Thank you for being one of the few “UA-cam audio professionals” who know how to properly balance their voice to music levels! It’s amazing how many “professional audio experts” don’t do this. At best you might get a “Sorry for the crap audio”! 😆😆😆
Ha yes it is surprising how often that happens, even on bigger channels. It can take quite a while to balance a longer video like this and I drive myself crazy checking over the same footage. But I'm glad someone noticed, so thanks 😄
God you aren't kidding. I could understand if there were specific segments of the video they didn't get quite right but there are plenty of erstwhile pro audio vloggers who very clearly did _no_ balancing, or if they did, very clearly did _not_ know how to be sure the balancing was actually good for listeners.
I love the Sonicware Liven XFM. It's a great way to noodle FM. If you capture a voice and edit it, you see the crazy frequency ratios and modulation matrix that this thing produces. Some of it is beyond comprehension. Clearly, there is an entire realm of FM that we don't use under the current programming paradigm. XFM is a great way to explore these new possibilities.
Yes it's amazing what can be discovered when combining sounds. I've always been a fan of designing my own sounds from scratch but like you say there's tons more than that to be explored
Just dropping by to thank you for making this. Absolutely indispensable resource, and I find myself returning to the video frequently since getting the xfm. It's a wonderful machine and you did a fantastic job explaining it. 👍
Without spending $1000+ this is by far the coolest FM engine out there. I'm going to pick one up today and I hope it scratches my FM itch and rounds out my live performance rig.
I've run out of room to mention this in the description 😅 I am working on an accessibility addendum document for this tutorial that includes a description of all the controls in pattern edit mode and sound edit mode. You can find here: bit.ly/3xGlIga. Also I'll be returning to the XFM to make shorter specific tutorials so if there's anything you'd like to see let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do
Will do. There's a Male Vox patch that I made in the presets in the 3rd bank (LD1) 11th sound (MVOX) but it only really convincing when played with varied velocity so maybe more like a vocal pad sound is needed. Replicating acoustic sounds is tricky though 😅 but I can always study a patch on another FM synth and translate it over. How are you finding the XFM to use in general?
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks. I'm getting there (slowly). I'm still occasionally reverting to keystrokes for the Liven Warps . I would have preferred it if all lists had a definite top/bottom (as opposed to cycling through options like, say, the filter types). I would have preferred the bank/sound selection knobs to have been notched (a la the value knob). Certain buttons (e.g. Pattern or parameter lock) having three or more states is not ideal but I'll get there. I'll make a start on the editing side of the machine next week once I'm comfortable with all the surface controls.
Yeah I thought the cycling options would make things tricky for you. I imagine you must have to come up with ways to test the state of certain options. I did request during the development that the encoder was used for more things like tweaking the cutoff and trimming the value with the encoder, but bug squashing got in the way I think. I'm hoping you find edit mode more intuitive as I can only think of one example of a cycling option which is the voice mode. Multiple pressed of the same operator select button mutes and unmutes them which keeps tripping me up too
I subscribed not only for the great tutorial but Chris took the time to reply to each and every question or at least “loved” the comments which is more than I can say with a lot of other “reviewers/influencers on YT.
Great tutorial, I even almost understand FM synthesis programming now! Admittedly I’ll be playing around mainly with the engines when mine finally turns up but good to know I can easy break my ears with some discordant sounds easily enough!
Thank you 😁 I'll cover the edit mode and FM synthesis theory more deeply at some point and show how to make some example sounds. It's a pretty good machine to learn FM on I'd say
Oh yeah certainly is. I'm sure I would have fun with the Volca FM if I'd bought one but the way editing works was certainly off putting, plus the 3 note polyphony always seemed a bit stingy
Yeah it does tick a lot of boxes. When I was first invited to design sounds for the XFM i was amazed by the spec I was reading for a device at this price point. I just find myself using it constantly now
Just picked up the XFM and saw the Freebeat video on the unit recommending your site to get a deeper understanding of it. I’m fairly new to the entire grove box/mini synth world being a guitarist by trade but always liked synthesizer music. This was pretty intimidating upon un-boxing but your video did a wonderful job of going deep in an understandable way of how to use the XFM. Actually was able to create a pattern after watching it pretty easily. Nothing fancy but allows me a starting point to note more fully delve into its capabilities. Thanks Chris.
Just got this today. Man, it's fun. I made one pattern. Was confused with some functionality, which is why I'm back here... SUPERB tuto, Chris. Superb.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks! Quick question-- with Sweep... I'm a little confused about why you held Function to access Sweep, as it should have been a Shift function... Shift works for the knobs you said, but Function affected the secondary function of the buttons. I think that's what confuses me most about the XFM, haha. :)
Possibly I misspoke, but there are some functions for Sweep on knobs and some on buttons. Like you say Shift is for second knob functions and Func is for second button and keyboard functions. I think this is so you can use shifted knobs while pressing the keys to test sounds as if there were just a single shift this would keep opening menus. Also you can use Func + Shift to lock the knob shift which is super useful
I bought this just after glossing over the specs. It gives the digitone a good run for its money. The sound quality isnt anazimg, but very solid, and regardless all my gear gets run through good processing so the root sound quality isnt overly crucial. Main thing i was listening out for was issues with the interaction of OSCs and its really holding its own
Very helpful. I'm sure I'll be watching this more than once, but I feel I've got a decent handle on it already after only a couple hours of screwing around now. Quite a neat machine and exactly the kind of digital harshness I needed to add to my rig.
They did it, SmplTrek is on the way. It’s a super rad game boy style portable production sampler. They are taking preorders now. Getting mine in December, so excited to hook it up to my Liven 8bit warps!
Thanks very much. Yes I'd love to return to some of the other Livens too which I'm planning on doing when I'm not quite so busy with my day job and film scoring!
Chris thank you for your tip on how to easily stack different drum sounds on same track using PRM lock. One other question- can I set different volume levels for each separate drum sound on the same track?
No problem. Kind of, you can set the per note velocity with the Velocity knob as you program them in. Usually this translates to per note volume depending on how the particular FM preset has been programmed, sometimes it's also related to tone, or the sound designer has been lazy or forgotten to apply and velocity (😅) it won't work. Have a good and see which sounds work.
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for the frankness. I wonder if it’s learnable after a while… The editing goes way deeper than I imagined. Well, I’m grateful for the overlay then!
It's got a slightly steep learning curve. I've only scratched the surface of mine...but I think it's really worth hanging on to while you absorb all it's complexity, bells and whistles. It's superb both as a synth AND as a groove box. The sounds are insanely good for what you pay. I got mine as an open box special for 180. Not bad. And I even got a power supply with it. So far I've only messed with the synth part really and I haven't been able to truly assemble any good grooves of my own. I really don't want to use the pre-programmed ones.... Because that's somebody else's music not mine!
Thanks for the tutorial. It's much needed. I've had the XFM for 24 hours and I'm really struggling with it. I find it very unintuitive :-( So did Matt Greer. So at least I'm in good company!
@@ChrisLodyMusic It has made a bit more sense today and I'm getting around the XFM a bit more fluently. I've lost count of the number of times I've watched your tutorial 😁 I posted on the Liven FB group today about one obstacle I have. Quite often I like to start with a 16 step loop and then copy it onto the next bar/s (17-32, 33-48 etc) and then make minor changes. After chatting with a few people on the group it seems this isn't possible on the XFM. There's no function to copy your current track's pattern into bars 17-32, 33-48, 49-64. On my OG Novation Circuit I can use the duplicate function and on my UNO Drum there's a copy function for pasting your sequence into further bars. It was mentioned in the group that it would be nice if the XFM does what the Elektron does and automatically fills in the steps as you increase them. I'd be grateful if you could pass this on to the development team if possible. Someone on the FB group has a hacked workaround on the XFM to do this by sending midi out and back into the XFM! Thanks.
