Roland V-Synth GT - Page 49

4
9
Overview
Basic operationPlaying soundsCreating soundsIndex
Harmonics
Harmonics
W
e’ve
j
ust ta
lk
e
d
a
b
out t
h
e
b
rig
h
t-
n
ess o
f
sounds, and how the
y
are
determined by the shape o
f
their
waveforms. But how are these
w
a
v
efo
rm
s
co
n
st
r
ucted?
I
t
i
s
co
m-
m
onl
y
known that waveforms are
com
p
osed o
f
a combination o
f
sine
w
a
v
es.
L
et
’
s
take
the
sa
w
tooth
o
r
the square wave for example; the
y
are comprised o
f
a sound basis and
a
dd
itiona
l
sine waves t
h
at are t
h
e
integer multiples as in two times or
three times the frequenc
y
(called
harmonics
,
or overtones). There are
t
w
o
kin
ds
of
h
a
rm
o
ni
cs.
O
n
e
h
as
the frequencies of integer mul
-
ti
p
les in two times or three times;
the other has other frequencies
that are non-integer multiples.
By com
b
ining t
h
ese
h
armonics,
v
arious sounds can be created.
Brig
h
ter soun
d
s inc
l
u
d
e man
y
high
f
requency harmonics; darker
(
rounder) include more of the
low
f
requency harmonics. There
is a tec
h
nique ca
ll
e
d
su
b
tractive
s
y
nthesis method in which har-
m
onic elements are cut to chan
g
e
the brightness (waveform) of the
sound. It is a
p
o
p
ular method
f
or
creatin
g
composite waveforms.
The V-S
y
nth GT provides several
types o
f

lters, giving you a broad
r
ange of sound-creating possibili
-
t
i
es.
S
awtoot
h
Wave
S
quare Wave
Bri
g
ht wavefor
m
t
im
e
ti
m
e
ti
me
Low pass

lte
r
Hi
gh
er partia
l
s are cut, ma
k
in
g
t
h
e
wave
f
orm more rounded
(
mellow
)
f
requenc
y
p
artials which are cu
t
le
v
e
l
6th partial
5th
p
artial
4
t
h
partia
l
3r
d
partia
l
2
nd
p
artial
f
undamental
p
artial
s
7
t
h
partia
l
6
t
h
partia
l
5th
p
artial
4
th
p
artial
3r
d
partia
l
2
n
d
partia
l
fundamental
p
artials
h
t
im
e