A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to make musical sounds. Electronic keyboards make music through sound waves. The very earliest digital synthesis experiments were made with general-purpose computers, as part of academic research into sound generation.

Early commercial digital synthesizers used simple hard-wired digital circuitry to implement techniques such as additive synthesis and FM synthesis, becoming commercially available in the early 1980s.

Other techniques, such as wavetable synthesis and physical modeling, only became possible with the advent of high-speed microprocessor and digital signal processing technology. One of the earliest commercial digital synthesizers was the Synclavier.

The Yamaha DX7 was the first commercial all-digital synthesizer.^[1] It became indispensable to many music artists of the 1980s.^[2]

Some digital synthesizers now exist in the form of "softsynth" software that synthesizes sound using conventional PC hardware, though they require careful programming and a fast CPU to get the same latency response as their dedicated equivalents. In order to reduce latency, some professional sound card manufacturers have developed specialized digital signal processing hardware. Dedicated digital synthesizers frequently have the advantage of onboard accessibility, with switchable front panel controls to peruse their functions, whereas software synthesizers trump their dedicated counterparts with their additional functionality, against the handicap of a mouse-driven control system.

With focus on performance-oriented keyboards and digital computer technology, manufacturers of commercial electronic instruments created some of the earliest digital synthesizers for studio and experimental use with computers being able to handle built-in sound synthesis algorithms.^[3]

[edit] Analog vs. digital

The main difference is the microprocessors used to generate the sound. A digital synthesizer is basically a computer with software used as an interface. An analog synthesizer is made up of sound-generating circuitry and modulators. Another difference is the price. Digital synthesizers can be run with a MIDI control, thus equipment is much cheaper depending on what quality of sound one is looking for. Also the price of the computer, its CPU speed, and software interface also determine the money spent. Analog synthesizers contain their own controls on the circuit board, making them harder to learn but more capable of creating its own unique sound instead of using a preset from software. ^[4]

[edit] Bands using digital synth

Both the Roland Jupiter-4 and Jupiter-8 synthesizers were used by New Wave band Duran Duran during the early 1980s.

The New Wave era of the 1980s first brought the digital synthesizer to the public ear. Bands like Talking Heads and Duran Duran used the digitally made sounds on some of their most popular albums. Other more pop inspired bands like Hall & Oates began incorporating the digital synthesizer into their sound in the 1980s. Through breakthroughs in technology in the 1990s almost every synthesizer now created has DSP processing.

[edit] Early digital synth models

One of the first well known models is the made by the Korg company. Now with dozens of models, they have revolutionized digital synth creation. Bands like The Cure and Queen have used such models as the Korg M1. Another brand of popular digital synthesizer is Casio. Such artists as Moby began using the Casio CZ-101 at an early age of production. ^[5]

[edit] Digital synthesis

Working more or less the same way, every digital synthesizer is seemingly like a computer. At a steady sample rate, digital synthesis produces a stream of numbers. Sound from speakers is then produced by a conversion to analog form. Through signal generation, voice and instrument-level processing, a signal flow is created and controlled either by MIDI capabilities or voice and instrument-level controls.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Psycle, a freely downloadable modular software synthesizer and sequencer/tracker (open source and totally free)
• Buzz, a freely downloadable modular software synthesizer (gratis but proprietary)

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