Knowra Synthesizer Synthesizer An electronic instrument that generates or processes sound through electrical or digital signals. Its sounds can be shaped by controlling pitch, timbre, dynamics, and time.
Oscillator : An electronic circuit or software component that produces a repeating signal, often used as a sound source. Its waveform supplies the raw tone that a synthesizer shapes.
Sound synthesis : The creation of sound by combining or transforming signals, including through electronic and digital methods. Synthesizers are instruments built around this broader process.
Theremin : An electronic musical instrument played without physical contact, by moving the hands near two antennas. It showed that electronic sound could become a standalone performance instrument.
Frequency modulation synthesis : A sound-synthesis method that creates timbre by using one signal to modulate the frequency of another. It became widely known through digital synthesizers such as the Yamaha DX7.
Sampler : An electronic instrument or software system that records, edits, and plays back digital audio samples. A sampler reuses recorded sounds, while a synthesizer generates or transforms sound signals.
Low-frequency oscillator : An oscillator that produces a slowly varying signal, usually below the audible range, to modulate sound parameters. It adds recurring movement to pitch, filter cutoff, or volume.
Waveform : A representation of how a signal varies over time, often used to describe the shape of a sound wave. Waveform shape strongly affects a synthesizer’s raw tone.
RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer : A large, programmable electronic sound synthesizer completed at Columbia University in 1957. It represents early computer-controlled synthesis before compact performance instruments.
Wavetable synthesis : A synthesis method that plays and often scans through stored waveform tables to create changing timbres. It offers evolving tones from a sequence of related waveforms.
Acoustic instrument : A musical instrument that produces sound through vibrating physical materials and resonating air, without electronic sound generation. Its sound originates in physical vibration rather than electronic signal processing.
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