Understanding Sound Design on the Volca FM - Episode 7: Operator Scaling

[@PrimitiveBaroque]

Thank you for clarifying this mysterious graph.

[@Adrian-ik7oi]

The best guide about volca fm. Thanks for you time!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you, I'm glad you think so!

[@dizlerimkupsis]

oh this would allow very interesting variations on percussive patches, lovely!

[@spytvalv]

this is going to be extra useful with the new fm2 a real unique sounding bass tone and a very different sounding set of chords on top. Thanks for this series it is so handy

[@DennisdeWeerd]

Great, great video! I kind of ignored 'the scary graph' until today :) Every Volca FM owner should check out these videos!

[@OscillatorSink]

Don't fear the graph 😁

[@DennisdeWeerd]

@@OscillatorSink Not anymore, thanks to you! The KORG documentation doesn't help much at all. They just expect the owner to know a thing or two about FM i guess. I knew about a few FM concepts, but never really gotten around to dive deep into it. I bought the Volca FM with the intention doing just that and your video's really explain about everything you need to know. I'd expect thousands of views, really...

[@shatteredsquare]

most synths you just roll down the filter cutoff, volca FM you have to bust out a parameter dive table and program the geometric resonance. Volcas aren't toys!

[@augustocesarmartins5281]

Muchas muchas gracias amigo!!!! Tenes el tutorial mas completo y claro que se pueda encontrar en la red. Es muy importante para los usuarios que compartas estos conocimientos. Felicitaciones y muchas gracias nuevamente!!!!! Abrazo grande

[@Bernstein_Electrum]

o have no my FM since a year and im happy to finally watch your videos deeply!! Tank I learn aaaa lot!!1 makes my style better and the knowledge is growing

[@KamikazeVildsvin]

This series is the best! You make the complex simple so to speak. Great video/videos

[@OscillatorSink]

+Nikolai Linden-Vørnle thank you! Really glad you've enjoyed them.

[@garethmillers5453]

Thank you. Watched all 7. Getting this instead of FM8. Incredible explanations. 😎

[@OscillatorSink]

Really glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@garethmillers5453]

Just ordered it from juno.co.uk It has been a long time coming. You've really put some work into this. Really appreciative of your time and effort. Thank you again. 😎🎶🔉🔊✌❤👌🤓😎

[@garethmillers5453]

@@OscillatorSink It arrived today! I've been playing around after reading the manual. I have a few questions if you don't mind. How do I double the RATIO of an Operator to turn it into a Square Wave and then Modulate the next Operator which hasn't been modified (Sine)? Select the Operator and Set OSCn-00 and then set OrS_02? Not sure how I modulate the First with the second one that is doubled and then I would like to Modulate the Amp Envelope of the Operator that has the doubled RATIO. I'm looking for that modulating process to move from the Square wave into the Sine wave. Do I use the Operator Scaling of the doubled Ratio Operator to do this? Would I use the Left Curve and adjust the EXP, LIN and Break Point to achieve this? I can't see how I can modulate the AMP Envelope to do this.

[@garethmillers5453]

@@OscillatorSink I've been trying the synthmata: Volca FM. It's really good. A few clicks and pops here and there but gets the Job Done and at Least I can name my own patches now. Thank you for that. It has helped me to understand the layout in software form rather than seeing everything in my mind through my fingers.

[@OscillatorSink]

@@garethmillers5453 you need to choose an algorithm with the right layout so that the two operators are connected. So in algorithm 1,you could set operator 2 to have twice the ratio of operator 1, then turn up operator 2's level to have it modulate operator 1. To get the square-to-sine modulation, you'd apply amplitude modulation to operator 2. Make sense?

[@rgbofmaine]

What a great series of vids! Helped me immensely -- heck, I even took notes! Thanks for all the work you put into this.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thanks for watching (and being a good student!).

[@juanma4978]

Amazing tutorial! I loved every minute of it!

[@davidallred991]

Best volca tutorial I have seen for any of the volcas, Thanks for this, do more please. I watched for my volca FM but even learned a lot about FM synthesis for my Yamaha modx-8

[@frtzzz]

Thx for this very useful series on FM synthesis and how this is implemented in the Volca FM. Finally starting to understand the idea behind FM!

