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3.1 The Basics of How a Synth works
You can find a lot of information on this topic all over the internet, but here are at least a few of
the basic concepts that might help you understand this synth a bit more.
The oscillator serves as the source for the basic noise or sound in a synthesizer. The tone of
that sound depends on the shape of the wave produced by the oscillator. Classic-style analog
synthesizers usually offer a similar list of waveforms, and the Nymphes as well offers all the
usual suspects: saw, square, pulse, and triangle. After a synthesizer’s waveform produces a
tone, it is usually sent to the filter.
The filter does exactly that: it lets you filter out or remove harmonics from the basic waveform,
making the tone brighter or duller depending on how the filter is set. Another feature of some
filters is resonance or Q. This accents the harmonics near the filter cutoff frequency, providing
that classic squelchy and squeaky quality that synths are so well known for. After the filter, a
synth usually sends the signal to the amplification section.
The amplification section of a synth is the part that controls the amplitude or how loud the
sound is. Usually, the amplification of the tone is controlled by a 4-step envelope that provides
an attack phase, a decay phase, a sustain phase (where the amplitude is held constant), and a
decay phase, where the amplitude drops to zero after the sustain phase. This attack, decay,
sustain, and release envelope is frequently referred to as an ADSR envelope.
The last key piece of the synth puzzle is the modulation. A modulator is simply something (a
source) that modulates, changes, or controls something else (a destination). In the case of a
synthesizer, usually there is a low frequency oscillator (LFO) or an envelope generator (EG) that
can be used to modulate another parameter or value on the synthesizer. For example, you can
create vibrato by using an LFO to slightly change the oscillator pitch in a cyclic way. You could
also use an LFO to modulate the filter cutoff value to create an auto-wah effect, alternately
changing how bright or dull a tone is. The possibilities are almost endless and that is what
makes programming synths such an interesting activity.
3. Programming the Nymphes
