FM synthesis is extremely good at creating sounds that are difficult to achieve with

subtractive synthesizers—sounds such as bell timbres, metallic tones, and the tine tones
of electric pianos. Another strength of FM synthesis is punchy bass and synthetic brass
sounds.

Frequency Synthesis

Use one wave to modulate another wave.

- Modulator = LFO

The carrier is very minutely speeding up and slowing down according to the frequency and
the amplitude of the modulator.

- Modulator = audible waves

Terminology

Each oscillators producing waves are called operators in FM Synth. The lay-out of how many
operators there are and which ones are modulating which is called the lay-out. A modulator is
an operator that is doing the modulating. The carrier is the operator that is being modulated.
Ratio refers to the relationship between the frequencies of the waves involved. Synthesists
have found that certain mathematical ratios generally lead to better results (i.e. simple ratios
like 1:1, 1:1,5, 1:2 etc.). If we get too far away from frequency pairings that can be expressed
as relatively simple mathematical ratios, it starts to sound really messy.

FM synthesis works great for these types of sounds:

- Instruments with complex attack like electric pianos, bells and mallets
- Aggressive bass that punches through the mix
- Icy atmospheric pads
- Plucked strings or distorted sounds

How does FM synthesis work?

FM synthesis uses the principle of frequency modulation to create its unique sounds. The term
frequency modulation sounds a little scary, but you’re probably already using it in its simplest
form. Frequency modulation is just like any other kind of modulation you would create using
LFOs in your subtractive synth—with one key difference.

If you need a refresher, here are the basics. A basic oscillator waveform on its own isn’t very
interesting. It needs movement and action to make it interesting. That’s where modulation
comes in. Modulation creates change over time. You use a special kind of oscillator called an
LFO to modulate other parameters on your synth. Imagine you had a third hand that could
turn a knob up and down at exactly the same rate every time—that’s LFO modulation!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqc8rZnzTVI

Applying an LFO to oscillator pitch (or frequency) will give you a vibrato sound. That’s the
simplest form of FM.
The speed of the vibrato effect is determined by the frequency of the LFO. Its intensity
is determined by the LFO amount.

This is essentially the same process that takes place within an FM synthesizer, although as I
mentioned above, there’s a difference.

As you increase the frequency of the LFO more and more, it starts to sound less like vibrato
and more like a whole other sound altogether.

That’s where things get interesting. At frequencies in the audible range and above, this type of
modulation can create timbres never heard in synthesis before the dawn of FM.

I’ll show you how.

Operators

Modern day FM can all be traced back to the DX7. Even today, FM synths are based on the
same basic components—operators, algorithms, carriers and modulators. I’ll go through each
one and explain how they work.

Operators are the basic building blocks inside an FM synth. Think of each operator like a tiny
little synthesizer with its own oscillator and envelope generator. Except each of these mini
synths can only use a basic sine wave oscillator shape. The classic FM synths had a total of
six operators—that’s a lot of synthesis power in one unit.

Hot tip: some of the newest FM synths on the market have only four operators. You might
think this is less flexible, but modern day FM operators can often start with waveforms other
than sine. As I’ll explain later, that simplifies the process of building up complex sounds and
makes using FM even easier to get started with!

Carriers and modulators

To create frequency modulation you need at least two sound sources. One to do the
modulating and one to be modulated. In an FM synth, both of these roles are played by
operators.

The operator that does the modulating (think of it like the LFO in the previous example) is
called the modulator. The operator that gets modulated is called the carrier.

The magic of FM comes from changing the operator frequencies, envelopes and arrangement
within a patch.

Algorithms

Speaking of operator arrangement, the way each carrier or modulator is connected to the other
operators makes a big difference to the sound. Which operator modulates which? How many
operators are in use? Do they each modulate more than one operator?
With six of them in the mix, arranging operators individually would get overwhelming. That’s
why Yamaha decided to implement a set number of fixed operator arrangements for the most
useful configurations. These preset routings are called algorithms. They’re the funny block
diagrams depicted on the front panel of the DX7 if you’ve ever seen one in person.

The algorithms may look complex, but here’s all you need to know to understand them. The
bottom row of operators in any given algorithm are the carriers. The rest are modulators.

In this example each of the two carriers has one operator modulating them.

Setting these modulators to different frequencies will produce two distinct timbres.

Changing the level of each carrier will adjust the blend of timbres the same way mixing two
oscillator waveshapes works in a subtractive synth.

Envelope generators

Of course, if the sounds you made with FM had no change in amplitude over time, they would
get pretty boring.

