Dear Mr. Bing Beng Bong,
Congratulations for stepping into the mysterious, unexplored world of FM
systhesis hereby barely touched on this list.
We all should admit that theres been very little discussion about this
powerful parameter that Yamahaha has provided. After all, Yamahaha owns the
patent on FM synthesis
they were kind and foresighted enough to enclude
it with the AN series
but they committed the sin that so many manufacturers
make: They didnt explain it very well.
Pages 58 and 59 of the manual are where the parameters are provided.
However, they didnt provide an overview of how FM synths work, their
implementation, the operators the algorithms, etc.
I never owned a DX7 but I had a Korg Z3 guitar synth which had the same
engine as a DX11. Both of these are extremely more powerful than what the
AN series has, but I learned a tiny bit about how to program.
Unfortunately, that was so long ago its all vaporized in my head.
Maybe you could provide a link or two to good explainations of FM synthesis
so the list members might try to discern what Yamahaha was trying to say in
the manual. Over the years Ive collected many patches for my AN1x and I
must say that some of the strangest ones involve the FM section
and Ive
never been able to figure out whats going on at all.
Ed²
PS if you need the manual, it is in the files section of the list
(Wow it wasnt there! So I took the liberty to upload it and the Data
List document. Both are essential for AX1x programmers. Under the
Documents section.)
_____
From:
AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of buenlimon
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 2:39 AM
To:
AN1x-list@yahoogroups.comSubject: [AN1x] Question about FM
I own an AN1x since about 1 Year and the only synthesizing I did so
far was changing existing sounds, be they factory presets or
downloaded in internet.
I went and had a professional teach me the basics of FM theory
(which he kindly showed me on a Nord Modular). I think I have
understood the most important things.
I am particularly interested in developing different piano sounds
which implies creating "bing", "beng", and also "bong" sounds.
So far I have understood that you need (as a minimum):
- a carrier which is near to sine wave formed
- a modulator which is fix tuned to a number of octaves (or part of
octaves above the carrier, near to sine wave formed
- a narrow envelope for the modulator (fast attack, fast decay)
- a somewhat broader envelope for the carrier (fast attack, somewhat
fast decay)
If done properly you won't necessarily need much filtering. To
change the sound of the above algorithm you can vary the fixed
interval between carrier and modulator, or you can add a further
sine wave synchronized to the carrier by some interval.
This will generally provide you with a good "bong" sound, am I
right.
====
Now to my simple question:
Can anybody be so nice and to explain me in simple words how I am to
understand the various settings of AN1x such as "master", "slave",
"both", "only fm", "fm source" etc. These don't seem to fit into
the things I described above. How do you set the envelope of the
modulator in an AN1x?
Even if I don't understand the AN1x-specific terms very well I still
seem to have created quite nice bong-sounds anyway. But to create
good pianos I want to know the whole truth.
By the way, the DX-Piano which is factory preset I find is a
beautifully sounding instrument which I can use a lot in my band, be
it for solo playing or accompanying a singer. But I still feel the
need of developing more of the same stuff - from marimba over
e-piano to bells of various kinds.
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