It’s an interesting topic though. There is a pretty clear definition but it is easy to get confused about it. So not so surprising people say "poly D is Para, not poly’ while in fact it’s both.
And of course not to forget about platophonic which is a form of poly that thinks hard about what signal path to take, considering each and every possible route, before coming to the conclusion that each option is possibly going to sound good but different.
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Pfff, I offer you an occasion to display some more pedantry about synths and you’re having fun at me.
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This needlessly complicates the matter.
Paraphonic synth plays several independently controlled oscillators through 1 signal path.
Polyphonic synth has a complete signal path for each voice.
Paraphonic synth such as the ”poly D” does not play like a polyphonic synth.
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Okok I’ll bite.
So I have a monophonic synth (dominion 1) which has a paraphonic mode. According to this definition it is a monophonic synthesizer that can play polyphonicly because it is paraphonic. Either that or it’s a polyphonic synth that is paraphonic (which, let’s be honest, makes no sense).
Even though I get it, it’s not the best definition but that’s mostly because the term itself is pretty flawed. Paraphony is just a mode a synth can be used in to play polyphonicly. And if that mode is its key feature you could say it’s poly. Like the poly D (although it’s very border line). And in case of the dominion 1 it’s certainly not its key feature because its main focus is obviously being monophonic.
Doesn’t make it less vague I guess. It’s just a very very strange term I think 
voice articulation: paraphonic ≠ multiphonic
note count: monophonic ≠ duophonic ≠ polyphonic
I haven’t understood why in Doty’s mind duophonic is not polyphonic, but apart from this it’s pretty clear. Have you read Doty’s images in the first post? It’s pretty obvious isn’t it?
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It is. But again, that would make my dominion one next to being a monophonic synth (in mono-mode) a polyphonic synth as well. Which in my mind just doesn’t make sense.
Agreed on duophonic. Why stop there? My dominion 1 is triophonic.
Maybe because you can’t play basic triads? But yeah that doesn’t really make sense to me.
The basic idea is an the same as a square = a rectangle but a rectangle doesn’t always = a square. Polyphonic just needs multi of something to play, it could be multiple keytracked filters over 1 note. Paraphonic means there are shared aspects of the signal chain with in the polyphony. Most poly synths have some degree of this even if it is just the controller interface, shared aftertouch, pitch wheel, mod wheel and so on.
All that said if someone asked you to describe a square object to them, you would tell them it is a square, even though you technically could say it was a rectangle. It just would be you purposely using more vague language that would likely paint the wrong image in someone’s mind. Poly synths have a general expectation of what aspects of them are polyphonic (filter, oscillators, envelopes, vca) to not get classified by there non dominant identification of paraphonic. Calling a synth polyphonic that only has oscillator articulation is similar to calling a square a rectangle and while it is technically correct it is ignoring the synths more dominant traits and spins an incorrect image of what it is in someone’s mind.
Long story short, technical definitions exist for a reason (usually for discussing the finer details of something) but practical definitions are generally much more important for general communication.
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Organ can be played fully polyphonic with hands and feet.
You can have sustained notes while playing other notes.
Also a simple square shape gate envelope is an envelope after all.
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Hehe i think its just practical to call polyphonic synths different than paraphonic. It is to avoid unnessesery discussions about synths 
and to make easier shopping choices
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So what about envelope then? Where is the flat paper container with a sealable flap in my synthesizer I ask you? Anyone? Beuler?
Check to see if they are in with the filters, since they are both often made of white paper sometimes they can get mixed up at the factory, the easy way to tell them apart is if they smell of coffee they are filters, if they smell of glue they are envelopes.
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Now … Wikipedia has not the last word in this … but this is what it says:
paraphony:
polyphony:
also from Wikipedia some roots of those words …
para- : Ancient Greek παρά ( pará ). Meaning : near. Used for species that resemble previously named species.
poly , from the Greek [πολύς], meaning “many” or “much”,
Let’t combine it and and paraphony will become something like “nearly polyphone”
I think the problem is that terms may have ancient linguistic roots, but over time their meaning changed and who has the authority to define what is right or wrong. IMO the context is important and the community, which uses it in a coherent way
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Guitarists still call their vibrato devices tremolo’s… Good old Leo…
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I was familiar with Doty’s take, and I still use ‘para’ in its common parlance. I think it’s good to understand that it’s still polyphonic. I’m not really bothered if people say ‘polyphonic’ when they mean ‘homophonic’ either. I have much bigger gripes, like when people use ‘centrifugal’ to describe ‘centripetal’. 
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yeah, who cares as long as it sales
Well I went to the ultimate source of knowledge, the one person who is never wrong, my partner. According to her, Para is a Japanese dance craze, and Poly is the stuff they put in shampoo. So, they can’t be the same thing.
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Para means money on my language, and Poly is cheap salami for working class off springs school sandwiches… I feel my mind is so deep today
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this.
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