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 Forum index » Instruments and Equipment » Soft synths
Scanned Synth Pro 2
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humanoid



Joined: Jul 10, 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:01 pm    Post subject: Scanned Synth Pro 2 Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Hi All,

I just wanted to let you know about the new synth from Humanoid Sound Systems called Scanned Synth Pro. It's had great reviews and awards here in the UK (from magazines like Sound on Sound and Computer Music) for its innovative use of a new synthesis method called Scanned Synthesis but not so many people know about it over in the US yet. Have any of you heard of it at all?

Here's a pic:

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

You can check out more details at:

http://www.humanoidsounds.co.uk/products.html

Cheers,

John.
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blue hell
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Joined: Apr 03, 2004
Posts: 24079
Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
Audio files: 278
G2 patch files: 320

PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

welcome John,

Is this your brain child?

It might be interesting to have bit more of a background on it than just

Quote:
Scanned Synth uses a unique new form of synthesis inspired by advances in digital music theory.


I mean, what is scanned synthesis?

_________________
Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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humanoid



Joined: Jul 10, 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Blue Hell wrote:
welcome John,

Is this your brain child?

It might be interesting to have bit more of a background on it than just

Quote:
Scanned Synth uses a unique new form of synthesis inspired by advances in digital music theory.


I mean, what is scanned synthesis?


Hi Jan,

Sorry for being so brief. Yes, it is my brain child. I think that th best exmplanation of scanned synthesis I have read can be found in the SOS review (see http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct07/articles/scannedsynthpro.htm) which explains it with the following:

Quote:
The easiest way to understand it might be as a development of wavetable synthesis. In classic wavetable synths such as the PPG and Waldorf Wave, conventional oscillators are replaced by a digital read-out of a series of values representing a single cycle of a sound wave. The pitch of the resulting note is determined by how fast the wavetable is read out.

Typical wavetable synths contain tends or hundreds of different wavetables, some of which mimic the classic square, sine and sawtooth waves familiar from analogue synthesis; others might be designed to recreate timbres from acoustic instruments or even the human voice. Simply reading out the same wavetable over and over again results in a very static sound, so wavetable synthesizers usually offer a variety of ways to move between different wavetables as a note is being played, to generate variation in timbre.

However, in a typical wavetable synth, the wavetables themselves don’t change: they are all calculated in advance and stored in ROM or RAM. The key idea behind scanned synthesis is to replace this list of stored wavetables with measurements taken (or ‘scanned’) in real time from a single, dynamically evolving system. Because the system is continually changing as it is being scanned, the timbre of the resulting sound is always changing too.

There are, presumably, an indefinite number of mathematical models that could be used as a basis for scanned synthesis, but Scanned Synth Pro uses only one. This simulates a circular string of point masses connected to each other, and also to fixed resting points, by springs. When a note is played, these ‘nodes’ are set in motion, and kept moving, by a shaped ‘hammer’.

It’s important to note that what’s going on here is not the same as in physical modelling synthesis: Scanned Synth Pro is not attempting to recreate the sound that a real network of springs and nodes would actually make. (In fact, as the network itself is designed to vibrate at frequencies below 15Hz or so, it wouldn’t be suitable for this purpose in any case.) Instead, the shape formed by the network is scanned at intervals and turned into a wavetable. As the shape changes, so does the timbre of the resulting sound.

If that makes no sense, fear not: as the manual insists, “you can enjoy using Scanned Synth Pro totally productively without understanding the details of how it works at all!” Now that’s my kind of a synth...


If you want to hear an example of it in use, Len Sasso talks about it in the current Electronic Musician podcast (the actual bit on SSP2 starts about 24 minutes into it):

http://emusician.com/podcasts/

She Selexx have also recently used SSP2 extensively in the soundtrack to a video to promote a dance school. Here, it is used for the bass and FX:

http://www.visibledance.com/video.php
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blue hell
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Joined: Apr 03, 2004
Posts: 24079
Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
Audio files: 278
G2 patch files: 320

PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Thanks John,

the video is a nice demo, listening to the other thing now.

From the SOS description it seems like it's a sort of an optimization trick, calculate the model at a low rate and scan the sound from that.

Interesting.

_________________
Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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crystal



Joined: Jan 11, 2007
Posts: 1
Location: CA USA

PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

greetings John,

i have the 'lite' version of scanned synth that i got from a computer music cd last year. i've used it on one (mostly) finished piece. i was able to get an eerie, dark, foreboding sound from it (i know- words don't often work) for the piece. it's not on-line yet but when it is i will post you a link.

i like scanned synth although it's a bit tricky to work with. (tricky is OK with me) i sometimes prefer to use software that isn't generic, which SSynth surely is not. unfortunately i am in a somewhat precarious position financially due to absurd legalities here in the 'free' world so i am not able to get the pro version which i'm sure is fun city.

nice work,
(a boy named) crystal
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