Reviewing and renewing with synthesis
The online course I’ve been following deals with sound synthesis. As the material is presented, I keep discovering that this isn’t new content for me. Some of it, I’ve been playing around with for years, albeit without the vocabulary to describe it to others. This evening, we’ve had an overview of bandwidth filters. Low pass, high pass, band pass, notch; although this is a course about sound, the analogies to radio are constant (and a valuable review of my electronic fundamentals).
Similarly, the section on waveform (ADSR, or Attack Decay Sustain Release) envelopes isn’t a revelation. Back when I was ready to spend too much money for toys (OK, I still have that penchant), I happened to see a product review in a magazine during the Christmas holiday, and on my way back to work I erred into an electronics store and bought a little toy that I still have, decades later…
A piano, a calculator, a sequencer, a wave generator… The Casio VL-Tone. Quick, name the tune that used its drum machine.
Anyhow, the course content seems to be heading towards a moment where I will have to produce something aural. I’m reassured that it won’t be that hard to do.
I’ve received the fan for my laptop, but after reading about the “total disassembly” for installation the job has been put on hold. Perhaps this weekend. I’m going to need a couple of hours of uninterrupted time, in order to keep the steps for taking apart and putting together straight (or else I could be faced with the need to replace the whole computer.
