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Table Of Contents
The EFM1 is a simple, but powerful, frequency modulation synthesizer.
The 16-voice EFM1 produces the rich bell and digital sounds that frequency modulation
(FM) synthesis has become synonymous with.
At the core of the EFM1 synthesis system, you’ll find a multi-wave modulator oscillator
and a sine wave carrier oscillator. The basic sine wave (of the carrier oscillator) is a pure,
characterless tone.
To make things more sonically interesting, the modulator oscillator is used to modulate
the frequency of the carrier oscillator. This modulation occurs in the audio range (you
can actually hear it), and results in a number of new harmonics becoming audible.
The pure sine wave (of the carrier oscillator) is combined with the newly generated
harmonics, making the sound much more interesting. More details can be found in
Working with the EFM1 Modulator and Carrier Parameters.
If you’re totally new to synthesizers, it might be best to start off with Synthesizer Basics
which will introduce you to the terminology, and give you a great overview of different
synthesis systems and how they work.
This chapter covers the following:
Getting to Know the EFM1 Interface (p. 130)
Working with the EFM1 Modulator and Carrier Parameters (p. 131)
Working with the EFM1 Modulation Parameters (p. 133)
Adjusting Global EFM1 Parameters (p. 134)
Setting EFM1 Output Parameters (p. 135)
Creating EFM1 Random Sound Variations (p. 136)
Assigning EFM1 MIDI Controllers (p. 137)
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EFM1
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