But a string will make no sound by itself, so the synth also models a variety of stimulation sources, like a pick or a bow or wind or a dulcimer-like hammer.
#Audio modeling swam engine instruments mpe software#
To synthesize a cello, for example, a physical modeling synth generates a software representation of a string, with adjustments for material, tension, damping, and more, in order to fine-tune the string’s tone, response, and decay time. Yamaha’s VP1 was one of the first commercially available physical modeling synthesizers. Physical modeling synthesis resulted in new sounds that have the character and harmonic complexity of acoustic samples but the malleability of more traditional synthesis techniques. This technique creates sound by using software to mathematically simulate a physical object’s acoustic vibrations. Instruments using a new synthesis technology called physical modelingfirst appeared in the 1990s. Wouldn’t it be great to have the complex sonic richness of acoustic instruments or samples, but with the malleability of synthesis, especially when played by expressive MPE controllers? Enter Physical Modeling Today, with the introduction of expressive MPE controllers such as the Haken Continuum, Roli Seaboard, or my LinnStrument, it is more important than ever to create new sounds that are not only harmonically rich and complex, but also respond naturally to the performed changes in pitch, loudness, and timbre that these new controllers enable.
Expressive MPE Controllers Demand More from Synthesis And these sounds weren’t very malleable in ways that I found musical useful. Yes, replacing oscillators with sampled waveforms helped achieve the harmonic richness I sought, but only in specific pitch ranges or dynamic levels. To me, most sounds ended up sounding somewhat buzzy.
Even with improvements such as more complex oscillators, sampled waveforms, different filter types, and multiple voice partials, I found it difficult to create new sounds that contained the type of complex harmonic richness that I found in acoustic instruments. However, I could quickly get areasonably close approximationofmanyof the sounds I could imagine. It seemed that I could make any musical sound I could imagine.Įxcept I couldn’t. This underappreciated synthesis technique may be the key to greater musical expression.Įver since I first laid my hands on a Moog modular synth at around age 13, I’ve been fascinated with its subtractive synthesismodel: oscillator to lowpass filter to VCA, using envelope generators and LFOs as modulators.
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