I first saw this video over 5 years ago, and I put it in my favourites. Now I rewatch it and I realise you're the reason why I understood modulation so easily. Thank you so much. You're the perfect teacher.
I've been using FL Studio since 2009 and I've never been able to grasp anything like this. I just watched this video and I feel like I've learned alot man. Great great job
Dude, stop throwing dirt at Seamless. Seamless went into WAY more detail about how the sound's frequencies are at play instead of just teaching you a little bit. And he has made WAY more stuff than this guy. I'm not a random fanboy of Seamless, but Seamless's extraordinary detail in certain videos has helped me understand how FM works, in order to create almost every sound I've been wanting to recreate from several big producers. This guy's tutorial was good, but that doesn't mean you throw dirt at Seamless. If there's any guy who can explain frequencies in the amazing detail that you don't find often in many tutorial videos about ANYTHING, about the understanding and logic behind each sound, it's Seamless.
For sure, without any doubt, this tutorial is the only one that explains and show on Sytrus, with examples and etc, how FM and RM works. It was Flawless!
So i have watched allot of sytrus tutorials and i must say this is the best. you present the information very clear and easy to follow. Great work, i will defiantly be checking out more of your videos! GREAT JOB!
Very informative and easy to follow! Thanks for the visualizations and explanations. I feel like I finally have a grasp on how FM synthesis works. Now I'm off to mess with FM8, which I was previously cowering in fear from.
First vid I've seen to actually explain how fm synthesis works. The visual representation made it all easy to understand. Never thought to use Edison to help me figure out what's going on in Sytrus. Thanks!!
Justin this video is so much educational and I am 100 percent satisfied. actually now I am understand sytrus matrix. thanks for the very best video of sytrus. .keep it up
click on the plug-looking icon on the top-left of any instrument. You'll see a submenu called Presets, which has sample knob settings to get you started. In the case of Sytrus, the presets page is HUGE and categorized. Click on a preset to load up the configuration to make that sound.
for example, boosting the high frequencies above 8Khz will really make the snare "pop", while you can drop the freqs around 250 Hz to eliminate that "cardboard" sound of a kick drum. The EQ shapes the sound in a distinct way that is quite subtle. But you'll have to work on it to be able to hear and predict it.
Duuude !! This video is 9 years old and this was the best explanation so far !! All of your videos are great ! Aren't you a sound engineer already ? :)
Largely, Subtractive synthesis relies on filters. It's much simpler than it sounds. An oscillator makes a bright sound, you "subtract" out the unwanted bits with a filter, and that gets sent to an amplifier (usually with an ADSR Env.) So, you can have a subtractive synth with just 1 osc.
like the name, LOVE it tutorial. thanks for your time and effort, you have clarified exactly what i was having trouble visualizing. the use of edison really helped out and will definitely come in handy for my future synthesizing, regardless of the generator. GENIUS! haha thanks again ace
This is a bit old now, but still an awesome introduction to FM. Something clicked since I saw it last that may help others. When you're talking about the slope of the operator being the determining factor, not the position, I didn't quite get it before. Now, after taking Calculus, I get it. All you really need to understand (probably not even use, just understand) is derivatives. Kinda cool where math pops up. :)
Advice to learn the answer to your question: Send your drum/sample to a mixer track, and on that mixer track place a free filter and an EQUO in that order. Keep the EQUO visible all the time, and play your drum while tweaking the filter in various ways. You'll be able to actually SEE the effect, in realtime frequency display, and you'll HEAR what those frequencies sound like.
@AcePincter Ring modulation is the multiplication of two bipolar audio signals by each other. Amplitude modulation is similar to ring modulation, except it works with a unipolar modulator.
Exactly right. I think the reason people are mystified is that it's very difficult to conceptualize the sound you are going to get - FM synthesis adds complexity in surprising ways. It's as though we want to "pre-hear" our sounds as we create them. Don't you agree?
Some FM synthesis does rely on the instantaneous voltage of the modulating waveform to control the frequency, not just whether the voltage is increasing or decreasing.
wow, wish i found this months ago... would of saved SOOOO much time. When i first started playing with sytrus i had no idea how fm (or any) synthesis worked. I started reverse engineering presets to try and understand what was happening to the wave forms. It was a slow process with lots of headaches
Good tutorial. Could you please do a vid that gives basic techniques used to synthesize the common sounds we hear? For example the required wave forms and modulation techniques used to synthesize a horn, string, guitar and even a percussion sound.
