Question

Based on what I read, I’ve made an algorithm for FM sound synthesis. I’m not sure if I did it right. When creating a software synth instrument a function is used to generate an oscillator and a modulator can be used to module the frequency of this oscillator. I don’t know if FM synthesis is supposed to only work for modulating sine waves?

The algorithm takes the instruments wave function and the modulator index and ratio for the frequency modulator. For each note it takes the frequency and stores the phase value for the carrier and modulator oscillators. The modulator always uses a sine wave.

This is the algorithm in pseudocode:

function ProduceSample(instrument, notes_playing)
    for each note in notes_playing
        if note.isPlaying()
            # Calculate signal
            if instrument.FMIndex != 0 # Apply FM
                FMFrequency = note.frequency*instrument.FMRatio; # FM frequency is factor of note frequency.
                note.FMPhase = note.FMPhase + FMFrequency / kGraphSampleRate # Phase of modulator.
                frequencyDeviation = sin(note.FMPhase * PI)*instrument.FMIndex*FMFrequency # Frequency deviation. Max deviation is a factor of the FM frequency. Modulation is done by a sine wave. 
                note.phase = note.phase + (note.frequency + frequencyDeviation) / kGraphSampleRate # Adjust phase with deviation
                # Reset the phase value to prevent the float from overflowing
                if note.FMPhase >= 1
                    note.FMPhase = note.FMPhase - 1
                end if
            else # No FM applied
                note.phase = note.phase + note.frequency / kGraphSampleRate # Adjust phase without deviation
            end if
            # Calculate the next sample
            signal = signal + instrument.waveFunction(note.phase,instrument.waveParameter)*note.amplitude
            # Reset the phase value to prevent the float from overflowing
            if note.phase >= 1
                note.phase = note.phase - 1
            end if
        end if
    end loop
    return signal
end function 

So if the note’s frequency is at 100Hz, the FMRatio is set at 0.5 and the FMIndex is 0.1 it should produce frequencies going between 95Hz and 105Hz in a 50Hz cycle. Is this the correct way of doing it. My tests show that it doesn’t always sound right, especially when modulating saw and square waves. Is it OK to modulate saw and square waves like this or is it for sine waves only?

This is the implementation in C and CoreAudio:

static OSStatus renderInput(void *inRefCon, AudioUnitRenderActionFlags *ioActionFlags, const AudioTimeStamp *inTimeStamp, UInt32 inBusNumber, UInt32 inNumberFrames, AudioBufferList *ioData){
    AudioSynthesiser * audioController = (AudioSynthesiser *)inRefCon;
    // Get a pointer to the dataBuffer of the AudioBufferList
    AudioSampleType * outA = (AudioSampleType *) ioData->mBuffers[0].mData;
    if(!audioController->playing){
        for (UInt32 i = 0; i < inNumberFrames; ++i){
            outA[i] = (SInt16)0;
        }
        return noErr;
    }
    Track * track = &audioController->tracks[inBusNumber];
    SynthInstrument * instrument = (SynthInstrument *)track;
    float frequency_deviation;
    float FMFrequency;
    // Loop through the callback buffer, generating samples
    for (UInt32 i = 0; i < inNumberFrames; ++i){
        float signal = 0;
        for (int x = 0; x < 10; x++) {
            Note * note = track->notes_playing[x];
            if(note){
                //Envelope code removed
                //Calculate signal
                if (instrument->FMIndex) { //Apply FM
                    FMFrequency = note->frequency*instrument->FMRatio; //FM frequency is factor of note frequency.
                    note->FMPhase += FMFrequency / kGraphSampleRate; //Phase of modulator.
                    frequency_deviation = sinf(note->FMPhase * M_PI)*instrument->FMIndex*FMFrequency; //Frequency deviation. Max deviation is a factor of the FM frequency. Modulation is done by a sine wave. 
                    note->phase += (note->frequency + frequency_deviation) / kGraphSampleRate; //Adjust phase with deviation
                    // Reset the phase value to prevent the float from overflowing
                    if (note->FMPhase >= 1){
                        note->FMPhase--;
                    }
                }else{
                    note->phase += note->frequency/ kGraphSampleRate; //Adjust phase without deviation
                }
                // Calculate the next sample
                signal += instrument->wave_function(note->phase,instrument->wave_parameter)*track->note_amplitude[x];
                // Reset the phase value to prevent the float from overflowing
                if (note->phase >= 1){
                    note->phase--;
                }
            } //Else nothing added
        }
        if(signal > 1.0){
            signal = 1;
        }else if(signal < -1.0){
            signal = -1.0;
        }
        audioController->wave[audioController->wave_last] = signal;
        if (audioController->wave_last == 499) {
            audioController->wave_last = 0;
        }else{
            audioController->wave_last++;
        }
        outA[i] = (SInt16)(signal * 32767.0f);
    }
    return noErr;
}

Answers are very much appreciated.

Answer 1

In the end I decided to use phase modulation. I found out many synthesisers use phase modulation even when they are labeled with FM.

It was simple to implement:

signal += wave_function(note_phase * note_frequency / sample_rate + fm_index * sin(note_phase * fm_frequency * pi / sample_rate))*note_amplitude