How to Create a Dirty Electro House Lead Synth in FM8

Definitely a good video to check out, because not only to you get some good general knowledge about FM8 and sound design, but you also learn how to create a nice electro house lead.

It’s a solid tutorial touching on navigation, functionality, features and effects while working through the making of this lead synth sound. The focus is on the main foundation of the sound, and not on the ins and outs of the effects used to make the sounds heard in this example. Instead you are encouraged to find your ow sound once you have created the main lead. I like this approach because it pushes you to learn more about the synth itself and how to design the sounds you want to, rather than simple stumbling into a cool sound. Although it is easy enough to just pause the video and copy the settings shown in the video to see if you are able to recreate the same sound yourself.

Starting with a simple sawtooth wave, an LFO is added to generate a little movement in the sound. Then a second operator is added, also running a sawtooth wave but this one is bumped up a couple octave at a ratio of 4.0000. A couple of LFOs are added to this oscillator, and some feedback is introduced for some grit. A slight adjustment is made to both operator envelopes before moving on.

On the Pitch screen, an LFO is added and the Mod value is increased, which acts as a kind of vibrato. And for the rest of the sound shaping in this sound design session, some effects are added. Rather than going through it step-by-step, a template that was made previously is used. Basically, you just need to add some overdrive, a cabinet, a phaser and a chorus/delay. This is the perfect part of the process for you to break away and begin experimenting with your own effects choices and settings to really make this synth one of your own.

We’d love to know what kind of custom synths you are creating with FM8. Send us a message either here or on Facebook and we’ll help you get your ideas in front of a larger audience. It’s always great to hear from our community members and allow you to take part in some of the fun!

Cheers,
OhmLab