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Editing Programs: Chapter 6
QuadraSynth Plus Piano Reference Manual 70
CHAPTER 6
EDITING PROGRAMS
Overview
Synthesizer programming is the art and science of shaping sounds in a particular
way by altering the parameters of various modules. Like music itself, learning
synth programming is an ongoing process. Although this manual presents
information about synthesizer programming, no manual can offer a complete
course in programming (at least for a price that customers would be willing to
pay!).
If you’re new to synthesizer programming, the best way to learn is to adjust
different parameters as you play to discover how different parameter values
affect the sound. Also, become familiar with the signal and modulation flow
within the QuadraSynth Plus (as shown in the various block diagrams included
in this manual) so that you can understand the many ways in which you can
process a signal as it works its way from oscillator to output.
The “Normalized” Synth Voice
The first synthesizers were comprised of various hardware modules, some of
which generated signals, and some of which processed those signals. These were
designed to be general-purpose devices since nobody was quite sure how they
would be applied; some engineers used them as signal processors, while
keyboard players treated them as musical instruments. Therefore, patch cords
connected the inputs and outputs of the various signal generating and processing
modules (which is why particular synth sounds were called patches). Changing a
patch involved manually repositioning patch cords and adjusting knobs and
switches; recreating a patch required writing down all the patch settings on
paper so they could be duplicated later. Even then, due to the imprecision of
analog electronics, the patch might not sound exactly the same.
Over the years, certain combinations of modules seemed to work better than
others, and since patch cords were troublesome to deal with, eventually these
modules were wired together in a "normalized" configuration. Synthesizers such
as the MiniMoog, Prophet-5, and others eliminated the need for patch cords by
containing a normalized collection of sound modules (including oscillators, filter,
envelopes, LFOs, etc.).
The QuadraSynth Plus offers the best of both worlds. The most commonly-used,
normalized configurations are built-in to every program for ease of
programming. In addition, the QS Modulation Matrix gives back much of the
flexibility of a modular synthesizer, allowing you to map various modulation
sources to multiple destinations for special needs. If you’re a beginner, all of the
normalized pathways are easy to find; as you gain experience you can explore
more advanced features.