Synth
Synths (also known as synthesizers) are an electronic device or instrument that is capable of producing a variety of sounds by combining signals of different frequencies. There are five different types of synth that can be used to create music and sounds.
1. Wavetable – these synths use a digital recording of an existing sound. The recordings are known as samples that are played at a higher pitch. Using this type of synth a person can replay the sample at a faster speed instead of just changing the pitch. There are some wavetable synths that allow for real time playback.
2. Physical Modelling – this type of synth uses mathematics. Here you have a synthesis of sound using a set of equations and algorithms that stimulate a physical source of a sound. This was not developed until the 1980s as a way of creating sound and music.
3. Digital – a digital sound is generated in this type of synth. A sound is created that corresponds to a sound pressure at a given sampling frequency. There are a number of digital synths that have been created so that people can create music and sound on the computer rather than on a large machine.
4. Fingerboard – this has a ribbon controller that controls the parameters of the sound processing. This is similar to a touchpad. The problem with this type of synth is that it only records linear motion. It is therefore most commonly used for pitch control.
5. Software – this is used on computer. This was originally how music was recorded. Music was recorded using punch cards that describe the type of instrument being used.