Native-Instruments FM7 - Frequency-Modulation synthesis

Ok... NI's FM7 is one of the latest 'wunder-synths' to hit the market - There's been plenty of reviews from cursory glances to more in-depth ones, but a synth this complexed is DAMNED hard to review in a few pages.

We've had FM7 for several months and a review is already overdue.. but how to do that review is the question!... We already know it's an 'FM' synth... We all know it sounds great, delivering complexed pads and other excellent sounds, we've all seen basic reviews or tried the demo.. But... to newbies it's probably a bit of a nightmare...

FM7 uses 'Frequency-Modulation synthesis' to create it's sounds. This method of synthesis was first introduced by the Yamaha corporation back in the early 80's with their famous DX7 synth and all it's sibling off-spring which followed such as the mighty 12 operator DX1 and the small but classic 4 operator DX100... But the DX7 whilst finding favour with such synth impressario's as Brian Eno proved to be one of the most difficult synths to programme and has kept that reputation ever since.

So... 'Frequency-Modulation synthesis' is hard to grasp for newbies who are used to VA's and analogs with the more straightforward multi-osc' & subtractive-synthesis routines to create sounds... The DX series was hard enuff for people to learn as noted, but NI's FM7 takes that approach and in fact makes it MORE complicated in terms of potential programming possibilities even if their superb interface is in fact a godsend for programming sounds... So where the hell does that leave us for doing a review!?... You can't just blunder in because without some explanation of the whole may this type of synthesis works it's pointless and the review is meaningless or at least confusing for newbies who might want to get FM7 and really get into Frequency-Modulation synthesis...

So... I decided after much thought the best way to do an FM7 review would be to make it not just a 'here's section 1, 2, 3 etc" description, but to look at FM7 in terms of Frequency-Modulation synthesis, how it is implemented in FM7 and a basic guide to how to begin to create sounds from which the newbie can expand by experimentation.... So don't expect this to be a step by step guide thru FM7 plus added superlatives... it's time to get down and look deep at FM7 because it's really a stunning synth, one of the very best you can buy and once placed into your sonic arsenal will provide you with superb trance leads, lush complexed & delicate pads and more... it's like adding a 'top' synth to your setup because the sounds are easily up to the 'quality' of ANY top hardware synth...

Sounds good?.... let's get on with it then!!...



What the hell is Frequency-Modulation synthesis??

Good question Jeeves!... and the answer is actualy quite straightforward and easy to grasp. On a 'traditional' synth, the raw sound waves are created by the OSCILLATOR/S... the raw sound generating Oscillators are then combined in various way to create the basic tone/sound and then that combination is fed into a filter to adjust the TONE of the sound, (most basicaly = how sharp/treble-y the sound is) - You create various tonal variations by combining oscillators at various pitches, modulating those tones, filtering and more.... It's all quite straightforward and a newbie can learn the basic's with a little discipline, time and experimentation... But Frequency-Modulation synthesis ?? - How does it make a sound?

Well, in Frequency-Modulation synthesis, the Oscillators still generate basic soundwaves but they are called OPERATORS... and the interesting thing about OPERATORS is that they can do more than one thing....

In the original DX synths the OPERATORS only produced SINE waves... A basic sine wave 'sound' is a soft tone with no harmonics, sounding like a flute or other round smooth tone.. SINE waves make a VERY basic non-harmonic sound without much interesting tonal variation... so how did Yamaha get a synth with ONLY basic SINE wave output to create tones/sounds impossible to achieve on even a complexed analog synth?.. sound such as percussion, bells, piano imitations, glassy sounds etc etc??... The Yamaha DX series didn't even have a filter!! ... (and as an interesting note, Derrick May's 'famous' (& much borrowed by other artists) dx100 was fitted with an Oberhiem filter 'bodged' into the dx100 casing)...

