 Hello, OscillatorSync here and welcome back to our series of videos where we're exploring the sound design potential of the one for Korg Volcker FM. So the Korg Volcker FM like the DX7 before is described as being a six operator FM synth. So in this video, I'd like to talk about the operators, what they actually are and what their role is in creating sounds and shaping the timbre of those sounds on the Volcker FM. So in talking about FM synthesis, there's a temptation to draw an analogy between operators on the FM synth and oscillators on a traditional subtractive analog synth. That's maybe useful to begin with, but it doesn't really tell the whole story because the key thing about these six operators, which are all the same thing, they can do two different jobs. So the first of those jobs is that of a carrier. So a carrier is the thing that we hear. So a carrier without anything else being happening to it is that kind of fuzzy sine wave sound there. So when we're talking about an operator being a carrier, that analogy with it being the same as an oscillator, that kind of works actually quite nicely. Arguably the more interesting and important role that a operator can take on is that of a modulator. So an operator which is acting as a modulator is going to be something which is affecting the harmonic content and therefore the sound and the timbre of a carrier. So you have a carrier, which is what you hear and you have a modulator, which is what affects the sound of that carrier. So in this video, I've got a patch set up where I have two operators. One is acting as a carrier and the other is acting as the modulator affecting that carrier. And I want to go through the edit menu and take a look at four key parameters that we can play with that we can use to shape the overall sound of the Volgraf M before we get into any of the LFOs and the envelopes and all the other wonderful tricks that we can pull. Just to get that basic tone, that basic waveform, if you like, that we can work with to begin with. So let's head into the edit menu. You can see here that we're dealing currently with operator one and operator one is the operator which is acting as our carrier. So this is the thing that we hear this as operator one there for us. So there are four parameters that I want to talk about. They are pretty straightforward when we're talking about them in relation to the carrier. So the first one is this parameter called O-Vol. So this is the output level and for the carrier, that's really, really straightforward. It's simply the volume of the carrier. So basically, if we're talking in the analog synth world, this is the level of our VCA. So all we're doing there is turning that operator up and down. So moving across the next parameter I want to talk about is this frequency course. So this allows us to select the course tuning for this operator. It runs between 0 and 31, so there's quite a lot of range here. So I currently had it at 2, but let's have a listen through the whole range. So it's a big old range and what's actually happening there is we're cycling through the harmonic series. So we've got something like, there's our first tone, we move up, we go up an octave and then we go up another octave. Then it's an octave and a fifth or something, two octaves and so on. So it's not just an octave selector, we're moving through the harmonic range, but it's a big old range that we have on there. I'll set it back to 2 for the moment. The next parameter along is FRIPF. So this is our frequency fine control. So you set the basic pitch with your course control and then with the fine control, we've got the range of an octave there on top of the course control that you've got there. The final parameter, which is also to do with tuning, is this detune. This allows you to do a very fine detuning, so a number of parts of a cent. So you may not even be able to hear it so obviously, but if we go from there, you can hear that's a little bit sharp. This is useful actually if you're just layering carriers and you just want to detune them all a little bit, you can get that kind of detuned oscillator effect. That we get in the order analog sense for a useful little control. It's right at the end, so don't forget about it. OK, so these four parameters are very, very straightforward when we're talking about the carrier. They are a lot more interesting when we start to talk about our modulator. So I've just moved over to operator number two, which is our modulator. So I'm going to move back over to this first parameter here. So at the moment, that output level of our modulator is set to zero. So it's been another way our modulator is not currently affecting our carrier. But as we turn this up, you can hear now that we're starting to get a change in the harmonic richness of our sound. So by turning up the level of our modulator, it is affecting the carrier. It's modulating more and more. If you listen carefully, that's not just the same as say opening a filter would be on an analog synth. The interaction is a bit more interesting than that. It's not just that it's getting brighter, although in this case it is getting brighter as well. But it's also the harmonic series is shifting and changing and it's filling out in the mid range as we go. So one thing to bear in mind when you're looking at setting the level of your modulator is that it's not just a case of getting more of the same. The interesting interactions that happen as you kind of fine tune this level can really hone in in some sweet spots. So that's a bit that's a bit sort of aggressive for me. But you can hear that there's a point where there's that mid range kind of gets a lovely hump, a vocal kind of sound. And then it almost scoops out again there. So yeah, there's a lot of range for you to play with here. So I'm just going to also do that. That's that's quite nice. OK, so let's move across to the frequency course