The Basis of Electronic Music - sfpc

Notes from a class at SFPC

https://learningsynths.ableton.com/en/playground

  • amplitude : overall volume allowed through to output
  • width : phaser control (?)
    • the amount of time the oscillator spends in the high and low part of its cycle.”
    • LFOs can modulate the pulse width
  • LFO (low frequency oscillator) amount : depth of width control that is automatically automated
    • LFO AMOUNT VS FREQUENCY
    • frequency — how many times the oscillator moves from its highest point to its lowest and back in one second… is measured in a unit called hertz (abbreviated Hz). A frequency of one hertz means that a full oscillation (or cycle) happens once per second.”
    • amount — how much pitch will change in unit Semitones (st)”
      • this applies to both the higher and upper modulation, so it goes both up and down the amount of semitones
    • Notice that as the LFO gets faster, the individual cycles of the LFO start to sound like they’re blurring” together. The changes in pitch start to sound like changes in timbre, resulting in a harsh” or metallic” sound.”
  • Oscillation and Hertz
    • In general, we start to hear a tone when something oscillates faster than around 20 Hz.”