Well that's the clever bit, achieving all that tonal variety without even a filter and with oscillators which output only sine-waves??.... Well it's quite interesting historicaly synth-wise, because remember at that time (early 80's), if you wanted a portable realistic piano you would have to use a huge thing partly mechanical, which required a few roadies... Brass sounds were available as 'farty-sounding' imitations from analogs and the newer DCO digital oscillator synths like the JX3p etc... and drumboxes sounded like someone having a fit on top of a pile of cardboard boxes filled with crisp packets while bashing themselves over the head with an empty aluminium 'Fray-Bentos' pie dish!!... Yup, for productions you HAD to hire a brass section, same for strings etc.... Samplers had NOT been introduced yet when the DX7 appeared.. they started to come in a year + later from stuff like the 8 bit Mirage, the Prophet and sampling drumboxes like the Oberhiem DMX... So what was the answer to 'imitating' real sounds...?

In fact at that time Yamaha were SO convinced that the future for 'realistic' sounds was NOT sampling but was to be found in some type of 'Acoustic-Modelling' in various guises that apparently that was why they dropped all production of samplers from their line... If you analyse Yamaha's synth output from the 80's onwards you'll see after the old sampler they used to make all sampler models stopped until the massive surge in dance-music & sampling in the 90's forced them back into the market with the A3000! - Yup... between the old TX16w and the a3000 as far as i know Yamaha didn't make a sampler at all... what they DID was develop FM synthesis off the back of Stamford research....


FM was already understood for it's use in radio broadcasting going back quite some time even if FM-radio didnt appear until later... But in the early 70's, John Chowning, a composer and researcher at Stanford University developed new techniques for digital music synthesis off the back of previous research using Frequency-Modulation.... This Stamford work was Licenced by Yamaha who were also working their development along similar lines, pushing to find an answer to the use of digital integrated circuits... After they licenced the work, Yamaha then approached various chip makers who told them they were mad to need chips that fast, so Yamaha after a little boardroom wrangling made a descision to invest multi-millions to develop suitable chips themselves... The rest as they say, is history....


That is all highly fascinating Sir, but er... you still failed to explain quite how Frequency-Modulation synthesis in the early DX synthesisers managed to achieve complexed tones with only SINE waves & NO filters!.... True Jeeves!!, well it's a rummy old thing Jeeves, but it goes something like this....



FM Synthesis - The basic's



Here's a basic FM 'Operator' (oscillator) producing a simple sine wave... Yamaha DX models offered 4, 6, or 12 Operators (oscillators) on it's various models starting with the 6 Operator DX7... These OPERATORS (oscillators) could all output a basic SINE wave tone....

Combine two or more Operators in certain 'Flow-Patterns' and you get a combination of the available Operators which is called an 'ALGORITHM' - The most basic 'ALGORITHM' would be 4 or 6 operators all outputting a sine-wave in parallel to achieve a sound synthesis similar to a church pipe organ - 4, 6 or more Operators all outputting a sine-wave combine their waves to make what is just a 'Fatter' sine-wave - If you take 6 sine waves and alter their pitches so you have a root, an octave a 5th, a 3rd etc you get a fatter sound but whilst it has more depth than a single sinewave it still in effect has only the tonal sound variations that can be achieved using basic sine waves... and remember, sine waves have NO harmonics in them... so the sound can only be made 'fatter' but no real tonal variation can be achieved only a 'fuller' sound as you combine the sine waves... Here's TWO Operators working in Parallel....



Here we have two Operators outputting a sine wave which are combined... as you can see, all that happens is the resulting sine wave produced by the combination of the two is 'fatter' than with one... Perhaps one is pitched an Octave above the other, whatever... but that's about all you can do with sine waves... Yamaha provided a basic ALGORITHM for this 'Parallel' sound on it's 6 OPERATOR DX synths which looked like this - (note the circled Operator/oscillator - we'll come to that...)



An ALGORITHM combination like that would be used to create pipe-organ imitations or other 'flute'-like tonal sounds such as basic organ tones, with the last 'odd' shaped Operator providing the additional 'edge' & harmonic's to the basic rounded sine-wave tone a pipe-organ produces... But that STILL doesn't explain how you get sounds with rich harmonic content needed for other more complexed sounds.... The clue is that end Operator circled in red... check THIS out!!..



