The latest video from mathematical software developer Wolfram features Dr. Leonardo Laguna Ruiz discussing modeling analog synthesizers.
Ruiz has developed dozens of modules for VCV Rack, along with a wide variety of music technology projects.
Video Summary:
“Have you ever thought about making your own musical instruments? What about making mathematical models of your instruments? Whether you’re someone looking for a cost-effective alternative, a minimalist with dreams of maximalist sounds or a Wolfram Language enthusiast curious about sound design, you can build a virtual version of a modular synthesizer using Wolfram System Modeler.
In this talk, Leonardo Laguna Ruiz demonstrates some methods and projects from his own experience modeling synthesizers.”
As someone who blows at math, I can honestly say that I’ve never thought about making mathematical models of my own instruments. I can say, however, that I’ve always envied the kind of people who might think about making mathematical models of their own instruments.
Hear, hear!
FL Studio has had Synthmaker (Flowstone) for a very long time, providing about the same level of design power.
But ImageLine has discontinued support for Synthmaker/Flowstone, at least as a way of generating native synths; though you can still create a VST with it. The old *.OSM format is deprecated in Flowstone as well. It does however offer multiple ways of generating your sound, including prefab stuff.
Wolfram is more of a pure math environment though. An alternative, could be GNU Octave, which allows creating audio as well, though not exactly straight forward to do. Then there’s also the regular tools like Max, Pure Data, or Super Collider, etc.
Also Synthmaker was never upgraded to 64-bit. But SystemModeler starts at $500 for the Home and Hobby version, so everything has a down side.
Can any of the tools you cited emulate electronic circuits components like resistors ?
Bonus question : Did you watch the video ? :p
Who knew? He misses the tactile nature of sound discovery that hardware will always have over software.
I did mentioned that in the video.
I wish someone would do some videos using open source software. System modeler is very powerful but not something any young kid will spend their money on if they get curious.
any idea whether you could do a similar thing with openModelica?
A flowstoners.com there’s lots of great VST synths & effects made with Flowstone.
Check the Qilcom and Flowmates branches.