FM Functionality in Analog Synths

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The idea for a synthesis method based on frequency modulation has been around since the modular days. But before it became a method in it’s own right (with the Yamaha DX-7) many people had already been experimenting with analog FM. Perfect oscillator tuning (digital) is required FM to work as a method but as a special effect it works quite well in the analog domain. We’ve actually already seen and experimented with this in our section on modular synthesis. When you have control of the signal flow it’s very easy to take the output if an oscillator (audible frequency) and run that to the input of another oscillator. We’ll go through several examples to hear how FM can be used as a special effect in many synthesizers. People often overlook this option because they believe the whole concept of frequency modulation is complex and impossible to control. As you’ll see in this video a little FM in our analog synths can go a long way.