Synthesis of Acoustic and Electronic Timbres Using Spectral Analysis

About this workshop

Synthesis of Acoustic and Electronic Timbres Using Spectral Analysis invites participants into a different way of combining acoustic and electronic sound not by layering one over the other, but by taking them apart together, down to their shared spectral structure. Working from real acoustic recordings, we’ll decompose sound into its individual harmonics, then reassemble those fragments into new electronic material using modular synthesis.

Who it’s for

Composers, electronic musicians, sound artists, producers, modular synthesis enthusiasts and anyone interested in spectral sound, electroacoustic music, synthesis, and new approaches to acoustic instruments.

The workshop works for composers with some studio experience as well as electronic musicians new to spectral or modular techniques. Basic familiarity with audio software is helpful, but no prior synthesis or modular experience is required.

What you’ll explore

1. 01

   Spectral Anatomy

   Analyze an acoustic recording and break it down into its constituent partials, seeing for the first time what a sound is actually made of.

2. 02

   Harmonic Extraction & Recombination

   Select, isolate, and recombine harmonics from different instruments into new wavetables, arriving at combinations no single acoustic instrument could ever produce.

3. 03

   Granular Transformation

   Shape that extracted material through granular synthesis, exploring how waveform structure and micro-timing become expressive tools in their own right.

4. 04

   Modular Processing

   Route the reorganized spectral material through a modular (Eurorack) system to further granulate and transform it.

5. 05

   Rebuilding the Imaginary Instrument

   Reunite the transformed electronic layer with its acoustic source, integrating the two at the level of timbre instead of simply stacking them.

6. 06

   Timbre as Structure

   Rethink composition with color and texture — not harmony — as the primary driver of musical motion, a core idea from the spectral music tradition applied to a hands-on electronic workflow.

About the mentor

Giorgi Koberidze

Giorgi Koberidze is a composer, performer and multi-disciplinary artist based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Currently serving as a Professor of Music Technology at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, Koberidze’s work investigates the synthesis of digital systems with organic acoustic phenomena. He holds a Master’s degree in Classical Composition with the thesis “Synthesis of Acoustic and Electronic Timbre,” which laid the theoretical and technical groundwork for his current research into spectral synthesis and instrumental-electronic hybridization.

His work in film and spatial audio has received significant international recognition. He composed the score for “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” (FIPRESCI Prize winner, Berlinale), for which he was nominated for Best Music at the German Film Critics Association Awards. Expanding beyond the screen, his recent large-scale work, “Forests, Tales, Cities, Forests,” is an “invisible cinema” composition designed for darkened halls, for which he was awarded the Tsinandali Award.

Beyond composition he organizes an annual experimental music residency in the remote high-altitude region of Tusheti.