X
Table Of Contents
- Logic Pro X Instruments
- Contents
- Chapter 1: Drum Kit Designer
- Chapter 2: ES1
- Chapter 3: ES2
- ES2 overview
- ES2 interface
- ES2 sound sources
- ES2 oscillator parameters overview
- ES2 basic oscillator waveforms
- Use pulse width modulation in ES2
- Use frequency modulation in ES2
- Use ring modulation in ES2
- Use ES2 Digiwaves
- Use the ES2 noise generator
- ES2 emulation of detuned analog oscillators
- Stretch tuning in ES2
- Balance ES2 oscillator levels
- ES2 oscillator start points
- Synchronize ES2 oscillators
- ES2 global parameters
- ES2 filter parameters
- ES2 amplifier parameters
- ES2 modulation
- ES2 integrated effects processor
- ES2 macro controls and controller assignments
- ES2 Surround mode
- ES2 extended parameters
- Create random ES2 sound variations
- ES2 tutorials
- Chapter 4: EFM1
- Chapter 5: ES E
- Chapter 6: ES M
- Chapter 7: ES P
- Chapter 8: EVOC 20 PolySynth
- EVOC 20 PolySynth and vocoding
- EVOC 20 PolySynth interface
- EVOC 20 PolySynth analysis parameters
- EVOC 20 PolySynth (U/V) detection parameters
- EVOC 20 PolySynth synthesis parameters
- EVOC 20 PolySynth formant filter
- EVOC 20 PolySynth modulation parameters
- EVOC 20 PolySynth output parameters
- EVOC 20 PolySynth performance tips
- Vocoder history
- EVOC 20 block diagram
- Chapter 9: EXS24 mkII
- EXS24 mkII overview
- Sampler instruments
- EXS24 mkII Parameter window
- EXS24 mkII Parameter window overview
- Sampler Instruments pop-up menu
- EXS24 mkII global parameters
- EXS24 mkII pitch parameters
- EXS24 mkII filter parameters
- EXS24 mkII output parameters
- EXS24 mkII extended parameters
- EXS24 mkII modulation overview
- EXS24 mkII modulation router
- EXS24 mkII LFOs
- EXS24 mkII envelope overview
- EXS24 mkII modulation reference
- EXS24 mkII Instrument Editor window
- EXS24 mkII preferences
- EXS24 mkII memory management
- Chapter 10: External Instrument
- Chapter 11: Klopfgeist
- Chapter 12: Retro Synth
- Retro Synth overview
- Retro Synth Analog oscillator controls
- Retro Synth Sync oscillator controls
- Retro Synth Table oscillator controls
- Retro Synth FM oscillator controls
- Retro Synth filter controls
- Retro Synth amp and effect controls
- Retro Synth modulation controls
- Retro Synth global and controller settings
- Retro Synth extended parameters
- Chapter 13: Sculpture
- Sculpture overview
- Sculpture interface
- Sculpture string parameters
- Sculpture objects parameters
- Sculpture pickups parameters
- Sculpture global parameters
- Sculpture amplitude envelope parameters
- Use Sculpture’s Waveshaper
- Sculpture filter parameters
- Sculpture delay effect parameters
- Sculpture Body EQ parameters
- Sculpture output parameters
- Sculpture surround range and diversity
- Sculpture modulation controls
- Sculpture morph parameters
- Define Sculpture MIDI controllers
- Sculpture tutorials
- Chapter 14: Ultrabeat
- Ultrabeat overview
- Ultrabeat interface
- Ultrabeat Assignment section
- Ultrabeat Synthesizer section overview
- Ultrabeat sound sources
- Ultrabeat oscillator overview
- Ultrabeat oscillator 1 phase oscillator mode
- Use Ultrabeat oscillator 1 FM mode
- Use Ultrabeat oscillator 1 side chain mode
- Use Ultrabeat oscillator 2 phase oscillator mode
- Basic waveform characteristics
- Use Ultrabeat oscillator 2 sample mode
- Use Ultrabeat oscillator 2 model mode
- Ultrabeat ring modulator
- Ultrabeat noise generator
- Use Ultrabeat’s filter section
- Ultrabeat distortion circuit
- Ultrabeat Output section
- Ultrabeat modulation
- Ultrabeat step sequencer
- Ultrabeat step sequencer overview
- Step sequencer basics
- Ultrabeat step sequencer interface
- Ultrabeat global sequencer controls
- Ultrabeat pattern controls
- Use Ultrabeat’s swing function
- Ultrabeat Step grid
- Automate parameters in Ultrabeat’s step sequencer
- Export Ultrabeat patterns as MIDI regions
- MIDI control of Ultrabeat’s step sequencer
- Ultrabeat tutorials
- Chapter 15: Vintage B3