Tickling an Operator




Er... 'Tickling' ??... What the bloody hell is that!!?... well it's like this...



One OPERATOR (oscillator) can be used to Modulate another OPERATOR... Take one OPERATOR and feed it's output into another OPERATOR, and the first one Modulates the second!... At audio frequencies which these OPERATOR's are pumping out the effect of TICKLING (modulating) one OPERATOR with another is much different to the usual 'Modulation' you can achieve with an LFO modulating a source... The effect that occurs is that the actual wave-shape of the 'Tickled' OPERATOR is changed... in effect it's output is distorted... The MORE 'Tickling' you apply to the second OPERATOR by the first, the greater the tonal changes made to the output of the 'Tickled' OPERATOR sine-wave... If you push the 'Tickling' hard, eventualy the sine-wave of the 'Tickled' Operator starts to breaks up and starts to become 'noise'... This effect for example is used to achieve hi-hat, shaker and snare-drum 'fizz' on DX FM sounds...

  • The OPERATOR (oscillator) being 'Tickled' is called the CARRIER
  • The OPERATOR (oscillator) doing the 'Tickling' is called the MODULATOR

    Yamaha (or someone) came up with the name 'Tickler' & 'Tickling' to distinguish between this Modulating function at a raw OPERATOR level between actual OPERATORS (oscillators) and the more common 'Modulation' section/ability of the synth which is a common feature on most synths and not only Frequency-Modulation synthesis...

  • The FREQUENCY of the MODULATOR effects the RATE of change in the CARRIER frequency.
  • The AMPLITUDE of the MODULATOR effects the DEPTH of change of the CARRIER frequency.
  • The SHAPE (or timbre) of the MODULATOR effects the SHAPE of change of the CARRIER frequency.


    To make MORE ability to achieve tonal variations in this way either or BOTH the 'Tickling' OPERATOR and the 'Tickled' OPERATOR can have control applied to them in realtime so that both the 'Tickler' & the 'Tickled' OPERATOR can apply variations over time or by control to further increase the possibilities... But there's more!.... OPERATORS can SELF-TICKLE themselves!!...



    Yamaha graphicaly came up with this symbol to show a self-tickling OPERATOR (oscillator) which is obvious and easy to see... a self tickling OPERATOR creates it's OWN tonal variations to it's OWN sine-wave output so that it can produce variations of output wave alone... Further to that, a SELF-Tickling OPERATOR can also TICKLE another OPERATOR or be TICKLED itself by another to make even MORE variations to it's basic wave output... Here's a DX series ALGORITHM which includes a self-Tickling OPERATOR in it's layout...



    With the DX series and with ALGORITHM based synthesis it's usual for the manufacturer to provide a variety of Template ALGORITHMS which you can select to use as the basis for designing a new sound... Certain ALGORITHM shapes are more suitable to making certain sounds than others... The ALGORITHM above has 6 OPERATORS stacked in SERIAL pairs so that each pair is a couple - one being the Carrier and the other being the 'Tickler' - at the end of the ALGORITHM is the last pair which has a SELF-TICKLING OPERATOR which is also then 'Tickling another OPERATOR in the Serial output of the 3 CARRIER OPERATORS....

    Compare the above ALGORITHM to this one shown previously.... can you detect mentaly what each can do tonaly?





    This theoretical Algorithm offers all 6 OPERATORS all pumping out a SINE wave in Parallel, and would result in a smooth, full output, but with hardly ANY harmonic content to the CARRIER OPERATOR waves so the sound is smooth & 'sine-wave-y' in character sounding like a tuning fork tone...

    Adding the Self-Tickling Operator at the end of the row allows a sound designer to select this Algorithm and produce fat flute/tube-like sounds whilst adding harmonic overtones from the last self-tickling Operator.. This as noted is used for pipe-organ or basic electric piano and other sounds of that ilk...




