Is it possible to get articulation on a synthesizer?

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I was thinking of getting a synthesizer. Not a sampler with pre-recorded samples, but an actual synthesizer where you create from scratch. But is it possible to add articulation to the sounds?

For example, at 0:44 into this clip, the instrument is being played in a way, in which their is a lot articulation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqRhUtXkTfI&t=4s

It's a real instrument being played, but on a synthesizer can you create an extreme amount of articulation like that if you want to, even if it's completly synthesized articulation, if anyone knows?

There are a lot of things now that go for this. I have Reactor Prism and the 'physical modeling' seems to aim at that. Also look into additive and grain table synthesis.

First off: a synthesizer IS a real instrument.

Second: do you want to duplicate that flute sound? Because samples would be rhe3way to go. Or do you mean various ways to modulate the sound? Those are part of the patch.

Generally a synth will have modulation sources which can be routed digitally or via cables to destinations: things like filters, volume, LFO depth, etc. Sources are things like ModWheel, sliders, aftertouch (pressure), velocity, etc.

Modern digital and hybrid synths tend to have all parameters available to modulate via MIDI which means you can hook up other devices, like proximity detectors, foot pedals, breath controllers, etc to feed modulation data to the synth, so you can alter the sound in many axes in realtime.

But if you want to emulate a flute, physical modelling is the way to go. Or samples, to be honest - slice them up, etc.

Edit to add: sorry, a bit medicated. Think of how you want the sound to be altered and then think "when i do this it gets (brighter|louder|punchier|distorted|add vibrato or tremolo|etc). The inspirations can be from acoustic instruments.

Sorry for the ramble.

Last edited by Sinister Biscuit on 11 Mar 2021, 11:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oh okay thanks, but what do you mean by "physical modeling'?

On the sample route - Native Instruments really gets big into these kinds of angles if you don't mind working with a VST:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_ ... _synthesis

Oh okay. Well I think I want synth sounds for style, and make it obvious that it's a synth though. However, everytime I hear a synth being played, it's always just straight notes, without any articulation or multiphonics. So I wonder can synthes emulate things like that, without being just straight notes?

Short answer: yes

Long answer: it's not easy. Not only do you have to be able to play the instrument traditionally, you have to learn how to control it using dynamic controllers and software controls, and those things are going to be different for each instrument.

Basically, a keyboard makes an incomplete instrument, if you want to get really dynamic, and you have to learn other controls other than the keys.

It helps if you have a particular sound in mind and are willing to dedicate a lot of time to learning how to get that sound, but if you want articulations for lots of different instruments, be prepared for a learning curve on every patch.

Now if you just want dynamic sounds and have nothing in particular in mind, you can just buy software instruments and a fancy controller and just play until you happen across something fun, and build a song off of that. Lots of sound libraries set up to make getting interesting sounds easy, if you just like to tinker. Getting something in particular will take more time.

I went down the rabbit hole of software instruments (after going down the hardware rabbit hole for years before that) and found it's not the right hobby for an obsessive personality. Spent more money than I could afford.

Spend some time on the native instruments website to see what's possible. There are lots of other software synths, too, and most will have a number of controllable parameters, but there are no standards. The native instruments technique is common, and in fact lots of synths are based on their engines. Basically, parts of the key range are mapped to different articulations, and you press keys to switch articulations. And then there are separate hardware controls you can set up, like say knobs on your hardware keyboard, to control parameters. And there is the mod wheel on most keyboards, etc, as has been mentioned above.

It used to be easy to find impressive demos. The youtube algorithm kinda stinks these days.

Oh okay thanks, this helps. I am not sure if I want to get a synthesizer, but I need to know the articulations first. But whenever I listen to samples online, it's just straight notes used as examples.

Do you have of any musical tunes, where the articulation is laid on really heavy so I can get an idea of what it sounds like? For example, if a synth is emulating a flute sound, do you know of any musical tunes, where the multiphonic heavy blowing is really emphasized on the synth, so I know what it sounds like?

I tend to feel a bit confused when I read things like this because I keep thinking that I'm misunderstanding you. There are all sorts of sounds that aren't flat sine, square, triangle, etc.. There are all kinds of automations for LFO and ASDR envelope that are used in electronic music. I tend to like fluttering sounds of the sort in this ArpXp track which make ample use of LFO and similar things:



I mean.... maybe with trap and indie pop you have the 80's aesthetic where they're playing heavy analog notes as baldly as they possibly can, it's just not something I listen to often so I generally don't think of flat unarticulated notes as the world of synthesis, if anything I go back to the wild and warped basslines of dark drum n bass or the squelched shredding of 303's in acid techno, all of that gets very organic in the ways that it catches distortion.

Similarly this bassline and the sort of after-rain mist and spray that sticks to them is a great example of synthesis not sounding like a Teenage Engineering OP-1:



You might like the music I've shared here even less than the pop music and flat synthesizers that you're talking about but that's not the point, I think I just trying to clarify - it's not all about laying down a flat boring hum, it's about architecting whatever you want to build just that...well it's not easy and there's a reason why the pros aren't just pushing a button.

Sorry for the confusion, I am probably using the wrong language since I am still trying to a learn a lot of the technical language. When I say that whenever I hear a synth I always keep hearing flat notes only, this is what I mean, for example at 7:50 into this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVul3xKs7xA&t=428s

The notes have a very flat sound as the synth is played, while trying to emulate a flute sound for example. But in this video of a real flute, at 0:44 into the video, you hear all these multiphonics and overblowing and articulation going on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqRhUtXkTfI

Is it possible to create all those kinds of overblowing multiphonic types sounds in a synth, if you are just creating it all from scratch and not using sample recordings with multiphonics already in them, if that makes sense?

The instrument that is used in the film with
is called a SHAKUHACHI and is a Japanese flute, which in history was played by Zen Priests,
but also adopted by Ronin (masterless Samuria) and Ninja (disguised as Zen Priests).

尺八 SHAKUHACHI flute - Rodrigo Rodriguez - contemporary Japanese music



I once wanted to buy one, in order to learn to play.
but also to fight with!

I used to have a Korg Prophecy
pretty groovy, some really spacious sounds and a few realistic emulations
with fair control over the sounds (like mute trumpets)

i think i remember you (iron pony)
were interested in sax and wind controllers

Akai / Roland / Yamaha plus one or two others
make them

not all of them are super expensive
most of them have like a reed emulator
which is supposed to emulate how a real sax or reed instrument
would work

can be used with built in synth/sampler

or wired up to other midi instruments either in the real world or virtual
most samplers these days include powerful synthesis features which you super impose over the samples
if you start with the same wave forms as you have in synths
and use the same synthesis techniques

they will make very similar sounds

Oh okay. But if I am just using a synth and no sampler, can I get those multiphonics through synthesis or no? Yes I was interested in sax sounds before, yes .

I don't want shakuhachi samples though, I was just wondering if a synth can create similar multiphonics from scratch, even if it's still a synth?