Roland V-Synth Specifications download pdf (Page 59)

A d d i n g E x p r e s s i o n t o a S o u n d

Low Frequency Oscillators (LFO)

LFOs can be applied to the three basic elements of a sound (pitch, brightness

and volume) to make sounds less static than they would otherwise be and give

sounds a “human touch”. Most modern synthesizer keyboards include wheels or

joysticks as well as aftertouch (pressure on the keyboard) which can be used for

realtime control over LFO modulation depth.

Vibrato

Vibrato is a cyclic modulation of pitch. Vibrato techniques are often used by

singers as well as instrumentalists (e.g. strings or saxophone) for maximum

emotional effect.

Wah

Wah (originally “wah-wah”) is a cyclic modulation of brightness. Wah

techniques are often applied by trumpet players (using a cup-mute), blues

harmonica players or electric guitarists (using a wah pedal) to emulate some

typical formants of the human voice.

Tremolo

Tremolo is a cyclic modulation of volume. A speciality of flute and string

players, tremolo is also available in electric pianos and guitar-amplifiers with

built-in tremolo units.

Time-variant timbral changes (Envelopes)

Listening to any acoustic instrument, you will often hear changes in brightness

and volume within each note. Synthesizers make use of Envelopes to emulate

these effects.

Pitch Envelope

Especially brass and woodwind

instruments exhibit a rapid pitch

change at the beginning of each note.

The diagram below shows the typical

time-variant pitch change of the

trumpet. Synthesizers make use of Pitch

Envelopes to emulate such effects:

Filter Envelope

Notes played on plucked or hammered instruments such as the guitar, piano or

drums start relatively bright, then become increasingly mellow as the sound

decays. This behaviour can be emulated in synthesizers using the Filter

Envelope:

Amplifier Envelope

Notes played on plucked or hammered instruments generally decay down to

silence, while on instruments such as organ or violins, they can carry on

indefinitely at the same level. Either of these basic forms can be emulated in

synthesizers using the Amplifier Envelope.

pitch

time

Trumpet, etc.

cutoff

frequency

time

Piano, etc.

pitch

time

cutoff

frequency

time

bright sound

dark sound

Wah pedal

Trumpet

volume

time

loud

soft

volume

time

Piano, etc.

volume

time

Organ, etc.

Key-on

Key-off

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Roland V-Synth Specifications Page 59

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