[LAU] ZynAddSubFx and sequenser

[Leigh Dyer]

Svend-Erik Kjær Madsen wrote:
> Leigh Dyer skrev:
>> Yep, that sounds about right to me too, with a punchy envelope in there
>> too. ZynAddSubFX is crazy overkill for something like that -- I'd stick
>> with something like the XSynth DSSI synth or amSynth, which are both
>> much closer to the (relatively simple) architecture of the MoPho.
>>   
> Hi again
> 
> Okay I've just played with ZynAddSubFx for quite some time with the 
> standard patches and liked it so far, but I don't understand much of the 
> concept in setting the sound right, maybe I should start there to be 
> able to create my own sounds ?
> 
> Can you or someone else give me a clue here, I'd love to receive link's  
> to howto's and other stuff.

Are you asking how to program a synth to create different synth sounds? 
If that's the case, I'd skip ZynAddSubFX for now -- it's a combination 
of a very wide range of synthesis techniques, so its many, many 
possibilities are going to be totally overwhelming.

To begin with, I'd stick with a simple subtractive (ie: analogue-style) 
synth, like XSynth or amSynth. There's a wealth of information online 
about programming such synths. This tutorial video might be a good 
starting point -- it covers all the basic topics, including different 
oscillator types, envelopes, filters, and LFOs:

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2008/07/16/how-to-program-analog-synthesizers/

You can run the XSynth DSSI plugin under a host like Rosegarden, or 
stand-alone using the jack-dssi-host tool.

> A sequencer is just a way to record and playback midi patterns, and the 
> recorded sequence can later be played  as a single tone from the keyboard ?
> 
> Bear with me, I just want to extend my poor knowledge ;)

Most Linux sequencers focus on recording and playing entire songs, 
rather than triggering simple patterns. seq24 is the closest app I've 
seen to a hardware-style step sequencer, but I'm not sure if it has the 
ability to trigger sequences based on MIDI key presses.

Something you might have fun with is an arpeggiator -- these let you 
play a chord on your keyboard, and convert that in to an arpeggio 
pattern on-the-fly. I'm not sure if there's a good software arpeggiator 
for Linux, but many MIDI keyboards and controllers (including my Yamaha 
CS2X) have one.

Thanks
Leigh