10 FM8

3.2.3. Morphing Sounds
The FM8 takes vivid sound and evolving textures a step beyond with its Morph Square.
The Morph Square in action. With the Morphing function you can melt four different sounds into one interactive sound field. The basis of the FM sound always is the FM Matrix (see above) and the different matrix settings of different Sounds can be smoothly morphed into each other in real-time. This leads to sound transitions that cannot be accomplished via conventional means like fading in and out.

3.2.4. Arpeggiate

So you want those grooving, pumping, sequenced lines that are so important for todays dance music? And of course you want them intuitively playable.
The Arpeggiator sequence away. FM8 11
No problem with the FM8 Arpeggiator. Just play a chord and it will be transformed, rhythmically re-triggered and transformed into grooving monophonic synth-lines. The Arpeggiator is much more flexible than its analogue ancestors as in the FM8 it got injected with a fresh step-sequencing concept. Its playing a sequencer like a musical instrument.
3.3. Outline of the Interface
The new design of the FM8 Interface improves on the FM7 with a fresh look and a host of usability enhancements. The Interface is divided into four zones: The Application Control bar on top of the window. The Navigator to the left is for choosing the different Editor windows. The Editing Area to the right displays the currently selected Editor. The Keyboard is for playing the sound with your mouse. The following paragraphs only give a very brief introduction into the scope of the different interface sections. Please read the respective reference chapters for a detailed description of all parameters.
3.3.1. Global Sections: Application Control Bar, Navigator and Keyboard
The Application Control Bar is the most basic Interface of your FM8. You can toggle the display of the Navigator/Edit Area and the Keyboard via two dedicated buttons. You get a mirror of the File menu and a host of status displays dealing with MIDI, polyphony and the like. Please have a look at the Reference section for details.

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3.3.2. Browser & Attributes Page
The Advent of NI KORE has brought a unified Sound format that is also used in the FM8 the KORESound. This also brings a unified interface for managing Sounds. The Browser is your interface to finding Sounds via a powerful system of Attributes that characterize each and every Sound of all NI Sound products. The complete FM8 Sound library has been fully tagged via an extensive system of Attributes and you can quickly filter and search for any combination of the provided Attributes or keywords. Finding the right Sound has never been easier - theyre all in the database.

3.3.3. Master Window

Lets push the Sound a bit more into the woodwind-direction. First of all we want it to be a bit softer. What could be better than a low-pass filter to soften things up?
Operator Z joins the action. The Operator Z contains a great multimode filter, so we just route our signal through it. Have a look at the picture above for pointers how to do it. Dont forget to turn the direct signal from Operator F completely down (a doubleclick on the value is a shortcut for doing this). Now switch to the Operator Z window.
Dial in the filter. Set the Cutoff to about 60 and the Resonance of the first filter to about 60. This setting caps the high mids and highs while adding some character via the resonant peak. Just have a look at the filter curve to see the response. We still miss something the breath. Breathy sounds are usually synthesized with noise and guess what the FM8 can produce that too. The noise generator is located in Operator X. 30 FM8
Noise Op to the scene. Activate Operator X and route its signal through the filter (Operator Z), as shown in the picture above. Now we switch over to the Operator X window to tweak the settings.
Noise controls. Apart from the envelope, the above settings are default values. We have to change the Envelope to a shape with a small Attack and an exponential decay phase. We just want a short, soft noise burst at the beginning of the sound, so you can deactivate the Sustain and Release buttons. Play some notes to hear the noise being faded in and out at the beginning of the Sound. Its time to save the new Sound but not before we have added a bunch of Attributes to integrate it into the FM8 Database. To do this, open the Attributes window.

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Adding some Attributes. Type your name into the Author field and add the appropriate Attributes describing the new Sound. In the picture above we chose: Reed Instrument for Instrument FM for Source Wooden for Timbre Sustained for Articulation The last step is choosing Save Sound from the File menu, type in a name for the Sound and save it to your Sound folder. Well leave the name to your imagination. Well, thats it for now. Just go on experimenting with the new Sound. Maybe by adding some effects, or an LFO for more liveliness.

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4. Reference
4.1. What is Frequency Modulation?

4.1.1. The Basics

The principle behind FM synthesis is of remarkable simplicity. The basis of all FM synthesis is a sine wave oscillator, represented below as a circle and an output.
A keyboard or other controller sets the oscillators pitch. However, we now need a way to gate this oscillator on and off. Analogue synthesizers used a circuit called a VCA (voltage-controlled amplifier) to alter the oscillator level. The level depended on a control signal (called a control voltage) fed into the VCA. Many modern digital synths and programs still use this terminology, even though the level changes are all generated digital, by altering numbers within the program. Some digital synths refer to VCA as DCA (for Digitally Controlled Amplifier), while others just refer to it as amp.

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4.2.8. Envelopes
Some parameters, such as envelopes, are shown graphically as curves and lines with nodes. To change an envelopes shape, click on a node with the mouse, and drag the breakpoint into the new position. To create a new node, right-click where you want the node to appear. Drag the Slope handles up or down to change the Envelopes slope between breakpoints. To delete a node, right-click on the node. The ruler behind the envelope is calibrated in seconds. If the envelope extends past the envelopes visible range, click on the blue background and drag to the left or right to see a different range of the ruler. Clicking the background and dragging the mouse up or down zooms in and out. Double-click on the background to have the envelope fit exactly within the visible part of the ruler.

