multitimbral

Often used in the realm of digital keyboard synthesisers, an instrument that is multitimbral is one which allows you to combine several voices or timbres at the same time. This may be done by splitting the keyboard at a given point and being able to play, for example, a bass sample with the left hand and a piano sample with the right hand. Another possibility would be to have several separate instruments connected via MIDI to a multitimbral synthesiser and to play different sounds from the same synthesiser with each instrument.

Background

Multitimbrality is acheived by having a synthesiser with more than one sound producing module. In a fully digital system, each sound module is virtual, since in reality algorithms combine samples together in real time for output to a single D-A (digital to analogue) circuit. Synthesisers that can combine n timbres together are called n voice multitimbral. For example, a synthesiser capable of playing eight voices or timbres at one time would be an eight voice multitimbral instrument.

Applications

Inexpensive multitimbral synthesisers combined with a MIDI equipped computer (such as the Atari ST, before PCs became equipped as standard with a MIDI interface) made home studio recording much more accessible to the digital musician, particularly instrumental keyboard players. By capturing information digitally via MIDI, one could play back an entire work with several voices on a single multitimbral synthesiser. This, combined with a relatively cheap four track tape machine (or higher end 16 and 24 track reel-to-reel machines would allow a musician to layer a number of keyboard tracks digitally, and then use a single track for MIDI information and the rest for analogue sounds, without requiring intermediate mix-downs to gain additional needed synth tracks.

Multitimbral

Background

Applications

See also