Your videos are some of the best out there. Your explanations, the depth of what you cover, your voice and mic, the intelligence and skill that go into your choices. The logic that you use to explain. I’m just blown away every time.
This is such a good introduction to a deeper understanding of this particular synth which is only posing as a FM synth. I love it. I've been wondering if I should invest in one. But these videos have me convinced. It's so deep!
Thank you!!! for taking the time to explain this. Just bought mine after having the wavestate. Heard about this opsix. I'm still in the infancy stages of learning about synths. Shout out to Korg for making FM synthesis a little easier.
You started off with something very powerful, but learning it in depth is going to teach you so much about different aspects of synthesis - I better get on with the next video then!
Thank you for this comprehensive video. Really useful. I got an Opsix today and have been exploring with your help. Looking forward to more of your videos on this powerful synth.Thanks.
First of all, I had no idea, what an incredibly versatile synth the opsix really is, far beyond straight forward FM. Just ordered one a couple of minutes ago, after watching another one of your vids on it. Second, dude, what an instructor you are! I really like loopops' stuff for its detailed description of basically everything there is to know about a particular piece of gear. But your explanations on how to achieve certain things, sonically, from a sound designers point of view, resonate even more within my brain - and heart, actually. I wonder how I did not come across your content sooner. Marvellous stuff, man. Love every second of it.
Thanks so much for doing this ... the integration/tonality concept is helpful, gives me an easy way to make a good guess at how to make a certain kind of FM sound ... very elegant to boil it down to a simple idea like this. Looking forward to what you do with the other modes.
Thank you. I really wanted to try and provide a general FM cheat-sheet and it took a me a few weeks thinking about how to express stuff like that succinctly. The whole "good guess" thing was what I was aiming for, so I'm glad that I got that mark for you at least 🙂
I bought this from the Korg outlet fire sale last fall. I’m just now finally getting down into exploring it, and this video right here has blown my mind with the possibilities here. This is all next level ideas and while I lamented the lack of 5-stage envelopes, there’s so much more to do here that I’m almost lost in possibilities😂
@@OscillatorSink I hate to blow you up with comments and praise but this is the sort of slow and intuitive FM synthesis tutorial that would have been insanely helpful back when I started learning the Digitone. The only thing I think I'm missing is a sense for where the harmonic sweet spots are when setting modulators further out than the first. When you set up the down sawtooth on op 5 For the first time I gained a real appreciation for how it played with the level EG to create smaller fades as the note rang out. This is a very good exercise.
I just got 1, what is the best way to modulate wave width? being trying with mod 3 or put an lfo there in the mod matrix but failing, thanks!@@OscillatorSink
@@falangistavaleroso9689 the mod matrix should work. Are you definitely modulating an operator that's acting as a carrier? I think I actually cover this in practice on another video, let me see if I can find it.
@@falangistavaleroso9689yes it's in the mod matrix, I set it up here at around 30 minutes: ruclips.net/video/rUa_qK-XPJ4/видео.htmlsi=Ug3gH-MwUmCElRbZ You'll need to double check that you're applying to the right operator, that the operator is audible (is a carrier and turned up) and in the right mode.
Thank you, very useful. Something I was hoping to learn also - what is the use of a modulator (variable) affecting a fixed (slow) carrier pitch? I've seen these in some ableton presets but wasn't able to get my head around how this works. I haven't come across anyone covering this use in any video and was hoping to find an answer here.
Wow...another great video. I just purchased an Opsix a few days before the 2.0 upgrade and its really fantastic. You've probably tried this...lock the Shift button and tweak Ratio and Level wth the arp/seq. going...sort of like controlled random explorations. I also like that the effect chain is variable.
Honestly, I thought I knew a lot about FM Synthesis, having used everything from DX7s to Ableton's Operator. I picked up a used opsix (barely used, still had the plastic on the screen) and found your channel. I actually knew only a little, little bit about FM synthesis. Really, honestly, incredible tutorial and command of the material. 'Oh look, you just set the feedback for OSC1 to it's own enevelop and look, a fairly convincing filter.' Damn. Thanks a ton, your videos should somehow be packaged inside the opsix box.
