h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Analogue Synthesisers and Synthesis - A1062280
Author: Nire - U209426

I believe this is ready for reviewing now so I look forward to your comments!

You have omitted entirely the input device, nowadays called the Controller. On a Moog, it was most likely a keyboard, but a Buchla has pads, and a theramin has aerials. Some MIDI controllers are wind generated-but they are digital, of course.

Your definition of White Noise and Pink Noise reads too simply. White Noise, most specifically, is (supposed to be) noise equally on all frequencies. I thought Pink Noise was White Noise with a filter on it, but I am not sure about this.

I think there's already and Edited Entry on theremins, you should link to it.

I was just looking at the actual parts which were actually part of the sound shaping process. But I guess it could be a good idea to mention the input device. I'll have a think about working that in there. I'll have a closer look at the pink noise thing.

There's no reason you should have to write about something you don't want to write about. You could ignore the subject of inputs, if you change your title so it doesn't seem like you are talking about synthesizers.

It might also be helpful to put "music" in the title somewhere, as the word synthesis is rather general and could refer to a manufacturing process, or a philosophical method for finding truth, etc.

This is a good entry.

There are a lot of spelling mistakes in this. When you say 'its' meaning 'belonging to it', there shouldn't be any apostrophe. There are two l's in oscillator. I don't know how many g's in apeggiator, but you have one in some places and two in others.

You say that triangle waves sound like sine waves. Are they sine waves? If so, shouldn't you just call them sine waves? Flutes produce a sound which is almost a sine wave. Oboes produce something like a sawtooth.

Thanks for the compliment of it being a good entry. Obviously it is in peer review to help weed out such things as the spelling errors. I'd checked through but obviously missed some things.

I'll sort out the arpegggggggiator thing now..

As for the Triangle vs Sinewave thing, they aren't the same but perhaps it's better for me to write similar.

Thanks for the comments.

If the Triangle wave is different from the sine wave, then you should have a separate section for the sine wave.

I would but I don't know of any synths having sine waves on them.

The modular Moog at Pasadena City College has a sine wave.

The synthesiser I built at school in the early 70s had a sine wave generator, so did the Synthi AKS I played around with at college. I believe most of the early synthesisers did.

I've been meaning to get to this entry for some time but I've been too danged busy so far this week Now that I've got some time off work though I can give it some attention... starting tomorrow


Scout

Sorry, it was a VCS3.

Oh, and pink noise is bass-heavy white noise.

Well that's got that sorted then at least (pink noise). And I stand corrected on the lack of a sine wave on synthesisers!

Well, perhaps it's easily overlooked.

I know on the Moog, an oscillator can automatically generate a sine and the remaining waves are made by modifying it. So either one can patch a wire past the module entirely , or if it's attached to the oscillator proper, you set the knob that has square, sawtooth, and triangle in the "zero" position, and the signal passes through unmodified.

How is this coming along?

Nire's still around- it posted last week.

Due to lack of time and a decent memory I've been unable to do anything for quite a while on these entries but hopefully I'll do some more soon.

* adds some more *

Well, Nire has now Elvised. Given the interest, I propose a move to FM.


Geggs