Virtual Synthesizers
Is all your equipment crowding your music studio? Do you need a new synthesizer bur just don’t have any room? Well help is at hand with the virtual synthesizer. Now you can create all the hottest sounds with just your computer. Why not try your audio manipulation on the computer rather than the mixing board? Instead of routing a track through sends and returns using processors and compressors, a virtual synthesizer will allow you to see as well as hear what you are doing with the sounds.
Many people who are not sure if a virtual synthesizer is for them start off with Soundfonts. The best thing is that instead of shelling out a lot of bucks, you can do all the things you need to do with your sounds for about $100. These are basically WAV files with synth parameters and they play just like a sample synth. If you invest in a sblive card, you do get exceptional sound quality. The only component you do need to have is an Emu or Creative Labs soundcard in your computer.
Some of the virtual synthesizers are available online as free downloads so that you can try out what you are getting. Synthmaster is a new semi-modular synthesizer that has a plug in for Windows. In the free version you get limited polyphony, but in the standard version there is a 64 voice polyphony. Some of the different synthesis methods you can employ with this virtual synthesizer include:
- Additive synthesis
- Subtractive synthesis
- Ring modulation
- Amplitude modulation
- Frequency / phase modulation
- Pulse width modulation
- Osc sync
- Waveshaping.