Berklee College of Music: Introduction to Music Production

Synthesis is the language of sound/timbre. The building blocks of basic analogue synthesis are that you always start with a signal generated by one or more oscillators.  This might be a sine, square or sawtooth waveform, usually something fairly simple. This is then filtered by frequency to give some bass or treble characteristics. It is then modulated to give it more character with perhaps a low frequency oscillator (LFO) adding movement or a sub bass oscillator adding depth and bass. An Amp envelope equates to how the sound comes in and out i.e. its volume characteristics (the attacks, decay, sustain and release parameters). And that is basically it!

Of course there are a lot of different synths that add a lot more to it than that. Some ‘analogue’ types might have seven different oscillators, for example, or allow a gazillion different modulations so you can take the output of an LFO and apply it to the resonance of the filter. Next is digital. With more digital based synths you don’t just start with analogue waveforms, you can have digital waveforms or samples that enter the signal flow for all sorts of fun. And finally, FM synthesis is a whole new ball game for now.