Alesis QS7.1, QS8.1 manual Overview, Normalized Synth Voice

Editing Programs: Part 8

PART 8

EDITING PROGRAMS

OVERVIEW

Synthesizer programming is the art and science of shaping sounds in a particular way by altering the parameters of various components of the sound. Like music itself, learning synth programming is an ongoing process. Although this manual presents information about synthesizer programming, no manual can offer a complete course in programming (at least for a price customers would be willing to pay!).

If you’re new to synthesizer programming, the best way to learn is to adjust different parameters as you play to discover how different parameter values affect the sound. Also, become familiar with the signal and modulation flow within the QS7.1/QS8.1 (as shown in the various block diagrams included in this manual) so that you can understand the many ways in which you can process a signal as it works its way from oscillator to output.

THE “NORMALIZED” SYNTH VOICE

The first synthesizers were comprised of various hardware modules, some of which generated signals, and some of which processed those signals. These were designed to be general-purpose devices since nobody was quite sure how they would be applied; some engineers used them as signal processors, while keyboard players treated them as musical instruments. Patch cords connected the inputs and outputs of the various signal generating and processing modules (which is why particular synth sounds were called patches). Changing a patch involved manually repositioning patch cords and adjusting knobs and switches; recreating a patch required writing down all the patch settings on paper so they could be duplicated later. Even then, due to the imprecision of analog electronics, the patch might not sound exactly the same.

Over the years, certain combinations of modules seemed to work better than others, and since patch cords were troublesome to deal with, eventually these modules were wired together in a “normalized” configuration. ("Normalized" in this sense means internally patched, and that the signal generally flows through the modules in a pre- determined direction.) Synthesizers such as the MiniMoog™, Prophet-5™, and others eliminated the need for patch cords by containing a normalized collection of sound modules (including oscillators, filter, envelopes, LFOs, etc.).

The QS offers the best of both worlds. The most commonly-used, normalized configurations are built-in to every program for ease of programming. In addition, the QS Modulation Matrix gives back much of the flexibility of a modular synthesizer, allowing you to map various modulation sources to multiple destinations for special needs. If you’re a beginner, all of the normalized pathways are easy to find; as you gain experience you can explore more advanced features.

QS7.1/QS8.1 Reference Manual