Polyend WTFM Synth Engine Walk through - Tracker Plus, Mini and Play +

[@JMGtII]

was meant to be. trying to brush up on these synth engines and you posted 3 hrs ago. PERC coming soon?

[@Aisjam]

its the last one to do :)

[@connorsol]

Today was my last day to return the Tracker+ for a refund if I wanted to but I decided to keep it, but was bummed I couldn't find much about synth sound design in detail. Thankfully I happened upon this no thanks to YT's terrible search engine but somehow I found one of your other PT+ synth engine explainer and then found that you upped this one for WTFM which is the primary synth I got the PT+ for (for a retro 90's-ish project). Really appreciate this and the rest of them. I'm so excited for the phase distortion synth (maybe?) that will come to this thing next cus then, if so, we'd have 2 "retro digital synth" sounds in addition to the other engines and it'll be even more worth keeping, to me

[@Aisjam]

Gotta love the algorithm, I just hide at the corner of KZbin space and make the good content. I am glad someone appreciates that Portasound/ Sega Genesis FM too. I got a fair bit of Tracker OG content that is compatible with the Tracker+ that will be useful too :).

[@chaintrolab2585]

Useful video, straight to the point! Are Synth engine stable in general? Can you play a pattern and play simultaneously on the keyboard of a synth engine? Awaiting your next engine video! Thanks

[@Aisjam]

depends on how much polyphony you give it and what lane you are playing in. not as versed on the play however tracker note will cut eachother on on the same track. but you can live play with this in mind. just make sure you give it more than 1 note or it will be a mono machine

[@iiaaiiaannaaiiaaii]

Awesome that it has such a comprehensive matrix. Thanks for another excellent video. So macro's are, in effect, user presets for each synth engine? Am I understanding that properly ? Excited to eventually land a + but I am still squeezing so much life out of the OG that upgrading doesn’t feel especially urgent. Savoring and spoiled for choice,lol.

[@Aisjam]

They are ways you can change how the preset sounds giving it more versatility. like flipping between oscillators and adjusting filters without going directly to the engine parameters. also you can control them from the Polyfriend using FX .

[@iiaaiiaannaaiiaaii]

@@Aisjam Nice, that's what I assumed. Thanks for the reply and all the excellent vids.

[@jermaineconcern1539]

Again.. You dont tell us how to access the actual synth engines. I still just have instrument parameters. Cannot find this page.

[@Aisjam]

When you go to select an instrument by holding the instrument button. Scroll up they are before samples and there are 3 slots to pick

[@EBMZEQUENZER]

I don't personally know a single musician who understands FM ..... because I don't 😁 I use REASONS ALGORITM that they clam is the easiest to use : but it isn't..

[@bousky8601]

Hahaha its so confused

[@iiaaiiaannaaiiaaii]

It's not as confusing as it seems- people are just really bad at explaining how it works. Here's a very dumbed down explanation: unlike subtractive synthesis which takes wave forms and shapes them into what we hear with filters, envelopes and LFO's, FM synthesis creates it's sounds from modulating a waveform with another waveform. The cliche way to think about it is pretend that you are singing and your voice is the CARRIER waveform. now imagine that someone grabs you and starts shaking your voice box. The person shaking your voice box would represent the MODULATOR waveform. The carrier is the one you hear, the modulator is the one that alters the way the carrier sounds. does that help? Think of the ratio as if it is the pitch of the waveform. If you set the ratio of the carrier high, the note will sound high. If you set the ratio of the modulator high it wiggles the carrier faster. When you first start out keep the ratio at whole numbers (i.e 1.0, 2.0, 3.0) or at 1.5, 2.5 3.5 etc. odd numbered Ratio's ( like 1.73) sound more dissonant. which is cool but can really mess you up as a beginner . Think of algorithms as if they are maps of how the waveforms interact with each other. Which wave form is wiggling which other waveform . (like if you put a Flanger in front of a fuzz it would sound different if you put a fuzz in front of a flanger.) ( that is not what s happening in FM but might help illustrate it)