4.2.9. Pages and Tabs

Most windows you find in the FM8 are Editors that are switched via the Navigator and fill out the Editing Area. On some of them (like on the Browser) you also find special buttons, called Tabs. Clicking them switches the window into a different mode, displaying a different page of controls.

4.3. Standalone menus

4.3.1. File Menu
The File menu of the standalone application is mirrored from the Plugin File menu to be found in the Application Control Bar. For a detailed documentation please have a look at chapter 0.

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4.3.2. Help Menu Launch Service Center
This command does exactly what it says: It launches the NI Service Center for managing your NI software licenses. Please have a look at the separate Setup Guide manual for details.

Visit FM8 on the web

This menu entry opens an external browser window connecting you to the FM8 pages of the NI website. Use it to stay up to speed with the latest information and development of your FM8.

About FM8

A click on the FM8 or NI logos opens the About FM8 window where you find the FM8s program version number and other information. The About window can be closed with a click on the close button in the upper right corner.
4.4. Application Control Bar
The upper portion of the FM8 remains constant as you switch among the various Editors. It is also the bare minimum interface of the FM8, as you can hide the Navigator, the Editing Area and the Keyboard.

4.4.1. Options

The Options window has two tabs. The General Options tab provides access to some parameters concerning the behaviour of your FM8.

FM8 41

Velocity
The Velocity option toggles between two different modes for the reception of MIDI velocity. The original DX7 has a note velocity range from 0 to 100, while all other keyboards and sequencers generate notes with velocities between 0 and 127. If you control the FM8 from a DX7, you can use the DX7 Keyboard option to adapt the velocity range. With a standard keyboard connected in this mode, velocities higher than 100 let the presets sound brighter than they have been programmed. In the Standard Keyboard mode a DX7 would not use the full dynamic range, so the sounds would be softer than intended.

MIDI Learn

Remember to disable MIDI Learn as soon as a MIDI controller has been assigned to an FM8 control; this ensures that the assignment will not be overwritten by later events. But you may want to keep MIDI Learn enabled should you want to assign several controls in a row. In this case, disable Switch Off After Assignment to have Learn mode only finished by a click on the Learn button.

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The Database Tab provides the commands for adding libraries and maintaining the database. The User Library Directories are the paths to the folders holding your personal collections of FM8 Sounds. Add chooses a new library to be added via a file dialog. Delete removes the currently selected library from your FM8 setup. Rebuild DB should be invoked when you make changes to the library like adding or removing a new library, or copying new FM8 Sounds into your folders. Rebuilding the Database can take some time. Its best to start a rebuild just before you take a break. The name entered under Default Author for Sound DB is used automatically in the Author field of the Meta Information if you create a new Sound or save it. Database Hit Count provides a menu that determines the behaviour of the Browsers Attributes display. When you filter for Sounds by clicking various Attributes in the Browser, you put more and more constraints on the Search Results. For some combination of Attributes, its possible no Sound will fit into the current roster of Attributes. With indicate empty categories chosen, empty categories will be displayed in grey. The show count as number option additionally displays the number of Sounds with the current set of Attributes in the various categories. Both options may degrade the Browsers performance, so if you experience a slowdown, switch this menu to none.

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4.4.2. Menu Functions and Status Displays
The two switches to the left toggle the Editor and the Keyboard on and off, respectively. Use them when screen estate is at a premium while working with various applications and plugins at the same time.
The next bunch of buttons deal with file operations and editing.
The File menu is mirrored from the main application window menus. You find the following commands: New Sound loads an initial FM8 Sound (NewSound.ksd) for you to develop new content. This file is located in the application folder. If the currently active FM8 Sound has never been saved before, the Save Sound opens a File Save dialog. Navigate to the desired folder in your file system, provide a name and click OK to save the current Sound. If the Sound has been saved before, the Save Sound command will overwrite the old version. Save Sound As will again provide a File Save dialog, enabling you to save an existing Sound with a different name. The Save Sound As command is also present separately below the menus. Options opens the Options window. Please have a look at the separate section about the Options for more information. Audio and Midi settings opens the settings window explained in detail in the FM8 Setup Guide. FM8 45

are being played. Example: Unison Dynamic on, 8 Voices, 3 Unison voices, 4 Notes are played: each note gets 2 unison voices. Unison Detune detunes the unison voices for a fatter, chorus-like effect. Higher values give increased detuning. Use the Pan Parameter to distribute the stacked voices over the stereo panorama. This can produce nice three-dimensional effects.
4.7.3. Pitch and Portamento
Master Tune offsets the pitch from -99 to +100 cents for precise pitch matching to other instruments. This parameter is not stored or recalled as part of a Sound. Transpose can transpose pitch up or down two octaves, in semitone increments. Portamento On enables or disables the portamento function. Portamento Time sets how long it takes for the pitch to glide from one note to another. 0 = shortest time, 100 = longest time. Portamento Auto allows portamento to occur only when playing legato, i.e. when there is no gap between played notes. If you release a key before playing the next one, there will be no portamento. The auto portamento mode is especially useful in combination with the Arpeggiator Tie parameter. Tied notes are played legato and therefore get portamento. This is fun when programming 303-style lines.

