Yamaha SY35 Owner's Manual (getting Started) - Page 44

Glossary If you're relatively new to electronic music, you might be confused by some of the jargon you run across in the literature you read (such as this manual). The following is a very brief glossary of some terms that are unique to this field. Aftertouch Aftertouch response refers to the capability to vary the sound of a note after the note has been struck on the keyboard. This is normally accomplished by varying finger pressure on the key. Depending on the synthesizer, aftertouch can be used to bend the pitch of a note, apply modulation, or apply just about any other effect. In the SY35 aftertouch can be assigned to pitch bend, level control, pitch modulation, or amplitude modulation. AWM Synthesis AWM stands for "Advanced Wave Memory," Yamaha's sophisticated sampling technology that allows high-fidelity reproduction of digitally recorded "live" sound. Cent Just as a cent coin is one-hundredth of a dollar, a cent in musical lingo is onehundredth of a semitone. The cent is a useful unit when dealing with very small changes in pitch - such as in synthesizer tuning or detuning functions. Element Normally the word "element" refers to a part of something larger. The same applies in synthesizers. In Yamaha synthesizers, an element is an individually controllable part of a voice. In the SY35, each voice can have two or four elements. Each element is actually an independent waveform, so you could have a 4-element voice that is made up of a piano element, a brass element, a strings element, and a wind element. Envelope You'll hear the terms "envelope" and "envelope generator" quite a lot in synthesizer talk. Like the envelope that encloses a letter, a synthesizer envelope "encloses" the sound, mainly in one of two ways. An amplitude envelope determines the overall "shape" of the sound - i.e. the speed and shape of the attack, how fast the sound decays, etc. A pitch envelope determines how the pitch of a note changes over time. Next to the basic waveform, the amplitude and pitch envelopes are the most important factors in determining how a voice sounds. FM Synthesis FM is Yamaha's proven Frequency Modulation synthesis technology which is capable of creating extraordinarily warm, vibrant simulations of actual instruments, as well as an infinite variety of original sounds. The reason for the " F M " name is that this tone generator system employs a number of independent oscillator blocks known as "operators," that are arranged in a variety of configurations known as "algorithms." Depending on their positions in the algorithm, each operator functions either as a "modulator," or a "carrier" that is modulated by a modulator. Since modulators modulate the frequency of carriers, the system is a form of frequency modulation - therefore, "FM Synthesis." 41