Akai MPC OPx4 fm synth tutorial - digital tones

[@ChristopherOrth]

Thank you so much for making a focused vid on the OPx4! It has been the most interesting synth in the new batch, and very little has been said about it yet.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@ultramouse]

This was helpful, thanks. I love it when synth makers try different ways of programming FM. It’s a little more intuitive than the classic DX style, and sort of reminds me of Casio CZ a little.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! I never tried one of the CZs so far, perhaps I should. :-)

[@AngMoKio8]

Thanks for the video. Always great to see inspiring content about FM. I'd be happy about more reface DX content from you🙂

[@mr_floydst]

I'll definitely do more R-DX stuff, but until autumn, my DX is with @lanthan o'ide (see kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnW9qoSYqZV_irM ) ;-)

[@stal1963]

Great demo. I am greatly interested in the opx4 plugin. Your video shows how the plugin is actually used. Thanks a lot.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@rrtramel]

Hey thanks for covering this, most of the focus has been on Fabric, but this is kinda the only one I care about.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! It's quite a capable synth with a lot of interesting ideas.

[@SOPM2007]

Luckily, tutorials like this exist! Many people are going to rely on preset sounds only so the instrument's capabilities remain unused. Many thanks!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching and for your kind words!

[@DocTheopolis]

Definitely would like to see more of this.

[@mr_floydst]

I'd need to buy the plugin to create more of this... Hm, maybe it's time to do the "heyaaa I'm an influencer please give me free stuff" routine ;-)

[@DocTheopolis]

@Floyd Steinberg OK. My best wishes to you on that. After owning a SY77 and MODX with exceptional FM capabilities, I can see very different potential with the use of automation. I'd be watching what others(including you) do with all that.

[@Mariedu01]

thanks' ! it is the BEST video of OPX4 plugin !

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks!

[@Usul]

Thanks for showing this off. Helped decide this isn't the software for me, especially not for $150 on top of the $1,200 entry price paid to get the MPC Live II in the first place. You did an excellent job demoing what it could do... no fault on your end at all.

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you! It really is a matter of personal taste.

[@Rd30269]

everyone is complaining about the price but you're not just paying for the plugin, you're paying for the ability to have it combined in your unit and make it that much more powerful. If MPC is not the brains of your setup then you won't appreciate it the same.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! You're not wrong. It is a well-made FM synth with interesting new ideas. It's nice you _could_ expand your MPC if you'd like to. I think it's worth a premium price but I feel the current price is "super-premium". I certain there will be sales in the future (at the moment, Fabric is on sale at $99, which as really good value IMO).

[@bufkin2011]

Thank you for this most informative explanation of FM Synthesis. I will study this video throughly. Please make more on this plugin. Thank you again. 🙂👍💯💯

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! I'd need to buy it - or maybe I try to talk to Akai ;-)

[@SleepyMontana]

Very nice 👍🏽

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you!

[@nightchillinbeats3587]

Nice finished track

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you very much! ("You might also like Pink Floyd: Another Brick In The Wall Part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5TJe6SPqdKgp6M ")

[@hh-ob5bo]

As always.... Bless up..... Nice one

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you very much!

[@timothyjohnson3727]

THANK YOU! Appreciate you taking the time to create this educational video. Subscribed. Liked.

[@mr_floydst]

Awesome, thank you!

[@unclemick-synths]

10:54 nice! 😎👍

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks!

[@jakobhansen346]

Nice tutorial with a great little treat to finish with. Will be checking your music out, . Thanks

[@mr_floydst]

Awesome, thank you!

[@matthewgaines10]

Nice you are getting something out of FM plug in. I haven’t touched it yet.

[@mr_floydst]

For me, it was the most interesting out of the new plugins. ;) Though I'd fancy the piano, too. I build my own piano using samples from the "Salamander Piano" but that has only 4 layers.

[@matthewgaines10]

@@mr_floydst I sampled in a piano with auto sampling with a stage piano but it takes up a fair amount of memory because I did at 4 velocities too.

