Sound Synthesis

[Tony Scharf]

>
> When you get more than 2 operators with FM I tend to loose my head ;)
>

Actually, you dont really ever need more than 2.  I once had an email
exchange with a guy from yamaha (I cant remember his name now) but he
really opened up FM synthesis for me.  He said that any time you have
more than one operator working on a carrier, the number of usable
sounds you will get diminish, because your more likely to just over
modulate the fundamental into noise.  the original idea behind the 6
op fm was to have 3 modulator/carrier pairs, and dedicating each one
to a different part of the sound (one set for the body/sustain, and
two for handling the attack harmonics and other animation).  used in
this way, FM can be very powerful.

As far as additive being easier.....no way.  Maybe if you had a synth
that came with a LOT of preset harmonic envelopes you could use as
starting points, but every synth I have ever used that was additive
was a major pain in the ass.

Tony