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COMPUTER MUSIC NOVEMBER 2005 TUTORIAL
make music now FM synthesis for beginners make music now
This month we delve deeper into the world of sound
generation with Frequency Modulation synthesis
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO...
I
n last months Essential Guide, we
looked at how vocoders can be
used to combine the
characteristics of two input signals into
one. This month, were moving on to
Frequency Modulation synthesis (or FM
for short) which, as it turns out, has a lot
in common with last months topic.
When it was introduced by Yamaha
in the early 80s, FM synthesis gained a
bit of a nerdy reputation and many of
the earliest FM synths were simply used
as preset boxes as a result. However,
this reputation came about largely as a
result of their limited hardware
interfaces. Today were spoilt by soft
synths with highly graphical user
interfaces, so although FM is more
complex than subtractive synthesis, the
biggest hurdle has already been
overcome for you.
In addition, many popular
subtractive soft synths contain elements
of FM technology, making this an even
more worthwhile subject to get to grips
with. In other words, FM is not just for
the hardcore synth programmer read
on as we unpack all that FM synthesis
has to offer us. cm
FM synthesis
JARGON BUSTER
3 MODULATOR
A signal used to rapidly change the
frequency of a carrier
3 CARRIER
The main source signal which is
modified by the modulator
3 OPERATOR
A configured oscillator and its
associated envelopes
3 ALGORITHM
A combination of modulators,
carriers and operators
FMHEAVEN: THE ANATOMY OF AN FM SYNTH
OSCILLATOR SECTION
This section provides direct
access to the six oscillators
that drive FMHeaven
VOLUME SECTION
These controls are used to adjust the levels
and routing destination of the six oscillators
ENVELOPE SECTION
Standard four-stage
envelopes can be used to
control amplitude,
frequency and filter cutoff
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
These buttons are used to
configure the overall behaviour
of the FMHeaven synth PRESET SECTION
FMHeaven comes with a wide range
of presets to demonstrate the synths
versatility. Select them here
PROGRAMMING TABS
These tabs are used to select more
obscure programming parameters
including LFOs, Morph and filter controls
MODULATION MATRIX
This parameter grid is used to define how
the oscillators interact and modulate each
other, or even themselves
WITH TODAYS GRAPHICAL USER
INTERFACES, THE BIGGEST HURDLE
HAS ALREADY BEEN OVERCOME
NEXT MONTH
ADDITIVE
SYNTHESIS
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TUTORIAL NOVEMBER 2005 COMPUTER MUSIC
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Q&A focus make music now FM synthesis for beginners
WHAT IS IT?
As weve already suggested, a parallel can be
drawn between FM synthesis and vocoding; both
use modulator and carrier signals as a starting
point for generating sound. But thats pretty much
where the similarity ends. Whereas a vocoder
transfers the sonic character of the modulator
over to the carrier, FM uses the frequency of the
modulator to rapidly change (or modulate) the
frequency of the carrier. The end result is a much
more complex waveform with far more harmonics
than either the modulator or carrier signals alone.
This makes FM synthesis particularly useful for
producing certain types of sounds (see Whats it
used for? for more on this).
If youve already got your head round
subtractive synthesis, youll probably already be
familiar with envelopes and Low Frequency
Oscillators (LFOs). The good news is that these
concepts are also often used in FM synthesis. In
fact, an oscillator can be combined
together with an envelope to
form an operator. Most FM
synths have multiple operators,
as interesting sounds often
require more than one to
reproduce. So, generally
speaking, more operators allow
for increasingly complex sounds
to be synthesized, although there
isnt much point in using more
than six at once.
Aside from an extricable link to the sound of the
80s, FM synths are well know for their ability to
produce bright, metallic twang or bong type
percussive sounds. Theyre good at this due to
the fact that they produce a lot of extra
harmonics. Taking this idea to the extreme, FM
synths can be used to create noise-like sounds
a good starting point for making synthesized
hi-hats for example. But with some careful
programming, most FM synths can also be
coaxed into producing a range of lush, reedy
sounds as well although this takes a little more
skill and patience!
Like other synth technologies, FM's become
an established part of some music genres; for
example, FM basses are popular in dance music.
Believe it or not, you may already be well
acquainted with the overall sound of FM; several
early generations of Sound
Blaster sound cards used a
basic on-board FM synth for all
non-sample based sound
generation. Although the
OPL-3 synth was never
cutting edge technology, it
did prove how versatile FM
synthesis was as a sound
generation technique.
There are basically two different ways to use FM
synthesis; either as a sound generation
technique in its own right, or in conjunction with
other synthesizer technologies (such as
subtractive synthesis, for example). Pure FM
synths generally offer a greater degree of
flexibility, but a subtractive synth with some
Frequency Modulation capability can provide a
more familiar environment for you to get
started with.
Broadly speaking, there are three main steps
involved in creating a new patch with FM
synthesis. The first requires you to set up the
oscillators; choosing waveforms, selecting an
octave and setting fine tuning. Next, the
envelopes for each oscillator need to be defined:
these control how the oscillator parameters
change over time (typically, amplitude and
possibly frequency as well). In the final step, a
modulation matrix is normally used to determine
how the different oscillators interact and
modulate each other. Sometimes its possible to
configure the modulation matrix to make an
oscillator modulate itself, often with very
interesting results. As ever, experimentation is the
key here.
As a final note, it's worth mentioning that
some FM synthesizers also offer additional
functions including things like LFOs, filters and
effects which can be used to add variety,
interest and impact to a patch.
WHAT'S IT USED FOR? HOW DO I USE IT?
FIVE TO TRY...
FM7
www.native-instruments.com
DX-10
www.mda-vst.com
VX7
www.maz-sound.de
Atlantic
www.rocktave.com
Sytrus
www.sytrus.com
3
Set position 1,1 to 100%. Were now using oscillator 1
both as a carrier and modulator; it's modulating itself.
Play a few notes you should be able to hear white
noise on top of the saw tooth. Reduce the pitch of oscillator 1
to 0, and youre left with a thick FM hi-hat.
2
Locate oscillator 1 and click in the waveform box
repeatedly until a sawtooth wave is selected. Now play
some notes; you should hear a bright sawtooth sound.
Next, reset the modulation matrix by clicking on each number
and dragging downwards to set the positions to zero. >>
1
Load the FMHeaven plug-in into your host (www.loftsoft.
co.uk). Make sure the Spectra Bass preset is selected
and deactivate all oscillators except the first by clicking
the blue indicators in the Volume section. Click on the FLT
button to bypass the synths filters. >>
STEP BY STEP FM synthesis in practice with FMHeaven
7 Awesome: early Sound Blaster
cards made use of FM synthesis
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