{"id":19,"date":"2008-05-13T15:25:42","date_gmt":"2008-05-13T15:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/?p=19"},"modified":"2013-05-23T10:40:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T10:40:19","slug":"basic-digital-synthesis-methods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/basic-digital-synthesis-methods\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic Digital Synthesis Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"

While at college, I found a lot of interesting information about digital synthesis, so that\u2019s where my inspiration for this article comes from. So far we\u2019ve looked at \u2018standard\u2019 analogue approaches to sound synthesis, as well as a bit of FM synthesis because everybody likes a bit of DX7 \u2018E-Piano\u2019 now and then, and now we are going to continue that theme by focusing a little on different kinds of digital synthesis.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Overview Of Digital Synthesis<\/h3>\n

Digital synthesis is based somewhat (perhaps a little too much) on the concept of trying to emulate analogue\/acoustic sounds, using different methods and techniques depending on the accuracy of the audible reproduction. Because these new methods of synthesis are computer-based, there are always limitations to what can be practically performed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The four important methods used in digital sound synthesis are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

Loose Modeling<\/h3>\n

\u2018Loose modeling\u2019 consists of little or no real attempt to model sound. It is used to perform AM, FM, Walsh, and Wavetable synthesis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Time-Based Modeling<\/h3>\n

\u2018Time-based modeling\u2019 models sound in the time domain. It is used is granular synthesis, waveset distortion, and waveform composition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spectral modeling<\/h3>\n

\u2018Spectral modeling\u2019 models sound in the frequency domain. It is used in additive synthesis, and re-synthesis (such as the Hartmann Neuron synthesizer).<\/span><\/p>\n

Physical modeling<\/h3>\n

\u2018Physical modeling\u2019 uses mathematical models of acoustical properties of instruments\/components. It is used to create extremely accurate reproductions of physical sounds, such as mass & spring simulations, and \u2018Karplus Strong\u2019 synthesis \u2013 to create accurate sounding \u2018plucked\u2019 sounds.<\/span><\/p>\n

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These four methods can still use analogue components within their signal chain, but are digitally-based. In addition to this, different digital synthesis techniques exist, such as the previously mentioned \u2018Digital FM\u2019 synthesis, which is neither strictly digital nor analogue, and allows for more flexibility in terms of \u2018complex\u2019 modulation. FM synthesis tries (but fails to an extent) to be like analogue subtractive synthesis, by using Yamaha\u2019s \u2018operator\u2019 concept, as well as LFO-like modulation. \u2018Walsh\u2019 synthesis is completely digital, and uses many square waveforms to create new waveforms. Unfortunately, it\u2019s hard to predict the frequency spectrum that will be created through this technique. \u2018Wavetable\u2019 synthesis has been made popular by famous synths such as the \u2018PPG Wave\u2019 and Waldorf\u2019s \u2018Microwave\u2019 series. It consists of using fragments of sampled sounds which are played back and looped like a sampler. To make life easier, standard features such as envelopes, filters, and LFOs are used.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While at college, I found a lot of interesting information about digital synthesis, so that\u2019s where my inspiration for this article comes from. So far we\u2019ve looked at \u2018standard\u2019 analogue approaches to sound synthesis, as well as a bit of FM synthesis because everybody likes a bit of DX7 \u2018E-Piano\u2019 now and then, and now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions\/347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}