Creating a Digital Crunch Bass using FM8

This tutorial shares how to create a Digital Crunch Bass using FM8!

In this tutorial YouTube user László Szikszai creates a Digital Crunch Bass using FM8. This bass has a lot happening under the hood. Take a look at the tutorial and see what type of modifications you can make that will help increase the awesomeness of this sound!

Start the Digital Crunch Bass by enabling Operators A through F, and activating the Filter (Operator Z). In the Expert panel, assign Operator A a Ratio of 0.2400 and a Triangle Waveform. Assign Operator B a Ratio of 0.7500 and a Sine Waveform. Operator C should be assigned a Ratio of 0.5000 and a Parabol Waveform. Operator D should be given a Ratio of 0.1250 and an 8th Formant Waveform. Assign Operator E a Ratio of 0.2500 and a Triangle Waveform. Assign Operator F a Ratio of 0.2500 and leave it as a Sine Waveform. For both Operator E and Operator F, enable Key Sync.

As for the Digital Crunch Bass routing inside the FM Matrix, start by assigning Operator A to feedback on itself at a level of 29. Then route Operator A to modulate Operator B at a level of 59. Operator B should feedback on itself at a level of 19, and be routed to modulate the Filter (Operator Z) at a level of 74. Operator C should feedback on itself with a level of 32. Operator D should self-feedback at a level of 19, and Operator E should feedback on itself at a level of 22. Operators C, D, and E should be set to modulate Operator F. Operator should Modulate Operator F at a level of 36, Operator D should modulate at a level of 54, and Operator E should modulate Operator F at a level of 77. Set Operator F to fully modulate the Filter (Operator Z) and then set the Filter to modulate Operator B. The Filter (Operator Z) should be routed to the Synth Output.

Inside the Filter settings, set the Cutoff to 100. The Spread should be set to 18. Then set both Resonances to about 30.

Under the Envelope panel, Link Operators A through F. Assign a P Sine Loop to Operator A, and Operators A through F should be assigned a P Sine Loop as well. Enable Tempo Sync for all the Operators.

Under the Effects Panel, add a Peak EQ, Phaser, Rever, and Chorus Delay. The Effects really help to bring out the tonal quality of the FM8 Digital Crunch Bass. Slightly boost the low end and the high end on the Peak EQ. Set the rate of the Phaser to 16, and enable sync. Set Notches to 2, Color to 2, and the Dry/Wet to 23. For the Reverb, increase the Treble to 100 and turn down the Dry/Wet to 15. With the Chorus Delay, set the Time to 31 and Enable Sync. Set the Diffusion to 5, the Hi Cut to 80, and the Dry/Wet to 15.

Inside the Master Panel increase the number of Polyphony Voices to 64, and enable Mono. Set the Unison Voices to 4. Set the Detune to 0 and the Pan to 60. Now that the Digital Crunch Bass is complete, see what modifications you can make. Then feel free to share your work in the comments or in the forum!