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4.7.4. Arpeggiator and Quality
The Arpeggiator controls are mirrored from the Arpeggiator window. Please have a look at chapter 4.9 for details. Analog introduces random variations between voices. This used to happen with analogue gear e.g. component values would change as temperatures drifted, and so on. Higher values increase the degree of randomness, and are very effective in Unison mode. Digital changes the bit resolution, and therefore the sound quality. The original DX7 was a 12 Bit device, whereas later models used 16 bits. This control lets you simulate the vintage sound and the resolution can even go lower than 12 Bit.

4.7.5. MIDI Controls

The MIDI controls display a list of currently assigned MIDI controllers. The left column shows the controller number and the right column displays the assigned FM8 parameter. FM8 51

54 FM8

Air controls the level of early reflections in the room response adding a sense of space to the sound. Bass boosts or cuts the level of the lower frequencies. Treble boosts or cuts the level of the higher frequencies.

4.8.4. Shelving EQ

A shelving equalizer is a type of tone control that boosts or cuts starting at a specific frequency. Upon attaining the specified amount of boost or cut, the response turns into a shelf and provides a constant amount of boost or cut past from that point. This type of EQ provides general tone shaping to correct broad issues, like lack of high frequency sparkle or excessive boominess in the bass end. The graph in EQ Shelving illustrates the response created by the controls.
To adjust parameters click on the graphic displays dots and drag (up to increase gain, down to decrease gain, sideways to change frequency). The Volume dial controls the output level of the Effect.

4.8.5. Peak EQ

A peak or parametric equalizer is a highly sophisticated form of tone control. Unlike the graphic equalizer which can boost/cut only at specific fixed frequencies, a parametric EQ can boost or cut over a continuously variable range of frequencies. In addition, the bandwidth (the range of frequencies affected by the boosting or cutting) is variable from broad to narrow. The graph illustrates the response created by the controls. The Peak EQ includes two complete parametric EQ stages, i.e. the first stage could boost the bass frequencies around 100 Hz, while the second stage adds a midrange notch.

FM8 55

To adjust parameters click on the graphic displays dots and drag (up to increase gain, down to decrease gain, sideways to change frequency). Q1 and Q2 edit the width of the frequency band for the boost or cut. Narrow bandwidth settings (turning clockwise from the centre position) affect a very small part of the audio spectrum, while broad bandwidth settings (turning counter-clockwise from the centre position) affect a broader range. The Volume dial controls the output level of the Effect.

4.8.6. Talk Wah

This is similar to a Wahwah, but uses a different filter type that emulates the filtering that your mouth creates when enunciating vowels.
Mouth controls the Talk Wah frequency. Turning counter-clockwise gives an oooo sound; moving it toward center morphs into more of an aah sound, while going further to the right morphs into more of an eee sound. Size adjusts the size of the virtual mouth. When counterclockwise, the mouth is small, like that of a midget. When clockwise, its like a giants mouth. Bright is a switch that makes the overall sound more trebly.

4.8.7. Phaser

The Phaser adds a swirling, animated effect to the sound.
Rate controls the speed of the phaser effect. Invert changes the phase of the shifted signal, producing a different timbre.

If you like the edits youve made to the sound, click on Apply to store the edited sound in the Edit buffer. This means that the Easy Page settings revert to zero, but the relevant sound settings on the other pages are changed so that you get the same sound. You can go on changing your sound with the Easy Page from there. Use Reset to return to the original, pre-edited sound. FM8 69

4.10.5. Effect Controls

The Effects controls provide a convenient way to change the Effects setup without leaving the Easy Page. Just activate or deactivate the various Effects units by clicking on the respective buttons. The Effects settings will be default or as saved with the current Sound.

4.10.6. Morph Controls

The Morph Square is your interface to sonically move between four different FM8 Timbres. The Morph corners are set up via dragging the Sounds from the Browser to a quadrant of the small Morph Square you find in the Application Control Bar. Once the corner slots are filled with Sounds, you can grab the red square handle and move it around in the square. The timbre will be morphed to intermediate versions of the four timbres. Old FM7 sounds have no morphing information, meaning all corners are the same, and morphing has no effect. 70 FM8
New FM8 sounds have morphing built in so you can load the sound and start morphing between its corners right away. You can also morph a single Sound. Load a sound and normalize it (see below). Select the lower-left corner of the morph square (lets name it master corner). In this state all four corners have the same timbre settings. Now click on another corner (lets name it timbre corner) and change some parameters which can be morphed, e.g. FX Amount. Now you can morph with the handle between the two parameter settings in the master and timbre corner. Each corner represents a set of parameters consisting of: Operator frequencies Operator waveforms (not morphed, but switched) Operator X and Z settings The Analog & Digital parameters FM matrix amounts FX Amount These morphable parameters are marked in the user interface. The following parameters are not morphed. They exist only once: Envelopes Keyscalings Mono, unison, portamento Modulations (LFO, modulation assignments) Arpeggiator Single FX parameters You can edit the names of the four morph corners by single-clicking them and typing in a new one. This can be very useful, as not all parameters are morphed (see above) leading to a disconnection from the original. At the right edge and at the upper edge of the square are two sliders labelled Random Amount. When they are non-zero, a cloud of dots appears around the handle to indicate the range in which parameters are randomized (each dot represents one parameter). The two sliders control the height and the width of the cloud. Each value of the Random Seed parameter sets a different but reproducible random distribution (throwing the dice). The Normalize Timbres button takes the current Morph state and copies it to all four Slots of the Morph Square leading to four identical Morph corners.

