Sound synthesis

Sound synthesis is the process of using specialised audio synthesising devices to create sounds. Sound synthesis was originally intended to provide a means of recreating acoustic instrumental tones, but the resulting attempts were generally unrealistic and inadequate as a substitute for the original instrument. What resulted was the creation of new sounds, never before heard nor conceived.

There are many different types of synthesis in common use today:
 * Subtractive Synthesis (otherwise knows as Analogue Synthesis)
 * Additive Synthesis
 * Frequency Modulation (FM) Synthesis
 * Phase Distortion Synthesis
 * Granular Synthesis
 * Wavetable Synthesis
 * Physical Modelling Synthesis (a fairly recent development which does enable realistic recreation of acoustic intruments)

External resources
WikiAudio - Encyclopedia & database for all things audio and sound related