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Re: filters



james fowler schrieb:
>
>     But then again - why would you want to get a
>     subtractive-synth-type sound from a FS1R? Wouldn't it work better
>     if you used some other synth from the start (just wondering)?
>
>
> not sure i was thinking about it in those terms. i just have a sound 
> in my head and i know that filtering is how to achieve it.
I believe that is an important starting point. While with the complexity 
and power of today's synths, it's typically possible to do any type of 
sound with any type of synth. I can do bell-like artifical Eighties 
sounds with a virtual analog, such as the Waldorf Q. I also can do a 
303-style bass, complete with filter sweeps, with a FS1R. However, I'll 
probably will find it easier to get the bell-like sound with the FS1R 
and vice versa. So depending on what you have available on the sw/hw 
side, and what kind of sound you're after, another synth altogether 
might be the right way to go.

In addition to that, some synthesis concepts are easier to grasp 
intuitively. "Three basic and separate aspects of the sound are shaped 
in the three main sections of oscillator, filter and amplifier. You set 
the general sound characteristic with the waveform for the oscillators 
(from left to right: pure to shrill), and the pitch of each oscillator 
with the octave. Want some combination? Do a linear superposition of two 
(or three) oscillators. Then the filter section. Turning cutoff to the 
left makes the sound more dull, to the right more bright. And finally 
the amplifier section, and with it the most-important envelope of any 
synthesizer. With that envelope, you adjust how the sound develops over 
time, so to speak: gently coming in with long attack, percussive 
behaviour with low sustain and short decay and so on. Even the more 
advanced stuff – like doing some “mwah” with the filter envelope – is 
really easy to grasp if you spend some time with one of those." [1].
Using FM synthesis, this is kinda different. Synthesis looses much of 
its intuitive character if you have to work with double integrals in 
your head. So with the FS1R, it's not only the manual, it's the 
architecture. The time-honored DX7 (which, btw, didn't have filters), 
created a big aftermarket for people who would write books on how to 
program sounds, or sell soundsets. Now the FS1R has a much more complex 
architecture compared to the DX7, so it's obvious it's kinda hard to grasp.

Btw, I just had to check - there is a straightforward multimode filter 
in the FS1R - it's on page 53 of the manual, and you simply find it via 
Edit->Voice->Common->Filter, except for the options which are under 
Edit->Performance->Part->Tone, Options 7-10 ;).

For me, an approach to get how a certain thing is done on a synth is to 
go from a preset. E.g. use preset A012 "Technical" (an analog-style bass 
with filter cutoff modulated by the mod wheel) and work from there?


Yours,

Rainer

[1]: I did a blog article called "is there a perfect synthesizer" - 
http://moinsound.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/is-there-a-perfect-synthesizer/

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