Panning

The lowest row of the FM Matrix holds the panning values for the different Operators. Pan values range from -99 (left channel only) to 100 (right channel only). Panning has no effect on modulations. The Operator has to be a carrier and be routed to the output for the pan value to work. Pan will also work for operators routed to the filter operator Z when Z is routed to the output.

FM8 73

Templates
There is a handy Template system available for storing your fresh Algorithms and for accessing the preset Algorithms that ship with your FM8. The Template menu presents a list of preset algorithms, including all those found in the original DX7. Save lets you store an Algorithm to the list of presets. To save an Algorithm you created, enter a name in the name field, click the Save button and choose the Slot you want top save to. The maximum number of stored Templates is 64.
4.11.2. Operator A-E Pages

Global Controls

Level serves as a master level control for all values in the matrix column associated with the selected Operator, except for any feedback to itself. Example: If Operator E modulates Operator F and sends its output to the main output, there are two values in the column, one connecting to OperatorE

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and one to the output. Lowering or raising Level will lower or raise both values. Similarly, raising or lowering the highest-value numerical will raise or lower the slider. Note: the Level slider will always assume the value of the column numerical with the highest value. It also works ratiometrically. In other words, if one value is at 50 and another is at 100, reducing the second value from 100 to 50 doesnt reduce the other value to 0, but to half of its value, as 50 is half the value of 100. Pan mirrors an Operators pan control in the algorithm creation matrix, and edits the audio outputs placement in the stereo field, from left to right. Changing this control changes the corresponding value in the matrix; changing the numerical similarly changes the slider. Velocity sensitivity sets how the overall envelope amplitude responds to velocity. At lower values, velocity has less effect. At higher values, velocity kicks the envelope up higher. If the Operator is a carrier, higher-amplitude envelopes increase the volume. If the Operator is a modulator, higher-amplitude envelopes change the timbre by increasing the brightness. With negative values a higher keyboard velocity will reduce the Operator level.

Frequency Controls

Frequency Ratio defines the mathematical relationship of the Operator frequency compared to the fundamental frequency of the note being played. 1.0000 means the Operator is the same pitch as the fundamental, 2.000 sets the Operator to the second harmonic (1 octave higher), 3.000 is the third harmonic (octave + fifth), etc. 0.5000 is the sub-harmonic one octave below the fundamental. These values are edited by clicking on one of the digits and moving it up or down. The arrows above and below each numerical allow incrementing (up arrow) or decrementing (lower arrow) one value at a time. When the Ratio is not an exact integer (e.g. 1.0030) then the Operator is detuned and will beat against other Operators. The beat frequency rises if the note pitch increases, and falls if the note pitch decreases.

FM8 75

Frequency Offset applies a constant frequency offset (in Hz) to the Operator to cause detuning and beating against other Operators. This is constant regardless of pitch. Example: a 5 Hz Offset causes beating at exactly 5 Hz between the selected Operator and another Operator with no offset. When using an FM-Operator as a static wave shaper (Ratio = 0, Offset = 0), the phase of the waveform can be adjusted. This makes a big difference to the modulated sound. A negative value for Offset controls the phase in percent. So Offset = -10 means the wave is shifted by 10%. Offset = -100 is 100% shift which sounds the same as no shift at all, as the waveform is periodic.

Waveform Controls

An Operator can have any of 32 different waveforms (the original DX7 had only sine waves). Clicking and dragging up or down on the numerical selects the waveform. Key Sync vs. Free Run Clicking on this box toggles between these two selections. Key Sync mode resets the oscillator phase at the beginning of each note. When any group of Operators needs to have a fixed phase relationship to preserve a particular tone quality, activate Key Sync for all Operators in the group. With Free Run mode, there is no phase reset. Pitch Envelope toggles modulation by the pitch envelope on and off. This allows some nice effects. When one carrier is pitched and another is not, a deactivated Pitch Envelope for one of them gives a fat, time-varying detune effect. When this time-varying detuning is applied between a carrier and its modulator, the result is an inharmonic FM effect. InvertWaveform flips the waveform upside down. This can make a subtle difference in FM-Modulation. The effect is especially noticeable when a waveform Operator feeds back on itself.

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Amplitude Modulation Controls
This is a subset of the Modulation Matrix page. Please refer to chapter 4.11.7 for information on assigning controllers; the only difference is that to conserve space, the pitch modulation sources are arranged in two lines stacked above each other, instead of one long line.