    This one offers 3 OPERATOR output, but each OPERATOR (oscillator) is being Tickled so each of the 3 CARRIERS can output a more complexed wave shape... Adding the final self-Tickling OPERATOR at the end which also 'Tickles' it's CARRIER partner OPERATOR means it can also add more drastic tonal variation again...





    So that's how it goes at the root level, and on top of that each Operator on the old Dx's had it's own envelope etc (but no filter)...



    Native Instruments & FM7

    Ok... sit back for a while, and imagine the possibilities with an old basic 6 Operator DX... quite amazing and Brian Eno created all his seminal Soundscape works using almost exclusively a DX7 which is the highest endorsement of the sound-sculpting potential of this method of synthesis... For dance, the yamaha DX sounds you will hear every time you go to a club in almost every genre and in chart toppers like Kylie's hits (remember 'that' organ riff??) - Think of the maths too... modulate/tickle an Operator (oscillator set to one frequency by another Operator at a mathmaticaly related harmonic frequency?? (!!)... vary the envelope of those Operators??... the possibilities just on a basic Operator (oscillator) level are almost limitless, never mind adding other sound sculpting features after them!...

    But sadly the old FM Synthesis programming 'phobia' meant few took the old DX to task, and a HUGE market grew up for DX series soundbanks which sold like hotcakes in music tech mag back-pages & created for a while quite a healthy cottage industry... Hardware mod's also appeared for the DX7 such as the expansion board from Greymatter a UK firm who now make Networking pcmcia products...

    Native-Instruments i think have taken a descision with FM7 that was quite bold... To go with FM Synthesis to that depth is a unique thing in itself in the s/w synth world... To make it actualy load old Yamaha DX sounds like their Pro52 can do with Prophet sounds again is great... What they've done is taken an uncommon format and added new powerful features plus a fantastic interface making programming both intuitive AND easy with graphic assistance added too... Wether it'll sell well without a backup of tons of preset-sounds on the www is to be seen, but hopefully people will sit down and really get into it cos the rewards can be enormous especialy for those into ambient and trance textures, film and other atmospheric work such as drum&bass background pads and other atmosphere's etc.. THAT apart from perfect classic FM sounds is the forte of the FM7 synth..... 'Rich', 'full', 'delicate', are all superlatives that can be assigned at the drop of a hat to the FM7 synth... Just out of the box the owner could immeadiately make quality film soundtrack or backing pads, atmospheres, trance leads & thumping basses, and other techno-fest stuff etc NO problems... But learn how to edit and create with it and the rewards will be great....



    So let's get into FM7 - The best way to use this review will be to have a demo copy of FM7 open and set it the same as the review examples as we work thru it, so you can step thru bit by bit and try it yourself as we go.... ready?....ok..










    Mummy... I'm scared!!..



    Ok... here's an Algorithm from a Dx synth... remember it?....


    Now here's one from Native-Instruments...





    Ok ... DONT panic! :) - it seems highly intimidating at first... BUT, due to NI's ingenious interface it is actualy one of the most intuitive synths to use once you get the idea... NOTE: how there are 9 vertical 'Columns' each is an Operator...


    Look at it close-up.... Notice how the background has a 'greyed-out' matrix of Blocks?... this screen view is called the ALGORITHM 'MATRIX' view... As you CAN see or get a grasp of is that those greyed-out blocks can be activated... Note also how the Operators are connected in certain ways on the Matrix.... There are lots of loadable Matrix's with various 'flow' models to select as the basis for a sound patch; you can also store/overwrite created Algorithm Matrix's using the STORE button..






    Here's a close up of the Matrix - I've changed the contrast up and brightness etc to emphasis the greyed-out background matrix of blocks... Notice how the rows of blocks to the LEFT of the 9 Operators all feed IN to the operator from the Left and the rows of blocks to the RIGHT of the 9 Operators all feed IN to the operator from the right....


        

    It's simple really, use the Right rows/matrix to send from one Operator to Tickle an Operator further UP the row...     		    
    Or... Use the Left rows/matrix to to send from one Operator to Tickle an Operator further DOWN the row...