Okay sounds like you may have changed the clock setting so it's waiting for an outside click or midi clock. Hold Func and Press the key with Clock below it, now use the encoder to change the display to read INT. Hopefully that's it
Yes that should be possible though I've not tried it as I don't own one. The sync in on the TD3 should work though it depends on the number of pulses per step which doesn't seem to be mentioned in the documentation. The TD3 also has midi though so you should be able to sync with that too. Hope that helps
hi chris, love the tutorials you’ve helped me understand the xfm a lot. i cant seem to find in here where you talk about how to use the copy function in sound edit mode could you help me with this? everytime i try to copy a sound in sound edit and paste it to a empty bank it just thinks i’m switching to that bank.
Great tutorial!!!! It's hands down the best learning material for XFM on youtube. I have a small question - how can I edit the duration of a note I already entered in the sequencer? For example, I entered a single-step note, and now I need to turn it into a tied 4 step note, without playing it again. I am really struggling with it..
Thank you. Now that I think about it there are plenty of ways to shorten notes but I can't think of a way to make an existing note in the sequence longer. Your only option is to delete it and add a tied note back in. If it's part of a chord you can turn on the REC mode so that you can remove the particular note from wherever it is in the sequencer, so in that respect at least it's possible
Does this mean the XFMs have started shipping? Very-very-VERY excited to get mine. This and the 8bit Warps will pair nicely with my Circuit Tracks and the Circuit Rhythm I've got coming later this month.
Yes they have started shipping. It's s little slower than they were hoping for but I've seen a couple of people over on the Facebook mention there's have arrived
Hi Chris, thanks for the very useful tutorial. I have a question about the operator levels in page 2 of the bottom row of quick edit in edit mode. What is their relationship with the mixer and operator receive levels? Should i basically have the operator levels on maximum at all times and then adjust the receive levels depending on the routing I want, or is there more to them? I'm familiar with 4op fm but new to the xfm, so I'm a bit confused with there they fit in its "algorithm-free" operator architecture.
Hi. You can think of the operator level as kind of a legacy setting. It works the same way on old Yamaha DX synths, it changes the actual internal level of the operator. This means that if it's routed as both a carrier and modulator (which is an option), changing the operator level will affect both tone and volume. But this is a bit restrictive which is where the operator receive and mixer levels come in. These don't alter the internal level of the operator, but just attenuate the connections between them. So you can have an operator set up as carrier and modulator, adjusting the carrier amount with the mixer and modulator amount with the receive levels separately. So yes, you won't be missing out on anything if you leave the operator levels at max and adjust everything on the mix+receive amounts. I hope this helps, it's a bit complex to put into words 😄
Thanks for this Chris - will be invaluable when mine shows up :-) Very interested in whats over your left shoulder in the video opening... above the fan!
You're welcome 😁 At this point I have the prototype XFM and the finished one, so there's two XFMs on the shelf. One 'naked' and one with the overlay on. As for if there'll be more Livens in the future.....I couldn't possibly say 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic. Im gonna troll on this post and say I bet there very well could be. I took the 8bit apart and had a look at the board. There are connection points for pads. 🤔 🤷😁
My XFM arrived today. When trying to changing sound banks once I have selected a sound engine I get a line of dots on bottom of display that "walk" from right to left, and while this is happening scrolling though banks does not work, eventually the scroll will start to work if I keep turning the knob back and forth, if I leave it it just keeps displaying these walking dots. What is going on here ?
Don't worry that's normal. The Knob Latch feature is turned on by default which attempts to stop accidental edits of information in patterns. I talk about it at about 5:26 You can turn it off if you prefer. The walking dots show which direction you have to move the knob to find the saved position in the currently loaded pattern
I noticed the updates were taken down so figured they started shipping. I was literally the second pre order so hope I get mine soon! Stoked!!!! :-P Especially since I am having to sell my Tempest to survive at the moment. It will be nice having something new and impressive to take my mind off it! Lol
@@ChrisLodyMusic 😁 🙌 Can't wait. Love my 8bit. .. oh btw man. Off subject.. You should check out the NeoTrellis M4 and feather on adafruit if you dont already know about them. Just got the m4 kit. Cheap easy build and very cool device. Was using it w 8bit yd. Was a gift to my mate but I do plan on getting myself one as well now. Great introduction tutorial btw as well, Chris. 👌
@@ChrisLodyMusic *a note... forget the neotrellis. 2 bad boards and Adafruit has no support to simply get an exchange so I had to contact bank to dispute charges. Anyhow... I take back my suggestion. Lol
Yeah I really like both of them. I'll make a comparison video soon that compares the sound and features of the two Liven models. They are quite different so it's a matter of taste as to which you think is best, but the 8Bit is more immediate where as the XFM has more power
Thank you for doing those tutorials. What about any propability/chance funcsion in sequencer? And can you apply more than one fx per track?And what about dx7 preset compatibility using sysex? Thanx.
Thank you 😁 The Dice function is covered briefly in the section that starts at 31:32 but I'll return to it in more detail at some point. You can only have one effect set up for the whole pattern but with varying send levels per track. It doesn't support patch import because the FM architecture is very unique to accommodate morphing between any patches, this is something I'll talk about in detail soon
great video!. looking forward to your future XFM content . ide like to see a deeper look at swapping out user parameters into your p.c., to replace them with different ones. can you save that info externally? could you build different parameter packs, for different projects? thanks chris!
Thank you. Yes that would be a very good idea for a tutorial video. So yeah you can export sounds and patterns in midi sysex format which can be recorded and stored with dedicated midi software like midiox or bome send sx. Alternatively it can be recorded at the beginning of a project file in a DAW like reaper etc so it would restore itself when the project is played back
hi I raelly like the xfm but there are some odditiies in the work flow I guess to cram in so many features into such an affordable , hands on and portable device.. One thing that I am finding a bit frustrating is there is no way to syn the LFO to the BPM?? Or choose for it to be retriggered per note or free flowing on its own? I looked in the manual but I have to say its so vague half the time. It keeps telling you how to do something, but not telling you what it is you are doing. Kinda stupid. So it says to go through this process to access a feature which it is not obvious what its purpose is. But it never tells you what it does :(.... I feel like sometimes sonicware are too eager to have all these sophisticated abilities and miss some very simple and very important stuff that makes it very hard to get the sound you want even with the impressive feature set.
Yes the XFM manual isn't really written with the workflow in mind. They have got better at it more recently, but also that's why they like me to make these tutorial videos because I try to set them out logically and explain all the functions. Regarding the LFO, feel free to make feature requests via the support email page on their website. They're quite receptive to ideas and will often add user requests via firmware updates. Another video on the XFM will show you how to calculate LFO sync, not quite the same I know but still useful. That's here: ua-cam.com/video/w_jLmWwpdnc/v-deo.html
Just bought one of these off of Reverb, it shipped today. I was debating between this and the Model:Cycles for the longest time, finally decided on this since it actually allows you to get deep into the sound design, which I feel is what FM is all about. I have a baseline understanding of FM from messing with Sytrus and Operator, how well would you say that type of knowledge translates to this device?
