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synthesizer

synthesizer

23 3.9
An electronic instrument usually played with a keyboard that makes many sounds and copies other instruments
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪnθəˌzaɪzər/
translation icon : sintetizador
  • The composer played a beautiful melody on his new synthesizer during the concert.
  • synthesizers and samplers
  • synthesizer keyboard
  • synthesizer with MIDI

I think it's just a little synthesizer from Eno.

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Examples

  • Another firm with multi-planet outlets and a load of old-fashioned synthesizers in a warehouse within shipping distance.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • There are a number of resources available to teachers interested in using synthesizers in their classrooms.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Around that same time, my favorite synthesizer company announced their next synthesizer.

  • It's got like this synthesizer thing going on here, which really sounds very odd.

  • The text file will feed your voice synthesizer.

  • This is a a colour synthesizer made with four different components.

  • I recognise some of the components - a voice synthesizer, vocabulary bank.

  • These days, though, a voice synthesizer can be made very much better by doing all those functions but doing them electronically.

  • Jackie Wiggins explains and offers practical advice on how synthesizers can be integrated into the elementary music curriculum.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Also here under Audio, we've got loads and loads of synthesizers, drum kits, things like that, all sitting there waiting to be used.

Synonyms

instrument
vssynthesizer
184 1.9

An object like a piano or violin that makes musical sounds

is an electronic device that shapes and imitates a wide variety of sounds
musical instrument
vssynthesizer
21 2.3

A thing like a piano or guitar that you play to make music

is the electronic type that creates and alters tones to mimic other sounds
synth
vssynthesizer
  • Informal
12 4.8

An electronic keyboard that makes different musical sounds

is the full word rather than the shortened informal form
electronic instrument
vssynthesizer
1 4.2

A musical instrument that makes sound using electricity

places extra focus on imitating and modifying a wide range of sounds
3.9

A device that makes musical sounds using electricity, like a synthesizer or keyboard

emphasizes the ability to shape and imitate many other sounds
keyboard instrument
vssynthesizer
3.1

A musical machine with keys you press to make notes, like a piano or organ

is specifically about electronic sound generation and imitation rather than key play alone

Compounds

speech synthesizer
  • Specialized
1 4.8

A device or program that makes a voice like a human

How Versatile

SuperCollider
  • Specialized
1 9.9
synthesizer
23 3.9
keyboard
203 1.1

Surface Forms

synthesizer singular
synthesizers plural

Morphology

synthesizer = synthesize (transparent) = synthesize + er

Formed by the verb 'synthesize' plus the instrument/agent suffix '-er', so learners can infer 'a device that synthesizes sounds'.

Etymology

Synthesizer comes from synthesis, meaning 'putting together', and from synthesize, 'to make by joining parts'. So a synthesizer is a machine that 'puts sounds together' to make new tones or to copy other instruments.