Ableton Live: Additive Synthesis with the Operator Instrument

Additive synthesis: what is it, and how can we use it to make sounds?
0:00 Hello
0:39 What is additive synthesis?
2:17 Setting the algorithm
3:55 Frequencies and amplitudes
6:42 ADSR explained
8:14 ADSR in Operator
10:24 Instrument Rack
11:36 Conclusions

[@brunosimonetta7098]

great vid!

[@rubbaclaymo2822]

lol you didnt skip the option to draw up to 64 harmonics for each osc at all

[@DavidEFarrell]

Hi! Additive synthesis uses only sine waves. If we use this feature, then we are building cool complex waveforms to combine, but they aren't necessarily all sine waves. If you use that feature with just one one oscillator, it limits our synthesis opportunities to only upper partials that belong to the harmonic series; it also lacks great fine-tuning controls. Because of that, I don't think that feature is the most useful for additive synthesis and I didn't include it. It is a cool thing to mess with, though.

[@AntandraMusic]

​@@DavidEFarrell Actually, the 64 harmonics are each a sine wave in the harmonic series, and messing with those is the primary way to do additive synthesis in operator. The whole point is to create more complex waveforms out of those 64 sine waves. Some synths allow you to have each harmonic represented by a complex waveform, but operator doesn't do this. It's a feature I've only seen in Alchemy.

[@DavidEFarrell]

@@AntandraMusic Sure, but then your sound will be limited to sine waves that are in the harmonic series of the oscillator's fundamental, which is so intensely limiting! Ableton does let you do the thing you say it doesn't - just set your different oscillators in operator to whatever waveforms, amplitudes, and frequencies you desire.

[@AntandraMusic]

David E. Farrell True, although to say that the only way to do additive is by setting the algorithm to parallel isn’t accurate. This is still a good tip for getting creative with it.