Synth is an electronic musical instrument that offers excellent sonic sounds for underground and mainstream music of today. In simple terms, synths produce vibrations through electrical signals in various degrees, which you cannot expect from guitar or vocal cords. In this digital world, synths have become even more accessible. Still, not many people know how one can use it for sound production. If you wish to become a music producer, you will have to polish your software and hardware synths knowledge. Of course, the emphasis will be on the first one as it is a digital age. When you attend a commercial lesson in this, you will get a clear view of more of its nitty-gritty.
Basic parameters of all synths
Oscillators
Any synth sound contains oscillators or VCOs, which produce continuous waveforms. You can modify them by controlling frequency, amplitude, and waveshape. Frequency refers to the speed of a waveform and its one complete cycle that you can measure as low or high pitch. The loudness of the sound bouncing off the oscillator stands for amplitude, and you can measure it in decibels. As far as waveshape goes, you will find that waveform can be of four main types – triangle, sine, square, and sawtooth. You can notice waveforms when you play audio. You will get at least two oscillators in any synth to produce different sounds.
Filters
Doing any reputable music production courses in Mumbai can be helpful if you wish to make a career in this domain. During the music course, you will find many things that you may never have heard of earlier. But understanding them is crucial to becoming an expert. When you talk about synths and oscillators, you have to recognize that the sound created by an oscillator consists of a fundamental frequency and a harmonic series. These give the sound a unique sonic characteristic or timbre, which represents tones and colors. Don’t confuse this with pitch. Instead, these define them as rich, noisy, or warm.
From an oscillator, a sound enters the stage of filters for acquiring a specific shape. You can classify this into four – high pass, low pass, notch, and bandpass.
Amplifiers and envelopes
After filters, the sound enters the process of the amplifier, which determines the volume. Every amplifier has an envelope that decides the magnitude of the sound over time. There can be four steps to process this: attack time, decay time, sustain level, and release time.
Modulation
Any movement or change in the synth is modulation. You can use envelopes to modulate any synth parameter. It helps you give your sound a proper shape.
Frankly, synths can be only a tiny aspect of music production, but it too has so many layers. For an uninitiated, it can be too much information to handle without any background. That’s why it is crucial to delve deeper into music production, especially if you are serious about your pursuit. When you join a course, you will gain a clear understanding of many aspects theoretically and practically.
