AM/PM guide
Music™: Amplitude Modulation feature
HOW TO USE
-Inside riff press "O" and look for "ADD AM CHANNEL" - this will make red track appear in the riff;
-On RED track put down note on same octave or below;
-Select notes of blue track and enable modulation on each note (Otherwise effect will be skipped)
If done correctly, you should hear the sample being affected by another sample!
(it's gonna be probably bassier/have more vibrato)
It works best with not harmonic rich instruments like alto sax as mod!
DEFINITIONS
In this case Blue track getting affected will be called "carrier", because it carries the sound;
Red track will be called "modulator", because it affects the original sound!
-->
-->
[MODULATOR]-->[CARRIER]-->[OUTPUT]
Not AM, but actually PM!
AM stands for Amplitude Modulation, where modulator affects carrier using volume only.
In M2K If we put modulating note very low, we will hear effect similar to really strong slow vibrato and nothing affecting the volume itself.
This points out that no Amplitude Modulation takes place and what indeed happens is Pitch Modulation.
Additional evidence for that can be found in the soundchip itself - Pitch Modulation is one of the effects found there! Exact same effect can be found on SNES console!
Such sound technique was used for making mostly random noise-ich SFX around games, Final Fantasy been using it as bonfire sound!
USED PARAMETERS
Modulator affects Carrier by:
-Mute;
-Pitch slide;
-Volume*;
-Retriggers;
-Vibrato;
-Note sample start;
-Note pitch;
NOT BY:
-Envelope;
-Panning;
-Effects;
*we can hear the modulator just like another track - even reverb if there's volume!
in this case treat like normal track AND modulator!
Quirks
--Carrier MUST have the modulation option on per note - if you turn it off, modulation still carries on in the background)
--Every time you place new:
Modulator note = Volume goes to 0;
Carrier note = note modulation is off;
--Selecting all notes and editing them can ruin the other other track! (when u got them stacked on single step/note)
If you group edited CARRIER notes, MODULATOR notes might copy parameters over and will stay dead, even though should modulate - delete and place new one!
(Remember: It's about the area selected, not the notes selected!)
--GLITCH: Jam mode starts losing notes and patterns when playing riff with PM effect inside!
PM doesn't work with
following effects:
CHORUS - GUITAR 1;
ECHO - GUITAR 1;
ECHO - R L 8;
ECHO - ROOM;
REVERB - MIX HI
SPECIAL - AUTOPAN;
SPECIAL - WIDE;
--GLITCH: When making new riff first note you place is with PMmod turned on, regardless if we enabled PM channel in the riff - upon reentering riff the notes are dead silent.
-FIX: leave & delete riff, make sure in another riff that your last note is not PM'd
-For best group editing press "O" --> "Change riff channel mutes": this way you can hide one or the other channel and safely edit without consequences on the other! Global playback with perform well but to hear/edit the turned off track in riff you gotta re-enable it same way!
USECASE
1. Phase-modulating bass
(modulator on same octave or 1 below, slightly detuned);
Example + Pitch Envelope:
2. "Bringing highs" to low-sample rate samples, making the carrier instrument seem higher quality;
(try using Flute c3 11kHz as modulator on 6-7th octave!)
Example 1: Drum Break
(every 2nd played riff has that effect on)
Example 2: Bird SFX
(every 2nd played riff has that effect on)
3. Melodically (done by placing modulator on different note than used by carrier, creating chord-ish sounds)
Depending on the modulator/carrier relation, you should be able to find at least 2-5 notes that are pretty good);
Example 1:
Example 2:
Example 3 & 4:
for each pattern I'm first:
playing modulator sample;
then original melody sample,
then play unmodulated sequence,
then properly modulated
Example 5:
First I'm playing what samples I'm using:
-first one is the modulator,
-second one is the melody sample, a carrier,
Then I'm playing melody solo'ed without modulation;
Then with modulation
4. Second voice (using volume you can mix in the
actual sound of sample used as modulator, using it as additional instrument while modulating the carrier)
Though PM channel greys out any effects, I managed to put some on the note playing there thanks to last note I touched! Doesn't affect carrier but sounds cool on modulator with volume on!
Example of that here:
