Thoughts from the mind of ESOTERRA, 30-06-2002: >I have done a lot of research on programing analog synths- getting >all this good theory- but what I would really appreciate is some >type of chart that illustrates modulation matrix source and >destination matching to create some cool sounds. Does anyone know a >website or any source that has graphic information about this? Not wanting to be offensive, but this is a weird question if ever I've seen one. If you want to know how you can use various modulations, it all depends on which synth you're getting into. If it's a simple vintage machine, like the Moog Prodigy or some such, then there's very little "mod matrix" going on: you have your basic LFO and envelope, and an osc, filter and amplifier, and that's it. If you just bought an old Moog Modular (you wish... :-), then the sky's the limit, since you can cable almost anything to anything, and no comprehensive diagram would ever be possible (imo). All the rest is somewhere in between these two, and the modulation possibilities depend heavily on the specific machine you have. The basic mental picture you should have (and probably do have, after all your research), is that an analog synth (and most digital synths as well) has a main signal path (or multiple signal paths of course), consisting of oscillator > filter > amplifier. The osc. determines the frequency of the sound, the filter determines the amount of overtones, and the amplifier takes care of the volume. Next there's a modulation section (or several), consisting of LFO and Envelope generator. The LFO generates a cyclic, time-independent wave, and the envelope generator outputs a non-cyclic time-dependent wave. Both can be used to modulate each of the 3 "signal" modules. That's it... Some synths will let you do more complex stuff, like use an oscillator to modulate another oscillator, or modulate a LFO with another LFO, etc. But basically the same principles hold. All the rest is up to you -- experiment, experiment, experiment... till you drop :-). There's not something like "a modulation routing that creates cool sounds". A machine like the MiniMoog, for example, was rather simple and had a fixed modulation routing -- so no choices in that department. Still you could make both very cool and very ugly sounds with it. That doesn't depend on the modulation routing, but on the careful adjustment of parameters. Modulating an oscillator with another oscillator can produce some very interesting sounds, but it can also be completely horrible. Ditto for the use of e.g. a ring modulator (one of the most difficult pieces of gear to use properly). It's not the routing that makes the sound, but the way you _use_ that routing -- i.e. again the careful adjustment of al parameters involved. Be prepared to spend serious time with whichever machine before you're able to program it properly. Programming synths is an art in itself, and not something you can learn from a pre-cooked fastfood DIY-package... -- Hendrik Jan Veenstra <h@...> Omega Art: http://www.ision.nl/users/h/index.html