Using filters, you cut out any frequencies you donвЂ™t want.

In subtractive synthesis, you start with a sound that already has tons of harmonics. Starting with a huge hunk of rock, you gradually chisel away at it, revealing the sculpture within. This quickstart guide to subtractive synths will have you creating incredible sounds in no timДЄs the name suggests, subtractive shapes a sound by cutting frequencies out. Luckily, theyвЂ™re also the easiest to use! If you want to harness the power of these exciting instruments, youвЂ™re in the right place.

I suggest you pick up a copy (as I always do) of Curtis Roads 'Computer Music Tutorial.' It's 10 pounds of pure excitement.Subtractive synthesizers are probably the most popular synths out there. Noise is often used as a supplementary source for subtractive synthesis, or sometimes even as the only source a la Roland's vintage drum machines snares and such, but it certainly isn't the only possible input. Perhaps you are not understanding the context than example is to be taken in properly, because it doesn't make a terrible amount of sense.

I believe your book is refering to a specfic implementation of subtractive synthesis which uses the sounds that fall outside th sinusoidial harmonic beakdown (which is idiotic, because by nature a sinusoidial signal has no harmoincs, just ignore this supercilious language here, so any harmonics fall outside), and is using those for additive synthesis, which is simply combining several simple sounds to produce a more complex one. Ideally the richer the source, the more interesting the output this is true, but even running a sinewave though a lowpass filter is technically subtractive synthesis. in fact, that's not really filters that are used but resonators that will emphasize some harmonics from a noise source just like a guitar string that vibrates at specific frequencies because of it's size, tension.Д¬lick to expand.Subtractive synthesis is simply taking the input, and removing parts of the frequency range to shape the sound (via a form of filter, be it bandpass, lowpass, etc). (check Steam Pipe.ens, a beautiful example of modeling synthesis). an excitor and resonators emulate what happen on a guitar string or a flute. The synthesis you described using a noise passing thru band pass filters looks more like physical modeling synthesis. Junatik (a kind of juno-6 or jupiter 8 emulation) is a pure subtractive synth. The cool thing is that you can control the timbral color of the sound with a limited number of knobs, and get the sound you want is a very intuitive way. Subtractive synthesis works with oscillators with many harmonics (saw, square.) and a rich spectrum that you pass through a filter in order to shape the sound. this kind of synthesis is complex also because you must shape an envelop for each partial, and it is not the easiest and fastest way to program a 'piano' or 'strings' like preset. Substractive synthesis references to the way analog vintage synths produce sounds.ДЄdditive synths use many sinus oscillators to build each harmonic of the sound (very cpu consuming, because you need a huge number of harmonics to produce something musically insteresting).

Additive vs subtractive synth