UEE051H3 - STUDIO TECHNOLOGY

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The Principles of Electronic Music Synthesis

This segment of the Studio Technology module encompasses the five main Synthesis technologies which (in roughly chronological order of development) are:

• Analogue (subtractive) Synthesis (late 1960s)
• FM (Frequency Modulation) Synthesis (late 1970s)
• Wavetable (sample) Synthesis (mid 1980s)
• Sample + Synth synthesis (mid 1980s)
• Physical Modelling Synthesis (early 1990s)

There have, of course, been many variants on the above, but most synthesizers can be placed into one or more of the categories above.  It is also worth noting that none of the synthesis methods listed above can be said to be obsolete, since each has a distinct musical 'character'; a comprehensively equipped electronic music studio would have instruments spanning the whole range (and age) of synthesis technologies above.

Electronic Synthesizers are perhaps unique among musical instruments, in that mastery of these instruments requires not only some musical ability (keyboard skills, for instance) but also a good understanding of their internal architectures.  Without such an understanding the synthesist is unable to fully explore the sonic possibilities of their instrument.  Many professional musicians lack such an understanding and so it often falls upon the studio engineer to 'program' the studio instruments in order to meet the musical demands of the musician.  With the immense sophistication and almost infinite sonic potential of current synthesizers, 'programming' such instruments has (almost) become a recognised skill in its own right.  The aim of this segment of the course is to develop a basic level of understanding of electronic music synthesis appropriate to the studio engineer who might be called upon to support the use of such instruments (including their 'programming') in the recording environment.

For questions, comments or feedback please contact the author Alan Winfield, via:

These course notes are Copyright ©1997-2001 The University of the West of England, Bristol.

Contents:

1.    Analogue Synthesis: The Fundamentals

2.    Analogue Synthesis: Building Blocks:

3.    FM Synthesis

4.    PCM (Wavetable) Synthesis

5.    Hybrid (Sample + Synth) Synthesis

6.    Physical Modelling Synthesis

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