FM Synthesis Appreciation Thread -

[The Shadow]

This is a thread for sharing and enjoying music that uses FM (frequency modulation) synthesized sounds (as opposed to subtractive synthesis a la Moog or digital sampling) to produce sounds. It's been used in a surprisingly diverse array of applications- Yamaha's DX-7 keyboard synthesizer was a mainstay of 1980's rock, pop, and R&B, and FM chips provided the sounds for early AdLib and SoundBlaster PC sound cards as well as for many game consoles and computers (notably the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and the MSX...forgive me if I've missed any).

Anyway, here's a sampling of what FM Synthesizers were capable of. Share any that you'd like to!

Spoiler: Yamaha DX-7 Keyboard

Spoiler: Yamaha YM3812 (AdLib Sound Card)

Spoiler: Yamaha YM2612 (Sega Genesis)

EDIT: Don't feel like you need to list the sound chip or synth used, that's just something I did to be autistic.

 

[Positron]

Japanese composer Osamu Kitajima has an album called FM Shrine, but he doesn't list the gear he used on it.

 

[The Fatriarchy]

Starting a thread like this without this?

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

Starting a thread like this without this?

Or this.

 

[Kiwi Jeff]

Here's another important video. This playlist was put together by internet wizard Eric "cboyardee" Shumaker:

Here's another good one which features some music by Yuzo Koshiro and Yoko Shimomura:

Finally, here's what a lot of people would probably call their favorite FM soundtrack:

 

[The Shadow]

Here's another important video. This playlist was put together by internet wizard Eric "cboyardee" Shumaker:

Here's another good one which features some music by Yuzo Koshiro and Yoko Shimomura:

Finally, here's what a lot of people would probably call their favorite FM soundtrack:

A SOR 2 track was literally the first representative I posted in the Genesis spoiler.

EDIT: I apologize for being a bitch here. First post on waking up lol.

 

[Kiwi Jeff]

A SOR 2 track was literally the first representative I posted in the Genesis spoiler.

Whoops! Sorry about that! For what it's worth, I probably should have just posted my favorite song from SOR 2.

 

[The Shadow]

Whoops! Sorry about that! For what it's worth, I probably should have just posted my favorite song from SOR 2.

Haha, it's cool my dude.

Rock out to some Thunder Force IV and don't worry about it.

 

[Raging Capybara]

 

[DragoonSierra]

So is this process different from NES or SNES soundtracks? What about Saturn or ps1 midi?

 

[The Shadow]

So is this process different from NES or SNES soundtracks? What about Saturn or ps1 midi?

It is, yes.

While I can't find a lot of concise information about the NES's sound chip, it appears to be a traditional subtractive synthesized sound and the SNES used compressed samples. The majority of Playstation and Saturn titles would have predominately used CD audio playback rather than a synthesizing sound chip. MIDI in the PS and Saturn's case is also sampled rather than generated on the fly through the sound chip. (MIDI is a set of standards, formats, and devices that covers a lot of ground).

FM Synthesis isn't simply limited to video games or other applications using the chips. Until digital sampling became common FM chip based keyboards were popular- most evident in the Yamaha DX7. The reason Yamaha is the most prominent producer of these chips is because they purchased the rights to John Chowning's implementation of Frequency Modulation in the 1970's and prolifically produced a lot of instruments and chips with FM. Other manufacturers made FM chips too, but Yamaha was the king.

Some viewing material:

Video on the Yamaha DX7 keyboard and its use in pop music:

This video is a good intro to the technical details of how FM synthesis works (and I don't claim to fully understand it).