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last breakpoints move up and down together, because it is assumed you will eventually want the envelope to end up where it started. The left-most breakpoint is where the envelope starts. The next breakpoint to the right sets the envelopes maximum level; the first two breakpoints therefore create the envelopes attack. The next breakpoint to the right specifies the level to which the envelope will fall after passing through the attack phase (decay). This and the maximum breakpoint fall on two vertical red lines. These indicate the segment where the envelope reaches the sustain level, marked by the horizontal red line. On this level the envelope stays as long as the key is held down. If you insert one or more breakpoints between the red markers the sustain segment becomes a loop. This means that this part will be repeated as long as the note is sustained. You can create novel tremolo effects by changing the positions of these breakpoints. If there are more than 3 breakpoints the sustain or loop segment can be shifted by moving the vertical red lines with the mouse. They snap to the next breakpoint, except the start and the end point. Upon releasing the key, the envelope continues with the segment after the second red marker. In our example there is one more breakpoint after the sustain, the final end point. Dragging the small circle between breakpoints can change the lines shape between the breakpoints from concave, to straight, to convex.
Now lets investigate the envelope parameter strip below the envelope. Except as noted, clicking on a numerical value and dragging up or down edits the value; they also update automatically if you move the breakpoint. # shows two numbers. The first field is the index number of the breakpoint or stage being edited. The second field is the total number of envelope breakpoints. This is for display only and cannot be edited. Mode has two options, SLD and FIX. In SLiDe mode, if you move a breakpoint left or right, the envelope to the right of the breakpoint moves as well to maintain the same times and levels past the breakpoint being edited. In Fix mode, the total envelope time doesnt change. Moving a breakpoint to the right not only lengthens its distance compared to the breakpoint to its left, but shortens the distance compared to the breakpoint at its right. 98 FM8
Abs Time shows the amount of time in seconds from the start of the envelope to the breakpoint being edited. Rel Time shows the time between the current and the previous breakpoint. Delta Time shows the amount of time in seconds from the breakpoint being edited to the breakpoint at its immediate left. Level shows the breakpoint level referenced to the centre line. Slope shows the state of the line between breakpoints. 0.5 indicates a straight line. 0.999 indicates a maximally convex curve. 0.001 indicates a maximally concave curve. The ruler behind the envelope is calibrated in seconds. If the envelope extends past the envelopes visible range, click on the blue background and drag to the left or right to see a different range of the ruler. You can zoom in or out by clicking into the background and moving the mouse up or down Double-click on the background to have the envelope fit exactly within the visible part of the ruler.

Timbre

This set of attributes describes the sonic composition of the sound (always considering the selected instrument). High: Used for high pitched sounds and to distinguish similar timbres by their range, like a piccolo flute, hi-hat, bells etc. Low: Used for low pitched sounds and to distinguish similar timbres by their range, like a bass clarinet, kick drum, sub bass etc. Distorted: A sound featuring obvious distortion/overdrive. Saturated and heavily bit reduced sounds are also found here. Clean: A sound featuring no distorted sound elements at all. Can be used to further specify instrument groups, e.g. clean electric guitar. Bright: A sound with emphasized high frequencies. FM8 123
Dark: A sound with de-emphasized high frequencies, perhaps from lowpass filtering. Warm: A sound with an organic, pleasing ambience, often associated with analog sounds. Technically speaking, warm sounds tend to have a bit more lower midrange emphasis and not too many highs. Cold: Not a natural sound, but a more electronic/digital sound. Fat: A room-filling sound, e.g., an analog super sawtooth sound, also to be used with typical unison sounds. Thin: A small sound or a sound with a narrow frequency band. Hard: A general, rather subjective interpretation of a sound. Can be used to differentiate similar instruments (e.g., vibraphone with hard mallets). Also associated with hard-synced oscillators. Soft: A general, rather subjective interpretation of a sound. Can be used to differentiate similar instruments (e.g., vibraphone with soft mallets). Muted: A sound with a muted or damped quality, like a muted guitar or con sordino strings. Usually found on acoustic instruments (a dark sound is not necessarily muted). Detuned: A sound with detuned oscillators to create floating tones, like saw leads used in trance music or honky-tonk piano. This is not used when the oscillators are tuned a fifth apart (see Chord), and it is not used with instruments that use micro intervals and/or non-standard tunings. Dissonant: A sound which in general is not playable tonally. Noisy: With some noise elements in the sound, but still playable tonally, like very breathy flutes. Slightly bit-reduced (not yet distorted) and lo-fi sounds are also categorized as Noisy. Metallic: A sound with a metallic quality. Note that several types of bells and FM often sound metallic. Wooden: A sound with a wooden quality, like a bamboo flute or xylophone. Exotic: Sounds with an extremely unusual quality fall under this category.