Yeah the Model:Cycles is a good machine from what I've seen but has a more basic FM implementation. I've not used one though so I've no idea how intuitive they are to use. Any FM knowledge you have already will definitely carry over. I've just made a couple of XFM edit mode tutorials on the channel so check those out if you'd like to dive in
@@ChrisLodyMusic Oh I definitely will, you definitely have the most comprehensive videos on this device available on the internet, so thanks for that! I'm actually a little surprised just how little coverage this thing has gotten in the electronic music production sphere. Just a handful of threads about it on reddit, and videos on youtube mostly from you and Sonicware. Seems like it's really flying under the radar
Yes it's a shame it's not been covered more so far. Sonicware is a small company and they relied a lot on trade shows when they marketed and launched the ELZ-1 and 8Bit Warps which hasn't been possible with the XFM so it's been much more of a hidden gem so far. Hopefully they can get back to doing that soon. Glad you like my tutorials by the way 😁
Its not a 2.1mm, the plug type has some weird name. Your best bet is to buy a Korg Volca compatible supply as they are the same. Re batteries, I recommend rechargeables. I get good battery life from rechargeable NiMh batteries but you have to remember to change the battery type in the system menu to NiMh or it will switch off early.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thank you for the reply. I do think this info should be listed in the manual, as it looks like the unit would take a standard 2.1mm plug.
Thanks for another great video. I’m getting increasingly charmed by the overall workflow of the Livens and now the XFM is beginning to call out to me, haha. You have both a MicroFreak and an XFM. In my own (small) collection of gear I feel like they would overlap a lot. Almost to the point where I might sell the MF if the XFM does enough of what I want with it. I’m very impressed with the multitrack capabilities XFM has on top of all of the synth functionality it has, and I do miss this multitracking capability of the MF for song(sketch) building. How would you say the the MF & XFM compare and differ most essentially?
I'm probably the worst person to ask to be honest as I'm a bit of a gear hoarder 😄 But honestly the MicroFreak offers so much in terms of different types of synthesis that I would probably only ever sell it if I bought a MiniFreak, but that is missing the poly aftertouch so I still wouldn't sell it 😅 If I were you i'd run the midi out from the XFM into the MicroFreak to sequence it from the XFM, then run the audio back into the Line-In on the XFM to add effects to the MicroFreak. They make a nice combination that way.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Haha, thank you for your honesty as always. And good tip about combining the sequencing of the Liven with the MF! Since I don't have an XFM yet, I guess I could try the same thing with the Lofi-12 that I already have, right? As it also has sequencing / midi out, line-in, fx and all that. Although then my Lofi would probably be taken up by these tasks, restricting it from adding drums and other sounds.
Oh yes it would work just fine on the Lofi-12. Each track can send a different midi channel so you can set one up for the MF, turn it's volume down and set it to mono. This means that track will only consume 1 voice of polyphony leaving 9 voices for samples, but the track used can still send chords to the MF. You can send the Line In to the reverb effect. It would be a tidy sample and synth setup 👌
@@ChrisLodyMusic Ohh that's great, thanks for sharing that! That's a nifty new combination to explore then, looking forward to when I have a bit of time to try that out next week.
Hey Chris, thank you so much for this tutorial and the others about this instrument!! I received mine few days ago and am still exploring all the incredible possibilites. One question I have is about "sound quality" : I feel that the overall quality of the sound seems poor wether I use headphones or my studio monitors (I've tried modifying Gain and change the volume per tracks and etc). Same for a kick than an FM melody.. :( It sounds a bit like a bad .mp3 downloaded on limewire back in the times, and I don't understand why. Why the same audio configuration my Moog or even my Model:Samples seems so clear... What do you think ? Thank you again
I've not experienced any audio quality problems at all with any of the XFM models I've worked on which totals 3 including the prototypes. So I'm not sure what part of your setup would be causing problems. The best thing you can do is to contact Sonicware customer support as you be able to send them audio examples for analysis
It does sound a bit like something I've experienced on other devices where a lead is inserted in such a way that it causes the wrong pins to connect and cancels out the centre channel. So if that's the case it could be lead or connector problems, so maybe try a different lead while you're waiting to hear back from customer support.
I've never used one to be honest but from what I've heard from other users the Cycles has a much more simplified synth engine. So it depends what you need. I like lots of power even if it's complex to get my head around personally, some people prefer easy to use
Yes the tracks are completely separate so you can have different sounds loaded per track and even automate the sound selection on a per step basis as the track plays. The polyphony is 6 voices total across the 4 tracks. You can set tracks to monophonic to keep the voices under control where needed
Hi Chris, thanks so much for putting your time towards these tutorials. Your explanations are really clear. I just have one question, maybe I missed it: Is there a way to copy the amp envelope across the 4 operators? Or edit the 4 envelopes at the same time?
You're welcome. No that doesn't seem to be possible with the current firmware. When I was designing sounds for the synth I would mostly just write down my envelope settings if I wanted to copy them. Either that or I'd set the attack for operator 1 for example, then switch to operator 2 while the knob was in the same place dial that in and tweak to get them the same then continue with the other envelope sections where needed. I'd edit ratio, feedback, modulation etc in the same way if I wanted them to be the same
@@ChrisLodyMusic Really appreciate what you did here .. No tutorial on the El_Z1 though? I’m guessing maybe you weren’t connected with the company at that time . Oh well , at least we’ve got them for liven. Couldn’t be explained clearer , mate, top job.
Thank you. Unfortunately I don't have an ELZ1 and they're not currently being manufactured due to supply problems so it seems unlikely I'll be able to help with that, sorry
Interesting problem for you. I recently tried using my xfm with a Yamaha qx5 sequencer. The sequencer was set to pass through the midi from my master keyboard in real time. When playing I found the gate times for the played notes were behaving strangely. Some notes were cutting off prematurely, and playing without any release. On playing back from the qx5 I experienced the same problem. Yet without midi going thru the qx5 everting played and sounded as normal. Any ideas greatly appreciated.
That is strange. I'm not sure what would have been happening there. My only thought is that there might have been a midi feedback loop depending on how you had it wired up which can cause some very strange problems
@@ChrisLodyMusic not to worry I will try with a different sequencer. Definatly no feedback loop as I was not outputting the midi back from the xfm. Anyway have a good evening.
Hey Chris! Thought you'd be the best person to ask.. I made a simple pattern: Track 1 kick (four on the floor). Track 2 snare with a little delay on it. Track 3, two-note chords, just playing like C and F, and then C and G... four bar pattern.. (each change on bar 1, 2, then repeating 3 and 4). Last track, a bell-like sound (I used the Library for each sound). When I hold the bell sounds, it's muting the drums, and recording that way, too... like if I play a chord and hold the keys down. Really weird behavior. Any idea what this is? It's happening with any sound I choose. Thx! I should add-- is it 6-note polyphony MAX? Or 6-note polyphony per track? Thought it was 6-note polyphonic per track but it's not looking like that... holding 3 notes on track 4 when 4 notes are already playing (kick, snare, two-note chords on track 3)... it mutes the others. Note-stealing.... hmm.
Hey Chris. This will be because you're hitting the polyphony limit which is 6 notes share across the 4 tracks, so 6 poly max. There are a few things you can do to help though. Bear in mind that the track priority is 4>3>2>1 so when I made preset patterns I'd always put important elements like kick drums on track 4 with pads etc on track 1 that would still sound okay if a voice gets stolen. You can move tracks around with the copy and paste function by the way, even between patterns. Also if you turn tracks that don't need to play chords into mono or legato mode this will save polyphony for other tracks.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Ah thank you. I had the drums on Tracks 1 and 2. I honestly thought it was 6-voice polyphony per track, at least for melodic sounds, not drum sounds. But yeah, makes sense... a little limited, but still fun.
Yes they're compatible with Korg Volca power supplies so the easiest thing to do is just to grab one of those. The power supply that Sonicware sent me is a 2 Amp model (2000ma) so probably best to get one with that spec
Hi I'm a complete beginner and I like these machines , I like chill out to deep bass chilled house which of the three ( beats and bass , xfm, warp ) would you recommend?
