[sdiy] Additive Synthesis Doesn't Work?

[Richard Wentk]

At 17:02 22/03/2005, Harry Bissell Jr wrote:
>Hey I agree...
>
>fourier (or walsh) synthesis is too much for mere
>mortals to control.  Its OK if someone wants to
>program
>for months to get a sound, which we could all use
>as a preset (and thus sound alike :^)

Harry, you're not listening. No one is suggesting you should control every 
partial by hand. No practical additive system today works like that.

The whole point of additive is that you *don't* need to work at that level 
to get good sounds. There's a ton of bulk partial hacking processes which 
work at a much higher level and give musically useful - sometimes stunning 
- results.

>For subtractive synthesis we have some well defined
>limits. This VCF rolls off harmonics above xxx and
>introduces a peak at the response of yyy.  Thats all
>folks, one simple function.. three million analog
>sounds.

All of which go BLAAAAART in that instantly recognisable and now very 
cliched way.

>Introduce a similar function in additive synthesis
>(we could just adjust amplitudes, right)... and we'll
>go *yawn* becuase we've all heard it before.

Irony? :)

Richard