Lab lessons Synthesis

four lessons, one synth

Synthesis

How a synth makes its sound: the envelope, the oscillator, the filter and FM, each taken apart one control at a time, with the sound playing as you go. I name every control as the A-level Music Technology papers name it.

Start with ADSR

How each lesson runs

  1. WatchI take it apart, one control at a time, and ask what you think before I show you.
  2. TryYou finish a setting I have started, by moving the controls and listening.
  3. MakeYou copy a sound by ear, starting from a blank device.
  4. ExplainYou say it or draw it, as a written answer asks.

Every lesson climbs these rungs, but each has its own shape. They work on the whiteboard with the class, or on your own screen with headphones.

The lessons, in order

  1. ADSR on Operator

    Same note, same Operator: only the envelope changes. A pluck, a pad and an organ, shaped with Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release, then the envelope drawn and labelled as the exam asks.

    • Attack
    • Decay
    • Sustain
    • Release

    14 steps
    Watch 8 Try 2 Make 3 Explain 1

    Open the lesson 1, ADSR on Operator

  2. Oscillators

    An oscillator makes the raw sound. Its waveform sets the tone and its frequency sets the pitch: I play each wave on the same note so you hear why a sawtooth is brighter than a sine, then you match sounds by ear.

    • Sine
    • Triangle
    • Square
    • Sawtooth
    • Noise
    • Pitch

    12 steps
    Watch 7 Try 2 Make 2 Explain 1

    Open the lesson 2, Oscillators

  3. The Filter

    A filter takes away part of the sound by pitch range: low-pass, high-pass and band-pass, the cutoff, the slope and resonance, heard as you move them; then you draw one on the exam's grid.

    • Low-pass
    • High-pass
    • Band-pass
    • Cutoff
    • Slope
    • Resonance

    11 steps
    Watch 6 Try 2 Make 2 Explain 1

    Open the lesson 3, The Filter

  4. FM

    One oscillator changes the pitch of another so fast that you hear a new tone, not a wobble. The modulator's level sets how bright it is, the ratio decides between in tune and a bell, and an envelope on the level makes the brightness move.

    • Carrier
    • Modulator
    • Level
    • Ratio
    • Envelope

    11 steps
    Watch 6 Try 2 Make 2 Explain 1

    Open the lesson 4, FM