Editing MIDI (section)

=====Synthesis and sampling=====
{{Main|Software synthesizer|Software sampler}}
Computers can use software to generate sounds, which are then passed through a [[digital-to-analog converter]] (DAC) to a power amplifier and loudspeaker system.<ref name="Holmes3" />{{rp|213|date=November 2012}} The number of sounds that can be played simultaneously (the [[polyphony]]) is dependent on the power of the computer's [[CPU]], as are the [[sample rate]] and [[Audio bit depth|bit depth]] of playback, which directly affect the quality of the sound.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lehrman |first=Paul D. |url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/oct95/softwaresynthesis.html |title=Software Synthesis: The Wave Of The Future? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110172147/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/oct95/softwaresynthesis.html |archive-date=10 January 2012  |magazine=Sound on Sound |publisher=SOS Publications |date=October 1995}}</ref> Synthesizers implemented in software are subject to timing issues that are not necessarily present with hardware instruments, whose dedicated operating systems are not subject to interruption from background tasks as desktop [[operating system]]s are. These timing issues can cause synchronization problems, and clicks and pops when sample playback is interrupted. Software synthesizers also may exhibit additional [[latency (audio)|latency]] in their sound generation.<ref name="WalkerTime">{{cite magazine |last=Walker |first=Martin |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/identifying-solving-pc-midi-audio-timing-problems |title=Identifying & Solving PC MIDI & Audio Timing Problems |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110151234/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar01/articles/pcmusician.asp |archive-date=10 January 2012 |magazine=Sound on Sound |publisher=SOS Publications |date=March 2001 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The roots of software synthesis go back as far as the 1950s, when [[Max Mathews]] of [[Bell Labs]] wrote the [[MUSIC-N]] programming language, which was capable of non-real-time sound generation.<ref name="DMM1997">{{cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Dennis |url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/may97/softwaresynth2.html |title=Sound Synthesis On A Computer, Part 2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110201713/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/may97/softwaresynth2.html |archive-date=10 January 2012 |magazine=Sound on Sound |publisher=SOS Publications |date=May 1997}}</ref> Reality, by Dave Smith's [[Seer Systems]] was an early synthesizer that ran directly on a host computer's CPU. Reality achieved a low latency through tight driver integration, and therefore could run only on [[Creative Labs]] soundcards.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/Midi-Ancestors-and-Milestones/2171 |title=MIDI Ancestors and Milestones |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030112748/http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/Midi-Ancestors-and-Milestones/2171 |archive-date=30 October 2012 |publisher=[[New Bay Media]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Walker |first=Martin |url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/nov97/seerreality.html |title=Reality PC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225043325/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/nov97/seerreality.html |archive-date=25 February 2015 |magazine=Sound on Sound |publisher=SOS Publications |date=November 1997}}</ref> Syntauri Corporation's Alpha Syntauri was another early software-based synthesizer. It ran on the Apple IIe computer and used a combination of software and the computer's hardware to produce additive synthesis.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/alphasyntauri.php | title=Syntauri alphaSyntauri &#124; Vintage Synth Explorer | access-date=7 September 2022 | archive-date=7 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907060813/https://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/alphasyntauri.php | url-status=live }}</ref> Some systems use dedicated hardware to reduce the load on the host CPU, as with [[Symbolic Sound Corporation]]'s Kyma System,<ref name="DMM1997" /> and the [[Creamware (company)|Creamware]]/[[Sonic Core]] Pulsar/SCOPE systems,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wherry |first=Mark |url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun03/articles/creamwarescope.asp |title=Creamware SCOPE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111225043650/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun03/articles/creamwarescope.asp |archive-date=25 December 2011 |magazine=Sound on Sound |publisher=SOS Publications |date=June 2003}}</ref> which power an entire recording studio's worth of instruments, [[effect unit]]s, and [[audio console|mixer]]s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Anderton |first=Craig |url=http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/sonic-core-scope-xite-1/147874 |title=Sonic Core SCOPE Xite-1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030112726/http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/sonic-core-scope-xite-1/147874 |archive-date=30 October 2012 |publisher=[[New Bay Media]]}}</ref> The ability to construct full MIDI arrangements entirely in computer software allows a composer to render a finalized result directly as an audio file.<ref name="Why" />