Well, to it's credit, FL will record directly to the playlist as an audio clip, and it will record "pattern-length" clips if you set your recording button for loop mode. I would really like to see a method to play along with FL on an analog instrument or microphone and be able to repeat the loops. Live song composition.
Honestly, I am not! I read up on the Sytrus help on the FL Studio web page, and they gave an example that consisted of 2 images showing a before/after FM waveform. I was inspired, and thought I could figure out how to make my own before/after images using Edison, and wanted to try it with different shapes of sound. Anyway, it turned into source material for a video example that made a lot of sense to me to publish! I can't stand being baffled! I had to figure Sytrus out!
Also the arpeggiator needs a piano roll-one in the playlist would be nice too. You can do it now with pitch automation but could be more intuitive, which is FL's strength-the ability to bring sounds directly from music lamens imaginations into audio existence. The direction that Reason is going in just emulates the limitations of real equipment (although the display of the final sample wave is something FL needs to emulate) FL should do for composing what Macromedia did for visual animation
@AcePincter I'm not trying to be an ass, and I'm sorry if this has already been pointed out, but amplitude modulation and ring modulation are very different things. Ring modulation outputs the sum and difference of the frequencies of the carrier and modulator. What you're doing in this video is amplitude modulation, not ring modulation.
Amplitude and ring modulation are not the same(although they are related). Amplitude modulation just modulates the loudness of the wave. Ring modulation multiplies 2 signals resulting in frequencies that equal the sum of the signals and the difference of the signals.
@2theothers2 That's the circle of fifths. AKA circle of fourths. The reason I think it's important is two-fold. It shows all the notes and shows how chords typically move in songs. Besides that it indirectly describes how key signatures work. Learn about it but don't expect to ever refer to it in your professional career.
Open up Sytrus exactly like I have it in the video's beginning. See the top bar that says "Sytrus (Default)"? It's just to the left of that, on that same top bar! That should help!
@AcePincter I was in for 5, got out about 4 months ago. Started using FL in afghanistan on the down times and wrote some pretty crappy stuff but. I like the tutorials, you make it seems all to easy friend.
This is a whole lot better than a "just turn this knob here and it sounds like this" tutorial, which is all I've seen elsewhere so far.
More important than "how" is "why". You cover the "why" very well. Thank you for this.
I first saw this video over 5 years ago, and I put it in my favourites.
Now I rewatch it and I realise you're the reason why I understood modulation so easily. Thank you so much.
You're the perfect teacher.
I've been using FL Studio since 2009 and I've never been able to grasp anything like this. I just watched this video and I feel like I've learned alot man. Great great job
REALLY good tutorial. Thank you! (Not even Seamless was able to explain it this well)
Dude, stop throwing dirt at Seamless. Seamless went into WAY more detail about how the sound's frequencies are at play instead of just teaching you a little bit. And he has made WAY more stuff than this guy. I'm not a random fanboy of Seamless, but Seamless's extraordinary detail in certain videos has helped me understand how FM works, in order to create almost every sound I've been wanting to recreate from several big producers. This guy's tutorial was good, but that doesn't mean you throw dirt at Seamless. If there's any guy who can explain frequencies in the amazing detail that you don't find often in many tutorial videos about ANYTHING, about the understanding and logic behind each sound, it's Seamless.
*SeamlessR... sorry
You don't know how many of these I've watched from different people. This was so easy to understand, thank you my man!
This is the best tutorial on Sytrus and FM synthesis I have found so far. Well done!
For sure, without any doubt, this tutorial is the only one that explains and show on Sytrus, with examples and etc, how FM and RM works. It was Flawless!
So i have watched allot of sytrus tutorials and i must say this is the best. you present the information very clear and easy to follow.
Great work, i will defiantly be checking out more of your videos! GREAT JOB!
Very informative and easy to follow! Thanks for the visualizations and explanations. I feel like I finally have a grasp on how FM synthesis works. Now I'm off to mess with FM8, which I was previously cowering in fear from.
First vid I've seen to actually explain how fm synthesis works. The visual representation made it all easy to understand. Never thought to use Edison to help me figure out what's going on in Sytrus. Thanks!!
240p, 4:3 format and no ADS, the good old TH-cam. Very nice video. Very helpful.
One of the best explanations I have absorbed.
thats one of the best tutorials ive seen in a looooong time
Spot on man, not as complex as Seamless, but still detailed enough to understand and not just copy.
This video was perfect. I started reading on FM Synthesis today and this video made it all clear to me! Thanks!