[@aikighost]

Useful video. It would be interesting to see your opinion on the new Mini D & Air Flavour Pro plugins.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! That's a good idea. I will take a look at them.

[@donjezza]

wow seems like such a powerful plugin. the macros are a great idea, would be good if we could assign midi cc to all the parameters of all the plugins using the midi learn page, or at least assign midi cc to the q links. great video.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@DonBrowsing]

1/4 of the price is for the sounds. 3/4 is for the convenience of making this MPC a true standalone. It's like buying popcorn from a movie theater.

[@mr_floydst]

You not wrong there :-)

[@joegrant413]

Really like the content. One suggestion is to see if the MPC screen contrast could be sharper. And maybe make it bigger as well. Thanks

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! Yup, video unfortunately is quite bad after the first third. MPCs screen is quite bright and so the surroundings need to be as well, otherwise the image will be unbalanced - that's a problem when filming in the late evening or at night. I got some better lights in the meantime, so the next MPC video will be better, hopefully ;)

[@joegrant413]

@@mr_floydst Look forward to it, thanks!

[@kernelpaniiic]

Great video! Few were made on the OPx4. Are the sound you play on the keyboard in the intro, and the sound labeled "Arp" in the final jam, made with the OPx4 ? They sound like human voices.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! Yes. Apart from the drums, all of these are OPx4 sounds. Your can get these "formant" sounds by dual band pass filtering and setting up modulators at fixed frequencies around 3000 hertz.

[@juliansimmons7700]

Do we know if the operators are true digital sine oscillators (generated on the fly) or are they samples (replaying wavetables). This makes a big difference, as when stretching a wavetable resolution drops or aliases, with a digital oscillators resolution remains at the sample rate (44.1kHz in this case). At 5:15 - 5:50 when you introduce the 2nd operator I hear a ticking noise which suggests the operator is not a true digital oscillator (that we all hoped for) but is actually a wavetable. I also hear the ticking briefly at 6:36 - 6:40 with operators 3 & 4 (the section 5:15 - 5:50 shows the issue very clearly though). I'd appreciate anyone's knowledge on this - are the operators of the OPx4 true digital sine oscillators (generating their output in real-time) or are they pre-recorded samples/wavetables (which would be a great disappointment).

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! I'm afraid I can't answer that question, only the developers can. I'll try to examine the noise you're describing (I didn't hear it on my speakers, will check with headphones later)

[@majicboxstudios3996]

Well Floyd. Another excellent video. Would you say that this plug-in is very deep, as far as its programming and capabilities? Great production values of your content. We tend to enjoy your videos over here :-) thank you very much for all of your time and effort.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi! It's very deep and you can create highly expressive sounds. I don't know if it's worth $150, though. Perhaps wait for a sale. (That's what I will do).

[@majicboxstudios3996]

@@mr_floydst 🙏🏼 thank you I remember seeing a 50% coupon for all AIR plug-ins in the last week somewhere when I was registering the MPC ONE I wonder if that will work for the 2.11.XXX update

[@arcanics1971]

noice

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! :-)

[@SamuelIdowu]

Interesting tutorial! Still find it difficult to make DX7's Log Drum type of sound. Any suggestions on how I can design this with Opx4?

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you! That should be no problem at all. I'll get back to you in a couple of days ;-)

[@SamuelIdowu]

@@mr_floydst Thanks! I'll be looking forward to it.

[@natanmandala]

I really hope you or another MPC One user can help me out! Everytime I record an OP-X4 sound into my sequence, and I change the delay setting, when I go to stop the sequence from playing, I double tap stop to stop all sound and reverb tails. When I do that, it resets all of the delay settings to it's default delay on the OP-X4 patch I'm using? What is going on? I cannot figure out why it keeps resetting my delay setting to the original setting when tapping double stop? Can someone please help me to understand why it's doing this? Is it something with the tempo, or is it a bug? I have a habit of double tapping stop, to stop the sounds reverb tails completely, but it doesn't reset when I just press stop one time. I really hope this isn't a bug and someone can help me figure this out? Please, anyone, thanks 🌗

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, I finally had some time to check this. I created a simple patch, added a ping pong delay and assigned some controllers to the delay parameters (e.g. delay time). I then played some notes and changed delay time while doing so and then double pressed stop to cut off the delay tail. This worked as expected and the OPX4's settings stayed as I left them, they did not reset to patch defaults. This was tested on the BETA 3 firmware on MPC One.