    ACTIVATING A MATRIX BLOCK

    So... to switch ON and adjust the SEND level for any of the MATRIX Blocks, simply select the required LINK BLOCK on the MATRIX which is the link between two OPERATORS by following the greyed-out MATRIX grid map rows & columns and then CLICK/HOLD & DRAG UP to raise the SEND AMOUNT... As soon as you CLICK/HOLD & start to drag UP over a greyed-out MATRIX Block, the Block switches ON and starts to increment UP to a max of 100...



    In the image above I am sending OUT from OPERATOR F which is being sent to 'tickle' OPERATOR C.... (follow the directional arrows)... So I follow the Columns & rows on the MATRIX to find the required Linking Block, (circled in green) and that's it!... click/hold on the Block & drag Up and adjust the amount of 'tickle'.




    In the image above I am sending OUT from OPERATOR C which is being sent to 'tickle' OPERATOR F....











    Ok.. now you know how to switch Matrix Blocks ON/OFF, let's look at the interaction between OPERATORS..... Select preset 16 (glassy E-piano)....



    Use the upper Operator select strip to select any of the wave operators (A-F), and you should be in the Operator-edit screen... which looks like this...



    Outlined in RED is the OPERATOR SELECT strip which you use to select which OPERATOR you are editing in the entire lower edit screen area... Outlined in BLUE is the OPERATOR ON/OFF buttons... as you edit you can use this row of OPERATOR ON/OFF buttons to switch ON/OFF any Operator or any 'post-Operator' synthesis section (X, Z, IN) so you can hear one or more OPERATORS in Isolation as you work on them...




    If you select Operator A-F on the upper Operator-select strip to open the Operator-edit screen and it looks like this, then you are in ENVELOPE EDIT view for the selected OPERATOR....




    simply click the MATRIX/ENVELOPE button on the edit screen to flip between MATRIX & ENVELOPE edit... the ENVELOPE edit screen displays the OPERATOR (oscillator) Envelope for whichever OPERATOR is currently selected in the Upper OPERATOR select strip...













    BASIC ROUTING PRINCIPALS

    Ok - so we know how to switch blocks ON/OFF, let's start to make various sounds & see how the interaction between Operators works...... Using Preset 16 (Glassy E-Piano), select the MATRIX EDIT as noted above and go to each MATRIX link Block which is switched ON and click/hold drag DOWN on each until it reaches '0' & switches OFF... Now using the OPERATOR ON/OFF button row, turn OFF all the OPERATORS..... Now your screen should look like this...



    Now we have a raw ALGORITHM Matrix grid for creating a sound.... Operators A, B, C, D, E & F can all self-'Tickle'... They are the 6 Raw Operators (A-F).... Operator X is a noise/saturation source, Operator Z is a filter, and Operator 'IN' is for audio Inputs source which FM7 can also do!! - For now let's just look at the interaction between the A-F basic wave Operators (oscillators)...... Now you just patch then all together in various combinations!...






    This is Operator A switched ON and simply sent to the OUT at the level given in the Matrix box where the two lines Join....





    This is all the Wave Operators (A-F) switched on and sending OUT at the level defined in the connecting Matrix block...





    This is all the Wave Operators (A-F) switched on and sending OUT with Operator A slightly Tickling Operator E











    STARTING TO BUILD SOUNDS




    So, this is our basic starting point with a 'blank canvas' so to speak if you are following this with the FM7 demo version, then set everything like this:

    Operator A only is switched ON (circled in Purple), and is up full and is playing a simple sine-wave (lower-left panel outlined in GREEN)
    The wave Frequency Ratio is selected at 1k (1.0000) (Frequency Ratio oulined in RED)
    Frequency Offset is also set to OFF = 0.00 (oulined in BLUE)

    Notice also the Waveform Select box, (lower-left panel outlined in GREEN), is set to 'FREE RUN' - It sounds like this when you press down a key...

