FM Metallic Pad
Sounds like: A shimmering, cold, metallic pad that blooms slowly.
Sound type: pad · Genre: IDM, Electro · Style: bell/metallic FM texture used as a sustained pad rather than a short pluck
A sustained metallic pad — an extended, chordal-friendly relative of FM Bell Lead, with a slower attack and longer sustain that lets the inharmonic FM texture bloom rather than ring and decay.
Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad
Digitone II
Exact match: Sustained metallic FM pad
SYN page 1
- ALGO: 8
- RATIO C: 1.00
- RATIO A: 3.00
- MIX: -64
SYN page 2 · Operator A
- LEV: 64
- ATK: 0
- DEC: 0
- END: 127
FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode
- FREQ: 83
- RESO: 13
- TYPE: 0 (LP)
AMP page
- ATK: 55
- DEC: 51
- SUS: 95
- REL: 95
- MODE: ADSR
FX page
ALGO 8 with MIX at -64 is Digitone II's documented, verified way to realize a clean 'modulator brightens carrier' FM pair -- Operator A (ratio 3.00) modulates Operator C (ratio 1.00) with nothing else in the chain audible.
Compared with other synths: This is the reference implementation the other five synths' FM-adjacent approximations are measured against.
Syntakt
Exact match: SY TONE two-operator FM
SYN — SY TONE
- TUNE: 0
- RATIO: 55
- PNCH: 0
- DEC: 127
- FDBK: 20
- MOD: 55
- MENV: 40
- OVER: 20
FLTR PAGE 1
- ATK: 100
- DEC: 60
- SUS: 100
- REL: 90
- FREQ: 83
- RESO: 20
- TYPE: Lowpass
- ENV: 45
AMP PAGE 1
- ATK: 55
- DEC: 51
- SUS: 95
- REL: 95
AMP PAGE 2
Syntakt's SY TONE machine is a two-operator FM voice (RATIO, FDBK, MOD, MENV), so FM is available on the melodic tracks. Higher RATIO with some FDBK gives the metallic, inharmonic texture; DEC is at maximum so the pad holds, with ADSR set on AMP PAGE 2. RATIO is by ear.
Novation Summit
Exact match: Osc 1 > Osc 2 FM
OSCILLATOR 1
- WAVE: Sine
- RANGE: 4'
- COARSE: +9 semitones
OSCILLATOR 2
MIXER
FM
- Osc 1 > Osc 2 DEPTH: 60
- Osc 1 > Osc 2 SOURCE: Manual
FILTER
- SHAPE: LP
- SLOPE: 12dB
- FREQUENCY: 83
- RESONANCE: 10
- SOURCE: Amp Env
- ENV DEPTH: 45
AMP ENVELOPE
- ATTACK: 64
- DECAY: 51
- SUSTAIN: 95
- RELEASE: 95
Summit has real FM: the panel FM section's Osc 1 > Osc 2 control sets how much Oscillator 1 frequency-modulates Oscillator 2's pitch, and its Source button picks Manual, Mod Env 2 or LFO 2 (the sources add together). Osc 1 is the modulator (its Mixer level is 0) and Osc 2 is the carrier; the Osc 1 : Osc 2 pitch ratio (set with Range and Coarse) decides whether the sidebands are harmonic or bell-like. For the sustained metallic pad the FM depth is set with the Manual source (60) so the inharmonic sidebands stay present the whole time; the slow amp attack and filter bloom do the rest.
Arturia MiniFreak
Exact match: Two Op. FM engine
OSCILLATOR
- TYPE: Two Op. FM
- WAVE (Ratio): 35 (a non-integer ratio; the display shows the ratio)
- TIMBRE (Amount: modulation index): 45
- VOLUME: 100
ANALOG FILTER
- TYPE: Low Pass
- CUTOFF: 65
- RESONANCE: 10
- ENV/VELO: 0
ENVELOPE
- ATTACK: 50
- DECAY: 40
- SUSTAIN: 75
- RELEASE: 80
DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX1
- TYPE: Reverb (Hall)
- TIME (Decay): 50
- INTENSITY (Damping): 25
- AMOUNT (Dry/Wet): 25
Osc 1 is Two Op. FM: Wave sets the ratio between the two operators (non-integer ratios are inharmonic and bell-like), Timbre is the modulation index and Shape is the feedback. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.