Based on that I'd say that the XFM is probably your best bet. They are all quite versitile but the 8bit Warps leans towards lo-fi and the bass and beats has a monophonic bass section. The xfm is capable of chords for pads, leads, basses and synthesized drums so it should do a pretty good job of what you want
Thanks a ton for this. I'm about to order one but I have 2 questions that I would love help with before doing so! 1. Is there only 1 sound each for kick/snare/hat or are there multiple presets for the kick drum/snare/hat etc.? 2. Also can you modify the percussion sounds or are only preset(s) available? Thanks again from a fellow synth enthusiast!
Thank you, glad you like the tutorial. There lots of different drum sounds to choose from. Actually in the downloads section on Sonicware.JP there is a list of preset sounds for the XFM that shows you different banks of sounds. These are all made using the same 4 op FM engine as all the other sounds so they can be copied and edited as much as you want. You can even build your own drum sounds from scratch. I'll make a 'XFM drum machine' tutorial soon to explain a bit more detail
Yeah the battery life is pretty good, especially when you're not using the built in speaker. There is a battery type selection in one of the menus that I have set to NiMH so I can use rechargeables, worth setting up properly or it will switch itself off too early
Thanks for a very informative tutorial, I have yet to decide how badly I need this thing on top of my 8bit Warps. If I'm understanding this correctly, the "tracks" on the XFM replaces the looper on the 8bit, but with greater control of the parameters (on the 8bit looper I believe you can only adjust the volume of each loop), correct? Also wondering about the functionality of the line input on the XFM. Can you record an external source on to a track, like you can with the 8bit looper?
Thanks for watching 😁 Yes that's right, there's no audio looper but the tracks are much more powerful. The XFM can't record the output from the line in but you can run the line in through the FX section.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Understood. You're a busy man, but it might be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison, pluses and minuses, of the two Sonicware Liven synths.
It's also a Liven XFM but it has the edit overlay on. I have the release version and a prototype so I thought I might as well double them up in the background, seems I got a few people excited though 😄
Hi Chris, thank you for this nice tutorial. Got my xfm since few days, I have one question, does the arpeggio play mode has a hold function? I don't find it in the manual. Thanks
My pleasure, glad you like it. I has a general hold mode that also works with the arpeggiator. It works by holding OK and then pressing notes. These notes are added to a stack of held notes which a played until OK is pressed again. Hope that helps
Yes. That's a 3.5mm to phono splitter cable in the line out socket rather than headphones that is connected to my audio interface. I could have used the headphone socket but this would mute the speaker and I wanted to demo the speaker switch feature. Plus that leaves the headphone socket free if you want to monitor it that way while recording.
Hi Chris, I have a question.. If I am on track one and I get a full drum. Kit, snare hihat bass drum.. Is it possible different drum sound I. One canal? Manny thanks
Yes that's possible. You can use the Sound Locking feature which allows you to program different sounds per step. I show this in the section starting at 31:32 with an example adding hihats to the kick pattern
You can use hold mode to latch the arpeggiator. Just hold some notes and press OK to hold notes, when in ARP voice mode this will latch the arpeggiator. To cancel I think it's CLR and OK (I'm not in the studio right now so I can't check)
The procedure for this is just to use the save system. Press Func+PTN then OK to save the pattern down to it's current slot, then press Func+PTN but at this point pick a new save slot before saving the pattern. This way you can save the pattern to as many slots as you want
I have to tell you that these tutorials and the info you provide helped me decided not to sell this cool instrument. I don't know if it's my age but I am having such a hard time wrapping my head around this synth. I literally have to pause and rewind a million times before I can get it. I have had so much difficulty. One thing that I'm worried about is that one of my keys has a weird "click" like it sticks sometimes. But aside from that I also find that unless i hold the function button I can't change the filter. Even though the literature show not holding that button. Also I erased the low kick drum sound by accident when I was excited that I created a sound. I had to save the High Kick in the same slot and try my hand at editing it to make it sound more like a low kick. Not sure how great it is but at least it's a kick. Is there a way to get the sound back without losing all the other patterns I have been making? THanks again
Sorry to hear you're struggling with it, it's quite a deep instrument to learn completely so the deeper you go the more technical it gets. Strange about the filter, I'm not sure why that would be. The Cutoff should move without Shift held with Resonance added or removed with Shift held. A filter has to be selected first on an empty pattern though as they are off by default. Currently the only way to recover any of the stock sounds and patterns is to perform a factory reset as Sonicware haven't uploaded all of the sounds separately, though I could record a Sysex midi file of which ever sound it is you're missing if you let me know to Bank and Sound names at they appear on the screen. Do you have a midi interface for PC?
@@ChrisLodyMusic oh thank you so much ! And okay I think you said something that I remembered. If I try to move the filter without holding the button then it does say “off” I haven’t gotten through your whole video yet Is there a simple way that you could tell me here how to turn it on ? And also I have a Roland midi interface and a Mac. That’s how I updated the firmware. Is that what you mean ? And thanks so much
No problem. To turn the filter on hold Func and press step 2 that has Filter written beneath it. You can then select the filter type and envelope shape with the value encoder. The Depth and Time controls will then affect how the filter cutoff changes over time. Yeah that midi interface will do the job. I can export a midi file that you can import and save to replace the missing drum sound
This may seem like a dumb question, but can a MIDI keyboard be used on this unit? There is no info anywhere if this is possible, but it would be great if it would work. I ask because I don't like plugging things in if I have no idea if it would damage the unit.
Yes you can play the XFM using a midi keyboard. The 4 different internal tracks will respond to different midi channels so typically a midi keyboard will default to channel 1 so whatever is loaded into track will will be playable with a keyboard. A lot of the sounds are set up with velocity sensitivity so it will also be very responsive to touch. It won't damage the unit even if it's connected incorrectly as midi is very forgiving in that respect. Hope that helps
You can yes. If you hold a note or notes and press OK those notes will hold, press CLR and OK to end the notes. You can play other notes over the held notes and it also works with the arpeggiator
Hi. Me again. Is there a way of toggling/altering LFO sensitivity on a per-operator basis? Say for instance have LFO only effect the carriers or only one of the modulators?
Short answer is kind of. The front main LFO will always be sent to all operators by the same amount, so no on that. But if you make a pair of patches that differ slightly you can use the X-LFO to use that to modulate any FM parameter, or multiple parameters by any amount at the same time. Alternatively you can sacrifice an operator, set it to fixed speed, turn down the speed and even route the envelope to it and use that as an LFO for pitch. Kind of a shame there are no LFOs in the FM edit section but I can understand why they wanted to move that to the front panel.
No unfortunately not. You can get a lot of flexibility by using the morph functions like XLFO to modulate between two different versions of the same preset to get op level changes. The FX send can't be modulated with the LFO but it can be controlled using the parameter locks, aka per step automation
@@ChrisLodyMusic thats good though at least i can use the automation. Also i know its not modular but i was gonna try experimenting running it through my rig so ill have extra modulation there sorta just not the liven xfm parameters. I just ordered one but i couldnt find much info on the lfo so i appreciate your response
They are saved automatically at power off. So make your changes and power down the device with the power switch and they should be there next time you power on
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for quick responds. I always turnf off all Equipment on one Switch. I dont know what is the englisch name for that unit. But yes I guess that is the reason why all settings get default again
I'm not sure where you mean you've saved the sound. Are you a member of the Liven Facebook group? If you are you can post pictures and videos to get support from staff and other group members including me
when you change synth sounds can you save them and does it recall them how you saved them i read somewhere that when you save a sound it doesnt save it has you changed it and recalls a different sound please answer because everyone does a review on patterns and an external seq does this better the sounds are what makes this synth interesting but if you create a sound and it recalls a different sound then it makes the unit useless thks in advance
Oh yes it will recall any changes you've made as long as you save them. You just have to be aware of the way the memory is arranged with the FM operators and envelopes being edited using the overlay and saved as presets then everything else like morphing and filters edited and saved in patterns.
