At a very basic level, synthesis is all about generating and manipulating voltages.  Different parts of the synth are controlled by voltages.  The audio signals themselves are voltages that change rapidly.  But what exactly is voltage? Voltage is a difference in electrical potential energy between two points.  It represents electricity’s ability to do work.  Water [...]

What we perceive as sound is air pressure changing over time.  In electronics, sound is represented as a signal that changes over time (AC waveform).  Speakers are used to convert these electrical signals into changes in sound pressure that we can actually hear. The shape of the waveform (how the voltage changes over time) determines [...]

Different waveforms sound different.  A sine wave sounds different than a square wave, which sounds different than the waveform that comes out of an accordion.   All these waves have unique timbres because they have different harmonic content. A harmonic is basically a multiple of a fundamental frequency.  For example, let’s say you’re playing a [...]