Hybrid: Combination of Analog/Digital/Software

Many of them emulate traditional digital and analog synthesizers

Software
Takes voltage input (such as from a keyboard) and oscillates it to create sound
Use PC/Mac hardware
Low Frequency Oscillators Used to create beat/rhythm (too low to have pitch) or applied to pitch/amplitude

Can be standalone programs or plugins (VST for PC, AU for Macs)

Oscillator
Filters alter the sound (coming from oscillators) to allow only certain frequencies of sound to pass through
Many of them use large sample banks (prerecorded audio) in synthesis
Filter

Filtering: ways to enhance/alter the signal Acts as a consolidator: takes sound from multiple sources and outputs them to the amplifier
Mixer

Time Domain: One dimensional Main Components Before the sound leaves the synthesizer, it passes through the amplifier to alter the gain of the sound
Domains: Ways of conceptualizing signals
Digital Signal Processing Amplifier
Frequency Domain: Analyzes signal based on variance in frequency

Autocorrelation Domain: analyzing patterns in the signal

Wavelet Domain: scaling patterns to compare different sections objectively Uses digital signal processing to make music (as opposed to analog sounds)
Digital Synthesizers
Ring Modulation combines two waveforms (e.g. from oscillators) and outputs the sum and/or difference
Spatial Domain: Multi-Dimensional
Uses binary (sequences of 0s and 1s) to transmit information
Auxiliary Components
Delay
Analog
Alters the amount of time it takes for sounds to reach the left/right ears

uses electrical signals to transmit information Reverberation Similar to echoing, but the rate of decay can be altered and shaped to match the type of music

Synthesizers that use digital signals to try and model the traditional sounds of analog synthesizers Analog Modeling Synthesizers
How fast the sounds reaches its maximum potential volume
ADSR Envelopes Attack
How loud the sound is until the note is released
Original synthesizers were modular, but later synthesizers put the whole system together Sustain

Delay How fast the sound diminishes to the "Sustain" level

Release How fast the sounds decay away after the electric signal has ceased
Synthesizers which use analog circuits to generate their sounds