Subtractive synthesis
Considered the baseline of synthesis, subtractive synthesis is a great foundation for your understanding of differing types
We’re going to begin by looking at the most common form of synthesis, known as subtractive synthesis. In some circles, you may hear subtractive described as analogue synthesis; it is effectively the same thing, but in the case of the latter, the moniker has stuck thanks to subtractive’s association with analogue synthesisers – very much those existing in the hardware world, rather than software. Analogue technology with subtractive synthesis was where it all started, with many of the current crop of synth plugins looking to emulate the early vintage classics. Like most audio-related matters, subtractive works on a principal of a signal chain, so we’ll begin at the front of this chain, with the oscillator.