TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE08AUDIOEXAMPLESNOTES

Subtractivesynthesisstartswithaharmonicallyrichwaveform,thentakesouttheunwantedfrequency
components.Therawwaveformsaretypicallythese(examplesfromtheArturiasoftwarerecreationofthe
famousMinimoogsynthesizerofthe1970s).

Examplefile:wavetriangle.wave
Examplefile:wavetrianglesawtooth.wav
Examplefile:wavesawtooth.wav
Examplefile:wavesquare.wav
Examplefile:wavepulse1.wav
Examplefile:wavepulse2.wav

Asyoucanhear,thetrianglewaveistheleastharmonicallyrich.Thesawtoothwaveisperhapsrichest
subjectively.Thesquarewavesoundsrather'hollow'duetotheabsenceofevennumberedharmonics.The
twopulsewavesareharmonicallyrich,butaresubjectivelyratherthin.

Somesubtractivesynthesizershaveotherwaveformstoo.

Thesinewaveistheonewaveformthatisofnouseforsubtractivesynthesisasithasnoharmonicsand
thereforethereisnothingtosubtract.However,itisauniquesoundinitselfandissometimesprovided.In
somesynthesizersthefiltercanalsobeusedasanoscillatorthatproducesanapproximationtoasine
wave.Anylackofaccuracyherecanlendtexturetothesound.

Manysubtractivesynthesizershavemorethanoneoscillator,sothata'fatter'soundcanbeproduced.The
degreeoffatnessdependsonhowprecisely,ornot,theyarealignedinfrequency.Inthedaysofanalog
subtractivesynthesizers,itwasimpossibletokeeptwooscillatorspreciselyintuneforanylengthoftime,
andtheywouldalwaysdriftslightly.

Hereareexamplesoftwooscillatorsatdifferentstatesofdetuning...

Examplefile:2oscdetune.wav
Examplefile:2oscdetune2.wav
Examplefile:2oscdetune3.wav
Examplefile:2oscdetune4.wav
Examplefile:2oscdetune5.wav

Filter

Althoughtheoscillatorsproducetherawsound,itisthelowpassfilterthatisattheheartofthe
subtractivesynthesizer.

Thefiltergenerallywillhavecontrolsforcutofffrequencyandresonance.Withtheresonancecontrolset
toanythingabovezerotherewillbeaboostjustbelowthecutofffrequency.Herearetherawwaveforms
passedthroughthefilterwiththeresonancecontrol(named'emphasis'ontheMinimoog)sethalfway.The
frequencycontrolissweptupanddown.

Examplefile:filteremphasishalftriangle.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasishalftrisaw.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasishalfsawtooth.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasishalfsquare.wav

Module08AudioExamplesNotes
Examplefile:filteremphasishalfpulse1.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasishalfpulse2.wav

Andnowwiththeresonancecontrolsetfullyup(Onsomesubtractivesynthesizers,thiswillproducean
oscillation.Inthisinstanceitdoesnot.).Thefrequencycontrolissweptupanddown.

Examplefile:filteremphasisfulltriangle.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasisfulltrisaw.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasisfullsawtooth.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasisfullsquare.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasisfullpulse1.wav
Examplefile:filteremphasisfullpulse2.wav

Nowsomeexampleswherethefrequencycontroliskeptconstant,andtheemphasiscontrolissweptup
anddown...

Examplefile:emphasissweeptriangle.wav
Examplefile:emphasissweeptrisaw.wav
Examplefile:emphasissweepsawtooth.wav
Examplefile:emphasissweepsquare.wav
Examplefile:emphasissweeppulse1.wav
Examplefile:emphasissweeppulse2.wav

EnvelopeGenerator

Sofarallthe'movement'inthesoundshasbeenthroughadjustingthecontrolsmanually.Butthiscanbe
doneautomaticallyusingtheenvelopegenerator.

Allsynthesizershavean'envelopegenerator'withwhichtoshapethesound.Thebasicenvelopegenerator
hascontrolsfortherateofattack,rateofdecay,thesustainlevelandtherateofrelease.

Inthepreviousexamplestheattackwassettozero,thedecaytozero,thesustainleveltofullandthe
releasetozero.Soeachnotestarted,playedandstopped,insomecaseswithmanualadjustmentwhilethe
notewasplaying.Inthefollowingexamples,thereisnomanualadjustment.Thelevelduringthenoteis
controlledbytheenvelopegenerator.

Heretheattackismedium,thedecaymediumandthesustainlevellow...

Examplefile:envelopemml.wav

Now,theattackismedium,thedecayshortandthesustainlevellow...

Examplefile:envelopemsl.wav

Theattackshort,thedecaymedium,thesustainlevellow...

Examplefile:envelopesml.wav

Theattackshort,thedecayshortandthesustainlevellow...

Examplefile:envelopessl.wav

Theattackshort,thedecayzeroandthesustainlevellow...

Examplefile:envelopeszl.wav

Theattackshort,thedecayzeroandthesustainlevelzero...

Module08AudioExamplesNotes
Examplefile:envelopeszz.wav

Clearlytherearemany,manypossibilities.Theaboveexamplesarejustafractionofwhatevenasimple
envelopegeneratorcanachieve.

Itisalsopossiblefortheenvelopegeneratortocontrolthecutofffrequencyofthefilter.Herearesome
examplesusingarich,fatsoundasthestartingpoint...

Examplefile:filterenvelope1.wav
Examplefile:filterenvelope2.wav
Examplefile:filterenvelope3.wav
Examplefile:filterenvelope4.wav
Examplefile:filterenvelope5.wav
Examplefile:filterenvelope6.wav

LowFrequencyOscillator

Mostsubtractivesynthesizersareequippedwithalowfrequencyoscillatorthatcanmodulatethe
frequencyoftheoscillators,theleveloftheoutputandthecutofffrequencyofthefilter.

Hereareexamplesofthelowfrequencyoscillatorbeingusedtocreatevibrato...

Examplefile:vibratonarrow.wav
Examplefile:vibratowide.wav

Andexamplesofthelowfrequencyoscillatorbeingusedtocreateawahwaheffect...

Examplefile:wah.wav
Examplefile:wah2.wav
Examplefile:wah3.wav

Sounds

Finally,examplesofsoundsthatcanbeachievedusingsubtractivesynthesis...

Examplefile:preset1.wav
Examplefile:preset2.wav
Examplefile:preset3.wav
Examplefile:preset4.wav
Examplefile:preset5.wav
Examplefile:preset6.wav
Examplefile:preset7.wav
Examplefile:preset8.wav
Examplefile:preset9.wav
Examplefile:preset10.wav
Examplefile:preset11.wav
Examplefile:preset12.wav
Examplefile:preset13.wav
Examplefile:preset14.wav
Examplefile:preset15.wav
Examplefile:preset16.wav
Examplefile:preset17.wav
Examplefile:preset18.wav

Endofaudioexamplesnotes.

Module08AudioExamplesNotes