2.2.

6 Modular implementation There are various approaches for implementing FM synthesisers; for example, a computer programming-based approach can be substantially different from a commercial MIDI- keyboard approach. Whilst the former may have highly flexible tools for instrument design, the latter may not provide this flexibility but can be much easier to operate. In general, the industry of MIDIkeyboard type of synthesisers tends to produce better interfaces than the academic programming languages, but at the expense of flexibility. Yamaha is a well-known trademark for commercially successful FM synthesisers and its success is probably due to an ingenious industrial procedure: basic FM mechanisms are encapsulated into higher-level modules called operators. In this case, the user only has access to a limited set of parameters to control these operators; for example, the modulation index is not explicitly available for manipulation. An operator basically consists of an envelope generator and an oscillator, and it can be used as either a carrier operator or a modulator operator (Figure 2.21). Synthesisers are programmed by appropriately interconnecting a number of operators to form what is referred to as an algorithm. Various instruments are then defined by specifying appropriate parameter values for specific topologies of algorithms (Figure 2.22). An algorithm plus a set of definite parameter values constitutes a patch. A collection of patches is then provided in read-only memory (ROM) but the user can edit the parameter values and the algorithm in