The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Nice Job Grotechef,
I Love Modular Synths. I've Seen Soft Synths Come More And More Powerfull,
And Crispy-Clear-Fat-Full of Harmonics-Can't-Believe-Its-Software Synths.
But Haven't Seen A Modular SofSynth (Except From VAZ, That I Didn't REally
Like, And The KDE-arts based One on Linux). Do You Know Of a Good Softsynth
That Is Modular? (Just Imagine Saving All Your Patching And Tweaking Thru
Presets!)

BTW, Who Knows Of All The Different Synth Techniques And Where To Get Some
Info On How They Work? I Haven't Been In Touch With The Current Ones (Like
The Phantom). And Never Learned What AI2 Does (The One Used On The Trinity
by Roland But I Think Is Kind Of PCM)

----- Original Message -----
From: <grotechef@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 9:37 AM
Subject: [AN1x] Re: synthesizer literature


> hello,
> i just updated my site on synthesizers with more info and literature
> and links, and a pic of my modular as well :)
> http://users.pandora.be/tenor
> thanks!
> grotechef
>
> ps thanks, jimmy!!
>
> --- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, "spaceanimals" <rainbowjimmy@s...>
> wrote:
> > What an excellent resource. Thank you very much.
> >
> > Rainbow Jimmy
> > http://www.spaceanimals.com
>
>
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kaltar said:

> Nice Job Grotechef,
> I Love Modular Synths. I've Seen Soft Synths Come More And More Powerfull,
> And Crispy-Clear-Fat-Full of Harmonics-Can't-Believe-Its-Software Synths.
> But Haven't Seen A Modular SofSynth (Except From VAZ, That I Didn't REally
> Like, And The KDE-arts based One on Linux). Do You Know Of a Good Softsynth
> That Is Modular? (Just Imagine Saving All Your Patching And Tweaking Thru
> Presets!)

Reaktor is modular at the basic level, and Max/MSP lets you build some pretty
whacky stuff, but you'd better be patient because the learning curve is
considerable.

> BTW, Who Knows Of All The Different Synth Techniques And Where To Get Some
> Info On How They Work? I Haven't Been In Touch With The Current Ones (Like
> The Phantom). And Never Learned What AI2 Does (The One Used On The Trinity
> by Roland But I Think Is Kind Of PCM)

The Trinity is a Korg machine, not Roland. AI2 is PCM sample playback with
some fancy waveshaping tricks in the signal line. Aside from a few structural
details, all the major synth companies' digital workstations (including the
Fantom and Fantom-S which are from Roland) use the same sample playback
technology, and if you consider the "oscillator" or "tone generator" to be a
sort of black box that can have anything inside it (digital, analog, virtual
analog, etc) then you could say that 99% of the synths out there are alike in
terms of signal flow: oscillator (tone generation and pitch control) to filter
(tone control) to amplifier (loudness control). That's the paradigm most
people are familiar with, and very few synths have gone on to any sort of
success without following it in some form or another (the Yamaha FM synths
being a notable exception, but even they added filtering and a traditional
signal flow in later models).

There are lots of good sites out there on synth technology. My personal
favorite is http://www.creativesynth.com which is run by a friend of mine and
has lots of good stuff in it, including some great multipart tutorials on
everything from programming the Nord Modular to designing a live EM set. And
there are lots of others; I think http://www.sonicstate.com has an archive of
synth information, although there are holes in the coverage and no way to
cross reference them. Ditto the synth archives at Harmony Central. There's an
entire subculture on analog synths and modulars out there; I'm not allowed to
surf any of those sites because I'm not cool enough.

Another alternative would simply be to ask me. I don't know everything about
the subject but I have a fair background going back about 25 years. If I know,
I'll say, and if I don't know, I won't waste your time.

mike

--
Mirai: "I predict in the future all music will be made and heard with
organic living technology..."
Rothwell: "You mean musicians?"

> < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > <

metlay / atomic city / metlay@... / http://www.atomiccity.com

Thanks Mike. Well You Answer What I needed To Hear. Everything Is The Same.
Nothing Really New.

And Yes, My Mistake, Trinity Is Korg.

I'll Check Out Max/MSP .

