Crossing the streams: analogue does digital
The first wave of modular synthesisers were all but a distant memory when digital samplers first hit the scene, and though digital FM synthesis was developed concurrently with analogue’s initial heyday, it wouldn’t reach maturity (or the masses) until 1982. By that time, analogue synthesis was considered played out and musicians were dumping their old ARPs and EMSs for gritty, grainy 8-bit synths, samplers, and drum machines. These early digital doodads may have sounded a bit lo-fi, but at least they sounded different.
Eventually, of course, musicians grew bored with menu diving and preset patches, and rediscovered the hands-on allure of analogue modulars. However, they had not forgotten the crystalline highs and biting basses of digital oscillators. In fact, today’s synthesist knows full well that combining digital waveforms with analogue filters and real-time CV control offers up an exciting palette for the creation of new tone colours.
It’s not the first time. Wolfgang Palm’s PPG Wave series of hybrid synthesisers deftly blended digital wavetables with analogue filters and amplifiers, and Ensoniq’s price-busting Mirage sampler plumbed 8-bit digital samples through a similarly analogue signal path. It’s no coincidence that both the Mirage and its wavetable-based twin, the ESQ-1, have been embraced by many of the same modern musicians who work with modular Eurorack systems. The modular synthesis revival may have been borne of boredom, but it has thrived thanks to the flexibility of today’s hybrid systems. Synthesists now have access to a vast number of digital modules, ranging from simple sample playback devices and loopers to complex granular choppers and sample manglers, and familiar digital tech such as FM synthesis is now joined by modern DSP tools like acoustic modelling.
These techniques spring brilliantly to life when used in a modular environment. For example, where once samples were maligned as being static and lifeless, here they may be transformed into sources of ever-changing sonic interest – or even used as modulation sources in their own right.
Likewise, FM synthesis’ reputation for icecold sterility melts away when plumbed through a warm analogue filter or VCA. We’ll look at our favourite such uses in the following tutorials.