Synthesizers and Subtractive Synthesis 1 E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 295

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Subtractive sound synthesis has been one of the most widely used techniques in electronic music and for many analog synthesizers since the early 1960s. It is based on a simple principle, but its operation remains complex, involving many parameters. It can be enriched by a variety of effects that give the sound its authenticity. It does not just imitate musical instruments, but can also transcribe noises present in natural soundscapes, or generate entirely synthetic sounds. Synthesizers and Subtractive Synthesis 1 presents the theoretical basis of a sound phenomenon, the different types of synthesis, the components that are required and present in synthesizers, the working environment specific to the study of subtractive synthesis, and the hardware and software available. After reading the various chapters of this book, readers will have a clear vision of the tools and actions required to grasp the world of subtractive sound.

Leseprobe

Synthesizers and Subtractive Synthesis 1

Theory and Overview

Jean-Michel Réveillac

First published 2024 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

ISTE Ltd27-37 St George’s RoadLondon SW19 4EUUK

www.iste.co.uk

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030USA

www.wiley.com

© ISTE Ltd 2024The rights of Jean-Michel Réveillac to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s), contributor(s) or editor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISTE Group.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023946436

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN 978-1-78630-924-2

Preface

If you want to know if this book is for you, how it is constructed and organized, what is in it, and what conventions will be used, you have come to the right place, this is the place to start.

Target audience and prerequisites

This book is intended for all those who are interested in sound synthesis and synthesizers, whether they are amateurs or professionals, or even musicians, performers or composers.

The information presented in some sections requires basic knowledge of general computing and digital audio.

For some work on microcomputers, you will need to have good knowledge of the operating system (paths, folders and directories, files, names, extensions, copies, moves, etc.).

For exercises based on the VCV Rack and Native Instruments Reaktor Blocks software synthesizers, you will need to know their philosophy, general principles of design and use in order to build a VCV or Reaktor Software Modular Rack.

For exercises related to the visual programming languages Max/MSP and Pure Data, basic knowledge of their interface and the commands of their editors will be necessary.

If you do not feel comfortable with these prerequisites, a set of books and tutorials are mentioned in the reference section of this book, which will help develop your knowledge.

Possession of a synthesizer based on subtractive synthesis will be a plus, especially if it is an ARP2600, a Minimoog, a Novation Bass Station II, a Behringer Neutron or an Arturia MatrixBrute. Software or hardware clones of these machines are also welcome.

Software such as Pure Data or VCV Rack can be downloaded easily and for free, as can software clones of some synthesizers (Minimoog, ARP 2600). Consult the links in the reference section of this book for this purpose.

Organization and contents of the book

This book consists of two volumes:

Synthesizers and Subtractive Synthesis 1: Theory and Overview

;

Synthesizers and Subtractive Synthesis 2: Application and Practice

.

Volume 1 successively presents a preface, specifying the contents and the writing conventions used, and then an introduction followed by five chapters, a conclusion and two appendices:

sound synthesis;

different types of synthesis;

components, processing and tools;

work environment;

CV/Gate and MIDI.

The conclusion, as its name suggests, attempts to assess the current state of subtractive synthesis and synthesizers.

Appendices 1 and 2 provide some additional elements and some reminders. You will find information in the following order:

General MIDI 1 and 2 instruments;

MIDI boxes, mergers and patchers.

Volume 2 presents a preface identical to that of Volume 1, followed by five chapters, a conclusion and four appendices:

subtractive synthesis, the beginnings;

subtractive synthesis, the fundamentals;

advanced subtractive synthesis;

duophony, paraphony and polyphony;

sequencer and arpeggiator.

Appendices 1– 4 provide some additional information in the following order:

USB connectivity;

Pure Data extensions;

keyboards and interface;

MIDI notes, numbers and frequencies.

The conclusion sheds light on the contents of the book and a brief overview of the future evolution of sound synthesis systems and software.

At the end of this book, you will find references and a list of internet links.

A glossary is also present, and it will explain certain acronyms and terminology very specific to sound synthesis and synthesizers.

Each of the chapters can be read separately. If concepts that are dependent on another chapter are present, the references to the relevant sections are indicated. However, Chapter 1, devoted to sound synthesis, provides the necessary foundations for understanding the subsequent chapters.

