Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

On Fri, Feb 21, 2003 at 04:22:40PM -0000, Ravi Ivan Sharma <noision1@...> wrote:
> Well I can't really do your homework for you. But I will hold your 
> hand a little: 

Please don't be such so obnoxious.

> http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/jul98/articles/synthschool9.html Just 
> read and learn. Its a completely different method for creating sound. 

That article is very vague (in the same way that you're being), it never
quite comes out and specifies anything.

It's certainly _possible_ for a synth to, say, emulate the electron flow in a
bunch of transistors, and e.g., in the Q, Waldorf has claimed to do something
similar (well, not on such a low-level, but they claim to do more than just
use bog-standard software-synth techniques).

But to the best of the my knowledge (I haven't seen the source code!), most
synths that are tagged with the term VA don't do anything nearly so
sophisticated -- they're simply straightforward combinations of typical
techniques that get used on all sorts of synths these days, `VA' or not.

Sure, they tweak, and tweak, and tweak, their filters to sound like their
favorite analogue synth; in this sense, they're `modelling' where a rompler
manufacturer might take less care (though these days, rompler filters sound
pretty damn good to me!).  But I don't think they're `modelling' in the sense
of really attempting to emulate the low-level working of analogue components.

> And again I never saw Roland or Waldorf come out and try to say that 
> their digital synths (i.e. XV or MW) were VA's.

They haven't, as far as I know (the only manufacturer I've seen use the term
is clavia).  However the term VA has been clearly adopted by users to refer
to any synth that attempts to work like an analogue synth, and it's also
clear the manufacturers are rather narrowly targeting this market.

Note that I'm not saying it's a _useless_ term; it isn't, it's just vague,
and doesn't have any specific _technical_ meaning.

It's more a reference to _intent_, and emphasis -- I'd say that a VA synth is
one that (roughly):

   (1) Doesn't depend on complex sampled waveforms for good sounds (as many
       romplers do, though I must say I'm in awe of some of the samples you
       find in romplers!)

   (2) Has high-quality filters that can add character in the same manner as
       in an analogue synth

   (3) Allows more complex interaction between different parts of the voice
       oscillators than just mixing, e.g., ring-modulation or FM

   (4) Emphasizes dynamic control over whatever audio-mangling is happening
       within the voice (which is important since you can't depend on complex
       source waveforms for animation)

[anything more?]

I apologize for the length of this, and it's certainly off-topic (especially
since the evolver is sort of an `anti-VA' -- it uses digital only for things
that digital is particularly good at, and leaves all the analogue techniques
to real analogue!), but I actually find this a rather interesting topic...

But if people are bothered, I'll shut up!

-Miles
-- 
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.