The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Jim,

>I still need to wrap my head around the syncing of vc01 and vc02, why one 
>would chose one over the other for master-slave..

In principle, it doesn't matter which wave is the slave for syncing, but in 
practice, once a VCO is selected, the waveforms of the two VCOs can be 
pruned to include only the most musically useful ones.  It may simplify the 
design, which usually translates into a cost savings.

>One thing especially...when some of the algorithms have an option called 
>"fixed" does that effectively turn the option off...out of the picture?

Fixed doesn't turn syncing off; it just fixes the frequency of the slave 
oscillator.  If we look at how syncing works, the master oscillator 'says,' 
"Look, the slave oscillator can do anything it likes, frequency-wise, but 
every time I reach the start of my waveform (0 degrees), I'm going to force 
the slave back to 0 degrees, too."  This is a kind of modulation, and like 
other modulation types, results in a wave that has frequency components of 
both the carrier and modulator.  IMHO, fixed-frequency syncing is less 
musically interesting than variable-frequency syncing, just like a sine 
wave is less musically interesting than a sawtooth -- but that's a 
generalization.  Both sines and fixed syncing have their use, musically.

>I assume you've been here longer, and know about the list...but for the 
>short time I've been here I have seen mail form other novices and I can't 
>believe they would want to miss out on this kind of good explanation of 
>theory, about one of the central modules.

Actually, I've only been on the list for about 2 1/2 weeks.  My advantages 
are:  a) I'm an electrical engineer whose specialty is analog electronics; 
and b) I was fortunate enough to go to a college in the mid-70s where I had 
access to a Minimoog, a Putney VCS3, and a Buchla.  The access to 
non-programmed, analog synths means that I had to learn how to do things 
from scratch, rather than depend on a library of sounds created by the 
manufacturer.  A pain in the butt then; a clear advantage now.  When I 
first got the AN1x, I spent a week of, "Wow!  You mean you can sync the 
VCOs to LFO1, and still have VCO2 left over???" and such.

>I certainly can take it off line...but isn't the purpose of this list to 
>discuss exactly this kind of thing? Have most of the people here already 
>been through this?

A good question for the group:  Was my explanation to Jim useful to others, 
or was it a case of, "Oh no!  Not another round of synth theory!"  I'm a 
relative newbie here, so a poll might be in order.

>(by the way..any idea of the number of listers?)

~400


Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions"
www.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group moderator
978.386.7389  voice
978.776.0096  fax
bruce@...