![]() ![]() Operators above these aren’t heard directly, but they are in fact used to modulate the pitch of the operator below them. How it works is that any operators on the bottom row of the matrix are ‘voiced’, that is, they are directly routed to the synth’s output. This shows the organisation of the operators. Using basic FMīefore we start tweaking any of the operators, let’s take a quick look at the Algorithm panel (middle bottom of the interface). This is because the Level knobs of all the other operators are turned down to their minimum level. The initialised patch plays a simple sine tone, and when you play the synth you’ll see that only the level meter of the first oscillator (known as an ‘operator’ in FM parlance) is active. ![]() Click the INIT button to the left of the patch name to initialise the synth. ![]() However, we’re going to go straight to making our own sound. You can audition the presets by clicking the up and down arrows to the right of the patch name, or you can click the patch name to bring up the full list of presets. At the bottom left of the interface, you’ll see the name of the currently loaded patch, which is ‘1. Load Dexed up in your DAW, and you’ll be presented with the synth’s interface. Dexed, which is available for free in AU and VST formats for Windows, macOS and Linux.In this tutorial we’ll cover the basics of FM synthesis and take a look at how to get your hands on those classic DX7 presets. What’s more, it’s capable of loading DX7 patches, making it a fantastic free source of classic tones. What made the synth so popular is that it featured some of the greatest presets of all time, and it can be heard on countless pop hits and film and TV soundtracks of the 80s and 90s.ĭexed is an open-source DX7 clone plug-in, and although its interface is still a little on the menacing side, it’s a vast improvement over that of the original hardware. The instrument only had a two-line LCD alphanumeric display, and while using a liquid-crystal display might sound impossibly futuristic and glamorous, its extremely limited capacity to display information would have made the DX7 a lot more time-consuming to program than modern FM softsynths. That said, programming patches on the quintessential hardware FM synth, 1983’s Yamaha DX7, would have been a slog. Frequency modulation synthesis has something of a reputation for being complicated and difficult to master, and while FM synths can definitely be intimidating, they’re really quite straightforward once you’ve got your head around the basics. ![]()
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January 2023
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