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Friday, May 23rd, 2025 02:05 pm

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....

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CS-40M
The CS-40M is a duophonic (2-voice) analog synthesizer with a 44-note 3 1/2 octave (F-C) keyboard and 2 banks of 10 patches that are backed up via a tape interface. It is housed in a wood-finished cabinet with a metal faceplate. All in all, it has 36 knobs, 16 switches, 16 buttons, 12 sliders and 2 wheels. The CS-40M's voice architecture consists of two VCOs, a noise generator, one LFO, two envelope generators (one for the VCA and one for the VCF), and a VCA. Each VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) has a knob to switch between a 6 octave range and another knob for fine tuning. A mixer section adjusts the levels of VCO1 and VCO2. Waveforms are switchable between triangle, sawtooth, and square (pulse). The LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) is switchable between sine, up-ramp, down-ramp, square, and sample- and-hold. It can easily modulate up into the audio frequencies. The EG-VCO (the envelope generator for the VCO) is a simple AR (Attack Release) envelope. the EG-VCF (the envelope used for the VCF and VCA) is an ADSR (Attack Decay Sustain Release) envelope. The VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter) is a multimode filter, switchable between LP, BP, and HP, with a control for cutoff frequency and resonance (none oscillating). A switch enables and disables the keyboard tracking. The Pitch Wheel is switchable between intervals of a 3rd and a 5th, and the Modulation Wheel has switches to select the VCO and the VCF. There are separate CV(control voltage)/Trigger outputs for each voice and CV inputs for portamento, sustain, brilliance, volume and filter. The CS-40M has high, low, and balanced outputs.

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