen, I'm from Chicago and this week my lesson will be about Synths.

Synths got smaller over the years...

Thank you for taking the time to read it, and i hope your assignments this week will go well.


Since there are so many synths to choose from, i will show and explain the interfaces of four
synths that i have been working with and like.

Basically all synths have more or less the same parameters, and it is usually small variations
that make two synths sound completely different.
But the main structure of wave forms that get modulated to get a desired sound is all the same.
It has been like that since the synth has been around.



Basically a synth is built up in 5 module groups, or 4 + a tone generator/wave generator.

 In this figure the LFO ( Low frequency oscillator) is placed before the VCO( Voltage control Oscillator)
but the sound itself gets created by the VCO of course. After the waveform is created, it passes the 4 modules before it leaves the synth.

LFO   =( Low Frequency Oscillator)         =  Moves the sound in a very low frequency
VCO  =(Voltage Controlled Oscillator)      =  Creates the waveform
VCF  =(Voltage Controlled Filter)             =   Filters the waveform.You usually see a low pass filter by
                                                                      default because of the bright nature of waveforms.
VCA  =(Voltage controlled Amplifier)        =   Amplifies the waveform (Amplitude)

ADSR=(Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)  =  Controls what a tone does over time, shapes notes

Synths weren't much different in 1972!

As you will see in the next four images, these controls are basically the same in all synths.

As you can see, the structure is still the same. Of course these days it is much easier to apply all
sorts of other effects/ patterns/sequences to the waveform in the synth.Most synths have built in appregiators etc...
The very great thing is that after the sound leaves the synth it can be further edited/modified with all the plugins and software that is available to us. The modulation never really stops:)

I really hope you enjoyed my lesson! I can't believe it's the last assignment already. Hope everybody will do well with the final exam!

Hans Hendriksen