FM Synthesis
What is Frequency Modulation Synthesis?
Wikipedia article on FM Synthesis
Which devices are used for FM Synthesis in Reason?
Thor has an FM Pair Oscillator for DX Series style FM and can also do analogue style cross-oscillator FM using the Modulation Matrix. The Subtractor can also do simple FM synthesis.
Articles
An Introduction to FM Synthesis Part 1 by Propellerhead Software
Frequency Modulation (FM) has become the bogeyman of synthesis. Whereas, in the 1960s, people quickly grasped the concepts of these new-fangled oscillators, filters and contour thingies, the second generation of players shied away from the concepts of FM, to the extent that most FM synths were used for little more than their presets and the professionally programmed sounds that you could buy for them. Even today, if you look closely at Thor’s refills, you’ll find very few patches based upon its FM Pair Oscillator. This is a great shame, because FM is a very elegant system capable of remarkable feats of sound generation. So, this time, I’m going to introduce you to the principles of FM, and show you how to create what may well be your first FM sound.
An Introduction to FM Synthesis Part 2 by Propellerhead Software
In the last tutorial, I introduced the concept of FM algorithms, the ways in which FM operators can be connected together to create sounds. A Thor FM Pair Osc comprises two operators – a modulator that is permanently connected to the FM input of a carrier – and we can represent this as shown in figure 1.
Real 4-Operator FM Synthesis in Thor by eXode
I’ve been doing some FM synthesis in Thor lately and discovered that some of the design choices made in the FM Pair Osc has taken away some of the original flexibility that two real FM operators would have had. Real FM synthesis in Thor is achieved by using the FM Pair oscillators but with the FM Amt knob turned fully to zero. You then use the mod matrix and route one oscillator to another oscillators frequency (FM). Then you use an envelope for scaling of the modulation and finally you should use the matrix slot that carries two scales and assign scale 2 to Key Velocity. Notice that pure FM doesn’t use any filters in the traditional sense so you should bypass any filter that you have enabled.
Synth Secrets: An Introduction To Frequency Modulation by Gordon Reid
How many people can claim to have discovered an entirely new form of sound synthesis? John Chowning can. He did so by accident while experimenting with different types of vibrato at Stanford University in the mid-’60s. Chowning found that when the frequency of the modulating signal increased beyond a certain point, the vibrato effect disappeared from the modulated tone, and a complex new tone replaced the original. With hindsight, we can see that he had stumbled upon what is now the most common encoding technique used for public radio transmission (hence ‘FM’ radio). But what made his discovery so serendipitous was that unlike radio engineers, who work at very high frequencies, way above the limits of human hearing, Chowning was able to listen to the modulated waveform.
Synth Secrets: More On Frequency Modulation by Gordon Reid
Last month, we examined the frankly scary maths allowing you to predict the audible effects of Frequency Modulation. This month, although the maths gets even tougher, Gordon Reid relates the theory to the practical implementation of FM synthesis on Yamaha’s digital synths, as well as modular and non-modular analogues.
Videos
Frequency Modulation and Amplitude modulation in Thor by MasterDarkarbiter
Just me playing around with some ideas, and realising you don’t need to use the fm pair to to have fm synthesis in thor (I realise this is fairly obvious to some people, but theres some interesting sounds created in the video anyway).
Subtractor Sound Design with FM by Sample Craze
Part 1 of the ongoing Subtractor Sound Design Series. In this tutorial we explore the oscillators, FM and Ring Mod. More tutorials www.samplecraze.com. Sign up to our newsletter and receive tons of freebies.
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