FM Synthesis (techniques, anecdotes)

[chim]

 

I am a hopeless addict now

 

stumbling into big fucking ambient drones/chords/sounds like this is a religious experience

 

What are the amp (or filter) envelopes on that bad boy?

 

 

everything except Z:

 

 

Z:

 

 

A is connected to pitch envelope:

 

 

A and E are connected 70% to LFO 2 which is on slowest unsynced rate

[LimpyLoo]

Those new Yamaha's look so fucking sexy

[psn]

Would be cool if Yamaha launched some modern FM synths, yeah! Those are still only mockups made by a fan, though.

[logakght]

 

 

I am a hopeless addict now

 

stumbling into big fucking ambient drones/chords/sounds like this is a religious experience

 

What are the amp (or filter) envelopes on that bad boy?

 

 

everything except Z:

 

 

Z:

 

 

A is connected to pitch envelope:

 

 

A and E are connected 70% to LFO 2 which is on slowest unsynced rate

 

 

this post looks pretty damn IDM

[Guest skibby]

yeah hardware fm needs to come back. imagine getting hands on with the osc pitch!

 

skibby - the answer to each of your questions can be summized as 'because it provides more sound design options to the user'

 

it sounds like the tg77 might not be for you after all. go grab fm8 i guarantee it'll be a better move for you.

 

im just whining and crying from my dyslexia. i have loads of software fm synths already, i like having the boxes, and im using them in a productive way, i just have blind spots and i want to be an expert yesterday.

[Guest skibby]

The thing about software is theres no gear lust involved. No passion. fm8 is probably the best fm synth ever, and its everywhere. But its more fun to have the silicon. And the cave grit.

[mcbpete]

The thing about software is theres no gear lust involved. No passion.

I dunno - I've got a thing about u-he's plugins, everyone is so flipping mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[Guest fiznuthian]

I enjoy software personally. I like being able to write patches in the synth, then effortlessly experiment with effects chains and note inputs and routings.. I totally understand the gear lust and the joy of feeling cables and knobs in your hands though. If i could ever find a job that pays more than poverty wages i'd be more inclined to start investing in gear. :)

 

You have to admit though, modular DAWs are fucking cool. Max MSP, audiomulch, etc..
Bitwig is sitting on top of a modular environment like a dormant volcano, and access to it is being released when they roll out version 2. I'm fucking stoked.

[Guest fiznuthian]

Oh, and besides FM8, what other good software FM synths are out there?

[sweepstakes]

Oh, and besides FM8, what other good software FM synths are out there?

Depends what you're looking for. If you want something easy and fast, I've heard good things about Ableton's Operator and FLStudio's DX10 but obviously they're both native.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, I've recommended it earlier in the thread but rolling your own in a modular environment like Reaktor or Max is the way to go. You can create your own algorithms, use any waveshape, use LFOs anywhere, put feedback anywhere, incorporate delay lines, etc.

[kausto]

Madronalabs Aalto basically is FM synth too

[Guest skibby]

has sytrus upgraded its terribly small and fussy gui yet?

[mcbpete]

Oh, and besides FM8, what other good software FM synths are out there?

A couple of pages back I linked to this bad boy -

 

 

A darn near cycle accurate version of the Yamaha YM2612 chip

The GUI is a little buggy at the moment but at only €10 and the author being completely accessible if you have issues it's definitely worth the 'nuances'

[Guest fiznuthian]

Madronalabs Aalto basically is FM synth too

 

Looked over these just last week. Amazing synths :) Their new physical modelling synth is really cool.

[mcbpete]

Found this tonight:

 

Hexter - looks like shite, sounds like amazing (when you turn the effects off by pressing the big yellow 'Effects on' button !) and is FREEEEEEEEE. Completely compatible with the DX7 and can even import DX7 syx dumps:

 

 

Seems to be discontinued everywhere as a VSTi now (it seems to have been revived as a Linux thing) but Google has the last version in its archives: https://sites.google.com/site/bigaudiobase/CuteVST_Hexter_VSTi_1.3.0.0_win32.zip?attredirects=0

 

Alas Windows only ...

[b born droid]

 

 

I am a hopeless addict now

 

stumbling into big fucking ambient drones/chords/sounds like this is a religious experience

 

What are the amp (or filter) envelopes on that bad boy?

everything except Z:

 

 

Z:

 

 

A is connected to pitch envelope:

 

 

A and E are connected 70% to LFO 2 which is on slowest unsynced rate

Dude this is magnificent. Sounds lovely, across all octaves too. We should have an FM8 patches thread or something. Would love to hear more watmm sounds.

[Guest A/D]

There's a small and limited freeware FM synth called Vivaldi MX that is surprisingly powerful. I used it exclusively for a while.

 

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/vivaldi_mx_by_sk

[Guest skibby]

tx81z three tracks of

https://soundcloud.com/zhaozhou/3tx81z

 

Edited December 11, 2014 by skibby

[kausto]

sounds smart. i like it.

whereby you automate changes in tx81z? it sounds like you tweak several params simultaneously in realtime. my tx81z would immediately get midi buffer overdrive.

only useful routes i found is Modweel or Breath Control -> ModIndex/Pitch/LFOAmt, but you can't control LFO speed this way iirc.

[kausto]

yeah, i know it. btw my tx has 1.5 OS revision which is not a recent one (1.6).

[Guest skibby]

sounds smart. i like it.

whereby you automate changes in tx81z? it sounds like you tweak several params simultaneously in realtime. my tx81z would immediately get midi buffer overdrive.

only useful routes i found is Modweel or Breath Control -> ModIndex/Pitch/LFOAmt, but you can't control LFO speed this way iirc.

 

i did it in 3 takes, i used the reaper midi arpeggiator for one of the takes, and the tx18z editor called 'tx81z editor' to tweak live. you can hear the lag when i tweaked the settings too hard, some params cause more lag than others, i should take note of which ones. maybe the envelope points did. freqs tweak without any lag as i recall

[psn]

So, is Yamaha bringing back FM synths? Or is it the CS series?

 

https://yamahasynth.com/

[Guest skibby]

maybe they got embarrassed cause none of their FM synths were technically FM, but PM

[lala]

Just bought a TX81Z :)

 

 

havent even plugged it in because music is coming out so im not stopping the flow

[Lucas]

Just bought a TX81Z :)

 

 

havent even plugged it in because music is coming out so im not stopping the flow

 

ooooh I feel excited for you, have fun