Dear Sir;

While your PAIA Gnome Micro-Synthesizer is nothing to sneeze at, I was wondering if you knew that it can very realistically synthesize such a sound. That's right, the Gnome can sneeze.

I must admit that when I organized a patch that would sneeze, I immediately cracked up. When I let a few of my friends hear it they also rolled. I don't know, I guess that the thought of a synthesizer sneezing was too much for them.

I am writing to let you in on this seemingly strange patch just in case you didn't already know about it. It is very simple and an easily synthesized sound. Enclosed is a drawing of how to arrange the controls and instructions for playing the patch.

Yours truly,
Sammy Greene
Synthesist, STONE ASH
Jays Florida

COMMENTS:
Noise control should be set to the proper volume of the sneeze.

VCF Range control should start at max then be backed off to synthesist desire.

The controller and the VCO are not used in this voice so switches - left, knobs set to min. VGA sustain is not used so leave the switch in the out position. Attack and Decay controls should be set as shown.

The VCF in-out switch is set to the "in" position. The VCF "Q" control is set to the desired position for the type of sneeze wanted.

ALTERATIONS
The function generator controls can be changed, but both Attack controls should point in the same direction and vice-versa for the Decay controls. The VCF "Q" control can be rotated while the patch is being played to change the sound during the sneeze like more natural sneezes are.

A popular synthesizer sound is Pulse Width Modulation with a touch of Glide, This has been used in several popular recordings but was most recently spotlighted in the theme for ROCKFORD FILES by Mike Post.

The basic patch, shown below, can be expanded in several ways. If more VCO's are available, add another narrow pulse an octave higher. This will help give more of the actual ROCKFORD FILES sound. Also try various sweep times for the Pulse Width Modulator.

Tuned to Glide -

Variations: Add another VCO tuned one octave higher with a fixed 20% pulse.

"FROM THE BEGINNING"

Keith Emerson has done a lot for the advancement of Music Synthesis. One of his songs which is popular with many bands is "From the Beginning" on the TRILOGY album. The synthesizer solo is a pleasant, mellow type of sound and may be useful in other songs also. The basic patch is shown above. The Triangle oscillator should be tuned 3 or 4 octaves above the pulse VCO. The pulse wave should have about a 30% duty cycle. A low pass filter allows the harshness of the pulse wave to be eliminated while retaining the uneven harmonic series for the nasal quality. The pulse wave should be mixed at about one half of the triangle level. This patch seems to sound the best when the keyboard is at its upper octave setting. As always, experiment with variations of the given settings.