@@ChrisLodyMusic but i saw a tutorial of the sonic a bit warps the guy made a new sound saved it recalled it it sounded totally different and he changed the converstion real quick which makes me scated to buy this thing it jas to save my sounds and recall them exactly hoe i changed them not using the 2 sound morphing engines
The way that the memories work on the 8bit Warps is quite different. There are sound memories and pattern memories and you have to remember to save both. Also if you save the pattern before the sound memory the pattern may load the wrong sound when it's loaded back up. It's easy enough to understand but I've also managed to mess it up a few times myself while making songs. It's just a case of getting used to the workflow
Hi Chris. I've got a tiny request. Could you/somebody please tell me what the secondary functions of the 16 step buttons are? The XFM's user manual has the same accessibility issues as that for the 8bit Warps (i.e. buttons/knobs are referred to pictorially rather than by name. So when I convert the pdf to text, it's like playing madlibs/Blankety Blank). Through guesswork/watching vids I've figured out 1=Synth engine, 2=Filter type, 3=LFO Shape, 4=LFO Delay but that's as far as I got with that. Also, if you/somebody would be so kind as to transcribe the overlay, that'd be enormously helpful (but that's not so urgent). Thanks in advance.
Let me know what you need to know about the overlay, I cover it all here and I'll go into it in more detail with FM synthesis tutorials. But for now the buttons are 1. Synth engine 2. Filter type and envelope shape 3. LFO shape 4. LFO delay 5. Voice mode 6. Voice adjust (glide or ARP type) 7. Sweep range 8. Sweep curve 9. Step note value 10. Pattern length 11. Transpose 12. Random step value (for random sequencer mode) 13. Effects type 14. Line in to effects amount 15. Random sequencer mode 16. Stutter sequencer mode
@@ChrisLodyMusic Many thanks. Just what I needed. Wen you're pushing buttons or turning knobs during your FM tutorial, please try to say where they are (e.g. "5th step" or "the middle C key" or "penultimate knob on the second row"). Cheers.
Sorry that was supposed to say partially sighted, damn my thumbs! The Liven series seems to be attracting a few partially sighted and blind users, I think it would be a good idea if I made a tutorial with that in mind describing all of the controls in order rather than the way I've done it here. The XFM is definitely more difficult to learn in that respect due to it having more reliance on the LED display and LEDs above the buttons. Gets me wondering, is there a device that blind users can use to convert an LEDs on\off status to touch or a beep somehow?
It would be nice if Sonicware would sell edit-overlays separately, in case if something bad happens to the original. In the case that it take too much resources/bandwidth, an alternative would be to provide SVG for the overlay.
Thanks for the great and very throughout tutorial tho, and the instrument itself is just amazing! And dead cheap as the only real alternative costs 4x the price of Liven XFM.
Thank you 😁 Yes I was looking at getting some sort of FM hardware including Volca FM before Sonicware asked me to work on this, much better bang for the buck than the Volca FM 😄
Yes absolutely. They will sync together using either the analog sync sockets or midi so they will work really well together. I've been planning some videos with the Bass&Beats used with other gear but building my new studio used my spare time up. Now that's done I should have time for more videos
Is there a way to preview steps on the sequencer? Say, you have drums programmed linearly on one track, can you check what is on each step if you forget? Or is there any indication that a step is parameter locked vs holding any note?
Yes if you go into record mode with the sequencer stopped you can press a step and it will play back its contents. You can check the value of any stored parameter lock by holding a step and turning say cutoff or something and the saved value for that step will be displayed, but you have to work out which parameter locks or where yourself if you know what I mean
I confused a lot of people by doing this, its the prototype XFM with the overlay used for editing on top. I just thought it'd be nice to fill the background out a bit 😄
Not currently no. The 4 op architecture is quite different to anything else on offer. I imagine it might be possible to convert a preset in software if someone wrote the right code as the XFM does use sysex to export sounds but they would no doubt sound different.
Yes. I've put together a playlist which is tutorials for the Liven series so far, so there's 8bit Warps and Bass&Beats in there too Sonicware Liven Tutorials: ua-cam.com/play/PLZtzlNHvZRO3G0mOfl0V2bLB-QWFYTfIA.html
It's 6 notes of polyphony across the 4 tracks. It would be nice if you could trigger a pattern multiple times like on a Pocket Operator but sadly not with the current firmware. It has 128 sequence memories though so it's fairly easy to copy a pattern into multiple patterns to play them in sequence
@@inthefade Yes there has, you can find that here. I also made a video about how to update which works via midi sysex sonicware.jp/pages/downloads ua-cam.com/video/bHxyV0qwFns/v-deo.html
@@ChrisLodyMusic I actually find this limited polyphony fascinating. It reminds me of old limited video game synth engines (the YM2612 comes to mind). Those limitations can be interesting. I don't know if you address note priority and stealing, but I imagine it will be important to understand that if I want to make complex tracks.
Yes I'm not sure I mentioned that in the video. The priority is setup track 4>1 and it's possible to control voice allocation by changing selected tracks to mono or legato
Sadly, I cannot input chords the same way as described around minute 29 and am really struggling. I am in polyphonic mode and I am playing the chord between a set of steps as shown, but the play back is all single notes. I've tried different instruments, but the same problem arises. Additionally when I attempt to live record a chord in, I have a similar issue, though only one note is added to the sequencer. I'm not sure what I might be doing wrong. Any ideas?
The only things I of is to remember that Poly mode isn't global so it's set on a per track basis, so perhaps poly is on a different track to the one you're programming. Other thing is if you've hit the maximum 6 note poly across the 4 tracks then this would also cause notes to be lost. Beyond that it would be best to contact customer support. I should be on the official support team soon to help from there
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks for your time, Chris. When I dig in tonight, I'll see if it's an issue of hitting the max voice limit. My machine is from the second or third pre-order bundle, fwiw.
Chris, I have exactly the same problem. The pattern is totally clean and I when I try to record a chord I only get individual notes. What could be the problem?
@@ChrisLodyMusic Chris I have the same problem and I couldn't find a solution. I set the track in poly and both the pattern and track are empty and even though I couldn't record a continuous sound, only separated notes. Same when I try live record
Its a single global effects type that is saved per pattern. The send amount can be adjusted per track, or in the case of insert type effects, turned on or off per track
Thinking of getting this as a birthday present to myself, would you recommend it to someone who's only other synths are a pocket operator and a monotron delay?
I would yeah as long as you find this tutorial easy enough to follow then you'll be fine. It's quite cleverly layered so all the most commonly used features are easy to get to but with deep editing as an option. It has a Pocket Operator style sync option too
It is difficult to use the sequencer with an external midi keyboard. Are there any settings for sequencer quantization? I can't find anything about it.
You can easily connect up a midi keyboard to play the XFM live or record directly into the sequencer. Each track has a 'Note Value' setting that determines how long each step is with settings from a 32nd of a bar to a whole bar per step. Using that you can quantise your recording, the default setting is a 16th note.
It does have that function. It's located on the 3rd knob from the left in combination with the knob shift button. There is also track panning available. Both of these can be automated using parameter locking
This is fantastic, thank you for making such a great tutorial!!! I’ve barely needed to look at the manual, even though I should... It would be amazing if you were to make a sound design/patch video like you did for the NTS-1! (Also it looks like patches can be saved in a midi file, so no need for patch sheets... I think?)
You're welcome. Yes I could do a patch collection video for it, great idea. I did a lot of work on the FM patches for it so it'd be nice to build a collection that more thoroughly explores the possibilities of the pattern edit mode using the filters, LFOs etc. And you're right I could easily share sysex midi exports for that
Please stop making this thing look more awesome than it already looks! You could buy a DX7 for 350 about 3 years ago..... Until they started trending and now we can't find one without the accrued 'Hipster Tax'. Let's just keep this secret between you and me, baby... Please?...
