INTRODUCTION TO SYNTHESIZERS - hol.gr

Keyboards and synthesizers are usually not in the same need for an equalizer section as other instruments, and
so on some other keyboard mixers the equalizer section may have been completely left out. This is often also
done in order to keep the price down - and also the background noise level.
Effects
Quite often you may wish to do more with your sounds than just adjusting their relative volumes, filtering them
and positioning them in the stereo field. For instance you may want to add some bouncy echo effects to some
sounds and make other sounds appear to be playing in a huge cathedral.
Sound processing is called effects in electronic music terms. Until quite recently, effects required a substantial
amount of additional hardware to be plugged into the mixer.
Roland SRV-330 Dimensional Space Reverb
Today most of these effects are available as a piece of software which can be set to process a sound file in your
computer or the sound input in real-time.
The unprocessed sound is called the dry sound. The dry sound is sent into the effects unit which processes the
sound and returns the result to the mixer. This is called the effects loop.
The jacks on the mixer which we use for this are called aux send and aux return, and they are controlled by
dials on the mixer panel. When we increase the amount of "aux send" on a certain channel, then more of the
sound on the channel is sent to the effects unit. When we increase the amount of "aux return", we increase the
amount of processed sound.
There are hundreds of different sounding effects to choose from. It's impossible to describe every variant and
it's usefulness for a certain situation, and often it is enough if you are familiar with a few of the most useful
effects, such as reverb, delay and chorus.
Here are few of the most commonly used effects in an electronic music studio.
Every effect is illustrated with a four-bar sequence played on a simple synthesizer sound and a drum machine
sound. The first two bars are completely "dry", and the other bars are processed with an effect box.
Headphones are strongly recommended for these sound examples!
Reverb Creates an ambience or a "space" around your sound, ranging from a middle
sized shoebox to a gigantic cathedral. Reverb is definitely the most important
effect you will ever find! This example simulates the characteristics of a large
room. Just listen to the sound pattern become three-dimensional!
Echo Sometimes called digital delay or just delay, this effect creates a repeating echo
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