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Journal Article

Applications of Current-Starved Inverters to Music Synthesis on Field Programmable Analog Arrays

Authors: Nease, Stephen H.; Lanterman, Aaron D.; Hasler, Jennifer O.

Journal of the Audio Engineering Society · Volume 66 · Issue 1/2 · pp. 71–79 · January 2018

Abstract

Sound synthesis is often conceptually divided into modules that create or process audio, such as oscillators, filters, and amplifiers, and modules that generate control signals that vary parameters over time, such as pitch of oscillators, cutoff frequency of filters, and gain of amplifiers. Recent advances in field programmable analog arrays (FPAAs) that employ floating-gate transistors have opened the possibility of new analog music synthesizer designs with greater flexibility and higher levels of integration that merge audio processing and parametric control. This report describes implementations of voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) and envelope generators on FPAAs using current-starved inverters. VCOs can be used at audio rates or as low-frequency oscillators. Experiments conducted on an FPAA illustrate the modulation of the cutoff frequency of a voltage-controlled filter and the gain of a voltage-controlled amplifier implemented with a Gilbert multiplier.

Details

Publication
Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
Volume
66
Issue
1/2
Pages
71–79
Publication date
January 6, 2018
Affiliation
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA (See document for exact affiliation information.)
Type
Journal Article