Subtractive synths have envelope generators for the VCA and often the filter too. That’s how
you can turn a sound from a flowing sustained pad into a sharp percussive pluck.

EGs work the same way in FM, there’s just more of them—one per operator to be precise!

For carriers, the envelope generator works just like you’re used to in subtractive synthesis.
In the four operator example from above, setting both carriers for a slow attack and long
release will create a pad sound—simple.

But modulators can have envelopes too. Let’s go back to basic LFO vibrato to understand
how that works.

The LFO frequency becomes the vibrato rate, but the LFO amplitude becomes the vibrato
depth.

Remember that the envelope generator makes changes to the amplitude of a sound over time.

If you added a pad type envelope to this LFO, the vibrato rate would remain constant, but its
intensity would gradually build over time and then slowly diminish when you release the key.
More on that later.
Ratio

One of strangest things about FM is how unpredictable it seems. Randomly choosing

modulator frequencies creates some pretty chaotic sounds.

But you’ll rarely use this kind of fixed modulator frequency for programming most types of
FM sounds. Instead, the modulator frequency will most often be a multiple of the carrier. This
makes it much easier to anticipate what type of sound you’ll create.

Here’s the rule: the higher the ratio, the more complex harmonics will be generated.

Feedback

The last thing I’ll cover here is operator feedback. It’s not essential to the basics, but most FM
synths include it, so it’s worth spending some time to explain.

The exact definition is a bit complicated, but all you need to know is that feedback means the
operator’s frequency becomes its own modulator signal.

All that means is feedback is just another way to create harmonically rich waveforms from the
basic sine waves available in FM.

As you turn up the feedback the operator’s output will approach a saw wave.

Feedback is indicated with a looping signal path around the operator. In traditional 6 operator
FM there’s normally just one path with feedback per algorithm.

FM synthesis tutorial: How to program a bell sound

If all this is sounding a bit academic, don’t worry. There’s plenty of great practical and
musical applications of FM.

To help you make your first patch in FM, I’m going to go through how to create one of the
most recognizable FM sounds using a great free VST synth called Dexed.

In this tutorial I’ll be creating a bell sound.

Let’s get started:

1. Initialize a patch
Click the init patch button near the preset browser on Dexed to start with a blank patch.

Now if you play the keyboard, you should hear a basic sine wave as you play the keys.

2. Choose an algorithm
The next step is to select an algorithm to base your patch around. That way you’ll start with a
clear idea of which operators are routed where and how they affect your sound.

This example requires only four operators, so you’ll only be paying attention to the bottom
two rows of the algorithm.
Since it’s not a complex patch, let’s stick with the default algorithm.

3. Add a modulator
Right now your patch only has a single carrier with no modulator affecting it.

Mouse over to operator 2, which is directly above operator 1 in the algorithm.

As you turn up its level, you’ll start to hear your sine wave becoming more saw-like.

4. Change the ratio

The default ratio in this FM synth is 1:1. Let’s turn it up dramatically to hear the effect of
increasing the ratio.

With the ratio set to 18:1, you can hear all kinds of harmonics are now present. Some are in
tune, but others are highly dissonant. Turn down the level of this operator slightly to smooth
out the sound slightly

This sound might not seem very pleasing right now, but the noisiness and unruly harmonics
are key to simulating the complex attack of a bell sound.

5. Adjust the envelope

Reduce the sustain and decay time of the carrier’s envelope until it’s only a short pluck. Your
goal is to use this complex attack for the onset of the bell sound only.

Dexed’s envelopes use the same control scheme as the original DX7. They might take some
getting used to, but you can use the graphical display to help you.

6. Add another carrier

With this basic algorithm, adding another carrier is as simple as turning up the level of the
other operator on the bottom row.

In this case, it’s operator 3. Turn up its level so that you begin to hear its sine wave tone
alongside the short attack from the other carrier.

Now the initial attack provides interest during the onset and the sine wave provides the body.

7. Adjust the other envelope

The only step left to complete this bell tone is to give the sine wave carrier a more bell-like
envelope.

Increase the release time on the envelope of the operator 3 so that it fades out gently and
gradually.

Yamaha DX7 would change the sonic palette of most of the chart-topping hits of the 70s and
80s.

You can apply an envelope to the modulator.

Linear FM: linear relationship between pitches.

Exponential FM: carrier is going to change in pitch as I play it but modulator isn’t. This
sounds pretty gross on its own but with something like a short envelope controlling the level
of the modulator, we can create some pretty musical bell-like tones.

Typically you’ll work with linear FM mostly.

FM Sound design tips.