Ha yeah I wish I'd grabbed a DX or CZ something or other before they went shooting up. As long as Sonicware keep making these though they are very reasonable 😁👌
There's an 8Bit Warps, XFM release version then an XFM prototype with the edit overlay on. Made people a bit excited by accident with that as it's not been shown much looking like that 😄
Thank you for being one of the few “UA-cam audio professionals” who know how to properly balance their voice to music levels! It’s amazing how many “professional audio experts” don’t do this. At best you might get a “Sorry for the crap audio”! 😆😆😆
Ha yes it is surprising how often that happens, even on bigger channels. It can take quite a while to balance a longer video like this and I drive myself crazy checking over the same footage. But I'm glad someone noticed, so thanks 😄
God you aren't kidding. I could understand if there were specific segments of the video they didn't get quite right but there are plenty of erstwhile pro audio vloggers who very clearly did _no_ balancing, or if they did, very clearly did _not_ know how to be sure the balancing was actually good for listeners.
I love the Sonicware Liven XFM. It's a great way to noodle FM. If you capture a voice and edit it, you see the crazy frequency ratios and modulation matrix that this thing produces. Some of it is beyond comprehension. Clearly, there is an entire realm of FM that we don't use under the current programming paradigm. XFM is a great way to explore these new possibilities.
Yes it's amazing what can be discovered when combining sounds. I've always been a fan of designing my own sounds from scratch but like you say there's tons more than that to be explored
Just dropping by to thank you for making this. Absolutely indispensable resource, and I find myself returning to the video frequently since getting the xfm. It's a wonderful machine and you did a fantastic job explaining it. 👍
Thank very much. Very glad you found it useful and I hope you have fun with the XFM
that synth is so deep, I'm really impressed, espacially considering the price it sells for.. great tutorial man, thank you
You're welcome thanks for watching. Yes the amount of power they have packed in is very impressive 👌
Without spending $1000+ this is by far the coolest FM engine out there. I'm going to pick one up today and I hope it scratches my FM itch and rounds out my live performance rig.
I've run out of room to mention this in the description 😅 I am working on an accessibility addendum document for this tutorial that includes a description of all the controls in pattern edit mode and sound edit mode. You can find here: bit.ly/3xGlIga. Also I'll be returning to the XFM to make shorter specific tutorials so if there's anything you'd like to see let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do
Please do a few patch tutorials. Patch recipes I'd like include: harmonica, choir/voice, electric guitar and, steel drums.
Will do. There's a Male Vox patch that I made in the presets in the 3rd bank (LD1) 11th sound (MVOX) but it only really convincing when played with varied velocity so maybe more like a vocal pad sound is needed. Replicating acoustic sounds is tricky though 😅 but I can always study a patch on another FM synth and translate it over. How are you finding the XFM to use in general?
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks. I'm getting there (slowly). I'm still occasionally reverting to keystrokes for the Liven Warps . I would have preferred it if all lists had a definite top/bottom (as opposed to cycling through options like, say, the filter types). I would have preferred the bank/sound selection knobs to have been notched (a la the value knob). Certain buttons (e.g. Pattern or parameter lock) having three or more states is not ideal but I'll get there. I'll make a start on the editing side of the machine next week once I'm comfortable with all the surface controls.
Yeah I thought the cycling options would make things tricky for you. I imagine you must have to come up with ways to test the state of certain options. I did request during the development that the encoder was used for more things like tweaking the cutoff and trimming the value with the encoder, but bug squashing got in the way I think. I'm hoping you find edit mode more intuitive as I can only think of one example of a cycling option which is the voice mode. Multiple pressed of the same operator select button mutes and unmutes them which keeps tripping me up too
I subscribed not only for the great tutorial but Chris took the time to reply to each and every question or at least “loved” the comments which is more than I can say with a lot of other “reviewers/influencers on YT.
Thanks very much. I just love talking about this stuff so I'll always do my best to answer questions 😁
Great tutorial, I even almost understand FM synthesis programming now! Admittedly I’ll be playing around mainly with the engines when mine finally turns up but good to know I can easy break my ears with some discordant sounds easily enough!
Thank you 😁 I'll cover the edit mode and FM synthesis theory more deeply at some point and show how to make some example sounds. It's a pretty good machine to learn FM on I'd say
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks! I look forward to them. Certainly looks much easier than the menu diving fun of the volca fm!
Oh yeah certainly is. I'm sure I would have fun with the Volca FM if I'd bought one but the way editing works was certainly off putting, plus the 3 note polyphony always seemed a bit stingy
So mine is in the second batch I think, but having watched this - WOW - I mean, this could well be gear-bargain of the decade, what a beast!
Yeah you're not kidding, it's got some real power. I was seriously struggling to fit the whole tutorial into an hour 😄
After watching the formant bass growl and super saw tutorials it quells my GAS for 2-3 other synths, will actually be clearing out a few FM synths
Yeah it does tick a lot of boxes. When I was first invited to design sounds for the XFM i was amazed by the spec I was reading for a device at this price point. I just find myself using it constantly now
I just got mine last Wednesday the 8th!
2nd batch also.
Definitely bargain gear!
Awesome, hope you enjoy it 😁
Chris, as always greatly appreciate your assistance. Guitar my main instrument but love the places you can go with synthesis.
Just picked up the XFM and saw the Freebeat video on the unit recommending your site to get a deeper understanding of it. I’m fairly new to the entire grove box/mini synth world being a guitarist by trade but always liked synthesizer music. This was pretty intimidating upon un-boxing but your video did a wonderful job of going deep in an understandable way of how to use the XFM. Actually was able to create a pattern after watching it pretty easily. Nothing fancy but allows me a starting point to note more fully delve into its capabilities. Thanks Chris.
Glad to hear it, hope you're having fun with it 😁
Without You I am lost in the XFM. Thank You.
You're welcome 😁
Another FANTASTIC tutorial Chris!
Much appreciated all the work you put in to this!
You're welcome, hope you have fun 😁
Just got this today. Man, it's fun. I made one pattern. Was confused with some functionality, which is why I'm back here... SUPERB tuto, Chris. Superb.
Oh awesome, hope you continue to have fun with it. Thanks for watching too
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks! Quick question-- with Sweep... I'm a little confused about why you held Function to access Sweep, as it should have been a Shift function... Shift works for the knobs you said, but Function affected the secondary function of the buttons. I think that's what confuses me most about the XFM, haha. :)
Possibly I misspoke, but there are some functions for Sweep on knobs and some on buttons. Like you say Shift is for second knob functions and Func is for second button and keyboard functions. I think this is so you can use shifted knobs while pressing the keys to test sounds as if there were just a single shift this would keep opening menus. Also you can use Func + Shift to lock the knob shift which is super useful
thank you. waiting for my liven lofi and wanted to see the workflow of these. very deep and easy
Yes it's very similar but without the complexity of FM, multi engine options or morphing to wrap your head around
I bought this just after glossing over the specs. It gives the digitone a good run for its money. The sound quality isnt anazimg, but very solid, and regardless all my gear gets run through good processing so the root sound quality isnt overly crucial. Main thing i was listening out for was issues with the interaction of OSCs and its really holding its own
Fantastic tutorial Chris, bought mine today and this will be invaluable.
Nice one. Hope you have fun with it 😁
Very helpful. I'm sure I'll be watching this more than once, but I feel I've got a decent handle on it already after only a couple hours of screwing around now. Quite a neat machine and exactly the kind of digital harshness I needed to add to my rig.
That's great glad to help. The XFM can be confusing for some people at first but it's got some great depths to explore
@@ChrisLodyMusic yes it is fantastic so far!
Edit: I had a question about saving but realized it was just user error.
Now I want Sonicware to make a samples based box.
