Synth-A-What?

            To help everybody better understand synthesis, I am going to break it down into sections. Synthesis is the building up or combining of different elements to create a NEW whole. Now what does that mean? Nothing, not without some context. There are many forms of synthesis including Subtractive, Additive, FM, Granular, Wavetable, and so on and so on. But how are these forms any different from one another? It all comes down to the internal components and its overall construction, but the important thing to remember is they all have one goal, to create a NEW sound.

The panel on the analog Arp Odyssey, a
subtractive synthesizer, clearly shows
the subtractive synthesis chain. Every
section of the subtractive process is in order:
VCO, VCF, then VCA. There are some
other sections in between, but for now we
will only focus on those sections.

            The easiest form of synthesis to explain, and the first type of synthesis I learned about from my repair job at A Sound Education, is Subtractive synthesis. There are there distinct sections of subtractive synthesis, a VCO, a VCF, and a VCA. The VC in each of the three stands for Voltage Controlled, and the letters after describe the section of the synthesizer (Oscillator, Filter, and Amplifier).  Everything in old analog Subtractive synthesizers was Voltage Controlled meaning that the parameters are changed or altered by an applied voltage. This variable voltage allows for changes in pitch, a sweeping cutoff on a filter, or any other parameter change.

            In Subtractive synthesis, an audio signal stemming from the VCO, usually a complex waveform (but sine waves are also present) such as a Square, Sawtooth, Triangle wave, or any other sound rich in harmonics/ partials is sent to the VCF where its harmonics are attenuated or taken away to create a more diverse, altered timbre.

I’ll ask the question (because I know you’re dying to ask it); how is taking away harmonics synthesis, when you clearly stated synthesis is the building up or combining of different elements? Well to you I say, read the second sentence again and look at the bolded all capital word. The most important part of synthesis to understand is it is the creation of something new. By filtering away harmonics, you are able to make a more useful sound; instead of something that might normally have been present in the whole audio spectrum with all its harmonics, and taking up valuable space in the mix, you can now filter it out and make it fit where you want.

Once the original audio from the oscillator has been sent through the filter, it reaches the amplifier, or the VCA, and boosts the signal so we can all enjoy it (or cringe, you’re in control).

That is the basic run through of Subtractive synthesis. In subsequent posts I will detail further about the parameters and functions of the VCO, VCF, and VCA, but I feel that is enough to wrap your brain around for the moment. A note to end on; synthesis does not need to thought of as coming from a dedicated “synthesizer”, but can be anything from the graphic equalizer in iTunes, to a guitar pedal. As long as you are changing the original sound and creating something new, you are synthesizing.

Basic block diagram of subtractive synthesis.
VCO to VCF to VCA.

...My mistake in "Player Piano" was my failure as a futurist. I did not foresee transistors, and so imagined that super computers would have to be huge, with bulky vacuum tubes taking up a lot of space. -Kurt Vonnegut in "Letters"

Hacked!

            Just recently I purchased a Korg Monotron Duo, a small ribbon controlled synthesizer that features the old Korg MS-10 and MS-20 VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter). The intent is to modify the device to create a more diverse, robust, and functional filter to use with my other gear. I already have the Monotron Delay, and I am in love with it for the thick sound it produces but didn’t want that one to be my first modification. So why would I want to modify it in the first place, when I could instead buy something that already comes in a more functional state?

            Well, because it is the old MS-20 filter. The Korg MS-10 and MS-20 semi-modular synthesizers have been highly sought after since they stopped making them in 1983. It wasn’t until recently that Korg rolled out the MS-20 mini, an almost identical twin to the MS-20. And while the new MS-20 is $600, and a vintage MS-20 can be anywhere around $2,000, I decided that modifying the $50 Monotron was the next best option.

            I have stated it before and I will state it again, you can’t beat the thick, full sound of analog equipment. Digital equipment while it continues to get better over the years just does not have the same feel. That is where Korg’s Monotron line comes into play. While they know what you can do with the Monotron is limited, it only has an aux jack, a headphone jack, and a one-octave ribbon controller; they also understand that people will try to modify it.

Korg's schematic for the Monotron Duo.

