6.0

Mixers and Audio Objects
168
bright and dark or sharp and soft with the filter. Remem-
ber though, that the sound output by the filter still goes on
endlessly. This is where the amplifier comes in. It gives a
beginning and an end to the endless sound by simply
turning its volume up from zero and down to zero.
Okay, now you have learned how and where in a synthe-
sizer the three basic sonic parameters—pitch, timbre and
volume—are controlled. But there is one final step waiting
to be taken in order to fully understand how a synthesizer
does what it does. And that is that each of the parameters
pitch, timbre and volume can not only be controlled man-
ually—like twisting a control named “volume” or
“pitch”—but can be controlled automatically by the syn-
thesizer itself.
To do this, a synthesizer offers not only the above-men-
tioned oscillator, filter and amplifier modules, but also
some additional modules that produce adjustable curves.
These curves can be one-shot or repeat periodically, and
are used to alter pitch, timbre or volume automatically.
Here are two examples: first, imagine an additional mod-
ule that produces a periodically repeating curve that goes
up and down and up and down and so on. Now imagine
this curve controls pitch. The result? Pitch goes up and
down and up and down and so on, according to the curve.
In this case, we say that pitch is “modulated” by the curve
that goes up and down and up and down and so on.
Second example: imagine an additional module that pro-
duces a one-shot curve that goes up, when you press a key
on your keyboard, and that goes down, when you release
the key. Now imagine that this curve controls volume. The
result? The sound starts when you press a key, and it ends
when you release it. In this case, we say that volume is
modulated by the curve that goes up when you press a key
on your keyboard, and that goes down when you release
the key.
To sum everything up, a synthesizer gives you manual
control of the three basic parameters of sound: pitch, tim-
bre and volume. Furthermore, a synthesizer can control
these parameters automatically by itself, which is called
modulation. And now let’s get straight to the astounding
capabilities of your new synthesizers. Enjoy!
Please note:
The following explanations of the synthesizers are de-
signed to be read when you like. It is not necessary to read
the explanations in a specific order; you can start with the
synthesizer you first wish to get acquainted with. This
means of course that some explanations will be repeated