If you are a new reader on the subject, I strongly advise you to read Chapter 1 first; the following chapters will then be clearer.

For everyone else, I hope you will discover new notions that will enrich your knowledge.

Conventions

This book uses the following typographical conventions:

Italics

: reserved for important terms used for the first time in the text, which may be present in the glossary at the end of the book, mathematical terms, comments, equations, expressions or variables.

UPPER CASE: reserved for command names, entry, exit, or connection points, specific functions, modules belonging to the different hardware or software synthesizers used in the exercises. It can also be elements, options or choices within menus present in the interface of a program.

Courier

font: reserved for objects manipulated within the visual programming software Max/MSP and Pure Data.

Notes are indicated by the presence of the keyword:

NOTE.– These notes complete the explanations already provided.

Figures and tables all have a description which is often useful for understanding.

Vocabulary and definitions

As with all techniques, subtractive sound synthesis and synthesizers have their own vocabulary, with words, acronyms, abbreviations, initials and proper nouns not always familiar. This is the role of the glossary already mentioned above.

Acknowledgments

I would particularly like to thank the ISTE team, and my editor Chantal Ménascé, who trusted me.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Vanna, and my friends, passionate about the subject, who supported me throughout the writing of this book.

October 2023

Introduction

Since 1974, the year I purchased my first synthesizer, a Roland SH1000, I have always been passionate about sound synthesis.

In 1976, I acquired a Minimoog, a machine that I still own today and with which I learned the basics of subtractive synthesis.

In 1988, during a lunch with members of IRCAM (the French Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music), I heard about Max, developed by Miller Puckette and the music school1 in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, who invited me to a discovery session of this software, then in its version 2.0, not yet marketed.

Figure I.1.Vintage, the Max reference manual version 2.0 (IRCAM 1988)

For me, it was a revelation, as was the same year MIDI-Lisp, a MIDI programming environment for Apple Macintosh.

I invested a lot of time working on Max, MIDI-Lisp and the MIDI standard. It was a great time, the beginning of home studios and software dedicated to music on microcomputers (Atari 520 and 1040 ST, Apple Macintosh 512, Macintosh Plus, etc.).

Year after year, with my home studio growing, I acquired many other machines: synthesizers, drum machines, sequencers, samplers, groove machines, processing, synthesis, programming software, etc.

Over the years, my passion for subtractive synthesis has not diminished and has become part of my professional activity. Even today, it is part of my daily work as a consultant, teacher, trainer and sound designer within my studio.

This book was designed to try to convey my passion and for those interested in the field of electronic music to discover or learn more about subtractive sound synthesis.

Volume 1 brings together theoretical knowledge, and Volume 2 brings together practical exercises on hardware or software synthesizers of several categories, wired, semi-modular or modular.

Although this book is made up of several hundred pages, it is far from covering all the topics related to subtractive synthesis; several thousand pages would not be enough.

In Volume 1, I tried to keep it simple by integrating the scientific notions that seemed essential, without sinking into abstract theories that could put many readers off. This volume details different types of sound synthesis, followed by an overview of the tools and components used to implement subtractive synthesis.

In order to anticipate the practical work covered in Volume 2, a study of the work environment presents the hardware and software that will be covered.

As the links between synthesizers and peripherals have always been complex, the arrival of digital technology and microcomputers within sound synthesis has created a real shift, which has forced manufacturers to define standards and protocols for communications between machines. The CV/Gate control method, dating from the late 1970s, and the MIDI standard, which appeared 10 years later, have become essential and indispensable. It seemed appropriate to specify their principle and define their operation in Chapter 5 of Volume 1.

Figure I.2.MIDI and CV/Gate Ports (Arturia Keystep).

Volume 2 is very practical: it presents 16 exercises performed partly on Behringer 2600 or ARP 2600, Minimoog, Novation Bass Station II, Behringer Neutron and Arturia MatrixBrute for hardware synthesizers. When it comes to software synthesizers, the modular VCV Rack and Native Instruments Reaktor complete the list. A large part of the exercises is reserved for the visual programming environments Max/MSP and Pure Data.

