LA Synthesis

Hybrid synthesis has been around for a good 20 years now, but where did it all start? Grant Bridgeman revisits LA to find out...

Sound synthesis takes many forms, but it’s often forgotten that each approach has its roots in the technology of its time. In the mid-1980s, the digital revolution was starting to change the face of music production: Yamaha released the DX7, breaking new ground with frequency modulation; and sampling was becoming an art form in its own right, as Akai and Ensoniq brought more affordable (and useable) hardware onto the market. Both of these advances offered unprecedented sonic possibilities, but the DX7 was overly complex to program (other than to the hardcore few) and the samplers required

This feature first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 38
Filed under Ten Minute Masters

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