Designing an FM8 Monster Bass Growl

This FM8 Monster Bass Growl tutorial will show you how to create a bass synth that growls harder than any gnarly monster the world has ever seen! It is the perfect sound for anyone looking for a dynamic wobble that imitates the formants of the human voice. The key to the FM8 Monster Bass Growl, like all Growls, is to perfect the value changes of the parameters. Mastering the parameter changes will really bring out the vowel sounds, and allow you to easily create great sounding growls in no time!

Start the FM8 Monster Bass Growl by activating all the Operators in the FM Matrix. Then Under the Ops tab, enable Key Sync and max the Velocity for every Operator. Assign Operator A a Parabol Waveform. Assign Operator B a TX Wave 5 waveform. Assign Operator C a Parabol Waveform. Assign Operator D a 1+2+3 Saw Waveform. Assign Operator E a Triangle Waveform, and leave Operator F set to a Sine Waveform. For Operator D, set the Ratio to 40.0000.

Now in the FM Matrix, route Operator A to modulate Operator E at a level of about 8. Set Operators B and C to fully modulate Operator D. Then route Operators D and E to modulate Operator F, but lower Operator D’s level to about 32. Lastly, send Operator F to the Output. Now that all the Operators have been set, the only thing the FM8 Monster Bass Growl needs now is some automation or MIDI mapping.

The modulation levels should be automated or MIDI mapped to a controller for on the fly manipulation. For the FM8 Monster Bass Growl to work properly, it is crucial that the modulation levels are constantly tweaked. It is through the tweaking process that the vowel characteristics really shine. If you find that you need help or have any questions, please check out the forums.