I wanted to put these exercises within the reach of as many people as possible, by choosing some affordable machines (Neutron and Bass Station II) in terms of cost and two open source and free software (VCV Rack and Pure Data).

The 16 exercises are of increasing difficulty and cover, over five chapters, the most important areas related to the practice of subtractive synthesis. Depending on their specificities, some exercises are not required for all synthesizers, hardware, software or languages covered in this book.

Chapters 1 and 2 focus on the key elements of a monodic subtractive synthesizer, oscillator, filter, envelope generator, low frequency generator and noise generator.

Chapter 3 covers more advanced features available only on certain synthesizers: ring modulation, sample and hold and sound effects.

Chapter 4 covers a topic that has long perplexed synthesizer manufacturers because its implementation, until the mid-1980s, required sophisticated and expensive electronics, polyphony.

Chapter 5 is not related to subtractive synthesis, but rather to the tools used in its design and use, sequencers and arpeggiators.

After this brief introduction, it is time to get to the heart of the matter and get to work or, rather, practice my passion!

Note

1

Today the

Conservatoire à rayonnement régional (CRR) du Grand Chalon

.

1Sound Synthesis

This chapter is devoted to concepts that are essential to the study and understanding of sound synthesis. Here, the reader will find the vocabulary and fundamentals necessary to approach the different processes that produce sound, regardless of the type of synthesis used.

A short history of the different machines that accompanied the birth of sound synthesis concludes the chapter.

1.1. The art of creating sound

Sounds surround us, propagating through air, liquids and solids, but in a vacuum, they do not exist. Each sound has an identity that allows it to be recognized. Our ear, however, is only able to perceive a part of the sound messages, included in a so-called audible frequency range to which I will return in section 1.2.5.

Sound, before being music, is primarily a means of communication for both humans and animals. Throughout time, humans invented tools to create sound using archaic methods, for example tapping on stones or pieces of wood before shaping increasingly sophisticated instruments. Through this evolution a new language was born, which can be referred to as music.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, sounds were always associated with the natural environment, even though musical instruments had become very sophisticated. The invention of the first sound recording methods led to the birth of sounds that could be described as artificial; as for the synthesis part, it was necessary to wait for the development of electronics so that it could take off.

Today, sound synthesis is a real creative tool for composers, musicians and many professionals. It has become an art, even creating new disciplines such as sound design.

In sound synthesis, the objective is not to generate musical notes but to produce a sound, whether that of a real instrument, organ, piano, trumpet, violin, cymbal and many others, or even one that characterizes a steam train, a creaking door, a police siren, a fog horn, a refrigerator, the wind, a storm, the rain, the barking of a dog and even a completely artificial audio phenomenon, non-existent in the natural environment, like an intergalactic battle in a science fiction film1.

1.2. Some reminders

To begin with, I will describe the nature of a sound, then some of its characteristics, followed by how our ears work. I will continue with an analysis of sound typology, spectral analysis and timbre.

I deliberately chose to present the different mathematical equations in clean and simple forms, without going into detail and avoiding demonstrations. However, the scientific rigor essential in all physical sciences has been retained.

Next, I will approach the fundamental aspects of sound propagation with the presentation of some common phenomena, and then in section 1.8, I will return in detail to the notion of noise.

I will conclude with a history of sound synthesis and the associated instruments.

1.2.1. Sound: a bit of theory

What is sound? Answering this simple question is not so easy. We can approach the subject in two ways: the first from a purely scientific point of view, associated with the laws of physics, and the second according to sensory feelings.

For a physicist, a sound is a mechanical wave that propagates as a disturbance in an elastic medium or in a body. A wave is considered a back and forth movement (mechanical oscillation) of particles around a resting position, unlike an electromagnetic wave, which propagates energy in the form of an electric field coupled to a magnetic field.

Figure 1.1.An example of easily representable mechanical waves. Here, they are created on the surface of the water, after throwing pebbles into it.

For most of us, it is much easier to define a sound as an auditory sensation.

Sounds are produced by vibrating objects. These objects are sources, and the environment in which the sound is emitted carries the sound to our ears. At this moment, our brain allows us to perceive them, become aware of them and interpret them.