Application

Describes the type of instrument, track, or field of application with which the effect is typically used. Acoustic Piano: For effects typically used with acoustic pianos, e.g., reverb or compressor. Electric Piano: For effects typically used with electric pianos, e.g., phaser or tremolo. Organ: For effects typically used with organs, e.g., speaker simulator or distortion. Pads/Strings: For effects typically used with pad or string sounds, e.g., or phaser. Guitar: For effects typically used with guitar sounds, e.g., amp simulator or distortion. FM8 131
Bass: For effects typically used with bass sounds, e.g., equalizer or filter. Drums/Percussion: For effects typically used with drum/percussion instruments, e.g., small reverb or compressor. Brass/Woodwinds: For effects suitable for brass or woodwind sounds, e.g., reverb or delay. Lead: For effects typically used with lead instruments, e.g., or reverb. Vocal: For effects typically used with vocal tracks, e.g., vocoder or reverb. Sequences: For effects typically used with sequenced lines, e.g., delay or gate. Loops: For effects typically used with drum or other loops, e.g., flanger or lo-fi. Experimental: For effects that change the signal so extensively it becomes unrecognizable. Surround: For effects that could be used for surround applications, e.g., panning etc. Mastering: For effects intended for mastering applications, e.g., multiband compressor or FIR equalizer.

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Appendix C Keyboard Shortcuts
Action New Sound Open Save Save As Exit Arp on/off toggle F2 Browser F3 Attrib F4 Master F5 FX F6 Arp F7 Easy/Morph F8 Expert Step Hide Editor Hide Keyboard Midi Learn Select single OP pages Select Select Select Select Select Ops page Env page Mod page KeySc page Spect page PC Ctrl+N Ctrl+O Ctrl+S Ctrl+Shift+S Alt + F4 Ctrl-G F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 cursor up/down *** Ctrl + H Ctrl + K Ctrl + L Ctrl + [Op-first letter] A-Z + Pitch Ctrl + W Ctrl + V Ctrl + U Ctrl + Y Ctrl + T Mac, if different Cmd button instead of Ctrl.

Cmd + Q

*** cursor up/down has two functions: when browser page is visible navigate through lists without changeing the Sound. when any other page is visible, step through current list of Sounds, like using like using the Previous/Next buttons.

Navigator..12, 22, 47 New in This Version.. 7. New Sound. 45 NI logo.. 41 Noise.. 80. Normal.. 95 Normalize Timbres. 71 Notches. 57 Note.. 64 Note Length.. 64 Numeric Values.. 37
Octave.. 66 Octave row.. 66 Offset..37, 76 One Shot.. 63 On row. 65. Operator.. 33 Operator A-E pages.. 74 Operator feedback. 38. Operator on off. 38 Operator output.. 38 Operators.. 16 Frequency Controls. 75. Global Controls.. 74 Key Scaling.. 77 Level meter.. 78 Pitch Envelope.. 76. Operators Window.. 86 Operator Windows.. 19 Operator X. 20, 80. Block diagram. 81. Noise.. 81. Noise Reso.. 82 Saturator Gain. 82 Operator X Bypass. 38
Operator Z.. 20, 30, 83. Application.. 86 Block diagram. 84. Cutoff Modulation. 85 Env Amount.. 85. Level.. 85 Pan.. 85 Spread.. 84. Velocity.. 85 Operator Z Bypass. 38 Op Select Controller. 43 Options.. 41, 45. Outline of the Interface. 12. Output Controls.. 68 Output level meters. 47. Output Volume. 48. Overdrive.. 53 Overview and Tutorial. 7
Pan. 50, 75 Panic button.. 47 Panning. 73 Paste.. 62. Pattern Editor. 65. Pause.. 63 Peak EQ.. 55. Phaser.. 56 Ping... 63 Pitch.. 18, 50, 60, 95 Analog.. 96 Pitch Bend Mode.. 95 Pitch Envelope. 96. Abs Time. 99 Delta Time.. 99 Rel Time.. 99 Slope.. 99. Pitch Modulation.. 96. Poly.. 47.

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Polyphony.. 49 Pong.. 63 Popup Menus.. 37 Portamento.. 50, 96 Auto.. 50, 96 Time.. 50, 96. Position Row.. 65 Programs.. 105 Psychedelay.. 59
Q1.. 56 Q2.. 56 Quality. 51. Quickstarts. 20.
Random.. 63, 66 Randomize.. 66 Random Seed. 71. Rate. 56, 57, 58, 61, 68, 92 Ratio..37, 75 Rebuild DB. 44 Reference.. 33 Release. 68, 69, 97. Repeat Mode.. 63. Reset.. 69. Reset button.. 66 Resize Database Views. 103 Reso.. 84. Reverb.. 58 Reverse. 59 Room Size.. 58. Rotate.. 57 Route.. 84
Saturator.. 81. Save As.. 108 Save controller assignments. 52 Save Sound..27, 45 Save Sound As.. 45 Saving Sounds.. 106. Searching Sounds.. 101 Search Results..22, 46, 102, 104 Search Term. 101. Send Controllers When Changed. 43 Setup Guide.. 7 Shelving EQ.. 55. show count as number. 44. Shuffle.. 64 sine wave.. 33 SingleSounds. 100 Size.. 54. SLD.. 79, 98. Slope.. 79, 93. Snap.. 79 Sound Readout. 46. Source.. 122. Source Attributes.. 102 Spectr.. 99 Spectrum Display. 46. Standalone About FM8.. 41 File Menu.. 40. Help Menu.. 41 Visit FM8 on the web. 41. Standalone menus. 40 Static.. 57 Status Displays. 45 Step-sequencer.. 14 Step-sequencing. 12 Stereo.. 58, 59. Stereo Width.. 68 Sustain.. 68, 69, 97 Sweep Max. 57

