Classical papers in Computer Music: I - Chowning's FM synthesis

In this talk we will present John Chowning's paper entitled "The Synthesis of Complex Audio Spectra by Means of Frequency Modulation" (J. Audio Eng. Soc. 21(7):526-534, 1973). The well-known process of frequency modulation is here brought to a new application domain, where it is shown to result in a surprising control of audio spectra. The technique provides a means of great simplicity to control the spectral components and their evolution in time. Such dynamic spectra are diverse in their subjective impressions and include sounds both known and unknown at the time.