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An analog synthesizer is actually
a type of hardware, not a type of synthesis. Analog
synthesizers use a number of basic analog electronic
components to generate and manipulate the sound.
The waveforms produced by analog synthesizers are
extremely basic when compared to the complex waveforms
that digital synthesizers can create.
On most analog synthesizers,
the waveforms you will find are sine, triangle,
sawtooth, and pulse (square). Since these waveforms
are extremely basic and not "sonically interesting" all
analog synthesizers have some type of filter. Commonly
you will find a Lowpass filter, but some analogs
do have Hipass, Bandpass and Notch filters. Some
of the additional features you will find on analog
synthesizers are ring modulators, hard and soft
synchronization, and cross modulation. These features
help generate new waveforms and gives a basic analog
synthesizer more tonal variations instead of the
basic 4 waveforms.
Even though analog synthesizers
are fairly limited in the sounds they can create,
they have made a come back over the last ten years
and there are a number of new analog synthesizers
being made. Many people still use analog since they
provide a particular sound that well suited towards
modern music production. They also provide a great
user interface that most digital synthesizers do
not have.
Some of the more popular analog
synthesizers that currently made are the Studio
Electronics SE-1x, Jomox
SunSyn, and the Alesis
Andromeda.
Most of the analog synthesizers
made use subtractive
synthesis, although it is possible for an analog
synthesizer to use FM and additive synthesis.
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