Roland V-Synth GT - Applying an Effect by Passing Your Hand Over the D Beam

48
The Three Elements of Sound
The
Three
Elements
of
Sound
Sound is the vibration of a pressure wave in the air. This wave reaches our ears, and is interpreted b
y
our brain as
sound. The type of sound we experience is determined by the shape of this wave
.
T
he V-Synth GT makes it easy to create new sounds simply by moving the controllers o
f
the panel. It’s a good idea to
start b
y
selecting a patch that’s similar to the sound
y
ou’re tr
y
ing to create
.
But even i
f
y
ou have a clear idea o
f
the sound
y
ou want,
y
ou won’t obtain that sound simpl
y
b
y
moving the control
-
l
ers blindl
y
. This section will give
y
ou some basic knowledge about sound to guide
y
ou in
y
our editing.
Pitch
Pitch
T
he pitch of sound is determined b
y
the speed of the
wave cycles. A wave that vibrates 1 cycle per second is
called 1 Hz (hertz). As the frequencies become higher,
Hz becomes hi
g
her in numbers. Lower the number
in hertz, and fre
q
uencies will become lower as well.
For exam
pl
e, w
h
en A4 (center A) e
q
ua
l
s 440.0 Hz, an
octave hi
g
her pitch would
g
enerate twice the amount
of frequenc
y
at 880.0 Hz (A5). An octave lower pitch
would produce hal
f
the
f
requency at 220.0 Hz (A3).
04
Editing a tone
Brightness
Brightness
T
he brightness of a sound is deter
-
mined by the shape o
f
its wave
f
orm.
B
y
comparing t
h
e piano an
d
t
h
e sine
wave side by side, you can see the di
f-
f
erence in complexit
y
. In this example,
the complexity o
f
the wave
f
orm
results in a bri
g
hter sound
.
Volume
Volume
T
he volume o
f
the sound is deter-
mined b
y
the size or the width of the
w
a
v
es.
A
s
the
w
a
v
es
beco
m
e
wi
de
r
(
vertically on the graph), the louder
the
v
olu
m
e
beco
m
es.
A
s
the
wi
dth
narrows, the volume becomes so
f
ter.
1
Hz
sou
n
d
w
a
v
e
t
im
e
t
im
e
t
i
m
e
tim
e
A
5
(
=880Hz
)
A
4
(
=440Hz
)
A
3
(
=220Hz
)
1se
c
P
iano waveform (com
p
lex) Sine waveform
(
smooth
)
t
im
e
t
im
e
“clang” “poooh”
t
im
e
t
im
e
Loud sound
S
oft soun
d