Making a Layered FM8 Trance Bass

In this tutorial we will show how to use 3 unique FM8 sounds to create a beautiful and dynamic FM8 Trance Bass. Each sound will focus on a different region of the bass EQ. When they are summed together using a DAW, each of their nuances will mesh to create a great sounding FM8 Trance Bass.

The first sound of the comprised FM8 Trance Bass will be called Gate Synth. In the FM8 Matrix window, create Operators D and E as sine waves, and Operator F as a sawtooth wave. Operator D needs to be set to modulate E and F. Apply a bit of feedback to Operators E and F, and then route them both to the output. For the in-synth effects, use a default flanger with sync on, a chorus to fatten the sound, and reverb. The reverb is most important effect, as the idea behind this portion of the FM8 Trance Bass is to use the reverb as the timbre for the sound.

The second sound will be called Bassline. This portion of the FM8 Trance Bass will be used to create a pumping feel to the sound. Start off by creating two operators, E and F. Choose Operator E to have a sawtooth waveform, and Operator F to have a sine waveform. Operator F should feedback on itself, while also routing the feedback to modulate Operator E. Operator E will in turn feedback to Operator F, which will provide some nice gritty harmonics. Route both E and F to the output. As for the envelope, there should be relatively no attack or sustain. The idea behind this envelope shape is to provide the pumping sensation by having the sound quickly hit and then drop. For effects within the NI FM8 synth, apply some Shelving EQ to bring up the high end, some Peak EQ, and a simple Chorus/Delay.

The last sound of the FM8 Trance Bass will be entitled Sub Bass. For this sound, Operators C, E, and F should be sine waves, while Operator D is set to sawtooth. Operators D, E, and F should be given a slight attack and then routed to the output of the FM8 synth. Operators E and F should feedback to Operator D, as well as on themselves. The sine wave from Operator C should be set to modulate Operator D. Operator F should be dropped down an octave. The use of feedback and layering helps to create a really rich sound. Lastly, add Peak EQ and cut the middle frequencies.

With all three portions of the FM8 Trance Bass complete, all that is left is to input them into a DAW and apply some basic effects like modulation, filtering, reverb and distortion. A nice touch is to add an LFO and an Auto-filter effect to the Synth Gate, and then some compression to all three sounds. But as with all sounds, experiment with the effects to find the perfect FM8 Trance Bass for your mix.