- Chapter 16: Vintage Clav
- Chapter 17: Vintage Electric Piano
- Appendix A: Legacy instruments
- Appendix B: Synthesizer Basics
Appendix B Synthesizer Basics 501
Digital synthesizers
Modern digital synthesizers featuring variable polyphony, memory, and completely digital
sound generation systems follow a semi-polyphonic approach. The number of voices that
these instruments are able to generate, however, no longer depends on the number of built-in
monophonic synthesizers. Rather, polyphony depends entirely on the performance capability of
the computers that power them.
The rapid developments in the digital world are best illustrated by the following example. The
rst program that emulated sound generation entirely by means of a computer was Music I,
authored by the American programmer Max Mathew. Invented in 1957, it ran on a university
mainframe, an exorbitantly expensive IBM 704. Its sole claim to fame was that it could compute a
triangle wave, although doing it in real time was beyond its capabilities.
This lack of capacity for real-time performance is the reason why early digital technology
was used solely for control and storage purposes in commercial synthesizers. Digital control
circuitry debuted in 1971 in the form of the digital sequencer found in the Synthi 100 modular
synthesizer—in all other respects an analog synthesizer—from the English company EMS. Priced
out of reach of all but the wealthiest musicians, the Synthi 100 sequencer featured a total of
256 events.
Ever-increasing processor performance made it possible to integrate digital technology
into parts of the sound generation engine itself. The monophonic Harmonic Synthesizer,
manufactured by Rocky Mountain Instruments (RMI), was the rst instrument to do so. This
synthesizer had two digital oscillators, combined with analog lters and amplier circuits.
The Synclavier, introduced in 1976 by New England Digital Corporation (NED), was the rst
synthesizer with completely digital sound generation. Instruments like the Synclavier were based
on specialized processors that had to be developed by the manufacturers themselves. This
development cost made the Synclavier an investment that few could aord.
An alternative solution was the use of general-purpose processors made by third-party
computer processor manufacturers. These processors, especially designed for multiplication
and accumulation operations—common in audio processing tasks—are called digital signal
processors (DSPs). Peavey’s DPM-3, released in 1990, was the rst commercially available
synthesizer completely based on standard DSPs. The instrument was 16-note polyphonic and
based mainly on three Motorola 56001 DSPs. It featured an integrated sequencer and sample-
based subtractive synthesis, with factory presets and user-denable samples.
Another solution was to design synthesizers as a computer peripheral, rather than as a
standalone unit. The growing popularity of personal computers from the early 1980s made
this option commercially viable. Passport Soundchaser and the Syntauri alphaSyntauri were
the rst examples of this concept. Both systems consisted of a processor card with a standard
musical keyboard attached to it. The processor card was inserted into an Apple II computer. The
synthesizers were programmed via the Apple keyboard and monitor. They were polyphonic and
had programmable waveforms, envelopes, and sequencers. Today’s sound cards, introduced in
countless numbers since 1989, follow this concept.
Exploiting the ever-increasing processing power of today’s computers, the next evolutionary
step for the synthesizer was the software synthesizer, which runs as an application on a host
computer.
The sound card (or built-in audio hardware) is needed these days only for audio input and
output. The actual process of sound generation, eects processing, recording, and sequencing is
performed by your computer’s CPU—using the Logic Pro software and instrument collection.