Synthesizer

From Wikipedia

Oberheim OB12 synthesizer front panel

A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequencies. Synthesizers create electrical signals, rather than direct acoustic sounds, which are then played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones.

Synthesizers are typically (but not exclusively) controlled with a piano-style keyboard, leading to the instruments also sometimes being referred to simply as "keyboards". Synthesizers can produce a wide range of sounds, which can either imitate other instruments or generate unusual new timbres.

The first electric synthesizer was invented in 1876 by Elisha Gray, who is best known for his development of a telephone prototype.^[1][2] Robert Moog created a revolutionary synthesizer which was used by Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach (1968) a popular recording which introduced many musicians to the sound of synthesizers. In the 1970s, the development of miniaturized solid-state components allowed synthesizers to become self-contained, portable instruments, which made them easier to use in live performances. By the early 1980s, companies such as Yamaha began selling compact, modestly priced synthesizers such as the DX7, and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) was developed, which made it easier to integrate and synchronize synthesizers with other electronic instruments. In the 1990's complex synthesizers no longer required specialist hardware and began to appear as software for the PC, often as hardware emulators with on-screen knobs and panels.

Synthesizers generate sounds through various analog and digital techniques. Early synthesizers were analog hardware based, but almost all modern synthesizers use a combination of DSP software and hardware, or are strictly software based (see softsynth). These digital synthesizers often emulate analog hardware components. A common feature is that the sound is very controllable by the operator, with many parameters which may include:

• waveform generators (oscillators) - add harmonic frequency components to the sound, modifying the timbre or colour of the sound
• ADSR envelopes - modify the amplitude (volume) envelope of the produced note
• LFO - applied to volume can create a warbling or tremolo effect
• Filters - shape the sound generated by the oscillators

Because the sound is so controllable, synthesizers are capable of emulating other instruments with varying degrees of accuracy.

Control Interface

Modern synthesizers typically look like piano keyboards with many additional knob and button controls. These are integrated controllers, where the sound synthesis electronics are integrated into the same package as the controller. This has not always been the norm: many early synthesizers were modular, and most modern synthesizers may be controlled by MIDI.

Another common form of synthesizer is as a virtual instrument, and in this case the controller is necessarily separate. Some commercial programs offer quite lavish and complex models of classic synthesizers -- everything from the Yamaha DX7 to the original Moog modular.

Like conventional instruments, synthesizers are controlled in other various ways.

• Fingerboards
• Wind control
• Midi controls, such as
  • guitar
  • drum pad
  • music sequencers

[edit] Fingerboard Synthesizers

A fingerboard synth uses a ribbon controller or other fingerboard-like user interface used to control parameters of the sound processing. A ribbon controller is similar to a touchpad. However, most ribbon controllers only register linear motion. Although it could be used to operate any sound parameter, a ribbon controller is most commonly associated with pitch control or pitch bending.

Older fingerboards used resistors with a long wire pressed to the resistive plate. Modern ribbon controllers do not contain moving parts. Instead, a finger pressed down and moved along it creates an electrical contact at some point along a pair of thin, flexible longitudinal strips whose electric potential varies from one end to the other. Different fingerboards instruments were developed like the Ondes Martenot, Hellertion, Heliophon, Trautonium, Electro-Theremin, Fingerboard-Theremin and the The Persephone.

A ribbon controller is used as an additional controller in the Yamaha CS-80 and CS-60, the Korg Prophecy, the Kurzweil synthesizers, Moog synthesizers and many others. Ribbon controllers can serve as a main MIDI controller instead of keyboard (Continuum).

Impact on Music and Culture

Both the Roland Jupiter-4 and Jupiter-8 synthesizers were used by New Wave band Duran Duran during the early 1980s.

The synthesizer has had a large impact on modern music over the past forty years.^[3] The first significant influence of the instrument came during the 1970s and 1980s. Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach (1968), recorded using Moog synthesizers, influenced numerous musicians of that era. Switched-On Bach is one of the most popular classical music recordings ever made, and the first to go Platinum.^[4] During the late 1960s, hundreds of other popular recordings used Moog synthesizers. The Moog synthesizer spawned a subculture of record producers who made novelty "Moog" recordings, using synthesizers to create new sounds to draw attention and sales.

The synthesizer's notable influence during the late 1970s and 1980s led to mainstream popularity among renowned music artists. The first major artists to fully use the synthesizer included Wendy Carlos,^[4] Jean Michel Jarre, Arthur Brown, Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, Kitaro, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Kraftwerk, Ultravox and Yellow Magic Orchestra. English musician Gary Numan was influenced by Kraftwerk, Ultravox and David Bowie. Numan's 1979 hit Are 'Friends' Electric? used synthesizers heavily.^[5] Numan continued to use synthesizers throughout most of his career, including the 1980 hit Cars.^[6]

The influence of synthesizers on the Synthpop movement in the United Kingdom during the 1980s was evident from its usage by Nick Rhodes, keyboardist of Duran Duran, who used Roland Jupiter-4 and Jupiter-8 synthesizers.^[7] The emergence of Synthpop, a subgenre of New Wave, can be largely credited to the synthesizer. It lasted from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. The influences of synthesizer technology and Germanic ambience of Kraftwerk and of David Bowie during his Berlin period (1976-77) were both crucial in the development of the synthpop genre.^[8] By 1981, many artists had adopted the synthpop sound and experienced chart success, such as Depeche Mode, Visage, Japan, OMD, and Ultravox.^[8] Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet were classed as leaders of the genre in 1981. Many other acts followed, including Soft Cell, Culture Club, Eurythmics and Blancmange, by which time synthesizers were one of the most important instruments within the music industry.^[8]

The synthesizer introduced many recognizable sounds in the 1980s. OMD's Enola Gay (1980) used a distinctive electronic percussion and synthesized melody. Soft Cell used a synthesized melody in their 1981 hit Tainted Love.^[9] Other chart hits include Depeche Mode's Just Can't Get Enough (1981),^[9] and The Human League's Don't You Want Me.^[10] The sounds varied between artists and songs, but all were distinctively produced using synthesizers.^[11]

Types of Synthesis

Additive Synthesis

Additive synthesis builds sounds by adding harmonically related waveforms. An early analog example of an additive synthesizer is the Hammond organ. Additive synthesis is also the principle of Wavetable synthesis, which is used to implement real-time synthesis with minimum hardware,^[12] commonly used in low-end MIDI instruments such as educational keyboards, and low-end sound cards.

Subtractive Synthesis

Subtractive synthesis is based on filtering harmonically rich waveforms. Due to its simplicity, it is the basis of early synthesizers such as the Moog synthesizer.

FM Synthesis

Waveforms are frequency modulated with a carrier frequency. An example is the Yamaha DX7.

Phase Distortion Synthesis

This synthesis technique is used by the Casio CZ synthesizers.

Granular Synthesis

This type of synthesis is based on manipulating very small sample slices.

Physical modeling

Physical modeling synthesis is the synthesis of sound by using a set of equations and algorithms to simulate a real instrument, or some other physical source of sound. When an initial set of parameters is run through the physical simulation, the simulated sound is generated. Although physical modeling was not a new concept in acoustics and synthesis, it wasn't until the development of the Karplus-Strong algorithm and the increase in DSP power in the late 1980s that commercial implementations became feasible.