Use FM8 Keyscaling To Get More Control Over Your Sounds

Have you ever had trouble with the playability in FM8? This tutorial will show you how to use the FM8 keyscaling to get total control over your sounds.

One of the most useful features in FM8, is the FM8 keyscaling. I can’t tell you how many times I have made a cool sound that only sounds right in a limited octave range. Making it not very musical or playable. Using the FM8 keyscaling feature is one way to solve that problem.

Most synths have a feature called Keytracking that allows you to change a synthesizer’s parameters depending on which note the synth is playing. When positive keytracking is enabled for a parameter, the parameter increases for high notes and decreases for low notes (negative keytracking does the reverse). Most synthesizers include at least a couple of keytracking settings that will help make your sounds more playable. In FM8, it’s called Keyscaling.

FM8 keyscaling allows you to have customizable control over the keytracking for both pitch, operator volume, cutoff value and noise level. Using this to your advantage can really bring life into your sounds. For instance, lets say you make a great lead sound and want to play a riff that spans a couple octaves, but the bass range is overtaking the lead range. You could try turning down the volume of the operator(s) that are making the bass sound, but that will also effect the timbre of your entire sound. Instead, use the FM8 keyscaling for the problem operators. In this example, they would be the ones that are generating the low end. All you do is open that operator up in the FM8 keyscaling tab and turn down the curve, which is fully customizable, in the range of the bass notes you are playing. And just like that, your problem will be solved!

Cheers