[@Joel-re1jz]

I wonder if a DX7 sound importer would be possible in future updates.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! I'm afraid that won't happen, as this synth has 4 operators, while the DX7 has 6. A Reface DX > OPx4 converter could work, though - these are really similar in their basic design.

[@Joel-re1jz]

@@mr_floydst Good point, It will be interesting to see the patches that emerge from the community.

[@IsshmanGarcia]

Maybe another in depth video on this OPx4 please.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! I'm afraid the trial phase is over, still on the fence on wether to buy it or not. :)

[@IsshmanGarcia]

@@mr_floydst so on the matrix...the very top row is being sent from..and the left side operators are the carriers correct?

[@bradscott3165]

Is there a full track of the demo? That was great.

[@mr_floydst]

Which one, the first or the second? There is no full track (yet).

[@danoteck]

Try sounds mode to browse sounds!!!

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching - sounds mode is great, but I think to get the "init" sound it's really a decision whether to choose the left or the right way through the park. ;-)

[@unclemick-synths]

Good video 👍. If it could import and replicate DX 4-op patches, I would be interested.

[@mr_floydst]

That would be nice indeed. I guess one could write a converter, as both file formats are human readable.

[@FredLeoz]

Good video. It seems like a good device. But I'm just a musician. I have a DX7 bought in 1983, and I have never been able to create a single sound with it because of the complexity of FM synthesis which is a real foil. I only used patches already made by others. I see that in 2022, that has not changed. Being a musician is not enough for FM synthesis, you have to be an electronic engineer to understand how it works. It's probably very good, but it's not for me, I don't have time for that. And I must not be the only one.

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you very much for your feedback! Yeah, I'm a tech nerd that happened to have some musical education in his youth. ;-) Taking the perspective of a musician, it's clear you do not have the time to deal with this. That's what sound designers are for. The musician will take an instrument and will make it sound great whatever it is. I've seen so many unbelievably good street performers that made awesome grooves using some tubes, paper and a comb. And you know what? That was a million times better than listening to a super expensive, super complicated synth played by a tech nerd like me, haha. The synth nerds tend to sneer at preset keyboard (like Yamaha's MX range for example) but for a musician, these instruments might be a better choice than high tech "can do all" boxes. Best regards!

[@FredLeoz]

@@mr_floydst Thank you for your response and understanding. I loved the sounds of the DX and all my life I regretted not being able to make my own, that's why I commented on your video. Best regards!

[@DonBrowsing]

You are not alone. I envy how I hear EDM producers work synthesis.

[@user82938]

Such a harsh price. I don't know if I can pay that much for a plugin on a standalone box. And if you sell it, you can't sell the plugin also.

[@mr_floydst]

I agree, the price is really steep. Perhaps wait for a sale.

[@matthewgaines10]

Price is relative to what you can get from the investment. Everyone has a different sense of value. All I can offer is a 10% off coupon.

[@mr_floydst]

@@matthewgaines10 The OPx4 is a superb plugin and it's possibilities are nigh endless. I'd most likely buy it sooner or later. As I subscribed to Akai's newsletter, I know they relatively often make bargain sales. Thing is, I already own some hardware FM synths so the itch to throw out some money is containable. ;-)

[@hostnik777]

@@matthewgaines10 - "What you can get from the investment" is relative to the hundreds of other FM synths out there, including many for iOS that are far more powerful and under $10. If you like, I can offer you a rare, exclusive version of OPx4 only used one time by an artist, for $666. No one else has even touched this version, so you will be using the exact same one the artist did. Leave your Venmo info in the comments.

[@bryanburns9702]

But you can keep the plugin for the MPC software.