The FM operator mode I'm showing here has a width parameter, so modulating that is probably the best way - you can achieve this in the VPatch. Some of the wave-shaper modes in the FX operator type can do PWM style sounds too (even if it's not quite technically what it is).
@ thanks so much - i know you are busy working with the neo and other synths now so this is really appreciated ! I know from Gordon Reid’s SOS series that you can simulate pulse with two saws - one inverted vs the other - and then use very subtle Detuning to simulate somthibg similar so I will look into whether you can inverted the sawtooth on one of the operators too. Cheers 😀
Thanks so much for making these videos! They have definitely been my manual since getting this synth. I was wondering, do you know if there’s an easy way to rebuild presets from scratch? I would recreate presets I liked on my Prophet 6 from an init patch to learn the synth. But can’t figure out an easy way to do this on the opsix.
I'd suggest saving the patch you're learning from to a spare slot, and then save an init patch in the next slot (Shift+Dice to create an init patch). From there it'll be easy to toggle between them to check how you're going - just remember to save before moving presets! Personally I've got the "Prog Chg Lock" in the Global Parameters set to "Shift" so I can't change patches unless I'm holding down Shift - this has saved me from losing a patch I'm working on *so* many times.
I can’t get my OpSix to be in time with Ableton, OS. Are there certain pieces of gear you have to have so that it properly communicates with my daw? There’s just a short recording delay whenever I record audio from OpSix into my Audio Interface.
@@OscillatorSinkit is inside the daw it’s not directly from the synth itself. The synth is perfect and hasn’t done anything wrong to me since I got it. It’s just completely unusable, because when I record anything it’s always 0:00:060 delayed in my timeline inside Ableton. Not sure if it’s my audio settings on my PC and my AI or what.
If that's also when you play it live (rather than sequencing it) then that's an audio interface latency latency issue for sure. I don't know Ableton at all so I'm not in a position to help you there, sorry.
I'm learning a lot from your videos, an incredible resource for a newbie like me. Thanks a lot. I'm stunned with the sounds I can get out of my opsix (my only synth besides a volca fm), however I find the little versatility of the envelopes really frustrating. Only 4 stages, no level points... The volca fm is much more capable in that respect. For example, I can't make an inverted EG for a modulator, or an envelope that opens, then closes and finally opens again... I don't get why korg downgraded their envelopes for this fm behemoth, specially talking into account their importance in fm synthesis. If you have a word with the nice people at Korg, would you please raise this issue?
I can't speak on their behalf, but I suspect that their reasoning was that ADSR is so much more widely understood and many many more people are more comfortable with them rather than the DX7's, which in the grand scheme of things are pretty esoteric. It's probably also worth remembering that you have 3 other assignable envelopes which you can use in tandem with the level envs on the operators (a luxury not afforded to the DX7) which you can use to do inversions, more complex shapes, etc. I do, however, badly lament the lack of an initial value (L4 on the DX4) - that's the thing that I've found lacking when designing sounds - multi-stage envelopes? Not so much honestly.
@@OscillatorSink Yes, I spoke out of frustration... that is to say, my ignorance (about fm and about the capabilities of my precious first proper polyphonic synth) spoke. I've since figured out workarounds for delayed or double attack EGs with other envelopes and LFOs. It is the inverted envelopes for modulators what I've been struggling with (the ability of setting L4, as you put it). Thanks again for your intelligence, generosity and contributions to the community.
2-op with a couple of extra waveforms is a really happy place for me as well. If that's the kind of sound that brings you joy, you might enjoy this video (albeit for a different synth): ruclips.net/video/DT0ge4To0S4/видео.html
@@OscillatorSink I am the happy owner of a Microfreak already! I also have one of those old Yamaha PSS keyboards with the same FM chip as the soundblaster so I'm pretty well stocked up on those sorts of sounds. ;) I've never really played with FM beyond 2 operators but I've always been interested. I'd love an Opsix really, but space is an issue even ignoring the money side of things. I'll have to make do with Dexed for now. Maybe if I really get the hang of Dexed I'll be able to justify one of these beauties.
