become a synth power user
We’re going to begin by looking at the most common form of synthesis, known as subtractive synthesis. In some circles, you may hear subtractive described as analogue synthesis; it is effectively the same thing, but in the case of the latter, the moniker has stuck thanks to subtractive’s association with analogue synthesisers – very much those existing in the hardware world, rather than software. Analogue technology with subtractive synthesis was where it all started, with many of the current crop of synth plugins looking to emulate the early vintage classics. Like most audio-related matters, subtractive works on a principal of a signal chain, so we’ll begin at the front of this chain, with the oscillator.
In literal terms, the oscillator emits a pulse a number of times per second. The more frequent that these pulses become, the closer together they are, with the consequence being that as they increase in frequency, the sound moves from a singular pulse to something which sounds like a pitch.
The frequency of these pulses is measured in a unit known as Hertz, which literally translates as ‘cycles per second’. Even if you’re not
