34
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't my synthesized note sound natural?
I haven't been able to listen to the files, but I think Pat's comment is very likely to be closest to the mark. From the spectrographs, it looks like you may be missing two things:
Inharmonic ...
- 56.2k
26
votes
Are there any music programming languages from after the SuperCollider era?
There are indeed new languages, as well as libraries within other languages. I'm going to list a few that spring to mind off the top of my head, and maybe come back and expand my answer later.
edit 03/...
- 361
24
votes
Why doesn't my synthesized note sound natural?
The single biggest thing you're missing is an attack. Pat Muchmore's comment is exactly right:
One thing that’s definitely missing: a real piano sounds has tons of non-harmonic components during ...
- 3,105
17
votes
Accepted
Synthesizer: why playing a second time the same note shut down the first one?
The MIDI specification says:
If an instrument receives two or more Note On messages with the same key number and MIDI channel,
it must make a determination of how to handle the additional Note Ons. ...
- 1,587
16
votes
Accepted
Why do some synthesizers have two or more oscillators?
Firstly, a single oscillator will tend to produce rather a subjectively 'thin' and static sound. This isn't always the case (as later stages, such as the filter, or a separate chorus stage, can add ...
- 45.9k
11
votes
Are there any music programming languages from after the SuperCollider era?
I would still recommend Csound as the best tool for text-based audio programming. It is actively under development and has kept pace with recent advances. One other worthy mention is a library called ...
- 642
11
votes
How can I turn a math function into sound?
Don't overcomplicate it.
Let's start with an image of the AM album cover:
Sure, it does look like it might be an audio waveform, but first note that the waveform has been artistically modified in the ...
- 2,716
10
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between timbres built from sine and square waveforms?
A sine wave (at least an ideal sine wave) is truly only a single frequency, and has no harmonic content beyond the fundamental. This gives it an extremely simple timbre that is indeed rather dull or ...
- 18.2k
10
votes
Synthesizer: why playing a second time the same note shut down the first one?
This is too long for a comment, so I'll make it an answer. Let's say you have a round-robin sample program that plays a different speech sample every time. You play this:
NoteOn(1,40,100) // "...
- 27.1k
10
votes
In principle, is it possible to create the sound of an instrument from the waveform of a different instrument?
I don't exactly disagree, with Hoagie's answer, but fact is, that the original waveform is not of much help in case of such different instruments, where the waveforms exhibit no similiarity.
You save ...
- 10.9k
8
votes
Is anyone familiar with the instrument called the mellertion?
An electrical instrument built in 1933, divided into a ten-division octave, instead of twelve. Billed as 'Altogether new types of melodies, far beyond the range of our present musical experience, ...
- 190k
8
votes
Accepted
How come you can hear individual notes but not overtones?
In my understanding, all sounds are technically made from a combination of sin waves together that form a timbre, and as such any sound can be represented as a combination of sin waves.
That's one of ...
- 45.9k
8
votes
Why do some synthesizers have two or more oscillators?
I think that the shortest and most precise answer to your question is: to produce timbres that are not possible with a single oscillator, including an entire form of synthesis (FM) that requires at ...
- 81
8
votes
Accepted
How to synthesize non-pitched sounds? How pitched is a sound in general?
Non pitched sounds are sounds which are not only composed of a fundamental frequency and a distribution of its harmonics.
That's quite a strict definition of 'non-pitched'. Most sounds that are ...
- 45.9k
7
votes
How to self-teach synthesizing sounds by ear
I think most people learn by mucking around with synths and seeing what sounds come out; as you do this, you learn to associate certain synth architectures (and certain parameter settings) with ...
- 45.9k
7
votes
In principle, is it possible to create the sound of an instrument from the waveform of a different instrument?
Sort of. The sustain portion of most instrument sounds has a relatively simple, regular waveform which can be manipulated to sound like another instrument. I wouldn't call this 'synthesis', that ...
- 90.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Difference between one violin and an ensemble of violins
There are at least two effects at work. They're related and connected, yet I'd keep them apart:
Transient smearing
Bowed strings have naturally a pretty bright, edgy sound – in synthesizer ...
- 35.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Portamento only when gate already opened
For a monophonic instrument, or a polyphonic instrument with the number of voices set to one, you can use simple tricks to get legato-only portamento to work. Here's one such solution, which ...
- 3,652
6
votes
Accepted
What are the typical value ranges and units for ADSR parameters?
I think there is no definite answer to this but as a fellow DIY synth maker here are a few insights.
First for the parameters. If you have a limit of available knobs, the most useful things to have ...
- 4,784
6
votes
In principle, is it possible to create the sound of an instrument from the waveform of a different instrument?
I’m going to answer a qualified
No
You’d struggle to make the bass sound like a flute because while it does have a harmonic spectrum that could be filtered in some ways to be similar to a flute, it ...
- 56.2k
6
votes
Accepted
How can I turn a math function into sound?
You may find this tool useful. The Desmos graphing calculator has a "tone" function available now, albeit in beta-testing mode. I haven't played with it, but it may do what you are hoping....
- 4,659
5
votes
Are there any music programming languages from after the SuperCollider era?
There are some interesting algorithmic composition frameworks based on the LISP programming language:
Nyquist https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~music/nyquist/
Open Music http://repmus.ircam.fr/openmusic/home ...
- 121
5
votes
How do I figure out the fundamental frequency of a sound from its frequency spectrum?
To answer your last question first, tuners pretty much do this. So a tuner VST may help. I have not tried it, especially on inharmonic sounds.
Here's a definition (Wikipedia):
The fundamental ...
- 9,589
5
votes
Accepted
As a beginner, what should I look for when buying my first synthesizer?
With little experience and without clear vision of requirements, this probably will not be the last synthesizer you ever buy. In other words, you are buying the exploration device.
For such a device, ...
- 4,482
5
votes
How to self-teach synthesizing sounds by ear
There is software that will analyze an audio file and calculate how to re-synthesize it, but it is geared mostly towards additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis.
In the case of ...
- 3,652
5
votes
How do you simplify a guitar note signal so that it's a simple sine wave and sounds "synthy"?
I am not certain you will find a set of patches on the synth that really make the guitar sound like a synth.
There's a fairly wide range of frequencies that a guitar can make, from about 82Hz at E2 (...
- 421
5
votes
Is a pad just a melody synth with a bunch of reverb and echo?
Reverb and echo have nothing to do with it. Many old synths have no reverb or echo effects of any kind, yet they're full of "pad" sounds. A pad is a steady, long sustained sound with a non-sharp ...
- 27.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible