College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Electrical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Electrical Engineering
Date
6-2024
Primary Advisor
Wayne Pilkington, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
With more and more of the modern music production and live performance workflow becoming digitized synthesizers are the perfect middle ground between the traditional instrument layout and the progressive electronic sound. Despite the fact that synthesizers have made their place in the modern music pipeline they have one significant drawback. Synthesizers are expensive. Whether they are analog or digital, many of the synthesizers produced today are not affordable for the average musician or synth hobbyist. We will be designing a cost effective digital audio synthesizer that will still have enough versatility and a high enough quality to be useful in the music production process.
Many synthesizers, even digital ones, have been priced as luxury music making tools, with some systems having just a single oscillator costing upwards of $200. We have found that for many applications, synthesizers do not need to be this expensive and can usually be implemented using digital synthesis for a much cheaper price to performance ratio. By completing this project we have shown that it is possible to implement a quality synthesizer without making it excessively expensive. And while the current performance of our synthesizer meets our requirements, the feature-set is still limited. This prototype is meant to be a starting point or framework for future development. With further development and optimizations our synthesizer could compete with synthesizers that are currently on the market today. Although we do not anticipate that our project will have much effect on the overall synthesizer market, it may act as a motivating factor to help reduce the cost of commercial synthesizers and make synths more accessible overall.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/eesp/646