[@OscillatorSink]

+frtzzz great to hear it's helping. It might also be with checking some of my videos where we build some patches from scratch on the Volca.

[@coen8531]

Thank you so much for making these videos! They are the best and easiest to follow tutorials I came across. The volca FM is a awesome little synth. Exactly the kind of flavor my music needed.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you for watching!

[@skrz_t6142]

Thank you so much for this video! I had no idea how to figure out this idea, now I understand it and I see its power! You are the best teacher

[@OscillatorSink]

Really please that I was able to help! Have fun scaling those operators!

[@dwdougherty]

I just finished watching the whole series and I have to say that it was fantastic! I think that I now have enough shots in my locker to tackle sound design on my new Digitone; time will tell. Thank you for putting this together for us.

[@OscillatorSink]

You're very very welcome - but stay tuned - Digitone tutorials coming soon as well! I'm really excited to get started on them!

[@dwdougherty]

Snoopy dance!

[@tomfaux5805]

Thank you - this series is fantastic! Perfect amount of detail to get my head around concepts like level scaling and algorithm selection. Well-spoken and methodical, too.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you for checking it out!

[@percussionboy4357]

Another good one! The graph helped. I always felt like I SORT of got this concept ... but now I REALLY get it.

[@OscillatorSink]

+percussion boy awesome! Glad to help you suss it all out (and very pleased you found the graphs useful because they took me way longer to do than you'd imagine!)

[@percussionboy4357]

Those darn graphs... ha ha ... thanks again!

[@sglangdon]

Great tutorial! Totally didn’t understand what level scaling was before this video, but now I fully understand it. Perfectly explained and paced and the little graphics are a very helpful touch - you have a really great skill for breaking things down and explaining them simply. Synthmata is wonderful, too - I’ve been using that to make some cool patches and it makes it so much more accessible than menu diving on the FM. Just wanted to say thanks because your contributions have been really valuable to me in getting the most out of this thing. Cheers!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you, and I'm really pleased I was able to help you get the concept straight, because it really is one of those elements that make patches come alive and feel "finished". Enjoy making cool sounds!

[@dandykaufman2]

Thanks for this series. It was recommended as applicable to the Digitone.

[@OscillatorSink]

Glad you found it useful, Say thank you from me to whoever recommended it!

[@dinogoldie9716]

Booyah! Thanks for yet another quality tutorial. I (sorta) already understood this via the FM's Xylophone patch (i.e. how the high notes are less resonant than the lower notes). However, the whole "pseudo split" thing and all the creative possibilities never occurred to me.

[@OscillatorSink]

+Dino Goldie glad you enjoyed it! Like so much on the Volca FM, you can use this subtly or to do more creative things like the split. Either way, I always feel like getting this function just right on a patch is like dusting a cake with icing sugar - the cake was fine, but now its fancy!

[@ksggor]

Great videos! Thank you!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thanks for watching!

[@HazeAnderson]

Woo hoo! Finally made it thru the 1st pass of this playlist. I'll go over the videos one more time and then more onto Synthmata. Thanks! :D

[@OscillatorSink]

Well done! I hope it all helps!

[@battlemode]

Really helpful videos, superb work! Thank you! I thought I understood FM and turns out I didn't at all!

[@Zaubrer488]

Thank you for the tutorial. I bought the volca fm as my very first synthesizer. Unusual choice I guess, as it is harder to grasp than, let's say a Microbrute, but I got it for an incredible cheap price and thought I might as well try to learn FM and even if I would fail I could still sell it for profit. I knew a bit about FM beforehand but level scaling was one completely unknown aspect to it so this definitely helped! Guess I will be watching your other videos on the device as well, since they seem incredibly helpful. Thank you !

[@OscillatorSink]

You're welcome and I hope the other videos can illuminate some other ideas too!

[@triplebacon1]

I feel like I just heard the 'penny drop', thank you for this series, Excellent and intuitive ;-)

[@OscillatorSink]

+Triplebacon Art *clink* awesome news!

[@themsquaredproject1675]

Came from the Dawless Jammin' group. Thanks for posting!

