{"id":3809,"date":"2011-09-29T17:38:46","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T21:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/?p=3809"},"modified":"2011-12-12T11:07:46","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T16:07:46","slug":"fm-synthesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/2011\/09\/fm-synthesis\/","title":{"rendered":"FM Synthesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been toying with AdLib Visual Composer<\/a>, a 1987 tool from the makers<\/a> of the AdLib sound card, the first widely supported sound card for the IBM-compatible home PC. The Ad Lib had a Yamaha OPL2 sound chip, an FM synthesizer<\/a> roughly similar to the OPN2 chip in the Sega Genesis. FM Synthesis has a distinctive sort of metallic, twangy sound to it. If you’re looking to replicate a real-life instrument you’re probably out of luck, but if used sensitively (for instance by Sega composer Yuzo Koshiro<\/a>) one of these chips becomes an instrument in itself.<\/p>\n

As I wrote earlier<\/a>, Dan Froelich<\/a> did a splendid job with the FM chip grandfathered into Creative’s Sound Blaster cards. His work was long my mental benchmark for PC-based game music. Earlier this month I visited his site and learned what he used all those decades ago. I then sent him a hello-and-thank-you note, and went to exploring the software. <\/p>\n

It’s pretty easy to use, if you have a head for turn-of-the-’90s DOS programs. It lacks some obvious features like Undo, or the ability to automatically stretch or compress notes. It does support now-standard hotkeys like CTRL-X and CTRL-V, and even the Shift-click selection that some modern sound programs mysteriously lack. It really comes off like a Deluxe Paint<\/a> for sound, complete with the odd native file format and blanket industry support. <\/p>\n

Indeed Visual Composer was so widely used that I wonder why I only heard of it recently — especially since for 20 years I was actively looking for something like it. Now that I know of it, I seem to be tripping over references to it. <\/p>\n

Here are some of my early experiments with the program. Mind you, I’m hardly B\u00c3\u00a9la Bart\u00c3\u00b3k. I’m also unsure that I’ve learned all of the program’s facets. Still, I rather like the results so far. <\/p>\n

(Now updated with higher resolution recordings, plus one new track.)<\/p>\n