Table of Contents
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1.
Introduction
2.
Theory
of
the
Synthesizer
A
synthesizer
is
not an organ.
The
basic
difference
lies in
the synthesizer's
ability
to
freely
modify sound
envelopes,
or,
in
other
words,
radically alter
the quality
of musical
sounds.
The
synthesizer can
modify sound
enve-
lope
elements
to
change envelope
charac-
teristics
and
thus
modify volume and
tone
to
synthesize
many
sounds which
are unlike
any
which
can
be
produced
by
conventional
instruments,
in
addition to
sounds which
are
exactly
like
those of conventional
instru-
ments.
Thus,
the
Synthesizer has the inherent
capability
of
extending
the range
of musical
conception through production of unique
new
sounds.
The
Voice
Generator,
which
generates
electronic
signals
that play
an
important
role
in
all
electronic
musical
instruments,
is
composed
of the
VCO
"Voltage
Controlled
Oscillator",
and
its
musical
interval
is
con-
trolled
by
the
voltage
coming from
the
keyboard
switch.
As
the
wave form
of
the
music sound produced by
the
VCO
has
many
harmonics,
the
desired
tone
is
produced
through
a
VCF
or
"Voltage
Controlled
Filter".
The
function
of the
Filter
is
also de-
pendent on
the
voltage.
The
signal
through
the
VCF
is
modified with
regard
to
the
rising,
falling
or
the maintaining of
sound
by
the
function
of
the
VCA
"Voltage
Controlled Amplifier".
Consequently,
the
VCO,
VCF
and
VCA
are
the crux of Synthesizer operation.
There
are
included
various
kinds
of
voltage
generators
to
modify
these
three
circuits.
For example,
the
LFO
(Low
Fre-
quency
Oscillator)
generates an electronic
oscillation
lower than audio-frequency
and
supplies voltage to the
VCO
for Vibrato,
to
the
VCF
for
Growl, and
to
the
VCA
for
Tremolo
functions.
And
a
SAMPLER
incorporating
a
different
LFO
taps
at
regular
intervals
the input voltage
produced by
the
first
mentioned
LFO
or
random
voltage
produced
by
the
Noise
Generator
and
supplies
this
voltage
into
the
VCO
to create
special
sounds
regardless
of
individual
key-
board
notes.
3
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