Justin this video is so much educational and I am 100 percent satisfied. actually now I am understand sytrus matrix. thanks for the very best video of sytrus. .keep it up
finally some person who understands the composure of "tutorial" thanx bro
Good demonstration, very straightforward and easy to understand. Almost makes it look too easy.
that actually was a good representation for me and helped me notice the calc behind it
click on the plug-looking icon on the top-left of any instrument. You'll see a submenu called Presets, which has sample knob settings to get you started. In the case of Sytrus, the presets page is HUGE and categorized. Click on a preset to load up the configuration to make that sound.
i like your enthusiasm on your videos. its good for my learning style
for example, boosting the high frequencies above 8Khz will really make the snare "pop", while you can drop the freqs around 250 Hz to eliminate that "cardboard" sound of a kick drum. The EQ shapes the sound in a distinct way that is quite subtle. But you'll have to work on it to be able to hear and predict it.
Duuude !! This video is 9 years old and this was the best explanation so far !! All of your videos are great ! Aren't you a sound engineer already ? :)
THanks for doing this! A very straightforward introduction.
Some really advanced stuff here Ace, I'm not much of a synth programmer but I may try my luck at it after seeing this. Thanks
Excellent and very clear explanation - good idea recording the waveform in edison. Thanks for posting!
Largely, Subtractive synthesis relies on filters. It's much simpler than it sounds. An oscillator makes a bright sound, you "subtract" out the unwanted bits with a filter, and that gets sent to an amplifier (usually with an ADSR Env.) So, you can have a subtractive synth with just 1 osc.
Nice one , thanks for taking the time out to explain the interface .
You're visualizing it soooooo well! love it
Thank you justin.... this is one of the best tutorial on sytrus....through out youtube...
Thank you for this video. I'm just trying to get into FM-based music, and this has been a great introduction to the concept.
like the name, LOVE it tutorial. thanks for your time and effort, you have clarified exactly what i was having trouble visualizing. the use of edison really helped out and will definitely come in handy for my future synthesizing, regardless of the generator. GENIUS! haha thanks again ace
thank you you helped me understand how to answer my own question of stopping the delay on different presets
This is a bit old now, but still an awesome introduction to FM. Something clicked since I saw it last that may help others. When you're talking about the slope of the operator being the determining factor, not the position, I didn't quite get it before. Now, after taking Calculus, I get it. All you really need to understand (probably not even use, just understand) is derivatives. Kinda cool where math pops up. :)
Its 9 years old but still useful.. Thanks man
This tutorial was far ahead of its time
I am grateful for your efficient explanation. Thank you!
this is the best sytrus tutorial on youtube
thanks for that :D
This tutorial is a bit older, but still makes very clear, how fm and rm work.👍
Oh yeah! Finally I realized the FM and RM difference! Thanks!
Best frequency modulation tutorial I've found so far! Thanks! Subbed! Cheers to the weekend ;p
:) Thanks. I doubt I'll have anything to add to this topic, though. It's been years and I'm in a totally different career to music!
It's so helpful and I haven't even finished watching!!!!
OH. MAN. That was awesome!! Thanks for breaking that down for us!
Very very good tutorial. Explained it very well in an easy to understand manor
been looking for a tutorial like this 4 a long time! thanks! :D
good video, makes sytrus a lot easier to understand.
Advice to learn the answer to your question:
Send your drum/sample to a mixer track, and on that mixer track place a free filter and an EQUO in that order. Keep the EQUO visible all the time, and play your drum while tweaking the filter in various ways. You'll be able to actually SEE the effect, in realtime frequency display, and you'll HEAR what those frequencies sound like.
Very clear, good, and undesteandable. Thank you!
Whoa man, thanks! That makes a LOT more sense now. 5 stars.
@AcePincter
Ring modulation is the multiplication of two bipolar audio signals by each other. Amplitude modulation is similar to ring modulation, except it works with a unipolar modulator.
Exactly right. I think the reason people are mystified is that it's very difficult to conceptualize the sound you are going to get - FM synthesis adds complexity in surprising ways.
It's as though we want to "pre-hear" our sounds as we create them. Don't you agree?
You explained everything very clearly, thank you!!
thanks for sharing
Some FM synthesis does rely on the instantaneous voltage of the modulating waveform to control the frequency, not just whether the voltage is increasing or decreasing.
Gosh, I know that this video is old, but I'm glad I finally stumbled upon it. :) Great explanation :)
Man, Thank you sooo much. This is the only understandable tutorial on FM Synthesis.
X)X)
thanks for the great explanation :) this was a good refresher on the basics
Very good and helpful explanation! You're filling a gap on the tutorial-market ;)
wow, wish i found this months ago... would of saved SOOOO much time.