    SAMPLE SOUND - BASIC SINE TONE - 1 Operator







    Now set it like this, so that Operator A, B, C & D are switched on and are all turned up full and all are playing a simple sinewave (lower-left panel) all of which are selected at 1k frequency (Frequency Ratio).... Notice the lower-left panel OPERATOR WAVE SELECT BOX is set to 'KEY SYNC'

    MAKE SURE YOU SET ALL 4 ACTIVE OPERATORS TO 'KEY-SYNC' & RATIO of 1.0000, (with NO offset) .... It sounds like this when you press down a key...

    SAMPLE SOUND - BASIC SINE TONE - 4 operator


    So as you can hear... adding multiple Sine Operators all tuned to the same Frequency doesnt really do much more than make a sine-wave output which is louder/fatter....






    Notice that with ALL the active OPERATORS set to a Frequency of 1.0000, and with Offset set to 0.00 (off), & with each wave select assigned to a basic SINE wave & set to KEY-SYNC, the Upper SPECTRUM display Box shows a single Octave (1)..... the combined waveform output (WAVEFORM box) shows a simple sine-wave output as expected....



    Now try changing the Frequency of each active OPERATOR....

  • Leave OPERATOR A set to Frequency = 1.0000
  • Change OPERATOR B set to Frequency = 2.0000
  • Change OPERATOR C set to Frequency = 3.0000
  • Change OPERATOR D set to Frequency = 4.0000

    Notice how as you change Operator B, C & D Frequency the SPECTRUM & WAVEFORM display boxes above change...



    It now sounds like this when you press down a key...

    SAMPLE SOUND - BASIC SINE TONE - 4 operators with different Frequency




    That is the first most basic tonal change we can create... using all sinewaves in sync, we can alter the Frequency ratio of the 4 Operators to create new tones.. try messing with a few different frquencies for one of the 4 Operators, and also try adding a Frequency Sub-division... mebbe 3.0075 or 5.1075... whatever but notice how this vreates basic de-tuning effects to the sound....













    A NOTE ON THE WAVFORM KEY-SYNC ON/OFF

        

    the 'FREE RUN' & 'KEY SYNC' option, selectable per Operator wave means that the Operator wave re-triggers with each keypress, so setting all the switched-on Operators to 'KEY SYNC' makes them all trigger simultaneously and stay 'in sync' with each other so you don't get shifting in the attack etc times and it all triggers as one unified sound... Experiment with switching these 4 selected OPERATORS' 'Key Sync' ON & OFF, and with each setting, play a series of fast single notes and see how switching 'Key Sync' IN/OUT changes the way the sound triggers...














    ADDING SOME TICKLE !! - (By jove missus!!)



    Ok... Let's not see what happens with a basic Operator 'Tickle'... get out your Tickling-stick!!...

    Now switch OFF Operators C, D, E & F..... make sure OPERATORS A & B are set to Frequency of 1.0000 and the Operator 'Offset (HZ)' for both is set to 0.00 - click/hold & drag the OUTPUT Blocks for the turned OFF Operators also so that all we have is a screen like this image...

    The sound as we have already seen will be a basic simple Sine-wave as can be seen from the SPECTRUM & WAVEFORM upper display boxes....







    Now go to the greyed-out MATRIX block which links OPERATOR A & B, click/hold and drag upwards... like this....

    Notice, the MORE you push the Tickling of OPERATOR B by OPERATIR A, the more the output SPECTRUM & WAVEFORM upper displays start to alter... Raise this 'Tickler' therefore and as you do click the keys and see how adding MORE 'Tickle' changes the final sound....





    Here the 'Tickle' of OPERATOR B is pushed up higher and see how the output SPECTRUM & WAVEFORM upper displays change even MORE drsticaly!!... Listen to the sound....


    SAMPLE SOUND - BASIC 2 OP' SINE TONE - Operator-A tickling Operator-B


    See how as you tickle Operator-B MORE, the sound add's more harmonic's and starts to sound like a basic 'Rhodes' electric piano type sound?.... heh heh