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OB 12
In theory a sound (whether an imitation of an acoustic instrument or a completely new, "surreal"
sound) can be generated with the aid of just three fundamental circuits:
- an oscillator: to generate the basic waveform and control its pitch
- a filter: to control the character of the sound
- an amplifier: to control the volume
In order to render the signal produced by these three components variable over time, envelope
generators are used: they specify how the signal is to change over time.
We will therefore have one envelope dedicated to the oscillator, to determine how the pitch will
change over time, one envelope dedicated to the filter, to determine how the brightness will
change over time, and one envelope dedicated to the amplifier to regulate the volume over time.
At a later point, when we discuss editing of a timber (section 8), we will describe the various
sections of a synthesizer in greater detail.
When generating sound, the OB-12 emulates the subtractive synthesis technique, without a
doubt the most widely used in the old but still effective analog synthesizers.
With this type of synthesis, the timbre is created by generating a waveform with a high harmonics
content, which is then filtered to attenuate the unwanted harmonics. The resulting sound is sent
to the amplifier in order to control its width. These filtering and amplification processes will provide
the sound required.
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