Roland D-50 Owner's Manual page 6

OUTLINE OF THE
D-50
OUTLINE OF THE
D-50
The
ROLAND D —
50
is
very
different
from any other
synthesizer,
past or present,
and
as
such
heralds the
dawn
of a
new
era
in
synthesis, in
the
past,
synthesizers
have progressed
through
several
very
diffrent stages.
Firstly, there
were
ANALOG
synthesizers,
which
relied
on
a
variety
of
components, such
as,
VCO's, VCF's,
and
VCA's.
These anaiog
building
blocks
were
relatively easy
to
understand
and program
,
and
they could
produce sounds
of
remarkable
warmth
and
character.
However,
when
it
came
to
accurately
simulating acoustic sounds, the
process could
easily
become
too involved.
On
the other
hand,
the
next breed
of
synthesizers,
known
as
DIGITAL
synthesizers,
could
easily
simulate acoustic sounds, yet they
were
far
more
difficult to
program. Furthermore,
the digital
technology
behind
these
instruments
seemed
to
imply that
a
different
type
of
sound
should occur. In general, just as
an analog
synthesizer
would
be described
as
"warm"
in
character, the
digital
counterpart
was
very
often
"thin".
Essentially,
the
two
types
complemented
each other,
one
being easy
to
program,
the
other
capable of
accurate simulation.
The
ROLAND D—
50 has
now
changed
all that.
Thanks
to a
new
custom disigned Integrated
Circuit
known
as the
'LA
CHIP'.
Here,
LA
stands for
Linear Arithmetic
synthesis
which
is
the heart
of
the
new
technology.
LA
synthesis involves a great
many
technological
advances
resulting
not only
in
a superior
sound
quality
but
also
an
improved ease
of
programming.
In this
way, Roland
has
succeeded
in
maintaining
a
high degree
of familiarity to
the user despite the
technical
wizardry involved.
To
explain the
D—
50
in
a
very
simple
manner,
we
must
begin
by
saying that
it
is
the next
step
in
DIGITAL
synthesizers. This
means
that the
sound
is
entirely
computer
generated.
In fact, the
D—
50
has four distinct
sections
:
1.
A
Digital
Synthesizer
2.
A
Digital
Equalizer
3.
A
Digital
Chorus
section
and
4.
A
Digital
Reverberation
section.
Moreover, these four sections occur entirely within the
DIGITAL
DOMAIN,
resulting in
a
sound
quality far
beyond
that
of
four similar
units
combined. Consequently,
the
musician can take
advantage
of
a
complete instrument,
one
that requires
no
additional effects
or
processing.
However,
the true
power
of
LA
Synthesis
lies
within
the Digital
Synthesizer section of
the
D—
50.
Remember,
first
of
all,
that
this
is
a totally digital
instrument,
even though
the
sound would seem
to
suggest
far
more.
Through
LA
synthesis, the
D—
50 appears
to
have
four
powerful synthesizers
built in.
Each
of
these
hypothetical
synthesizers
could
behave
like
a conventional anaiog syntheizer, or
a
PCM
sampled synthesizer. Consequently, they
are referred to as
PARTIALS,
since they are
far
more
than
just a
pure
synthesizer.
These Partials
are combined
in pairs to
form
a
TONE.
A
Tone could
either
be a
mix
of the
two
Partiais,
or
they could take
advantage
of
the
LA
version
of
cross modulation.
In this
way,
some
of
today's
more popular
digital
sounds
are
remarkably easy
to
achieve.