[AH] Design your own waveform synths?

[L.D]

The wonderfull Casio Vz-1 (keyboard synth) and its rack mount version
the VZ10M
both do this via interactive phase distortion synthisis..the VZ10M's are
very cheap now $200-$300 and well worth the price.

Rob & Heather Williams wrote:

> This may be a topic more appropriate for DH, but haven't
> there been some music machines built that allow you to
> design your own waveform right on a monitor screen?  I've
> often been interested in what the tonal properties would be
> like for a waveform, say, sine on the upramp, and square on
> the return to zero.  Or maybe an ascending sawtooth on the
> first 50% with a descending sine on the last half.  Since
> analogs are limited in this area, I've never been able to
> experiment to find out for myself.
>
> Anyway, how come the idea isn't more popular with
> synthesists?  Is this something that would HAVE to be
> digitally controlled?  Couldn't an analog be built that
> could do it with precision voltage control?
>
> Robert