Arturia ARP2600 V, User Manual

Page: 57 / 95

ARTURIA – ARP2600 V – USER’S MANUAL 55
6 The basics of subtractive synthesis
Of all forms of sound synthesis, subtractive synthesis is one of the oldest and still certainly one of
the most employed today. It is this method that was developed toward the end of the 60’s on ana-
log synthesizers like the ARP, Moog, Oberheim, Yamaha, Buchla, Sequential Circuits (Prophet se-
ries), Roland, Korg (MS and PS series) and many others. This concept of synthesis is still used on
most current digital synthesizers, complementing sample reading or wave tables, which progres-
sively replaced the analog oscillators of the first synthesizers in the 80’s. The ARP2600, or even your
own ARP2600 V are among the best illustrations of the enormous possibilities of subtractive synthe-
sis.
6.1 The three main elements
6.1.1 The oscillator or VCO
The oscillator ( Voltage Controlled Oscillator ) is the starting module (with the noise module which is
often classed among the oscillators) for the creation of a sound on an analog system.
It will generate the initial sound signal. We can think of the oscillator like a violin string that once
stroked or plucked, vibrates to create its sound.
The oscillator settings on the ARP2600 V
The main oscillator settings are:
The pitch is determined by the oscillation frequency. You can set the frequency of the oscilla-
tor with 2 controllers: first, the “RANGE” selector which determines the fundamental frequency
– it is expressed in feet- : Low, 32,16,8,4,2 ; the highest number (32) brings the deepest tone,
inversely, the smallest number (2) brings the highest tone. – Secondly, the detune setting
(“FREQUENCY”
) lets you tune the oscillator more precisely.
The waveform which determines the harmonic richness of the audio signal. On the ARP2600 V,
four waveforms are available:
•
The saw tooth presents the richest audio signal of the four waveforms (it contains
all of the harmonics at decreasing volume levels in high frequencies). Its sound is
ideal for brass sounds, percussive bass sounds or rich accompaniments.