Yeah I'd love that too. One that actually samples from an input would be pretty much unbeatable 🤞
They did it, SmplTrek is on the way. It’s a super rad game boy style portable production sampler. They are taking preorders now. Getting mine in December, so excited to hook it up to my Liven 8bit warps!
Well now you've got your wish! Two options as well.
Yeah I didn't even know the Lofi-12 was happening back then 😄
Wow. They listened.
Excellent in depth tutorial, will be returning to this when mine arrives no doubt!
Thank you 😁 I hope you have fun with it
I always enjoy the way you provide information, very concise. Cheers to you my friend! 🎹 🎶 😎
You're welcome 😁 Glad to know the tutorial is easy to understand, that's what I was aiming for 😎👌
Nice work Chris very helpful , hopefully mine arrives this week. Can't wait to do some sound design on it!
Thank you 😁 I'm sure you'll have fun playing around with all the options, there's a lot to explore here
man you are so good at tutorials please do some sonicware xfm work flow videos
Thanks very much. Yes I'd love to return to some of the other Livens too which I'm planning on doing when I'm not quite so busy with my day job and film scoring!
Got mine today, and this video is *exactly* what I was looking for. Thanks you!
Excellent, I hope you have fun with it 😁
Thanks for this great tut - it helps me during my first hands on with the XFM.
You're welcome, 😁
excellent teacher as always thank you 💎
Chris thank you for your tip on how to easily stack different drum sounds on same track using PRM lock. One other question- can I set different volume levels for each separate drum sound on the same track?
No problem. Kind of, you can set the per note velocity with the Velocity knob as you program them in. Usually this translates to per note volume depending on how the particular FM preset has been programmed, sometimes it's also related to tone, or the sound designer has been lazy or forgotten to apply and velocity (😅) it won't work. Have a good and see which sounds work.
Whoo! Here we go!
Thanks for putting this together. Excited to get into it myself!
You're welcome. Hope you enjoy the XFM
@@ChrisLodyMusic I do wonder though, do you think it will be easy enough to edit sounds without the overlay or do you think it’s absolutely necessary?
I have tried that for a basic edit like quickly altering an envelope but it gets confusing pretty quickly to be honest 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for the frankness. I wonder if it’s learnable after a while…
The editing goes way deeper than I imagined.
Well, I’m grateful for the overlay then!
Just got mine today...loving this. Vids a big help. Thanks
Nice one, glad to help. There will be more tutorials when I've got the time to make them 😁
It's got a slightly steep learning curve. I've only scratched the surface of mine...but I think it's really worth hanging on to while you absorb all it's complexity, bells and whistles. It's superb both as a synth AND as a groove box. The sounds are insanely good for what you pay. I got mine as an open box special for 180. Not bad. And I even got a power supply with it.
So far I've only messed with the synth part really and I haven't been able to truly assemble any good grooves of my own. I really don't want to use the pre-programmed ones.... Because that's somebody else's music not mine!
So glad you're enjoying it. A steep learning curve yes but lots of depth tomgo with it. Really very good for the money I'd say 😁
Thanks for the tutorial. It's much needed. I've had the XFM for 24 hours and I'm really struggling with it. I find it very unintuitive :-( So did Matt Greer. So at least I'm in good company!
Yes it's not as intuitive as the 8bit Warps, but it packs in a lot of power so that's to be expected I suppose
@@ChrisLodyMusic It has made a bit more sense today and I'm getting around the XFM a bit more fluently. I've lost count of the number of times I've watched your tutorial 😁 I posted on the Liven FB group today about one obstacle I have. Quite often I like to start with a 16 step loop and then copy it onto the next bar/s (17-32, 33-48 etc) and then make minor changes.
After chatting with a few people on the group it seems this isn't possible on the XFM. There's no function to copy your current track's pattern into bars 17-32, 33-48, 49-64. On my OG Novation Circuit I can use the duplicate function and on my UNO Drum there's a copy function for pasting your sequence into further bars.
It was mentioned in the group that it would be nice if the XFM does what the Elektron does and automatically fills in the steps as you increase them. I'd be grateful if you could pass this on to the development team if possible. Someone on the FB group has a hacked workaround on the XFM to do this by sending midi out and back into the XFM! Thanks.
Good to know you're getting there with it. Yes that would be a good feature. I'll add it to the list Evan and I have complied to show the engineers
@@ChrisLodyMusic Cheers Chris.
Excellent tutorial. Any way to change the metronome sound to a click instead of a beep? Thanks!
Thanks very much. No sorry there's only the option for a beep for metronome at the moment
cant wait for mine def hands down best tutorials on youtube for anything but especially learning synth sequence
Thanks very much, I hope you have fun with it 😁
loving it already man its quite a lot to take it at first though def rewatching ur vid a few times today lol bless you sir stay saucy@@ChrisLodyMusic
it was fun for a little but now i press play and itwont play any patterns this thing is a nightmare lol
Okay sounds like you may have changed the clock setting so it's waiting for an outside click or midi clock. Hold Func and Press the key with Clock below it, now use the encoder to change the display to read INT. Hopefully that's it
omg thank u so much@@ChrisLodyMusic
Great video mate thank-you. Can it be synced well with a td3?
Yes that should be possible though I've not tried it as I don't own one. The sync in on the TD3 should work though it depends on the number of pulses per step which doesn't seem to be mentioned in the documentation. The TD3 also has midi though so you should be able to sync with that too. Hope that helps
hi chris, love the tutorials you’ve helped me understand the xfm a lot. i cant seem to find in here where you talk about how to use the copy function in sound edit mode could you help me with this? everytime i try to copy a sound in sound edit and paste it to a empty bank it just thinks i’m switching to that bank.
Thanks very much. The Copy
Great tutorial!!!! It's hands down the best learning material for XFM on youtube. I have a small question - how can I edit the duration of a note I already entered in the sequencer? For example, I entered a single-step note, and now I need to turn it into a tied 4 step note, without playing it again. I am really struggling with it..
Thank you. Now that I think about it there are plenty of ways to shorten notes but I can't think of a way to make an existing note in the sequence longer. Your only option is to delete it and add a tied note back in. If it's part of a chord you can turn on the REC mode so that you can remove the particular note from wherever it is in the sequencer, so in that respect at least it's possible
Does this mean the XFMs have started shipping? Very-very-VERY excited to get mine. This and the 8bit Warps will pair nicely with my Circuit Tracks and the Circuit Rhythm I've got coming later this month.
Yes they have started shipping. It's s little slower than they were hoping for but I've seen a couple of people over on the Facebook mention there's have arrived
Great tutorial, thank you very much!
Hi Chris, thanks for the very useful tutorial. I have a question about the operator levels in page 2 of the bottom row of quick edit in edit mode. What is their relationship with the mixer and operator receive levels? Should i basically have the operator levels on maximum at all times and then adjust the receive levels depending on the routing I want, or is there more to them? I'm familiar with 4op fm but new to the xfm, so I'm a bit confused with there they fit in its "algorithm-free" operator architecture.
Hi. You can think of the operator level as kind of a legacy setting. It works the same way on old Yamaha DX synths, it changes the actual internal level of the operator. This means that if it's routed as both a carrier and modulator (which is an option), changing the operator level will affect both tone and volume. But this is a bit restrictive which is where the operator receive and mixer levels come in. These don't alter the internal level of the operator, but just attenuate the connections between them. So you can have an operator set up as carrier and modulator, adjusting the carrier amount with the mixer and modulator amount with the receive levels separately. So yes, you won't be missing out on anything if you leave the operator levels at max and adjust everything on the mix+receive amounts. I hope this helps, it's a bit complex to put into words 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic Hi Chris, thanks for taking the time to answer! Your explanation is perfectly clear. Cheers from Montreal
Thanks for this Chris - will be invaluable when mine shows up :-) Very interested in whats over your left shoulder in the video opening... above the fan!
