An FM Synthesis Programming Tutorial focusing on the Yamaha Reface DX Architecture - Lesson 3.

In the last lesson, you learned how to program Solo Brass Voices (if you missed it, check it out here). Now experience how to enrich your repertoire - and sound - by creating Ensemble Brass Voices.

An FM Synthesis Programming Tutorial series focusing on the Yamaha Reface DX Architecture - Lesson 2.

In this session we will embark on our first example in programming specific Voices from scratch: solo brass voices. Brass voices permeate and inform the many sounds of our life - from pop, jazz, R&B to movie soundtracks. Let's get started.

An FM Synthesis Programming Tutorial focusing on the Yamaha Reface DX architecture - the first in a new series.

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An FM Synthesis Programming Tutorial focusing on the Yamaha Reface DX architecture - the first in a new series.

Synthesizers are enjoying their biggest wave of popularity since they first came onto the mainstream cultural radar in the 1970s and 1980s. Are you wondering what all the fuss is about? Check out the first of a new YamahaSynth series, "Synth 101." You'll learn what a synthesizer is, what makes them different from other kinds of electronic keyboards, different methods of synthesis, and how their various parts work together to let you dial in any sound that might be in your mind's ear. Click the link below to launch the tutorial.

Launch

Want to discuss what you learned? Join the discussion on the Forum here.

And when you are ready, the next lesson is now available - Synth 101 - Lesson 2: Types of Synthesizers.

The "father of FM synthesis" Dr. John Chowning - a legend here at Yamaha - was recently interviewed. Learn more about this trailblazer and hear the interview here.

It might be hard to believe that there is a gap of two thousand years (2,000) between the invention of the pipe organ and the invention of the piano. (Just some perspective when you make demands for a "new" keyboard). The pianoforte, best known by its shortened name, "piano", is a unique keyboard that introduced soft (piano) and loud (forte) dynamics to the performance from a keyboard.

Sine, sine, give me a sine...
The sine wave, the same one you learned about when you struggled through trigonometry back in grade school, is the most basic of wave shapes in nature. To our ears it sounds smooth, pure, singular, lonely; to our eyes it is represented as smooth, pure and without unexpected changes.

Let's embark on our journey with the first keyboard, the organ. Some consider it also the first synthesizer, or at least "the father of synthesizers". Sounds are made by combining tones, a process referred to as "additive" when we talk about synthesizers.

The object, when working with an equalizer, is to listen to the program (the source signal) and adjust the sound accordingly. Let's do an experiment to get a feel for how to approach equalizing a sound.

Here we will discuss some real world use of Equalization and take a look at the Virtual Circuitry Modeling: VCM EQ 501

EQ, or Equalizer, is arguably the most useful and powerful weapon you have in your processing tool kit. It is the one professional tool that has been deemed safe enough for even the average consumer to use. But in reality it is perhaps the most misused processor in the field of audio. Hopefully, by the time you finish this series of three articles you will have a new perspective on the use of the equalizer and a new appreciation for what it can accomplish for you in terms of making your music shine.

In the previous installment we explored the Sawtooth waveform. This time we'll take a look at the other principal analog synth waveform family, the Pulse wave family.

Programming is an art and a science. There is no shortage of scientific terminology and plenty of mathematics that can be involved. This series of articles is going to attempt to stay on the fun side of all that hard stuff, so that you can approach "programming" with the same intuitve spirit you approach playing your keyboard. We will relate any mathematics to things you most likely already "know" as a musician. And we'll have some fun along the way. Promise. 

Exploring the Basics of Synthesis: Building Blocks

Let's try some experiments with the Sawtooth Waveform. Believe it or not, the 6 example Voices in the included download are all built from the exact same Sawtooth Waveform we began looking at in the first part of this series. Working with Pitch EG, Filter EG and Amplitude EG you can completely reshape the resulting sound. We'll also learn a little bit about HOW we hear.    

Multi-band Compressor
A Multi-band Compressor is a frequency dependent leveling amplifier that when applied can change the impact of your music overall, or can be applied to make your audio samples more "in-your-face".

Workflow: Understanding the Tools _ The Compressor/Limiter: VCM Compressor 376
Settings on Compressor/Limiters are very much all about the current input signal. In other words, you cannot make the settings for Compressor/Limiters without listening to your current input source. There are several things that can improve your understanding and use of the Compressor/Limiter.

Last time we began our look into synthesis by exploring a Sawtooth source wave, let's begin this lesson with the other very common "analog" wave: the Pulse wave.  This lession is applicable for MX instruments from the original series  - or one of the latest!

Let's take a close look at the synthesizer sound engine and inside the Melas Voice Editor. This article is applicable to both the original MX series and the MX49/61 BK/BU/WH and MX88.