Compared with other synths: FM is MiniFreak's real two-operator carrier/modulator engine -- the direct architectural equivalent of Digitone II's Operator C + Operator A pairing used for this patch, unlike the four non-FM synths in this library which can only approximate the metallic character.
Dreadbox Typhon
Approximation: Only the built-in VCO2-into-VCO1 FM position
FRONT PANEL
- WAVE: ~7 o'clock (the FM position, fully counter-clockwise: VCO1 square FM'd by VCO2 triangle -- Typhon's closest built-in analog to a metallic FM edge)
- TUNE 2: ~12-1 o'clock (near unison, slight offset)
- CUTOFF: ~2 o'clock (moderately open)
- RESON: ~1 o'clock (fairly high, a metallic edge without self-oscillating)
- EG LEVEL: ~10 o'clock (light-moderate, adds to the bloom)
- FILTER TIME: ~8 o'clock (toward the slow end)
- AMP TIME: ~8 o'clock (toward the slow end)
- VOLUME: ~12 o'clock (global, not stored in the preset)
FILTER ADSR
- ATTACK: 65
- DECAY: 45
- SUSTAIN: 90
- RELEASE: 85
AMP ADSR
- ATTACK: 64
- DECAY: 51
- SUSTAIN: 75
- RELEASE: 90
The WAVE knob's 'VCO1 square FM'd by VCO2 triangle' position is Typhon's one built-in analog-FM-like relationship between its two oscillators -- picked specifically for this patch's metallic brief, closer to true FM than plain detuning -- but Typhon's oscillators are still analog VCOs, not true digital FM operators, so expect a warmer, less precisely inharmonic result than the FM-capable synths. RESON is kept just below self-oscillation for a metallic edge without a runaway whistle.
ASM Hydrasynth Desktop
Exact match: Mutator FM-Lin
OSCILLATOR 1
- MODE: Single
- WAVE: Sine
- SEMI: 0
- CENTS: 0
- KEYTRACK: 100%
OSCILLATOR 2
- MODE: Single
- WAVE: Sine
- SEMI: 0
- CENTS: 0
- KEYTRACK: 100%
MUTATOR 1
- MODE: FM-Lin
- SOURCE: Osc 2
- RATIO: 3.000
- DEPTH: 45.0
- FEEDBACK: 0%
- DRY/WET: 100%
MIXER
- OSC 1 LEVEL: 100.0
- OSC 2 LEVEL: 0.0 (FM source only, not mixed in directly)
FILTER 1
- TYPE: LP 1 Pole
- CUTOFF: 83.0
- RESONANCE: 13.0
- ENV 1 AMOUNT: 0
- LFO 1 AMOUNT: 0
- KEYTRACK: 0%
ENVELOPE 2
- DELAY: 0 ms
- ATTACK: 500 ms
- HOLD: 0 ms
- DECAY: 400 ms
- SUSTAIN: 95.0
- RELEASE: 800 ms
Osc 2's own MIXER level is at 0 since it's only used as an FM source here, not mixed in directly. Filter 1 stays a gentle, mostly-open LP 1 Pole with no envelope or LFO modulation so it doesn't compete with the Mutator's harmonic shaping.
Compared with other synths: Hydrasynth's real mechanism for this is Mutator 1 in FM-Lin mode -- genuine linear 2-operator FM with Osc 2 as the modulating source, the direct architectural equivalent of Digitone II's Operator C + Operator A pairing, not a vague 'ring-mod or FM routing' catch-all.
How the synths compare
Sustained-pad sibling of FM Bell Lead and Classic FM Pluck — same FM approach, slower envelope for a bloom rather than a strike.
Patchpad is a free reference of drum patterns and synth patches written for real hardware: Digitakt II, Digitone II, Syntakt, Novation Summit, Arturia MiniFreak, Dreadbox Typhon and ASM Hydrasynth Desktop.