defPREMIUM
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yo
i am sure others have had this idea before, but i couldn't find any threads about it so i thought i would share a technique that i started messing with this morning: FM synthesis in lsdj!


i do NOT claim to be a master of fm synthesis OR of lsdj.. i thought i'd put this out there for discussion so that others who are more skilled with fm synthesis and lsdj could share ideas/patches/etc..


ok so using the vibrato command in lsdj it is easy to cause an initial pitch to vibrate rapidly, at an audible rate- in other words, you can use the V command to function as a carrier wave (if you don't know what i am talking about read up a bit on the workings of fm..) adjusting the waveform of the initial frequency (the modulator wave) results in changes in the overall timbre, as in fm synthesis!

this works best i find using the WAV channel since it is possible to adjust the cutoff, distortion, volume, etc of the modulator wave (on the synth page), which opens up many more harmonic possibilities.


SO FOR INSTANCE
make a WAV instrument (set PLAY to MANUAL) > enter a C-5 note on the PHRASE page > set V command to something like VBA

it should sound thicker now, with overtones etc. you are hearing the combination of the oscillation of the initial waveform (the modulator wave) and the oscillation of the V command (the carrier wave). (hopefully i am getting these terms right..)

NOW you can mess with the parameters on the synth page to change the modulator wave, which results in some pretty awesome sounds!  i get the coolest results messing with the WAVE, CUTOFF, and PHASE parameters.


this of course is also possible in the PULSE channels- you have more control over the volume envelope when using the PU1/2 channels, and of course you can change the duty cycle to adjust the modulator wave.


any thoughts? corrections? feel free to share cool fm patches you come up with!

herr_prof
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Should point out that earlier versions of LSDJ had a much crazier vibrato fm effect, so much so that lots of people stopped upgrading once Johan fixed it. I forgot the exact version the change was made but its in the low 3.xxs

edit: it was 2006-06-26: v3.6.3

It find the new version much more musical for light vibratos but its def nicer on the extreme settings before imo.

Last edited by herr_prof (Jun 19, 2013 11:58 pm)

Victory Road
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Gosford, Australia

http://chipmusic.org/victory+road/music/we-fucking-win wink

i think my vibratos only went as deep as Vx8 though. it'd be nicer if the V commands could go faster and follow pitch, but the game dude is a bit slow to be tracking and attempting FM synthesis
i think the modulator operates on the phase modulation of the carrier wave in true FM synthesis rather than the pitch, too

thebitman
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EDIT: I made a reese-y sounding bass just earlier this week using the WAV channel and the pulse channels. I've noticed that the different pulse widths and their harmonics sonority are significantly affected by vibrato. I spoke with Kedromelon (of Chillbrave) about the way some pitches will "drift" away from their base frequency, and we both believe it has to do with how LSDJ handles pitch bends (mainly the vibrato intensity causing the drift, not just the frequency of the effect).

All notes will drift sharp, so when it is extreme enough notes should be knocked down at least a halfstep if you want tolerable intonation. Also, filters will drastically color the sound in the WAV channel so much that changing waveform or vibrato can lead to catastrophe quite quickly.

I plan on investigating waveform manipulation rather soon in my article series at noisechannel.org (new installment should be out VERY soon).

Also, have a reese-bass (first 4 bars are WAV + PU1&2, second is WAV + PU2, last is WAV)
https://soundcloud.com/thebitman/reese- … mands-demo

Last edited by thebitman (Jun 20, 2013 12:26 am)

Theta_Frost
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Milwaukee, WI

Check out the second half of this track for some nasty FM WAV bass: http://www.noisechannel.org/thetafrost/ … crankshaft

defPREMIUM
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haha, my suspicions that others have had this idea way before me were correct! awesome!

@bitman i definitely noticed that drift. i found that if i kept the y parameter (Vxy) around 7 or 8 the drift wouldn't be too bad/noticeable. i'll upload a sample track using patches i have been messing with later on smile

any one else have any input??

defPREMIUM
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@herr_prof i will try using an older version!

Victory Road
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Gosford, Australia
defPREMIUM wrote:

@bitman i definitely noticed that drift. i found that if i kept the y parameter (Vxy) around 7 or 8 the drift wouldn't be too bad/noticeable. i'll upload a sample track using patches i have been messing with later on smile

yeah that's probably why i had it set to 7/8
also if you set it to a 4th/5th interval between note and vibrato speed then the drift is even less noticable imo

Last edited by Victory Road (Jun 20, 2013 1:34 am)

danimal cannon
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buffalo, NY

I've thought about this, but never tried it

defPREMIUM
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danimal cannon wrote:

I've thought about this, but never tried it

haha danimal i actually thought of you when i started this thread. you should try it and post the results!

SketchMan3
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NC in the US of America

I've tried it, but not in depth, and I backed off real fast because it was a bit daunting and I didn't really know much about fm synth anyway.

roboctopus
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Madison, Alabama

I use really high V commands pretty regularly (VFxx) on the pulse and WAV channels. You can actually kind of tune the high-V-noise with a little trial and effort by varying the V command used, and use it to create some interesting timbres and instruments.

I can't find it right now, because 8bc died, but cTrix had a track called "Aires Rock" that used tuned V commands on the pulse channels to great effect. I'll post a link if I can find it.

defPREMIUM
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oh awesome! ok so for tuning with the v command (Vxy) i guess x would be the one controlling pitch, since it is the speed of modulation, whereas y is the depth. i guess depth could play a part as well? not too sure.

yea definitely let me know when/if you find that song! and link some of your own where you use it!
and i'll listen to the songs you guys posted when i get off work.

Evil Scientist
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Bristol, UK

I use this in pretty much every track I do, using a different value of V command depending on the note so that the timbre stays the same.