User Guide

24
The philosophy behind Neuron
A case can be made for the point that a trailblazing
technology arrives every 15 to 20 years and, equally
important, spawns generations of commercially
successful products:
• Subtractive synthesis
Pioneers: Moog™, EMS™, Buchla™, Sequential
Circuits™, Oberheim™, ARP™
• Additive synthesis
Pioneers: Fairlight™, Synclavier™, PPG™,
Technos™
• Hybrid synthesis / digital synthesis
Pioneers: PPG™
• FM (frequency modulation)/PD (phase
distortion) synthesis
Pioneers: Yamaha™, Casio™
• Virtual sound synthesis / physical modeling
Pioneers: Yamaha™
• Sampling
Pioneers: Fairlight™, EMU Systems™,
Synclavier™
... and today: Neuron!
We are convinced that with Neuron, we have created
a technological force sure to drive a sonic revolution
of the same order. Neuron employs a technology that
in the near future will reshape the perceptions of the
entire computer industry. Adaptable computer
algorithms power it. Its sound generation system is
rooted in the overwhelming potential of resynthesis.
The term is easily defined: resynthesis is a process by
which an original exemplar is artificially replicated -
in this case, creating a digital mirror image of a sonic
event – with all its characteristic features remaining
intact.
We applied the principles of an adaptive program
that has evolved and been refined over many years.
Now for the first time in the history of synthesizers,
it is possible to access resynthesized sounds with
astonishing accuracy and radically reshape them to
dramatic, even spectacular effect.
Like a sentient being, Neuron recognizes a sound.
But more than that, its intelligence is such that it
puts at your disposal parameters whose structures
are adapted dynamically to suit this sound. And that
makes Neuron the first synthesizer with a brain full
of responsive synapses, that is, variable rather than
fixed parameter assignments.
Neuron.book Seite 24 Montag, 23. Dezember 2002 2:28 14