Nord User Forum

I some questions to you, who know the newer NLs:

How versatile are they when it comes to FM? In my understanding, it can only have one carrier and one modulator per program. Is that right? Can an envelope control the FM mod amount?

I know that it is capable of dirty and agressive growls and basses, but how does it handle more thoughtful bells and softer sounds?
Would it be completely crazy to think of layering four programs to get an 8 operator FM sound (kind of)?

Thank you

First of all, the NL3 is not remotely "newer" these days - it's over 15 years old by now!

I can't speak to the NL4, but the NL3's FM structure is pretty unique among the Nords from what I understand. Each of the 2 oscillators can be individually FM'd in some non-conventional ways - the first and second oscs can both FM in a feedback loop, the second can be FM'd with a virtual oscillator with ratio and amount controls, both Osc 1 and Osc 2 can use any of their usual waveforms as the fundamental, and then the results of Osc 1 and 2 can be modulated against each other using two additional types of FM along with some other modulation options, making for what could be viewed as a 4 operator voice with some various interpretations of feedback cycles as well. The flexibility here goes way beyond a typical 4-op FM setup though, because of the diversity of waveforms and the alternate modulation types. However, it is not a standard "algorithm -> op -> feedback -> ratio/amount -> envelope" type structure, so doesn't always work exactly the way you expect. Yes, you can use the third envelope or the LFOs to affect most any of these parameters (as you can use the morph tools also) so you can get some very cool shaping to the sound that way as well. Naturally, you can then pass the results of that through the exceptionally feature-rich filter as well - including the option to only filter one of the two oscillators and let the other come through raw, which I think is an absolutely killer trick.

In terms of using layers to add operators though, I'm afraid that's not possible - the layers do not cross-modulate with each other. Think if it like just having more 4-op synths though, each layer is totally independent from the others and so can be used as another set of voices entirely or as additional timbral layers for the main voice.

I'll add this: one of the nicest things about the NL3s way of doing FM is that both oscs don't need to be FM at the same time - one can be treated more like a typical subtractive oscillator and you can blend the two together as you like, making for a very controllable hybrid voice. This is either impossible to do or very difficult to get (e.g. involving lots of compromises or strange programming) on typical FM synths.

Thanks 23skidoo for making this clear. Seems like it works kind of similarly to Stage 3 but with more flexibility.

No, the Stage 3 in FM mode only has the 1 osc that's FM'd by a virtual 2nd. You don't have each of 2 osc's independently FM-able, and there's no cross-FM or additional FM methods available. You also don't have feedback FM or independent choice of amount and modulation ratio. So I wouldn't say there is *anything* similar about the Stage 3's FM other than that it's some, extremely basic, form of FM at all.