No. No samples, only synthesis. But you can synthesize those things, here are some drums: ruclips.net/video/Zxb7QSepZv8/видео.html An e-piano: ruclips.net/video/VAyHaMpwBdc/видео.html Ba filter bank for voice like sounds: ruclips.net/video/FS1xRJJhq0Q/видео.html
REALLY important thing to point out - you can set LFOs to “voice” so that you get an independent cycling lfo PER VOICE!!! It adds so much more variation and randomness (pitch or anything else).
Absolutely, although it's not appropriate for every patch, if you're using modulation for 'richness' decoupling the LFOs for each voice is a big deal. I touched on this idea I think in the Pad patch building video I did, but I'll go into on this depth when I cover the whole (and very powerful) modulation sources and vpatch.
@@OscillatorSink ya, I created one of the most beautiful patches I’ve ever created using the posix today. Most of the vids on this are just so metallic and fm. It’s real power imo is to use it as a 6 fader blending machine of analog bliss. I think of it a a six oscillator virtual analog where you can adjust modulated envelopes per osc and with incredible amounts of texturing capabilities per osc.
Beautifully done video. You're so far the best synth instructor I've come across.
Your videos are some of the best out there. Your explanations, the depth of what you cover, your voice and mic, the intelligence and skill that go into your choices. The logic that you use to explain. I’m just blown away every time.
This is such a good introduction to a deeper understanding of this particular synth which is only posing as a FM synth. I love it. I've been wondering if I should invest in one. But these videos have me convinced. It's so deep!
Thank you!!! for taking the time to explain this. Just bought mine after having the wavestate. Heard about this opsix. I'm still in the infancy stages of learning about synths. Shout out to Korg for making FM synthesis a little easier.
Enjoy your new synth!
Great vid! Got the Opsix as a first synth and your videos are really a goldmine to me
You started off with something very powerful, but learning it in depth is going to teach you so much about different aspects of synthesis - I better get on with the next video then!
Thank you for this comprehensive video. Really useful. I got an Opsix today and have been exploring with your help. Looking forward to more of your videos on this powerful synth.Thanks.
First of all, I had no idea, what an incredibly versatile synth the opsix really is, far beyond straight forward FM. Just ordered one a couple of minutes ago, after watching another one of your vids on it.
Second, dude, what an instructor you are! I really like loopops' stuff for its detailed description of basically everything there is to know about a particular piece of gear. But your explanations on how to achieve certain things, sonically, from a sound designers point of view, resonate even more within my brain - and heart, actually. I wonder how I did not come across your content sooner. Marvellous stuff, man. Love every second of it.
@@martattacks thank you! Welcome to the channel and enjoy your new synth - the opsix is great!
Thanks so much for doing this ... the integration/tonality concept is helpful, gives me an easy way to make a good guess at how to make a certain kind of FM sound ... very elegant to boil it down to a simple idea like this. Looking forward to what you do with the other modes.
Thank you. I really wanted to try and provide a general FM cheat-sheet and it took a me a few weeks thinking about how to express stuff like that succinctly. The whole "good guess" thing was what I was aiming for, so I'm glad that I got that mark for you at least 🙂
I am learning FM sound synthesis on the Korg opsix. Your tutorial is helping me a lot. Thanks.
Glad to help!
love this beautiful fm-laboratory! Just started training...
I bought this from the Korg outlet fire sale last fall. I’m just now finally getting down into exploring it, and this video right here has blown my mind with the possibilities here. This is all next level ideas and while I lamented the lack of 5-stage envelopes, there’s so much more to do here that I’m almost lost in possibilities😂
There's so much to explore on the opsix! Hopefully some of my other videos can help you find some interesting corners to fry started with.
@@OscillatorSink I hate to blow you up with comments and praise but this is the sort of slow and intuitive FM synthesis tutorial that would have been insanely helpful back when I started learning the Digitone. The only thing I think I'm missing is a sense for where the harmonic sweet spots are when setting modulators further out than the first.
When you set up the down sawtooth on op 5 For the first time I gained a real appreciation for how it played with the level EG to create smaller fades as the note rang out. This is a very good exercise.
I just got 1, what is the best way to modulate wave width? being trying with mod 3 or put an lfo there in the mod matrix but failing, thanks!@@OscillatorSink
@@falangistavaleroso9689 the mod matrix should work. Are you definitely modulating an operator that's acting as a carrier? I think I actually cover this in practice on another video, let me see if I can find it.
