Saturday, July 20, 2024
Waveshaping in Buchlas - Timbre & Digital Nonlinear Waveshaping
video upload by Shasta Cults
Above: Shasta Cults - Buchla 700 - wave shape editor
For those interested The Buchla Archives have an extensive article on wave shaping in buchlas here: https://www.buchlaarchives.com/blog/timbre-digital-nonlinear-waveshaping.
Opening paragaph:
"Ask most modern modular synthesizer enthusiasts about the hallmark characteristics of Donald Buchla's instruments: no doubt, one of the first things they'll mention is the idea of a 'complex oscillator.' Today—generally speaking—the term 'complex oscillator' refers to a general synthesis structure typically composed of two oscillators, a waveshaper, and various forms of inter-oscillator modulation. Typically, one oscillator is treated as a 'primary' or “principal” oscillator, and the other as a 'modulator.' The primary oscillator's sine wave output is typically hardwired to the waveshaping section, which provides a series of controls for continuously altering the waveshape/sonic character of the sound. The modulator usually has the ability to modulate the primary oscillator's frequency, amplitude, and aspects of the waveshaping process."
2 comments:
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© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
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To suggest that people who like to drink delicious Shasta are somehow a cult, is insulting and violates the first stated rules of this site: "Do not insult people." Rare and obscure synthesizers, no matter how complex their oscillators are, do not convey license to commit microaggression. Also, re the 'opening paragraph': how is this synthesis not simply "FM"?
ReplyDeleteI can't speak to your (or anyone's) love of Shasta; however, I'm the person who wrote the linked text, and I think I can address your question about FM.
DeleteThe general structure that people refer to as a "complex oscillator" does provide for the dynamic modulation of an oscillator's frequency using a second oscillator as the modulation source. They also often offer other means of altering sound as well—amplitude modulation, as well as "timbre modulation"...a technique which is partly the subject of the linked text.
That said, I don't think that a complex oscillator is a synthesis technique, per se, it's just a common form factor for hardware that combines several relatively consistent techniques with a relatively consistent parameterization. It's perhaps worth noting as well that the type of FM typically provided is different from Chowning's "FM Synthesis," in which the phase of a "carrier" is impacted by a "modulator" by adding to/subtracting from the value of a phasor/accumulator prior to the conversion of the carrier's phasor/ramp-like shape to a sine-like shape. The net effect there can certainly amount to a warping of perceived frequency, but in terms of implementation, it's a bit different that conventional analog-style frequency modulation.
Regardless, the text linked above is really less focused on the modern conception of complex oscillators, and more focused on the influence of emerging computer music research on Buchla's oscillator designs after the (well-known) 259. In fact, structurally there are a lot of similarities between Chowning-style FM Synthesis and digital nonlinear distortion—as well as phase distortion, wavetable synthesis, wave terrain synthesis, etc. These days it seems like a seldom-discussed topic, but it's an interesting one, and one where I suspect there are many more approaches/sounds yet to be discovered.