[@OscillatorSink]

+The MSquared Project thanks for coming and checking it out. I see the FM in so many dawless setups, it's pretty much an essential item I think.

[@VVVHHHSSS]

What's the dawless jammin group? I only know of the yt channel.

[@OscillatorSink]

+Jake Henderson its a group on Facebook dedicated to making music without a DAW. There are often really cool jams posted there.

[@ionianechoes]

Impressive!! Thank you for such a good tutorial series.

[@OscillatorSink]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@ionianechoes]

Oscillator Sink, the depth and structure of the videos, just brilliant. Sound and image are also good quality. This made me finally want to dive into the volcas menus!

[@ionianechoes]

Subscribed and followed on Facebook. Will share it in my synth community also

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you! I hope you enjoy the FM journey BUT make sure you check out my free, online editor for the Volca FM if you'd prefer to reduce the menu diving: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6StkKiurcqjd7s It even has an automatic patch generator to help you find inspiration for patch starting points: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iICmdaGAZsd9eJo

[@ionianechoes]

Oscillator Sink yeah I saw the editor! That's very useful indeed. Now I need my pc serviced before y can use it.. :( and I hope I can use the Sub37's midi out to transfer sysex to the volca since I no longer have a midi interface.

[@cancilleriadevenecia1738]

Awesome series! Will you ever do one explaining feedback? Looking forward to it :)

[@Miyuk9p]

Hey there! Watched the whole series today and just wanted to say thank you :) Tomorrow I will now try everything out, coming from a subtractive synthesis background and a little of FM experience, this helped me a lot.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. I hope you have fun trying everything out and be sure to check out my free editor for the Volca FM: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6StkKiurcqjd7s

[@Electronicmassacre]

Hi man. Big thanks for these vids. Just got my volca fm to complete the volca setup and was having problems understanding how to make sound so this helped a lot. Going to be working with this thing for a long time. Want to really go in depth and make music with just sounds from this. Love the percussion sounds it makes to. They have a harshness to them you just can get from analog:)

[@OscillatorSink]

Really glad you enjoyed them! If you want some inspiration or starting points for patches, check out my automatic patch generator: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iICmdaGAZsd9eJo

[@cabaretbaretta7805]

Hello again. This series was what sparked my interest in the volca FM and FM synthesis in general. I finally bought a volca FM last week and I am really enjoying it. I also made some patches with synthmata. You are a genius! There are a still few parameters that I don't fully understand like OrS - osc rate scale, OSCM - osc mode ratio or fixed, OKS - osc key sync and LFOK - LFO key sync. Could you possibly tell me in what part of the series you covered these concepts? Many thanks and have a good day.

[@OscillatorSink]

Hi there. Thanks for the kind words! I don't think I have those covered in any of the videos but briefly: Operator Rate Scale - turning this up makes the envelopes move faster the higher you play, typically making high notes more percussive Operator Mode - ratio is default, the pitch of the operator moves with the keyboard. Fixed means what it sounds like, you pick a frequency for the operator and it's always at that same frequency. Useful for atonal sounds like bells and special effects. Can also be used on a very low rate on a modulator to act as a pitch LFO for just the operator it's attached to so you can do pitch drift between carriers - very cool chorusing available there. The Key Sync parameters make the wave forms for the operators and LFOs restart whenever you press the key. This can add a stability to the sound that can sometimes be useful on basses for example - especially when you're using detune as you don't get phasing. Hope that covers it and makes sense to you!

[@cabaretbaretta7805]

@@OscillatorSink Thank you so much for the quick reply. It makes sense but for sure some experimenting has to be done.

[@cabaretbaretta7805]

@@OscillatorSink Hello* I have another interesting question. Are there ways to pan each operator in a stereo field? So you can modulate the panning from the modulators and the carriers. That should give some interesting results. Imagine having an enveloppe for panning... Does it exist?

[@OscillatorSink]

It does not. It would be interesting, but alas, will have to remain in your imagination.

[@qui.que.10]

Love U madly

[@gedoumazoutsuki]

man, i had no idea... but thks man. i just wanna say that korg could have done that but hey, it's FM if you don't wanna dig it do buy it ^^