@@falangistavaleroso9689yes it's in the mod matrix, I set it up here at around 30 minutes:
ruclips.net/video/rUa_qK-XPJ4/видео.htmlsi=Ug3gH-MwUmCElRbZ
You'll need to double check that you're applying to the right operator, that the operator is audible (is a carrier and turned up) and in the right mode.
Excellent video explaining FM and demonstrating heart of opsix.
Thank you, very useful. Something I was hoping to learn also - what is the use of a modulator (variable) affecting a fixed (slow) carrier pitch? I've seen these in some ableton presets but wasn't able to get my head around how this works. I haven't come across anyone covering this use in any video and was hoping to find an answer here.
30k ahead. I love this Video. Thanks for your great work Alex :)
Thank you buddy! I plan to do the same as I do with all my milestones and forget to make a video celebrating it!
Wow...another great video. I just purchased an Opsix a few days before the 2.0 upgrade and its really fantastic. You've probably tried this...lock the Shift button and tweak Ratio and Level wth the arp/seq. going...sort of like controlled random explorations. I also like that the effect chain is variable.
Wow...Very useful indeed. Thanks for putting all this time into it! 👍✌
I'm glad you're finding it helpful!
Had a DX7 - never knew exactly what the 'modulation' was doing until I saw this.
Glad to help out!
Honestly, I thought I knew a lot about FM Synthesis, having used everything from DX7s to Ableton's Operator. I picked up a used opsix (barely used, still had the plastic on the screen) and found your channel. I actually knew only a little, little bit about FM synthesis. Really, honestly, incredible tutorial and command of the material. 'Oh look, you just set the feedback for OSC1 to it's own enevelop and look, a fairly convincing filter.' Damn. Thanks a ton, your videos should somehow be packaged inside the opsix box.
Thanks for watching and I'm glad you found some concepts to go play with yourself.
Can't wait to see the rest of this series!
Next episode is edited and should be up in a day or so 🙂
Hi 👋. I keep coming back to these excellent opsix videos. Whats a good way to set up PWM sounds on the Opeix do you reckon ? Cheers.
The FM operator mode I'm showing here has a width parameter, so modulating that is probably the best way - you can achieve this in the VPatch. Some of the wave-shaper modes in the FX operator type can do PWM style sounds too (even if it's not quite technically what it is).
@ thanks so much - i know you are busy working with the neo and other synths now so this is really appreciated ! I know from Gordon Reid’s SOS series that you can simulate pulse with two saws - one inverted vs the other - and then use very subtle Detuning to simulate somthibg similar so I will look into whether you can inverted the sawtooth on one of the operators too. Cheers 😀
Looking at the manual looks
Like Ring Mod mode allows user to rectify an input waveform so maybe that will work for an inverted saw ?
Warning - do not try the 'operator' drinking game while watching this!
RIP your liver about 6 minutes in.
I know. You're supposed to drink only in Modulation.
Thanks so much for making these videos! They have definitely been my manual since getting this synth. I was wondering, do you know if there’s an easy way to rebuild presets from scratch? I would recreate presets I liked on my Prophet 6 from an init patch to learn the synth. But can’t figure out an easy way to do this on the opsix.
I'd suggest saving the patch you're learning from to a spare slot, and then save an init patch in the next slot (Shift+Dice to create an init patch). From there it'll be easy to toggle between them to check how you're going - just remember to save before moving presets!
Personally I've got the "Prog Chg Lock" in the Global Parameters set to "Shift" so I can't change patches unless I'm holding down Shift - this has saved me from losing a patch I'm working on *so* many times.
@@OscillatorSink Thanks! I was THIS close to ending up with scribbled notes tacked to my wall!
I can’t get my OpSix to be in time with Ableton, OS. Are there certain pieces of gear you have to have so that it properly communicates with my daw? There’s just a short recording delay whenever I record audio from OpSix into my Audio Interface.
Is that delay latency from monitoring inside the DAW rather than direct?
@@OscillatorSinkit is inside the daw it’s not directly from the synth itself. The synth is perfect and hasn’t done anything wrong to me since I got it. It’s just completely unusable, because when I record anything it’s always 0:00:060 delayed in my timeline inside Ableton. Not sure if it’s my audio settings on my PC and my AI or what.