When i first started playing with sytrus i had no idea how fm (or any) synthesis worked. I started reverse engineering presets to try and understand what was happening to the wave forms.
It was a slow process with lots of headaches
Good tutorial. Could you please do a vid that gives basic techniques used to synthesize the common sounds we hear? For example the required wave forms and modulation techniques used to synthesize a horn, string, guitar and even a percussion sound.
Well, to it's credit, FL will record directly to the playlist as an audio clip, and it will record "pattern-length" clips if you set your recording button for loop mode. I would really like to see a method to play along with FL on an analog instrument or microphone and be able to repeat the loops. Live song composition.
this sure helps as a step up from 3xosc, nice vid, thanks man
Honestly, I am not! I read up on the Sytrus help on the FL Studio web page, and they gave an example that consisted of 2 images showing a before/after FM waveform. I was inspired, and thought I could figure out how to make my own before/after images using Edison, and wanted to try it with different shapes of sound. Anyway, it turned into source material for a video example that made a lot of sense to me to publish! I can't stand being baffled! I had to figure Sytrus out!
Also the arpeggiator needs a piano roll-one in the playlist would be nice too. You can do it now with pitch automation but could be more intuitive, which is FL's strength-the ability to bring sounds directly from music lamens imaginations into audio existence.
The direction that Reason is going in just emulates the limitations of real equipment (although the display of the final sample wave is something FL needs to emulate)
FL should do for composing what Macromedia did for visual animation
Finally thanks man for explaining the matrix
it all makes so much sense now
Awesome tutorial. Very good to understand!
Quality video for the time it was uploaded.
@AcePincter
I'm not trying to be an ass, and I'm sorry if this has already been pointed out, but amplitude modulation and ring modulation are very different things. Ring modulation outputs the sum and difference of the frequencies of the carrier and modulator. What you're doing in this video is amplitude modulation, not ring modulation.
thank you so much... i really had no clue how to work sytrus.
I'm not one either, but using a good preset makes an excellent starting point, and you can just tweak a bit knowing what it actually does.
sytrus is a fucking beast, thanks for shining some light on fm syntheses!
very clear explained thank you!
Good tu8torial :D I knew how to use this but I still watched this video... it is very informative.
greaaaat tutorial! im an experienced producer and it was really helpful to me. thanks man :)
There's a link on my homepage. Give "Square Purity" a listen. I just re-adjusted the treble and it sounds awesome.
Makes much more sense now thanks
good job
Great stuff, really good explanation.
GREAT tutorial! Very very very helpful!
Amplitude and ring modulation are not the same(although they are related). Amplitude modulation just modulates the loudness of the wave. Ring modulation multiplies 2 signals resulting in frequencies that equal the sum of the signals and the difference of the signals.
Awesome video. Great explanations. Thanks!
very interesting stuff. I've always been pretty baffled by Sytrus
it's called "Default" in the presets page!
Very well explained! Thanks!
Thanks for taking the time!
00:00 "hey, youtube. this is a sphincter" well thanks for pointing that out ;)
GinoZump "lets get to the bottom of this"
nice one !1!!!!!
Ever try saving your patterns as score files and using them to feed the arpeggiator?
This helped me SO MUCH. Thank you!
excellent & in depth - thanks!
Yeee, a new way to swimming in the music's world.
PLEASE, TELL ME, WHAT DO YOU THINK, WHICH PRORAM IS THE BEST FOR FM SYNTHESIS ???
Thanks for the tutorial, made things much more clear.
peace!
@2theothers2 That's the circle of fifths. AKA circle of fourths. The reason I think it's important is two-fold. It shows all the notes and shows how chords typically move in songs. Besides that it indirectly describes how key signatures work. Learn about it but don't expect to ever refer to it in your professional career.
thx for the tutorial dude, keep them coming.
Open up Sytrus exactly like I have it in the video's beginning. See the top bar that says "Sytrus (Default)"? It's just to the left of that, on that same top bar! That should help!
Wow thank you so much man, this really helped me out a lot.
Oh, and in regards to the slope being what affects the oscillation, it's the same concept as turning the knob on a short delay effect right?
I´m happy that I understand to 3xOSC
Now I can be more happy that I understand to sytrus!
Thanks a lot
Amplitude Modulation =/= Ring Modulation.
It outputs the sum and difference of the frequency; Amp mod would be like a tremolo effect.
@AcePincter I was in for 5, got out about 4 months ago. Started using FL in afghanistan on the down times and wrote some pretty crappy stuff but. I like the tutorials, you make it seems all to easy friend.