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Synthesizers

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    Moog Mariana

    Software Bass Synthesizer

    Moog’s new bass soft synth goes deep. Really deep...

    Reviews . Mar 2024
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    Michelle Moog Koussa

    The Bob Moog Foundation | Podcast

    Building A Legacy

    Michelle Moog Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation, talks to Rob Puricelli about her father's legacy.

    People Jul 2021
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    Figure 1: A simple six-oscillator synthesizer.

    The Theoretical Acoustic Guitar Patch

    Synth Secrets

    Having explained last month the reasons why analogue synthesis of guitar sounds should be well-nigh impossible, Gordon Reid puts the theory to the test...

    Techniques Sep 2001
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    Synth Secrets Aug 2001 header image of acoustic guitar being played.

    Synthesizing Plucked Strings

    Synth Secrets

    Having dealt exhaustively with the mechanics of brass instruments and how to go about synthesizing them, we turn to instruments that use plucked strings to generate their sound, taking the complexities of the acoustic guitar as an example.

    Techniques Aug 2001
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    Brass Synthesis On A Minimoog

    Synth Secrets

    Last month we looked at how analogue modules can reproduce the sound of a real trumpet. All very well if you own a wall-sized modular system — but what if your means are more limited? Gordon Reid adapts theory to practice with a Minimoog.

    Techniques Jun 2001
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    Figure 1: [top-left] A simple monosynth. Figure 2: [bottom-left] A four-note broken chord played on a low-note-priority monosynth. Figure 3: [top-right] A four-

    Introducing Polyphony

    Synth Secrets

    Having explored the way monophonic and duophonic analogue keyboards work, Gordon Reid puts away his Minimoog and Odyssey and descends into the complex world of polyphonic synths to a flourish of complex jazz chords.

    Techniques Dec 2000
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    Figure 3: [top] Creating a. Figure 4: [bottom] The chromatic scale generated by the configuration in.

    Priorities & Triggers

    Synth Secrets

    In these days of 64-note polyphony and 32-part multitimbrality, it's easy to forget the importance of note-priority systems in analogue monosynths — yet they can have a drastic effect on what you hear when you play or trigger an old synth. Gordon Reid provides a refresher course.

    Techniques Oct 2000
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    Figure 1: [left] An irregular, non-repeating waveform.

    Envelopes, Gates & Triggers

    Synth Secrets

    You press a key on your synth. It plays a note. That's it, right? Wrong. We explain the role of envelopes, gates, and triggers in this deceptively simple process.

    Techniques Nov 1999
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    Figure 1 [top] and Figure 2.

    Of Filters & Phase Relationships

    Synth Secrets

    Having dealt last month with the concepts of envelopes, oscillators and LFOs, Gordon Reid moves on to the subject of filters, and the havoc they wreak on the signals that pass through them.

    Techniques Aug 1999
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    Figures 7, 8 and 9: Shown from top to bottom.

    What's In A Sound?

    Synth Secrets

    In Part 1 of this (63-part) series exploring the world of subtractive synthesis, Gordon Reid goes right back to basics. What are waveforms and harmonics, where do they come from, and how does the theory relate to what we actually hear?

    Techniques May 1999
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    Synth School: Part 3

    Digital Synthesis (FM, PD & VPM)

    Having completed his study of analogue synthesis last month, Paul Wiffen takes a look at FM and its related digital synthesis types, which rocked the synth world throughout the 1980s.

    Techniques Sep 1997
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