FM8 Demystified

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FM8 Demystified 2017-10-12T02:46:58+00:00 Original Post: Lately, I've changed gears in genre and started producing Dubstep and EDM for the practice. Does anyone have some really great free resources that you have come across, for sound design with FM8. The sounds I'm looking at making are primarily for Dubstep but open to cinematic sound effects as well. EDIT: I've consolidated the resources here at the top, to make this a useful thread for the clueless and those interested. I'll try to maintain it as long as I can. So far, here are the best FREE resources: (I was going to include paid but those companies can pay for their own marketing...besides, I've discovered a super easy way to craft a great reference library using FM8, an oscilloscope that can display a static wavetable, and a spectrum analyzer...I explain how down below on this same post) BOOKS http://www.loscha.com/scans/FM_Synthesis-Theory_Applications.pdf VIDEOS (Tutorials) https://youtu.be/vMxqeGErSzA https://youtu.be/XLPkS547kQU https://youtu.be/Rw9peWUkP_Y https://youtu.be/oT8HPEdr00M https://youtu.be/1p675bxQwFg VIDEOS (FM8 usage and specific sounds/ideas) https://youtu.be/N5Y0N5BbCqo https://youtu.be/36c-DMf9Wjk PATCHES (free) http://hsjp.eu/downloads/Dexed/Dexed_cart_1.0.zip MY SUMMARIZED TIP (if you have no workflow/no idea) I can say, it's almost ideal to use an o-scope and spec-a while first starting out. I used MMultiAnalyzer from Melda Productions but you can use whatever free spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope you want but the o-scope MUST have the ability to display a static wavetable of the signal, not a scrolling wavetable. Let me explain why I suggest these two tools: I notice that I pay attention in maintaining a modulated signal with less random spikes in the wavetable, as it appears in the o-scope, when I increase the amplitude of the modulator(s). This allows me to find limits faster and discover whether I need to invert the phase of the modulator signal or reverse of the limits of the modulator such that it goes from max to min instead of min to max. This gives me better results and there's less guessing as to the quality of the output signal. The spec-a is used to see where there's a buildup of harmonics...again, for quality control check. So here's my basic workflow: With FM8 on an init patch, have the spec-a open, play a tone, and as you add modulators, map it's amplitude adjustment to a knob or slider. Look at the spec-a to see what harmonics are introduced then switch to the o-scope to see if the signal is strong and smooth while you sweep through the amplitude change. Keep repeating this for modulators in series, parallel, and feedback. What you want to watch out for is noise, and static wavetable images that you would have a hard time drawing by hand...shall I say, a signal for which the function that best approximates the complex curve. In other words, a wavetable that you can't make out an overall shape to. In other words...if you blur your vision, you still can't make out a shape. Of course, you could very well use your ears but I find it hard to discern the quality of the signal from just the sound alone. Another thing to watch out for, is to maintain a clean morphing shape throughout the sweep, with no static during the morphing, unless that is the sound you want but I find that noise in between frames to be a low quality patch. For you Dubstep guys, I guess the final limits of the sweep could end up on a wavetable frame that ends on noise but again, if that's what you want then by all means, have at it. A final patch, I consider good, would be one that when you morph or sweep through the amplitude of modulation, is such that every frame is one you could interpret the basic shape from with no noise throughout. That's it for my 2 cents. Again, I'm not audio design engineer but I have studied audio because it was inherent to my field of study in math and physics; thus, excuse my lay terminology. One last suggestion...save your money for gear or plugins, not presets. While deconstructing presets is helpful in seeing how a sound could be made, you'll quickly find a variation of that sound can be made several ways. I'm not discouraging spending money to have a small library of presets that you could use as starting points for creating new sounds, because I'm guilty of that. I'm merely advising you to hold off before giving into the greed. Other tips from KVR members: yul: "experiment with only two operators routed to the output..." Mrj1nx: "The easy/morph page is gold. One way to think of FM is additive, the pitch of the modulator shines through, so to imitate a sound, look for the biggest peaks in the original sound and have a modulator be at each spot...What I did was to deconstruct a few patches that helped a lot. The unison with spread is also gold." Contributors To Resources : sfxsound3 twolegstoneworks Chris-S and me, Mathematics Mathematics https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=366176

Daru925 Daru925 https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=354186: KVRist
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Post by Daru925 » Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:48 pm

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set the carrier to a ratio of 0 and try different waveforms for interesting distortions.

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Chris-S Chris-S https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=316210: KVRAF; 3059 posts since 10 Nov, 2013 from Germany

Post by Chris-S » Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:04 pm

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Correct. With carrier freq zero the operator acts like a waveshaper.

Zexila Zexila https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=176360: KVRAF; 3186 posts since 18 Mar, 2008

Post by Zexila » Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:52 pm

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https://www.dancemusicproduction.com/pr ... -synthesis

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bill45 bill45 https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=110483: KVRAF; 2586 posts since 15 Jun, 2006

Post by bill45 » Thu Oct 12, 2017 6:56 pm

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https://www.groove3.com/native-instrume ... -explained

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