If that's also when you play it live (rather than sequencing it) then that's an audio interface latency latency issue for sure. I don't know Ableton at all so I'm not in a position to help you there, sorry.
I'm learning a lot from your videos, an incredible resource for a newbie like me. Thanks a lot. I'm stunned with the sounds I can get out of my opsix (my only synth besides a volca fm), however I find the little versatility of the envelopes really frustrating. Only 4 stages, no level points... The volca fm is much more capable in that respect. For example, I can't make an inverted EG for a modulator, or an envelope that opens, then closes and finally opens again... I don't get why korg downgraded their envelopes for this fm behemoth, specially talking into account their importance in fm synthesis. If you have a word with the nice people at Korg, would you please raise this issue?
I can't speak on their behalf, but I suspect that their reasoning was that ADSR is so much more widely understood and many many more people are more comfortable with them rather than the DX7's, which in the grand scheme of things are pretty esoteric. It's probably also worth remembering that you have 3 other assignable envelopes which you can use in tandem with the level envs on the operators (a luxury not afforded to the DX7) which you can use to do inversions, more complex shapes, etc.
I do, however, badly lament the lack of an initial value (L4 on the DX4) - that's the thing that I've found lacking when designing sounds - multi-stage envelopes? Not so much honestly.
@@OscillatorSink Yes, I spoke out of frustration... that is to say, my ignorance (about fm and about the capabilities of my precious first proper polyphonic synth) spoke. I've since figured out workarounds for delayed or double attack EGs with other envelopes and LFOs. It is the inverted envelopes for modulators what I've been struggling with (the ability of setting L4, as you put it). Thanks again for your intelligence, generosity and contributions to the community.
All those 2-OP sounds are pure Adlib/Soundblaster. I feel like I'm playing Monkey Island 2. :)
2-op with a couple of extra waveforms is a really happy place for me as well. If that's the kind of sound that brings you joy, you might enjoy this video (albeit for a different synth): ruclips.net/video/DT0ge4To0S4/видео.html
@@OscillatorSink I am the happy owner of a Microfreak already! I also have one of those old Yamaha PSS keyboards with the same FM chip as the soundblaster so I'm pretty well stocked up on those sorts of sounds. ;)
I've never really played with FM beyond 2 operators but I've always been interested. I'd love an Opsix really, but space is an issue even ignoring the money side of things. I'll have to make do with Dexed for now. Maybe if I really get the hang of Dexed I'll be able to justify one of these beauties.
Fantastic- I had written this of as a slightly fancier digitone, clearly I underestimated
It's a completely different beast - there's definitely strengths to each but certainly space for both of them!
Does it have a sample engine as a digital operator, e.g the human voice or drum samples driving a sound or effect ?
No. No samples, only synthesis. But you can synthesize those things, here are some drums:
ruclips.net/video/Zxb7QSepZv8/видео.html
An e-piano: ruclips.net/video/VAyHaMpwBdc/видео.html
Ba filter bank for voice like sounds: ruclips.net/video/FS1xRJJhq0Q/видео.html
How come there is a sound if all level faders are down to 0 volume ?
I'm not sure at which point you mean, do you have a time stamp? There are a couple of ways that could happen.
REALLY important thing to point out - you can set LFOs to “voice” so that you get an independent cycling lfo PER VOICE!!! It adds so much more variation and randomness (pitch or anything else).
Absolutely, although it's not appropriate for every patch, if you're using modulation for 'richness' decoupling the LFOs for each voice is a big deal. I touched on this idea I think in the Pad patch building video I did, but I'll go into on this depth when I cover the whole (and very powerful) modulation sources and vpatch.
@@OscillatorSink ya, I created one of the most beautiful patches I’ve ever created using the posix today. Most of the vids on this are just so metallic and fm. It’s real power imo is to use it as a 6 fader blending machine of analog bliss. I think of it a a six oscillator virtual analog where you can adjust modulated envelopes per osc and with incredible amounts of texturing capabilities per osc.
Great
heck yeahhhhh
I always wonder which one is the king of FM between MODX FM-X and KORG OPSIX, since OPSIX costs almost half the price of MODX.
FYI this is not part of your Opsix playlist (currently)
It is now.