            The people at Korg, realizing this, so kindly decided to put the schematics for the devices up on their website. That is unheard of! A company that freely gives you their schematics must be crazy, right? Not really, in a sense it is good business, people continue to buy the cheap Monotrons, and not just one, but all of them, and they experiment with them and post their findings. Korg even has a page on their forum where you can share ideas. When information is this readily available, customers are not trying to go behind the back of the manufacturers. Instead there is harmony.

            Korg gets feedback from their customers on what they like about different devices, they even get ideas on what is popular or what should be added, and all for no research and development dollars. The only thing Korg does to protect itself is say that once you open the device and perform any modifications, the warranty is void and any modifications can result in damage to the device and/ or the user. I was asked if I wanted the warranty and the cashier chuckled when I told him what I was going to do.

            Maybe this is a new way to perform research and development, or lead a focus group. Other companies should take note. Korg gives you some leeway, and in return Korg customers stay happy, and I know I will be a returning customer.

I will post an update once I perform the modification
to let everyone know how it turns out.

...My mistake in "Player Piano" was my failure as a futurist. I did not foresee transistors, and so imagined that super computers would have to be huge, with bulky vacuum tubes taking up a lot of space. -Kurt Vonnegut in "Letters"

Into The Unknown

            In one of my earlier posts, “Electronic Performance”, I detailed how electronic artists can depersonalize themselves from their audience. By means of playing previously recorded music and then just singing over it, they disconnect themselves and also take part of the thrill out of watching a musician present their craft. Recently, I was approached and asked to perform at a show (this Thursday) being put on by the Live Sound class at my school. They told me the type of music they were looking for and I immediately set off to create a set that would fit their guidelines.

            As quick as I agreed to perform at the show, I just as quickly regretted it. I knew they were looking for a performance similar to the last show I did in which I used my loop pedal and synthesizer to create a textured song. While this moment is everything that a young musician could want, experience and exposure, it is also something that fills me with dread. I went back and reread my earlier post about electronic performance, and had a slight change of heart, or at least a deeper understanding. I understand why those synthesists do what they do.

            The real question is did my change of heart also lead me to a change in game plan… nope. I still plan on going out there with three synthesizers, a ribbon controller, an X/Y pad, a digital piano, drum machine, loop pedal, and a mixer. Why? Because I didn’t get into electronic music and performance to stand there passively. I got into electronic music, because even the most experimental electronic music forces you to move. It doesn’t always make you want to start dancing, sometimes the movement is walking to the back of the venue because those piercing synthetic tones hurt, but non-the less it moves you.

            In the end I am not sure how my show is going to turn out; I am playing two pieces that are improvised with only the patches mapped out and two songs I have experience playing. Sure, it is going to be a big risk, but I believe it will pay off. If it doesn’t, at least I can say I tried.

My feet will be just as busy as my hands.
Rehearsing my set.

...My mistake in "Player Piano" was my failure as a futurist. I did not foresee transistors, and so imagined that super computers would have to be huge, with bulky vacuum tubes taking up a lot of space. -Kurt Vonnegut in "Letters"

Misunderstood...

            Synthesis has given our generation a means to produce music that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to make. From being able to create new unique sounds that are not physically possibly in the natural world, to recreating the sounds of common instruments, the synthesizer is a wonderful tool.

            Just recently I learned that one of my favorite dark wave artists, Zola Jesus, is combining the two worlds together. In her younger years, before producing electronic music, she was training to be an opera singer. After awhile she grew tired of the training and switched gears, focusing on an easier to produce and more marketable form of music, electronic.

            At The Guggenheim museum in New York City, May 2012, Zola Jesus had the opportunity to perform her songs with a string quartet, the Mivos Quartet. Arranged by J. G. Thirlwell of Foetus, Thirlwell took the Zola Jesus’ heavily string-synthesizer based songs and helped her realize her original goal when she wrote the songs.

            Zola Jesus’ music before its reinvention at The Guggenheim, might not of seemed accessible to the average listener, primarily due to the electronic tag that is associated with it, but after, won the hearts of the packed halls. The point I am trying to make is that, sometimes within the electronic genre, stereotypes are formed, and most people won’t give the artist the light of day, till it is radically altered. In this case, the songs weren’t radically altered; rather they were just performed differently.

Zola Jesus interview and performance at The Guggenheim Museum.