control. So at the moment, the frequency course control for the modulator is set lower than it is for my carrier. So let's just set them both at the same place. So let's set them both to two and have a listen. So that's got quite a vocal reedy kind of sound. If we drop our course control all the way down. Can you hear how actually the modulator is affecting the pitch even of our carrier here? So we've actually got such a reinforcement in those lower harmonics that we've actually dropped down. No, essentially. Can you hear how the quality of the timbre there is more sort of verbally and rich and a bit more sort of analogs, maybe the wrong word, but there's a different different character? Alternatively, if we were to turn our modulator pitch up a lot, we get glassy kind of ring modulated kind of things happening. Even if we go a little bit higher, we get different frequencies. Starting to be emphasized. So this is really one of the key areas that helps you define the timbre that you're working with. The relationship frequency wise between your carrier operator and your modulator operator. So we could, for example, put our carrier much higher up and then we have much more range either side to explore the kind of timbre that we might. But of course, we might think that's a bit over the top. So we could always go back to our level and we could dial that into a sweet spot where we're just getting a little bit of additional richness there. We'll turn that back up and we'll just get our course control on our carrier back down to. There we go. And we'll do the same on our modulator there. OK, so that's the course control. And that sort of governs like the overall timbre. But what happens if we go over to the fine control and start messing with that on our modulator immediately bell tones and weird subbands giving us hear all that extra low end that suddenly appeared. We've got those sort of atonal bell things happening. Loads of interesting stuff that perhaps at the moment we think that's too much. So we could always duck back to our level control here. We've got all these atonalities happening, but we could always dial it back. So we're just getting touch of them instead. And this is why FM synths are so great. Are they sort of bell and sort of electric piano with those slight atonalities in their sound? You can come across those really, really easily just by taking your fine control and just moving around to hone in on those particular harmonics that you're after. It's called low end bits there. OK, so let's just move back into a nice relationship. So it's a nice straightforward tone. Let's turn that level back up. OK, so the final control for our modulator that's head over to the detune control. This is pretty special, actually. This is where you can get a lot of character out of your patches. So we've got our modulator and carrier set at the same tuning currently. Obviously, that fine tuning, as soon as we move that even slightly, we're getting into bell tone territory. Lots and lots of weird new harmonics being introduced. The detune control here is a lot more subtle, but it can add a lovely richness to the sound. Check this out. That sounds so boring by comparison now. So it kind of gives you that sort of detuned oscillator thing happening, that sort of beating. But it's achieved in a slightly different way. Let's just try that with the stuff in trust with the carrier set real low. That's a great sound. So we're kind of getting that burbly kind of thing happening with our lower tuned modulator. So without the detuning on the modulator. It's a good sound. Don't get me wrong, but. Just crank that detune. I can't help myself. That's such a cool sound. So that detune on the modulator is something that you absolutely have to explore, especially when you're dealing with big bass sounds or pads. It can add that wonderful beating quality that really enriches the sound. So just a quick recap. We've got a carrier. The output level is just your level, your frequency course and find this just your tuning and your detuning is just the detuning of the overall sound already straightforward. As I kind of said, when an operator is acting as a carrier, it's basically the same as an oscillator in the analog world. When we move over to the modulator, the output level is all about how much the modulator is affecting the carrier and introducing those new harmonics. It's not a simple more is more operation. There's certainly lots of different sweet spots that you might find. Along the way. But the key, the most important thing here is the relationship between the tuning of the carrier and the modulator. The further they're drawn apart, the more weird harmonics you'll start to introduce. Generally, higher to go glassier and lower to go sort of more burbly and rich. As soon as you start messing with the fine control with your modulator, start introducing those bell tones or the atonality that add a lot of character to your sound, especially if you start to modulate those things. We'll go on to the modulation. Lots of interesting opportunities there and the detune. Well, I mean, I have a bad habit or it's just a nice tip. I will always detune my modulators and my carriers because it adds that richness just immediately. OK, guys, thank you for joining me. I hope that was interesting. I hope you've learned something about that sort of core building block of FM synthesis. The next video, we are going to talk about envelopes because the envelopes on the Valkyrie FM are very interesting and powerful indeed. If you enjoy the video, please do hit those. Where's my thumbs? Hit those thumbs to give it the like and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out on any of the upcoming videos on the Valkyrie FM and synthesis in general. Please leave any suggestions or requests in the comments as well, please. That's always great to hear from you guys. So until next time, see you soon.