Listen to the digital synthesizer
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the digital synthesizer makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the digital synthesizer belongs to the electrophones: sound is produced or shaped electronically – synthesizers, the theremin and electric organs.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to make musical sounds, in contrast to older analog synthesizers, which produce music using analog electronics, and samplers, which play back digital recordings of acoustic, electric, or electronic instruments. Some digital synthesizers emulate analog synthesizers, while others include sampling capability in addition to digital synthesis.
Other electrophones
Frequently asked questions
What does a digital synthesizer sound like?
Listen to 2 recordings on this page. As one of the electrophones, its sound comes from the way sound is produced or shaped electronically.
What type of instrument is the digital synthesizer?
It is classified as electrophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 541).
Sources & credits
- Generative Digital Synthesizer Improv in a DAW 2 by Human Style – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Generative Digital Synthesizer Improv in a DAW by Human Style – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q5276177 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Digital synthesizer – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Henning Ihmels – CC BY 2.5