            Just ask Wendy Carlos, in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, after the release of her album, “Switched-On Bach”, she helped record various soundtracks, some of which you may be familiar with (A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron), till the AFM, or the American Federation of Musicians, banned synthesizers from soundtracks for a period of time. The reason they were banned, because they thought that synthesizers were going to take the place of “real” musicians.

Wendy Carlos from A Clockwork Orange.

            Synthesizers have always been misunderstood; even today there is a vagueness, a shroud of mystery that surrounds them. After a few years AFM removed the ban and synthesizers became prevalent in movies again, but they never completely took over like they thought they would. Think of how radically different some of your favorite movies would have been without synthesizers; Star Wars would not have been able to come up with some of their iconic sounds achieved from the Arp 2600, or Close Encounters of the Third Kind with the Arp 2500 (There’s a pattern, and it’s that Arp’s were great for creating sound FX)

            While today there is no ban or strike against synthesizers, they are still treated as outsiders, as oddballs, and as different. But Zola Jesus, for as brief as her combining the natural and electronic may be (she is on tour with the quartet now), she helped some people realize that down beneath the oscillators, filters, reverb, and controllers, there is more then just electronics, there is passion, soul, creativity, and most importantly, a song.

Another Zola Jesus performance at The Guggenheim Museum.

...My mistake in "Player Piano" was my failure as a futurist. I did not foresee transistors, and so imagined that super computers would have to be huge, with bulky vacuum tubes taking up a lot of space. -Kurt Vonnegut in "Letters"

Series. Parallel. Series-Parallel

      Here it is, what you have all been waiting for, my amazingly relevant, real-life electronics story.

Just recently I was over at my friends house and he was stringing Christmas lights in a fort that we made for his daughter when one half of the lights went out. Only one bulb was out. So why then did half of them turn off? What about the other half? What does this have to do with electronics? The answer, it has everything to do with electronics.

Series. Parallel. Series-parallel. These words describe how circuits are connected. After learning about Ohm’s Law and how voltage, current, and resistance interact, this is a great way to gain a deeper understanding in how current flows (Electron Flow that goes negative to positive. Don’t let all those textbooks fool you with conventional current that goes positive to negative. Spring that one on your teacher and watch them backtrack trying to explain why it’s like that.).

A series circuit has only one path to ground.

A series circuit has only one path for current to flow through. The current in a series circuit will remain the same throughout, while there will be voltage drops along each component. Therefor, the total resistance equals the resistances of all the resistors together or, R_t=R₁+R₂+R₃+… Think of a box, to complete a circuit it must follow the lines to get back to the beginning or starting point.

Imagine that the switch is another light. When the switch is closed, like it is right now, all the lights "light" up. When the switch is open, or in the up position, all the lights are off. 

Parallel circuit, similar to a ladder,
has multiple paths to ground.

On the other hand, a parallel circuit has more than one path for current to flow. The voltage across each path is the same in a parallel circuit while the current is reduced along each path. The math for a parallel circuit is slightly more complex, to find the total resistance you take the inverse of the all the resistor’s inverses added up. Inversely, it looks, and is, easier then it sounds. R_t=1/((1/R₁)+(1/R₂)+(1/R₃)+…). Simple. Right? Imagine a ladder where the current has many paths or rungs to take to complete the circuit.

Now to tie everything back together with the Christmas lights. When lights are placed in a series circuit, there is only one path for the current to travel down. When a singular light goes out, it acts like a switch, essentially breaking the path and not allowing the current to flow past it (Standing current) to the other lights. If one light does not get any current, then none of them do. A parallel circuit has multiple paths for current to travel down, so if a light were to go out, the current would still be able to flow through the other paths available and light the other bulbs.

Almost every mystery has been solved, save for one. Why did half of the strand go out when one bulb blew, and not the whole strand? Because it was a series-parallel strand of lights, there were two series strands attached to the same plug, meaning while one half is out, the other is still able to light up.

In a series-parallel circuit, if the light on the left was to go out, the two lights to the right would still be on because they still have a path to ground. If one of the lights on the right was out, both on lights on the right would be out because they are in series, while the light on the left would remain on.

...My mistake in "Player Piano" was my failure as a futurist. I did not foresee transistors, and so imagined that super computers would have to be huge, with bulky vacuum tubes taking up a lot of space. -Kurt Vonnegut in "Letters"