Exercise 10.1 - Synthesis and Timbre 1 2 3  

In addition to pitch (melody, harmony) and time (rhythm, structure), modern composers also have fine control of timbre – the colour and quality of the sound. In former years, composers could only select from the available range of timbres (acoustic instruments), but synthesis technologies now provide you the ability to craft your own.
  Beyond Manhattan's sample-based instruments, the environment supports a range of powerful synthesis options, including virtual analogue and modulation (AM/FM), that you can configure and control using the pattern and formulas, as part of your piece:  

Oscillators – 3 oscillators (sine, saw, triangle, square, pulse waveforms), FM (with feedback), ring modulation, noise and aux.
Filters – 2 filters (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, notch), 12dB/24dB options; serial or parallel.
Modulation – 2 LFOs (sine, triangle, saw, square, random), cyclic or one-shot; 2 ADSR envelope generators with sustain decay option.
Effects – Reverb, Distortion, Delay, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Compression, EQ, Bass Boost.
Other – Up to 1024 notes, 64-part multi-timbral (depending on CPU); flexible modulation matrix; 100 built-in presets.

  This tutorial provides a brief introduction to some of the possibilities available, and how they can be configured and controlled. The capabilities and design of the synthesis engine are broadly equivalent to many professional synthesisers, and so should be capable of the same extensive range of analogue and FM timbres – similar methods and terms are likewise used to configure the synth, which should allow you to learn from the extensive body of online knowledge on other synthesisers.

The pattern presents a looped one bar phrase that uses three synthesised voices: a synth pad, a synth lead/bass, and an arpeggio ("sequence") voice. After selecting a random starting pitch, a simple melodic and harmonic pattern is generated to provide material to demonstrate different uses of the synthesiser.
  In the first channel, a number of variables have been defined to allow you to control the voices using MIDI. However, because MIDI controllers vary, you will need to enter the four CC numbers of the dials/sliders you want to use to control the indicated parameters:

Click 2 to move to the next exercise, which explains the workings of the provided pattern and explores synthesis voices it uses.

Exercise 10.2 - Realtime Synthesis 1 2 3  

Moving your assigned filter cutoff dial should now control the filter applied to the Synth Pad voice in channels 02 and 03, in realtime (during playback). Spend some time exploring this sound and varying the other settings, to see how the timbre changes.
  When ready, unmute and audition the synth in the Lead/Bass channel (Alt-4). Each channel has an independent synthesiser (though channels using the same instrument will use the same patch settings).
  Code for the MIDI Event handling (⌘=, see Tutorial 7) is provided for you, mapping MIDI input to control the synths. To select which synth voice is controlled by your device, enter the channel/track number corresponding to the voice's location in the pattern, in the cell labelled Synth (i.e. 02 for the pad; 04 for the lead/bass; 05 for the arp).
  By alternating between controlling the two synths, use your four MIDI controls to vary their timbres so that they work well together. The pad should be atmospheric, mid-to-high range, while the bass should be lower and able to cut through the pad.
  Finally, unmute the Arp/Seq channel. This timbre is designed to work well with rapid melodic sequences. Arpeggiators are a common feature of synthesisers, and turn single notes and chords into more intricate melodic sequences, according to a preset pattern. Similar functionality is enabled here using a simple macro (0xx), which creates new notes by adding the specified number (xx) of semitones to whichever pitch exists at the start of the track (itself copied from the synth pad). As before, you can use MIDI to vary the timbre of this voice (by setting 'Synth' to 05).
  The three timbres you have heard are only 3 of the 100 built-in presets included in Manhattan. The final cell in the first track, labelled Preset, enables you to switch between the presets used by the specified synth – enter values from 00 to 64 (100 in hex).

Synth Programming
The presets represent only a handful of possible configurations of the underlying synthesis engine, which supports countless other timbres and modes.
  To alter the configuration of a given patch, or create your own, we use the synth object, through which you can access settings for its oscillators, filters, LFOs, envelopes, routing, patching, and effects. By default, 'synth' refers to the active synthesiser on the given channel, but you can reference other channels by typing synth[c] (where c is the channel).

Click 3 to move to the final exercise, which gets you to explore the synth settings in crafting a timbre for a given musical context.

Exercise 10.3 - Creating Timbres 1 2 3  

Timbre is increasingly important in modern music, and can have a big impact on how melody or harmony is perceived by listeners. Popular music, especially electronic music, is often defined by the original tones and sounds presented in the piece, rather than melodies or harmony. In film and TV, the line between composer and sound designer is often blurred as synthesis and processing are used to create atmospheric soundtracks.
  In this exercise, you are given a string arrangement based on an auditory illusion, called the Shepherd scale. This is a sequence of notes that ascends a prescribed scale, but fades out as it enters the higher registers, while a repeat of it fades in again from below. This gives the illusion of an infinitely rising melodic progression, which can be used to add tension in a soundtrack. Notable uses include Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer, in Dunkirk.
  As in the film, the version provided in Channels 06 to 10 applies this process in three parallel parts – violins in a high register at 1x speed, cellos an octave lower at 1/2 speed, and basses two octaves lower, at 1/4 speed. The result is somewhat disquieting:

Mute the synth parts and unmute these channels, before auditioning the piece. After four repeats, the sequence restarts, yet seems to continue ascending.
  In the film, acoustic instruments are accompanied by additional timbres, including a sinister synth bass pulse. In this exercise, we will recreate this timbre using a synth patch:

While this tutorial has introduced you to some basic examples of crafting and shaping timbres, it has only covered a few of the parameters available in the synthesiser. Using the same code techniques and the interactive descriptions of the synth object and its various components, you can explore and create many more timbres and synthesis techniques.
  The Internet contains a wealth of information on creating and recreating novel and familiar synth sounds using various synthesisers (e.g. Sound On Sound's Synth Secrets articles), much of which can be easily adapted to the synthesis engine found in Manhattan – from famous 80's synth pop leads and dubstep's Wobble basses to the rich and detailed textures and atmospheric sounds of electronica and sound designers.