Insectoid X-19
November 17, 2008 – 5:39 pm by John Keston
This afternoon I stumbled upon another one of my recent FM synthesis experiments from November 2, 2008. On that day I recorded eight minutes of output from select randomized programs that I produced using a MaxMSP patch called X.FM. You can hear all of the examples I have posted so far by clicking on the FM Synthesis topic.
This eighth example in the series has some nice rhythmic, pulsating characteristics to it. I edited the sound out from the surrounding audio, then exported it with normalization to boost the levels.
This sound is the seventh entry in my series of FM synthesis experiments. There are some very strange high frequency overtones audible in the first half of the sound. If you can bear the high frequencies, I suggest looping this sound and then listening to it for about thirty minutes. 
Number six in my series of FM synthesis experiments is a grainy, low frequency stomach growl that makes me imagine subterranean seismic activity. For this example I played a randomized patch three times at different positions on the keyboard while exploring the patch. 
Number five in my sequence of experiments with FM synthesis is a bit noisier than the previous entries which is typical of sounds produced by randomizing parameters. Most of these I leave by the wayside, or edit specific parameters to make them more usable. However, this sound endeared me with is dirty and gravely characteristics. It caused me to imagine some scientific device of the future capable of materializing products or replicating a potato in a manner of seconds. This is the sound of that hypothetical device. 
This drone represents the fourth in my series of FM synthesis experiments. It has a variable high frequency buzz, not unlike a typical evenings chorus of cricket calls, and an underlying low frequency drone that that throbs gently throughout the duration of the audio. This selection was made from a pool of randomized sounds. It was edited out of the surrounding audio but not processed in any way other than the processing that was randomized within the instrument. 
This is the second in a series of FM synthesis experiments I am conducting with the X.FM instrument that is included as an example in MaxMSP. This sound was generated by randomizing the parameters in the instrument. I selected it because is has a nice artificial insectoid quality to it which is why I selected a photograph I took of a large dragonfly while camping at Nils Westdal’s bachelor party last September. 
I created this bouncy reverberated sound with an FM synthesis virtual instrument called X.FM which is one of the example “patches” within the famous 