TAKE A WALK ON THE SYNTH SIDE

TAKE A WALK ON THE SYNTH SIDE

There was a time when state-of-the-art rock keyboards began with Fafisa and ended with Vox. These days, manufacturers like Yamaha, Roland, and Korg are unveiling microchip-based instruments on an almost hourly basis, with on-board capabilities stopping just short of being able to perform brain surgery and chew gum at the same time.

Keyboard players (or at least those who can afford the new technology) are in seventh heaven. Guitarists and drummers have been slower to rise to the bait, but are wising up fast. The electric guitar might well be flashier, the drums more muscular, but this is fast becoming a synthesizer world. Entire symphonies are being written on them. Films are being scored. Whole albums are being recorded using them, with nary a fretboard nor a hi-hat in sight.

The technology is changing even as you�re reading this. This week�s hot new synth will, six months from now, more than likely be a museum piece. What follows is a brief introductory overview of electronic synths, written with the total virgin in mind, for the all-thumbs chimpanzee that lurks in even the best of us.

SYNTHS IN GENERAL

In simplest, four-syllable-or-less terms, a synthesizer is an instrument (usually but not necessarily with an attached keyboard) that lets the musician shape and tailor the pitch, tone, and volume of the sound created with it. A monophonic synthesizer can only play one note at a time. Polyphonic synths, on the other hand, can do what their name implies: play more than one note at once (in most cases, a maximum of 6, 8, or 16). Both do their job through what�s called subtractive synthesis, where you create a basic sound with oscillators and a noise source, then use the controls to filter out certain parts of the original sound to create a new sound. With monophonic synths (depending on the design of the instrument), pressing more than one note at once will get you either the lowest of the group, the highest, or whichever note was pressed last, even if the difference can only be measured in microseconds. Many polyphonies operate in a similar fashion, i.e. if your synth limits you to eight notes at once and you press ten, the synth�s design will determine which eight you hear.

Generally speaking, the main advantage of a monophonic synth over a polyphonic is that its one note simplicity gives you more control over the pitch, timbre, and loudness of the sound. The principal advantage of polyphonic over monophonic is that you can play chords, and since the keyboards tend to be larger, using them is closer in spirit to the piano.

PRESET SYNTHS

In their most rudimentary, Made-in-Taiwan form, preset synths are those toy-like little deals you can pick up at KMart for $19.95. While many state-of-the-art manufacturers are building them considerably more sophisticated, all presets have one thing in common: a series of factoryinstalled sounds that, apart from pitch and peripheral variables at most, are unchangeable. A preset synth is a piece of cake to operate in a live situation, because you can change your sound quickly and painlessly by simply pushing a single button. There�s no fumbling. No peering at a slew of head-twisting settings and switches. No need to go back to college for that Ph.D in nuclear physics. Problem is, you�re limited to the sounds the manufacturer provides.

In the case of the cheaper instruments (and many of the expensive ones), this means that for every terrific pipe organ or oboe voice at your disposal, you�re also paying for a half dozen dubious �space fuzz� and �kozmic kazoo� settings not even useful for light party entertainment.

FULLY VARIABLE SYNTHS

The advantage of a fully variable synth over a preset is that you�re in the driver�s seat here. By adjusting the oscillator, envelope generator, filter, glide, and performance controls, you shape the sounds from scratch according to your own taste, or lack of.

The main problem with fully variables is that you�ve got to remember complex settings, then fiddle with the controls each time you want to adjust or entirely reshape the sound. Many a musician has come up with a killer sound, forgotten to write it down, then torn his/her hair out afterwards when they can�t remember how they did it. In a live situation too, reshaping your sound on a fully variable synth can be a difficult trick to pull off on the fly when the changes are coming fast and furious.

PROGRAMMABLE SYNTHS

Programmable keyboards combine the best of both worlds: the variable�s adaptability, coupled with the preset�s Neanderthal-simple ease of use. The crucial difference here is that programmables have an on-board memory, giving the machine the ability to recall and execute the settings of many different sounds. Via the controls, you concoct a sound you like, save it in the memory bank, and from now until the end of time (or at least until you get bored and erase it), your thundering Godzilla crunge effect will be instantly retrievable at the push of a button.

While programmable monophonics are fine in studio situations and multi-keyboard stage setups, programmable polyphonies are far and away the most useful to the musician who only has the bucks to invest in a single keyboard. The best programmable polyphonies have over one hundred memory locations (which means you can store that number of different sounds in the on-board brain), and the additional ability to stockpile settings on separate cassette tape, making the potential for expanding your library of sounds limitless.