FM8 139

Sweep Min.. 57 Switches.. 36 Sync..57, 58, 59, 60. Sync Delays.. 60.
Tap.. 59. Template..37, 52, 62. Templates.. 74 Tempo Sync. 63, 77, 91, 97 Tie row.. 65 Timbre. 23, 67, 69, 100, 123. Timbre Attributes.. 102 Timbre Envelope. 67 Time.. 59, 60. Time Resolution.. 64. Tone... 53 Transpose. 50, 66, 95 Treble.. 55, 59 Tremolo.. 58, 69 Tube Amp.. 53 Tune.. 95. Tweed Alnico.. 54 Tweed Green.. 54 Type.. 128 Type Attributes.. 102

Diffusion.. 64. Digital.. 54 Dotted.. 67 Down.. 66. Drehregler.. 38 Drive.. 56 Dry Wet.60, 61, 62, 63, 64 DX-200.. 118. DX-7.. 118. Dynamic.. 52 E Easy... 15 Easy/Morph.. 15, 71 Easy Edit.. 23 Edit All.. 49 Editierbereich.. 43 Effects.. 27, 111. Effekt.. 55 Effekt-Navigator.. 56, 75. Effekte.. 75 Eigene Algorithmen.. 40 Einzeldatei.. 108 Einzelpresets.. 118 Env Amount.. 92 Envelope..37, 90. Envelope-Fenster.. 96 Envelope Amount.. 72 Envelopes..17, 30, 42 Even\ Off / Odd\: On.. 45. Exit.. 48 Expert-Fenster.. 16, 77 Explorer.. 113 Export. 115 Expression.. 26 F Feedback..37, 63, 64 Feedbackschleife.. 40 File Tree View. 110, 112
Filter.. 91 Filtergrafik.. 59 Filterkurve. 91. Filter Mix.. 92 First... 67 FIX.. 86 Flanger.. 60 FM-Matrix.. 16, 36, 40, 77 Bedienung.. 79. Frequency Offset.. 82, 95 Frequency Ratio.. 82, 94. Frequenzeinstellungen. 94 Frequenzmodulation. 10, 34 G Gain... 90 Gate... 62 General Options.. 44 Genre Attributes..111 Globale Fenster.. 16. Graphische Oberflchen. 41. Grundlagen. 10 GUI.. 38 H Harmonic.. 72 Hi Cut.. 64 Highest.. 103. High Resolution.. 45 Hold... 66 Hllkurve.. 37 Hllkurven. 42, 85 Hllkurvengenerator. 34 Hllkurven koppeln.. 30 Hllkurvenverlauf.. 86 I Import. 115 Import SysEx.. 118. indicate empty categories. 47 In Env.. 98.
Input Envelope. 99 Input Volume.. 52. Installation und Einrichtung.. 7. Instrument Attributes.111 Instruments..111. Intensity.. 61 Inv.. 61 Invert. 60, 63, 83, 95, 100 K Keyboard.. 13, 51 Keyboard Shortcuts. 148. Keyon.. 103 Key Scale.. 100. Key Scaling.. 84, 105 Keyscaling. 18, 100. Key Sync.. 66, 83, 99. Keysync.. 83, 95 Knpfe.. 38 L Laden und Benutzen von Sounds21 Last... 67 Latest.. 103. Lauflicht.. 69 Launch Service Center.. 43. Learn.. 68. Level. 81, 87, 92, 101 LFO.. 73, 99. LFO1.. 98 LFO1 AT.. 98 LFO1 Breath.. 98. LFO1 Ctrl1.. 98 LFO1 Ctrl2.. 98 LFO1 MOD.. 98 LFOs.. 18 Lib-Convert..117 Lineal.. 87 Link.. 30, 96 Link-Gruppe.. 96 Load Time.. 116. FM8 151
Low Cut. 64 Lowest.. 103. Lupensymbol. 110, 112. M Mac... 38. MacOS.. 38 Master-Fenster. 51. Master Tune.. 53 Mens.. 47 Meta-Informationen. 109. Microtuning.18, 101 Microtuning-Editor. 41 MIDI-Controller.. 54 MIDI-Datenanzeige. 49. MIDI Assign.. 45 MIDI Controller Range. 45 MIDI Learn. 46, 50. Mod... 98 Mod Depth. 64 Mode.. 86, 92. Mode Attributes..111 Mod Rate.. 64 Modulation..18, 97, 99 Modulations-Fenster. 97 Modulations-Matrix.. 98. Modulationsmatrix.. 41. Modulationsparameter. 64 Modulation von Parametern. 10. Modulator.. 29, 35 Modwheel.. 27 Mono.. 52. Morphing.. 23 Morph Square. 49, 76. Mouth.. 59. Multimode-Filter.21, 31 My Favorites.. 113 My Sounds.. 113, 117
N Namensfeld.. 55. Navigator.. 13, 43, 50 Neu in dieser Version. 7 New Sound.. 28, 48 Noise Amp.. 89 Noise Cutoff.. 89 Noise Reso.. 89. None.. 47 Normal.. 103 Normalize Timbres. 77 Notches. 60 Note.. 101 Note-Order.. 70. Note Length.. 68 Numerische Werte. 39. O Oberflche.. 38 Oberton-Spektrum. 108 Obertongehalt. 35. Octave.. 70 Octave-Stretch. 101. On. 56, 69, 99 One Shot.. 66 Operator.. 34 Operator-Fenster. 20 Operator A-E.. 81 Operatorenfenster.. 94 Operatorfrequenz.. 82 Operators.. 17 Operator X.. 20, 32, 88. Noise.. 89. Operator X Blockdiagramm. 89. Operator Z.21, 31, 90. Cutoff Modulation. 93 Operator Z Blockdiagramm. 91. Op Select Controller. 46 Options.. 44. Output-Regler.. 73

