Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 12:21 am

Synth Glossary

Analog Synthesis:: This term is normally used to refer to the tradional synthesis model used by analog synthesizers in the 1970s. It is also known as subtractive synthesis. It involves oscillators, the outputs of which are mixed together and fed into a filter (where certain frequencies are subtracted) after which they are fed through an amplifier. The amplifier and filter are normally also driven by envelope generators....

Very early VCS3 (pre-Putney), note Oscillator 1 The original portable synthesizer introduced in 1969 had a solid Aformosia cabinet which housed the following modules interconnected by means of a matrix patchboard.

3 x Voltage Controlled Oscillators.
Noise Generator.
2 x Input Amplifiers.
Ring Modulator.
Voltage Controlled Low Pass Filter.
Trapezoid Envelope Generator.
Voltage Controlled Reverberation.
Meter.
2 x Stereo Output Amplifiers.
Joystick.

The VCS3 had:3 Voltage Controlled Oscillators, a Noise Generator, 2 Input Amplifiers, 1 Ring Modulator,1 Voltage Controlled Low Pass Filter,1 Trapezoid Envelope Generator, a Voltage Controlled Reverberation unit, 2 Stereo Output Amplifiers and a Joystick. Routing the various functions of the instrument was done via a small pin patchboard.