Computer Music: Musc 216
Computer Music Terms


Fourier Synthesis

In the early part of the 19th century, the French mathematician Francois Marie Charles Fourier proposed that any complex vibration can be analyzed as the sum of simple vibrations (sine waves) of particular frequencies, amplitudes, and phase relationships. This idea has come to be known as FOURIER'S THEOREM, and an analysis of a sound based upon this idea is called FOURIER ANALYSIS.

Fourier's theorem can also be applied in reverse: sine waves of particular frequencies and amplitudes can be combined to form complex sounds. This technique is called FOURIER SYNTHESIS, or ADDITIVE SYNTHESIS, and is very important to designers and programmers of electronic musical instruments.

See Fourier Synthesis in Barry Truax's Handbook for Acoustic Ecology.

Check out this great site which has a REAL-TIME Fourier Synthesis engine:

Real-time Fourier Synthesis

See Fourier Synthesis.


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