152 FM8

Output Volume. 51. Overdrive.. 56 P Pan. 53, 81 Pan-Regler.. 92 Panik.. 50. Panning. 80 Parallel/Serial.. 92 Paste.. 66. Pattern Editor.. 65, 69. Patternlnge.. 69. Pause.. 67 PB Dn.. 98 PB Up.. 98 Peak EQ.. 58. Pegel.. 51, 59. Pegelanzeige.. 85 Phaser.. 60 Ping... 67 Pitch.19, 53, 63, 103 Analog.. 104 Pitch Bend. 99, 103 Pitch Envelope. 83, 95, 104. Pitch Modulation. 104. Poly... 49. Pong.. 67 Popup-Mens.. 39 Portamento.. 53, 104 Portamento Auto.. 53. Portamento On. 53 Portamento On/Off.. 104. Portamento Time.. 53 Position Shift.. 69 Positionszeile.. 69. Programmwechselbefehle. 115. Programs.. 110, 114 Psychedelay.. 62
Q Q1.. 59 Q2.. 59 Quality. 54. Quantisierungsraster.. 87. Quickstart.. 21 R Random.67, 70 Random Amount. 77 Randomize.. 70 Random Seed. 77. Rate..60, 61, 73, 100 Rating. 116 Rauschen. 20, 88. Rebuild DB. 46 Referenz.. 34 Release. 30, 73, 74, 85, 105. Rel Time.. 87 Repeat-Markierung.. 69 Repeat Mode.. 67. Reset.. 70, 74. Reso.. 91. Reverb.. 62 Reverse. 63 Root Note. 102 Rotate.. 60, 61 Rckwrts-kompatibel. 7 S Sttigungskurve.. 89 Saturator.. 89. Saturator Asym.. 89 Saturator Gain.. 89 Save. 66, 84, 102, 117. Save Sound. 28, 48 Save Sound As.. 48 Schalter. 38 Schieberegler.. 38 Scopes.. 19

FM8 153

Search Results. 114 Seiten und Tabs.. 42. Send Controllers When Changed. 46 Sequencer.. 26. Shelving EQ.. 58. show count as number. 47. Signalfluss.. 55 Size.. 58, 59. SLD... 86. Slope. 87, 101. Sound Morphing. 11 Source Attributes.111 Spectrum.. 108. Speichern.. 28 Spektrum.. 50. Split... 68 Standalone About FM8.. 43 File-Men.. 43. Help-Men.. 43 Visit FM8 on the web. 43. Static.. 61 Statischer Waveshaper. 82. Status-Anzeigen.. 47. Steigung.. 42 Step-Lnge. 68 Stereo.. 61, 63. Stereo Width.. 73 Stimmen und Polyphonie. 52 Suchfeld.. 23, 112 Suchresultate. 48, 110, 114 Suchresultaten. 23 Suchwrter.. 112. Sustain.73, 74, 84, 105 Sweep Max. 60 Sweep Min.. 60 Switch Off After Assignment. 46 Sync..60, 61, 62, 63. Sync Delays.. 63. System Exclusive Data. 118.
T Talkwah.27, 59 Tap.. 62. Tastatur.. 43, 51 Tastaturkrzel. 148. Template.. 55, 66. Template-Men. 80. Templates.. 80 Tempo Sync. 85, 99, 105 Tie.. 69 Timbre. 74. Timbre-Regler.. 72. Timbre Attributes.111 Timbre Envelope. 72 Time. 62, 63, 104. Time Resolution.. 67. Tone... 56 Tranpose.. 53 Transpose.. 70, 103 Treble.. 58, 62 Tremolo.61, 74 Triplets.. 67 Tube Amp.. 56 Tune.. 103. Tweed Alnico.. 57 Tweed Green.. 57 Type Attributes.111 U berblick und Tutorial. 7 UK 70s.. 57. Unison Voices. 52. Use Op A Controllers for Selected Op.. 45 V VCA.. 34. Vel.. 68 Velocity.. 26, 44, 92. Velocity Scale. 100

154 FM8

Velocity Scaling.. 84, 105 Velocity Sensitivity..72, 73, 81 Verzerrer.. 88 Vibrato.. 35, 74. Voices.. 52. Volume.. 56, 58, 73 W Waveform.. 83, 95, 99. Waveshaping.. 21, 88 Wellenform. 28, 39, 83, 90,.95, 99, 100, 108 Width.. 61 Windows.. 38 Wrap.. 67 Wrap+.. 67 Wrap-.. 67 Z Zoom.. 87. Zuweisung. 55.