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Metlay" <metlay@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 11:39 AM
Subject: Re: [AN1x] Re: synthesizer literature


>
> kaltar said:
> > Nice Job Grotechef,
> > I Love Modular Synths. I've Seen Soft Synths Come More And More
Powerfull,
> > And Crispy-Clear-Fat-Full of Harmonics-Can't-Believe-Its-Software
Synths.
> > But Haven't Seen A Modular SofSynth (Except From VAZ, That I Didn't
REally
> > Like, And The KDE-arts based One on Linux). Do You Know Of a Good
Softsynth
> > That Is Modular? (Just Imagine Saving All Your Patching And Tweaking
Thru
> > Presets!)
>
> Reaktor is modular at the basic level, and Max/MSP lets you build some
pretty
> whacky stuff, but you'd better be patient because the learning curve is
> considerable.
>
> > BTW, Who Knows Of All The Different Synth Techniques And Where To Get
Some
> > Info On How They Work? I Haven't Been In Touch With The Current Ones
(Like
> > The Phantom). And Never Learned What AI2 Does (The One Used On The
Trinity
> > by Roland But I Think Is Kind Of PCM)
>
> The Trinity is a Korg machine, not Roland. AI2 is PCM sample playback with
> some fancy waveshaping tricks in the signal line. Aside from a few
structural
> details, all the major synth companies' digital workstations (including
the
> Fantom and Fantom-S which are from Roland) use the same sample playback
> technology, and if you consider the "oscillator" or "tone generator" to be
a
> sort of black box that can have anything inside it (digital, analog,
virtual
> analog, etc) then you could say that 99% of the synths out there are alike
in
> terms of signal flow: oscillator (tone generation and pitch control) to
filter
> (tone control) to amplifier (loudness control). That's the paradigm most
> people are familiar with, and very few synths have gone on to any sort of
> success without following it in some form or another (the Yamaha FM synths
> being a notable exception, but even they added filtering and a traditional
> signal flow in later models).
>
> There are lots of good sites out there on synth technology. My personal
> favorite is http://www.creativesynth.com which is run by a friend of mine
and
> has lots of good stuff in it, including some great multipart tutorials on
> everything from programming the Nord Modular to designing a live EM set.
And
> there are lots of others; I think http://www.sonicstate.com has an archive
of
> synth information, although there are holes in the coverage and no way to
> cross reference them. Ditto the synth archives at Harmony Central. There's
an
> entire subculture on analog synths and modulars out there; I'm not allowed
to
> surf any of those sites because I'm not cool enough.
>
> Another alternative would simply be to ask me. I don't know everything
about
> the subject but I have a fair background going back about 25 years. If I
know,
> I'll say, and if I don't know, I won't waste your time.
>
> mike
>
> --
> Mirai: "I predict in the future all music will be made and heard with
> organic living technology..."
> Rothwell: "You mean musicians?"
> > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > <
> metlay / atomic city / metlay@... / http://www.atomiccity.com
>
> Community email addresses:
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> Subscribe: AN1x-list-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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>
> Shortcut URL to this page:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AN1x-list
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AN1x-list/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

Kaltar said:

>Thanks Mike. Well You Answer What I needed To Hear. Everything Is The Same.
>Nothing Really New.

Well, that's a bit of a stretch. I said that there was virtually
nothing new in terms of how the building blocks of synths are wired
together. But that's a long way from saying everything is the same. A
V-Synth doesn't sound like a KS4 doesn't sound like FM7 doesn't sound
like an AN1x doesn't sound like a Triton.

In terms of timbre, there are lots of new things out there, but
they're built into the same structure so they're easy for people to
understand. Remember I said that we could consider the tone generator
(oscillator) as a black box? There are many different black boxes out
there and they all sound different to some extent or another. But
there aren't many truly radical new synth structures, unless you roll
your own.

>I'll Check Out Max/MSP .

Have fun. I've been avoiding it for 15 years now; I have friends who
are really good at it, but I don't have the time to rewire how my
brain works. It's not just different, it's REALLY different.

mike
--
"My week beats your year." (l. reed)
====================================================================
Mike Metlay * ATOMIC CITY * PO Box 17083 * Boulder CO 80308-0083 USA
metlay@... * * http://www.atomiccity.com

--- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, "kaltar" <kaltar@k...> wrote:

> You Know Of a Good Softsynth That Is Modular?

* Csound: http://www.csounds.com/

* jMax: http://freesoftware.ircam.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=14

* PD: http://crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/software.html

> BTW, Who Knows Of All The Different Synth Techniques
> And Where To Get Some Info On How They Work?

* _The Computer Music Tutorial_ by Curtis Roads (ISBN: 0262680823)

* _Computer Music: Synthesis, Composition, and Performance_ by Charles
Dodge, Thomas A. Jerse (ISBN: 0028646827)