Abstract:

Sound synthesizers appeared in the 1960s and since then they have revolutionized the music world. The first instruments were modular: cables had to be used to connect different sections of the instrument in order to produce sounds. In spite of their flexibility, their various disadvantages led the industry towards more compact, reliable and easy to use models. This approach made electronic synthesizers extremely popular, and nowadays they have a big influence in contemporary music. Despite the importance of the field, learning about sound synthesis is not easy: the concepts involved are sometimes quite technical, and the cost of the required gear is often very high. In this paper we propose the use of VCV Rack as an ideal environment to learn about sound synthesis. First of all, it simulates Eurorack, a compact modular synthesizer standard, and modular means flexibility, variety and the possibility of concentrating on the modules and concepts that the user wants. VCV Rack has a very big community of devoted users that offer videos and tutorials to learn at your own pace, it is free and it has a very friendly and efficient user interface that mimics the operation of a real modular synthesizer. In this paper we explore a few sound synthesis concepts with VCV Rack: visualizing the harmonic content of different waveforms, mixing sounds, beat frequencies, hard and soft synchronization of oscillators, filtering sounds, filter slopes, resonance, etc. We have used VCV Rack in two courses, and we have confirmed that it is a very adequate tool to illustrate the basic techniques of sound synthesis. But this is just the beginning, and with the hundreds of modules available in VCV Rack, and the active and helpful community of users, it constitutes a very good option for learning about sound synthesis in a zero cost and high quality environment.

Keywords:

Sound synthesis concepts, modular synthesizer, modular synthesizer learning.