Welcome to FM8

Thank you very much for installing FM8! This is the new incarnation of NATIVE
INSTRUMENTS outstanding FM7 that combined the famous FM synthesis technique
with a unparalleled ease of use. FM8 now brings this to the next level. Beside a lot of
improvements it features completely new functionality:
The Morph Square allows gradual transitions between different sounds.
The versatile Arpeggiator brings rhythmic structures into your sounds.
The new high-quality effects let you flexibly shape your sounds.
The Browser is your interface to an intuitive database containing all your sounds
for instant access. FM8 uses the KoreSound format and thus provides perfect
integration with NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KORE.
The sound library contains about 200 newly designed sounds featuring all functions
of the synthesizer. FM8 also comes with sounds of FM7, FM7 Sounds Vol. 1 and
FM7 Sounds Vol. 2, forming an immense variety of presets within your database.
For detailed information about using FM8 please refer to the products manual. You
might also want to check the README.TXT file placed in your FM8 installation folder
for a up to date infromation of the most recent changes.

How to contact NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

For more information about other NATIVE INSTRUMENTS products, please visit our
homepage at www.native-instruments.com, or contact info@native-instruments.com.
Enjoy the power of FM8!
Your NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Team

Getting Started
Here we will provide you with some
first steps to get you up and running
with FM8. For more detailed information and examples please check
the FM8 manual and the separate
Setup Guide.
The setup procedure (discussed on
this page) only applies to the standalone mode, all remaining steps are
identical in both stand-alone and
plug-in mode.

Full Version and Demo Version

After installation, your copy of FM8
needs activation with the NATIVE
INSTRUMENTS Service Center. FM8
will run in demo mode until activation. If you already activated FM8
and installed an update, you dont
need to repeat the process.
When starting FM8 before activating it, a window will ask whether you
want to do this now.
If you choose to activate your installation, the NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
Service Center is launched. It will
guide you through the activation
process during which you have to
enter your serial number. The serial
number is included in the package
of FM8 (box version) or in an e-mail
(download version).
If you do not own FM8 you can
click on "Buy" and use our locator to
find a dealer in your area or buy it in
the NATIVE INSTRUMENTS online
shop.
If you dont have a serial number,
you can use the demo mode. You
will not be able to save sounds, and
recalling of settings within a host is
also disabled. The application will
also quit automatically after 30
minutes. All features of the sound
engine as well as the library sounds
are available so that you can test the
full potential of FM8.

More information about activation

and the Service Center is available
in the separate Setup Guide that was
also installed. Note that the Service
Center also conveniently provides
access to the most recent update
of FM8.

Computer Setup
After installing FM8, doubleclick
on the FM8 icon in the Application
folder (Mac OS X) or click the corresponding Start menu entry (Windows
XP). Upon first start you are presented with a dialog box that contains
your Audio and MIDI settings.
In the future, you will need to check
the Audio and MIDI settings every
time you install a new soundcard or
MIDI device. You can access the settings from the File menu in the FM8
window. Also, if you should ever face
the problem that there is no audio
output or no MIDI input, these settings are a good place to start troubleshooting.

Soundcard Setup

specifically written for them. We recommend using those drivers whenever possible.
Caution for PC users: A generic
driver like ASIO DirectX or
ASIO Multimedia will not
give as good a response as a
specific driver for your card.
If available, choose the driver
name that includes the model
number or manufacturer of your
soundcard or audio interface.

Routing Setup

If your soundcard has multiple output capabilities, here is where you

configure those. If multiple routing capabilities do not apply to
your soundcard, then you can skip
this one. Most standard soundcards
have just one stereo out. FM8 will
use that, provided the soundcard was
set up correctly (see above).

MIDI Setup
1. First choose your interface type.
ASIO and CoreAudio are your best
options as they have the potential for
the lowest possible latency. This is
the delay from the soundcard input
to the soundcard output.
2. Select the desired sample rate.
Make sure its supported by your audio interface we suggest starting
out with 44100, because virtually all
sound cards support that rate.
3. Choose your output device. Most
soundcards nowadays have drivers

If you have a MIDI device installed

(USB is most common for MIDI
these days), here is the setup for
that. Upon starting FM8 for the first
time, your MIDI device will be off.
To begin using it, you need to turn
the input on. If you cant see any

device listed in the window, then this

means FM8 has not detected your
MIDI device. Please make sure that
it is turned on and plugged into a
free MIDI or USB port. It could also
mean that the device driver is not
correctly installed. Please see your
MIDI devices documentation for
further information.
When all is done, close the dialog
and start using FM8.

Load and play

Lets start using FM8 by loading
one of its sounds. This is done on
the Browser Page of FM8, providing access to a database containing
information about all your available
sounds. You can search a sound by
combining musical terms that describe your sound.
To open the Browser, click on the
Browser tab at the left of the FM8
window:

Now the FM8 Library is at your fingertips. On the Browsers left side are
five Category columns. These contain
the Attributes used to tag, classify
and search all Sounds.
Lets filter for a classic FM E-Piano.
To do this, we combine several
Attributes by clicking them in the
Attributes list:
Click on Piano/Keys under
Instrument
Choose Electric and Synthetic
under Source
In the Timbre Category, click on
Bright.
Under Articulation, we want a
Decaying sound

As you combine Attributes you put

more and more constraints on your
search, so the number of Search
Results displayed on the right side
decreases. The FM8 Sound Soft
Rhodes looks promising, so doubleclick it: The sound will be loaded.
You can now play the Sound via your
MIDI keyboard.
The sound database of FM8 includes the sounds of FM7 and
of the Soundline products FM7
Sounds Volume 1 and Volume
2. If you only want to listen to
the sounds that are exclusively new to FM8, switch to the
Browsers File Tree View and
have a look at the librarys FM8
folder. You can find detailed information about the File Tree
View within the corresponding
section of the manual.

Morphing and Easy Editing

Now lets check the Morphing feature. We are going to load four different string Sounds into the Morph
Square.

Glass Strings
Hirez Bell String
Soft Strings
Resonant Strings
Play a few chords while moving
the Morph Handle (the small red
square). You can hear the sound being morphed between the four different timbres.
The Sound is a bit on the muffled
side, especially with the upper two
strings sounds. We are going to
brighten things up. To do so, switch
to the Easy/Morph Page at the left
of the FM8 window. There you see a
larger version of the morph square as
well as some Easy Edit parameters.

Click the Timbre dial and pull it up

to a value of 26. If you now play
you can hear all four Sounds getting
brighter. The Easy edit macro controls change the Sounds parameters
after the morphing has taken place,
so it affects all four corners.

Additional Information
Type Strings into the Search Field
found above the attributes. You see
a list of string Sounds in the Search
Results. Now we are going to drag
four of the Sounds into the four quadrants of the small Morph Square in
the Application Control Bar.
The first Sound you drag into the
square will establish all the parameters that are not morphed (envelopes,
modulations, etc.).

Thats it: You loaded your first sound

and modified it! However, there are
many powerful features that have
not been mentioned here the
Arpeggiator and the Effects section,
to name only two of them. Please refer to the manual for a more in-depth
explanation of FM8s functionality.
There youll also find two detailed
quickstarts that will show you how to
use FM8s capacities easily.