Making Digital Synths Easy
Digital synths can seem like a complex hell-scape of harsh sounds, difficult to understand controls, and strange terminology. However, if you can understand the basic system of how most synths work, you can definitely dive that little bit deeper into the world of digital synthesis!
People often argue about the concept of digital synths VS analogue synths, but I think famous synth engineer Dave Smith sums up what is really important here:
“Some people get way too wrapped up in technology debates, when it should simply be: ‘Do you like the way the instrument sounds, does it have personality, do you bond with it?’”
So if you like using a certain kind of synth or sound, don’t feel guilty about it, there are different tools for different jobs!
The Basics
The most simple synths have the foundation for almost all synthesizers. So it’s a good idea to recap on this architecture before we proceed.
The Oscillator - this is the source, the thing that generates the tone, without this, you’d have no sound at all.
The Filter - this carves out frequencies to help sculpt your sound.
The Amp - this amplifies the signal so it is audible.
The Envelope - this can control the amp (or the filter), and for example, can be used to control how quickly the sound reaches its maximum volume.
The LFO - This is a Low Frequency Oscillator, that you cannot hear, but can be used to affect the above elements to change (or “modulate”) them over time.
FM synths
Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_DX7
“FM” stands for Frequency Modulation, and was first developed in Harvard by John Chowning, and licensed by Yamaha to create their groundbreaking Yamaha DX7 synth in the mid 1980’s.
If you can imagine glassy pads, bell sounds, smoothe deep bass tones, and 1980’s pop, you can imagine FM synths. They are famous for being hard to program and understand, but that is mainly because the first hardware FM synths did not have user friendly hands on controls.
VSTs and some new hardware FM synths are much easier to program, and with the knowledge below, you’ll have no problems.
Instead of Oscillators, FM synths have “Operators”, which are the starting point for our sounds. There are often four or more operators; the more operators you have, the more complex sounds you can produce.
What is special is that each Operator can modulate the other, setting up a chain reaction of sound manipulation, at the source, even before it gets to the filter, amp, envelope or LFO.
“Algorithm” is the word used to describe the different possible routings of how each operator feeds into another. The different options give you a lot of choice when deciding how the synth is going to behave.
Image from https://forum.pdpatchrepo.info/topic/12256/fm-routing-algorithms
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In summary:
FM synths are great for smoothe 1980’s tones, otherworldly sound FXs, and can also sound very harsh - in a metallic way - when pushed to their limits
Don’t be put off with the myth that you need a PHD to be able to operate an FM synth! Once you know the basics, pull up a preset you like on one track. Then on another track, use the same synth, but initialised. Then you can try manually copying the settings over from one to another, building up the preset sound on track 2. Inevitably, you will never get it sounding exactly the same, and voila! You now have your own unique sound.
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Wavetable Synths
“A perfect system, in my opinion, would be able to reproduce all-natural sounds (like a sampler) but with the possibility to change the sounds as much as possible.” - Wolfgang Palm - Inventor of Wavetable Synthesis.
Image from https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/wavetable/
Instead of an Oscillator, Wavetable synths use an audio sample as their starting point. Unlike a Sampler however, they do not use a static sample. They use a stack of individual waveforms that the synth cycles through as you play it.
Sometimes these stacks (the “Wavetables”) are put together in a smoothe way - for example a nice string sound. Or, the wavetables can also be full of contrasting sounds that create crazy, evolving soundscapes.
Wavetable synths come with thousands of in-built wavetables for you to use, but adding your own is often as simple as dragging and dropping an audio file in. These audio sources often will be chopped into thousands of pieces and have smoothing and warping applied to the sound - thus making the table sound as pleasing as possible.
A key element to Wavetable synths is using the LFOs available to modulate the source sound, and cycle through the wavetable as you play, to create textured, evolving sounds.
When to use Wavetable synths:
When you want evolving, epic, and droning soundscapes
Don’t forget they are also good at emulating strings and other acoustic instruments
Get personal - why not record your own sounds and import them in as a custom wavetable? This will add a unique feature to your sound.
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Other Types of Digital Synths
Granular
“I like textures, slowly evolving things, so I built an instrument to achieve those sounds” - Robert Henke, Ableton
Granular Synths work in a very similar way to Wavetable synths, but instead of a whole stack of source sounds, Granular Synths split the audio sample into tiny “grains”.
These grains are used as your starting point when creating a sound, and using an LFO it is possible to cycle through the grains.
Granulator by Robert Henke (Co-Founder of Ableton) is a great free place to start exploring the possibilities of Granular Synths
https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/granulator/
Wave-Sequencing
Instead of stacking sounds in a stacked wavetable, Wave Sequencing synths put samples in a linear sequence, and scroll through them as you play. Some even have multiple “lanes” of these sequences that can create complex & evolving sounds.
This style of synthesis rose to popularity in the 1990’s with Korg’s Wavestation, so if you are looking for a 90’s rave sound, a wave sequencing synth could be the way to go.
“I use the Yamaha DX7 because I understand it. I know that there are theoretically better synths, but I don’t know how to use them” - Brian Eno on FM synthesis
Even Brian Eno can find new types of synthesizers confusing and difficult to learn! Hopefully this article has made it easier to get your head around digital synthesizers, and you won’t feel at all intimidated when trying them out in future.
Here is a list of digital synth plugins worth checking out:
Ableton Operator
Ableton Wavetable
Ganularor for Ableton by Robert Henke
Arturia Pigments
Omnisphere
Tracktion’s F’EM
Native Instruments Massive X
Let me know if you find any more good ones!
David Maitland
Clan Chieftain at Tonic Note
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