Electronic and Acoustic Design
Shaping sound itself.
Subtractive Synthesis
- The idea
- Subtractive synthesis starts with a harmonically rich wave and filters it.
- Try this
- Start with a sawtooth wave and sweep a low-pass filter downward.
- Example
- A bright sawtooth at 110 Hz grows darker and rounder as the cutoff falls.
Additive Synthesis
- The idea
- Additive synthesis builds a timbre by combining individual sine-wave partials.
- Try this
- Combine a fundamental with chosen partials to design a bell-like tone.
- Example
- Bell tones need partials that are not whole-number multiples, for example ratios near 1, 2, 2.4, 3 and 4.2, each fading at its own rate.
Amplitude Envelope
- The idea
- An amplitude envelope shapes a sound's loudness over time: attack, decay, sustain, release.
- Try this
- Give a synthesized sound a slow attack and a long release.
- Example
- Attack 1.5 s, sustain full, release 3 s: a pad that swells in and fades away.
Filter Envelope
- The idea
- A filter envelope moves the filter cutoff over the life of each note.
- Try this
- Open the filter briefly at the start of each note to stress the attack.
- Example
- Short decay on the cutoff (about 200 ms) gives each note a bright pluck.
Granular Texture
- The idea
- Granular synthesis rebuilds sound from many tiny overlapping grains.
- Try this
- Stretch a recorded piano note into overlapping short grains.
- Example
- Grains of 50 ms, overlapping and slowly moving through the note, turn a two-second note into a long cloud.
Convolution Reverb
- The idea
- Convolution reverb places a sound in a space recorded as an impulse response.
- Try this
- Run the same dry phrase through two different room impulse responses.
- Example
- Compare a small wooden room with a stone church.
Sidechain Compression
- The idea
- Sidechain compression lowers one sound whenever another plays.
- Try this
- Duck a pad slightly every time the kick drum sounds.
- Example
- The kick on each beat triggers a few decibels of reduction on the pad.
Spectral Layering
- The idea
- Spectral layering stacks sounds that fill different frequency ranges.
- Try this
- Place a low sine tone under a bright, harmonically rich synth.
- Example
- A sine at 55 Hz under a sawtooth lead an octave or two higher.
Field Recording
- The idea
- A field recording captures real-world sound for use as musical material.
- Try this
- Use your own recording of rain as a rhythmic background.
- Example
- Loop a rain recording and set its loudest drips against the beat.
- Listen for it
- Respighi, Pines of Rome, third movement (recorded nightingale)
Automation Arc
- The idea
- An automation arc changes mix settings gradually across a passage.
- Try this
- Widen the stereo image and add reverb gradually through a transition.
- Example
- Over eight bars, pan from center to wide and raise the reverb send step by step.
Other chapters: Motif and Melody · Rhythm and Meter · Harmony and Tonal Motion · Counterpoint and Voice Leading · Texture and Instrumentation · Form and Architecture · Expression and Narrative · Jazz and Contemporary · Revision and Craft
Not every technique suits every style. Adapt it to your instrument and your music.
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