Analog Synthesis: The Newbie Guide to Synthesizers and Sound-Design

Welcome
Contents
Synthesizer Basics
	What Exactly Is a Synthesizer?
	Synthesizer History 101
	Dynamophone
	Theremin
	Spherophone
	Ondes Martenot
	Trautonium
	Hammond Organ
	Mixturtrautonium
	The Forerunner
	The First Synthesizer
	What Is an Analog Synthesizer?
How Many Species of Analog Synthesizers Are Out There?
	Modular Synthesizers
	Hard-wired Synthesizers
	The Real Analog Vs. Virtual Analog Debate
What Analog Sound Synthesis Can and Can’t Do
	Understanding Sound
	How Is an Analog Sound Generated?
	Is an Analog Synthesizer a Gifted Mimic?
	The Basic Components of Analog Sound Generation
Oscillators
	Waveforms
		Sawtooth Wave
		Square Wave
		Pulse Wave
		Triangle Wave
		Sine Wave
		Noise
	Oscillator Settings
	Combining Oscillators
	Waveforms
		Oscillator Synchronization (Sync)
		Ring Modulation
		Amplitude Modulation
		Frequency Modulation
Filters
	Filter Settings: Cutoff and Resonance
	What Types of Filters Are There?
		Low Pass
		High Pass
		Band Pass
		Band Reject
	Combining Filters
	Slope
	The “Sound” of a Filter
Amplifiers
Envelopes
	What Does an Envelope Do?
	What Type of Envelopes Can I Play With?
		ADSR vs. Multistage Models
	Where Can I Use Envelopes?
		Amplitude Envelope
		Filter Envelope
		Pitch Envelope
		Modulating via Envelopes
	Are there “Good” and “Bad” Envelopes?
LFOS
	LFO Settings
	What Do the Different LFO waveforms Do?
	Controlling the LFO Rate
		Synchronizing an LFO to a Clock Signal
		Clock Types
	Delaying and Fading LFOS In
	LFO Retrigger
	Using Several LFOs
	Which LFO Setting Generates Which Effect?
		Vibrato
		Tremolo
		Chorus Effect with PWM
		Trill
		Auto Panning
		What Other Tricks Are LFOs Good for?
Playing and Controlling Synthesizer Sounds
	Keyboard
		Controlling Pitch
		What Is the Difference Between a Trigger and a Gate?
		Monophonic and Polyphonic Synths
		Portamento/Glide
		Key Tracking
	Velocity
		Aftertouch
		Release Velocity
		Using Keyboard Data without a Keyboard
		Are There Good and Bad Synthesizer Keyboards?
	Controllers
		Wheels
		Pedals and Foot Switches
		Ribbon Controllers
		Lever
		Joystick and X/Y Pad
		Breath Controller
Advanced Synthesis Features and Gear
	Using an Oscillator as a Modulator
	Using Your Synthesizer as an Effects Device
	Envelope Follower
	Pitch-to-Voltage Converter
	Sample&Hold
	Formant Filter
	Vocoder
	Step Sequencers
	Types of Effects
		Delay
		Tape Loops
		Analog Delays
		Digital Delays
		Chorus
		Phaser
		Flanger
		Distortion and Overdrive
	(Wo)Man as Modulator—“Playing” Sounds
	Contents of the Audio CD
	Pocket Compendium of Analog Sound Synthesis
Index
	Numbers
	A
	B
	C
	D
	E
	F
	G
	H
	I
	J
	K
	L
	M
	N
	O
	P
	R
	S
	T
	U
	V
	W
	X