You're welcome 😁 At this point I have the prototype XFM and the finished one, so there's two XFMs on the shelf. One 'naked' and one with the overlay on. As for if there'll be more Livens in the future.....I couldn't possibly say 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic. Im gonna troll on this post and say I bet there very well could be. I took the 8bit apart and had a look at the board. There are connection points for pads. 🤔 🤷😁
@@NoxBoxdy cool, what's the main chip there ?
@@goodnota I forget. A teensy I think. Custom board. Enough to run these liven series synths. Love mine. I got an xfm as well. :-)
Thank You Chris.
My XFM arrived today. When trying to changing sound banks once I have selected a sound engine I get a line of dots on bottom of display that "walk" from right to left, and while this is happening scrolling though banks does not work, eventually the scroll will start to work if I keep turning the knob back and forth, if I leave it it just keeps displaying these walking dots. What is going on here ?
Don't worry that's normal. The Knob Latch feature is turned on by default which attempts to stop accidental edits of information in patterns. I talk about it at about 5:26 You can turn it off if you prefer. The walking dots show which direction you have to move the knob to find the saved position in the currently loaded pattern
I noticed the updates were taken down so figured they started shipping. I was literally the second pre order so hope I get mine soon! Stoked!!!! :-P Especially since I am having to sell my Tempest to survive at the moment. It will be nice having something new and impressive to take my mind off it! Lol
Yes they have started shipping, there's a few members of the Facebook group that have received theirs so hopefully yours won't be long now 🤞
@@ChrisLodyMusic 😁 🙌 Can't wait. Love my 8bit. .. oh btw man. Off subject.. You should check out the NeoTrellis M4 and feather on adafruit if you dont already know about them. Just got the m4 kit. Cheap easy build and very cool device. Was using it w 8bit yd. Was a gift to my mate but I do plan on getting myself one as well now. Great introduction tutorial btw as well, Chris. 👌
Thank you 😁 I've not heard of those so I'll have a look later
@@ChrisLodyMusic *a note... forget the neotrellis. 2 bad boards and Adafruit has no support to simply get an exchange so I had to contact bank to dispute charges. Anyhow... I take back my suggestion. Lol
Damn that doesn't sound good!
Have you like this interesting box? It's much better than previous model?
Yeah I really like both of them. I'll make a comparison video soon that compares the sound and features of the two Liven models. They are quite different so it's a matter of taste as to which you think is best, but the 8Bit is more immediate where as the XFM has more power
Thank you for doing those tutorials. What about any propability/chance funcsion in sequencer? And can you apply more than one fx per track?And what about dx7 preset compatibility using sysex? Thanx.
Thank you 😁 The Dice function is covered briefly in the section that starts at 31:32 but I'll return to it in more detail at some point. You can only have one effect set up for the whole pattern but with varying send levels per track. It doesn't support patch import because the FM architecture is very unique to accommodate morphing between any patches, this is something I'll talk about in detail soon
It really does remind me of my jd-08.
great video!. looking forward to your future XFM content .
ide like to see a deeper look at swapping out user parameters into your p.c., to replace them with different ones.
can you save that info externally?
could you build different parameter packs, for different projects?
thanks chris!
Thank you. Yes that would be a very good idea for a tutorial video. So yeah you can export sounds and patterns in midi sysex format which can be recorded and stored with dedicated midi software like midiox or bome send sx. Alternatively it can be recorded at the beginning of a project file in a DAW like reaper etc so it would restore itself when the project is played back
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks again.
hi I raelly like the xfm but there are some odditiies in the work flow I guess to cram in so many features into such an affordable , hands on and portable device.. One thing that I am finding a bit frustrating is there is no way to syn the LFO to the BPM?? Or choose for it to be retriggered per note or free flowing on its own? I looked in the manual but I have to say its so vague half the time. It keeps telling you how to do something, but not telling you what it is you are doing. Kinda stupid. So it says to go through this process to access a feature which it is not obvious what its purpose is. But it never tells you what it does :(.... I feel like sometimes sonicware are too eager to have all these sophisticated abilities and miss some very simple and very important stuff that makes it very hard to get the sound you want even with the impressive feature set.
Yes the XFM manual isn't really written with the workflow in mind. They have got better at it more recently, but also that's why they like me to make these tutorial videos because I try to set them out logically and explain all the functions.
Regarding the LFO, feel free to make feature requests via the support email page on their website. They're quite receptive to ideas and will often add user requests via firmware updates. Another video on the XFM will show you how to calculate LFO sync, not quite the same I know but still useful. That's here:
ua-cam.com/video/w_jLmWwpdnc/v-deo.html
Just bought one of these off of Reverb, it shipped today. I was debating between this and the Model:Cycles for the longest time, finally decided on this since it actually allows you to get deep into the sound design, which I feel is what FM is all about. I have a baseline understanding of FM from messing with Sytrus and Operator, how well would you say that type of knowledge translates to this device?
Yeah the Model:Cycles is a good machine from what I've seen but has a more basic FM implementation. I've not used one though so I've no idea how intuitive they are to use. Any FM knowledge you have already will definitely carry over. I've just made a couple of XFM edit mode tutorials on the channel so check those out if you'd like to dive in
@@ChrisLodyMusic Oh I definitely will, you definitely have the most comprehensive videos on this device available on the internet, so thanks for that! I'm actually a little surprised just how little coverage this thing has gotten in the electronic music production sphere. Just a handful of threads about it on reddit, and videos on youtube mostly from you and Sonicware. Seems like it's really flying under the radar
Yes it's a shame it's not been covered more so far. Sonicware is a small company and they relied a lot on trade shows when they marketed and launched the ELZ-1 and 8Bit Warps which hasn't been possible with the XFM so it's been much more of a hidden gem so far. Hopefully they can get back to doing that soon. Glad you like my tutorials by the way 😁
Awesome!
Can the arp be synched to clock?
Yes it runs at whichever 'note value' (step resolution) is selected for that track up to 1\32nd resolution
What kind of 9 volt adapter, this thing is blowing through batteries like crazy. Tip negative, center negative, sleeve negative?????? 2.1mm?
Its not a 2.1mm, the plug type has some weird name. Your best bet is to buy a Korg Volca compatible supply as they are the same. Re batteries, I recommend rechargeables. I get good battery life from rechargeable NiMh batteries but you have to remember to change the battery type in the system menu to NiMh or it will switch off early.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thank you for the reply. I do think this info should be listed in the manual, as it looks like the unit would take a standard 2.1mm plug.
Thanks for another great video. I’m getting increasingly charmed by the overall workflow of the Livens and now the XFM is beginning to call out to me, haha. You have both a MicroFreak and an XFM. In my own (small) collection of gear I feel like they would overlap a lot. Almost to the point where I might sell the MF if the XFM does enough of what I want with it. I’m very impressed with the multitrack capabilities XFM has on top of all of the synth functionality it has, and I do miss this multitracking capability of the MF for song(sketch) building. How would you say the the MF & XFM compare and differ most essentially?
I'm probably the worst person to ask to be honest as I'm a bit of a gear hoarder 😄 But honestly the MicroFreak offers so much in terms of different types of synthesis that I would probably only ever sell it if I bought a MiniFreak, but that is missing the poly aftertouch so I still wouldn't sell it 😅 If I were you i'd run the midi out from the XFM into the MicroFreak to sequence it from the XFM, then run the audio back into the Line-In on the XFM to add effects to the MicroFreak. They make a nice combination that way.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Haha, thank you for your honesty as always. And good tip about combining the sequencing of the Liven with the MF! Since I don't have an XFM yet, I guess I could try the same thing with the Lofi-12 that I already have, right? As it also has sequencing / midi out, line-in, fx and all that. Although then my Lofi would probably be taken up by these tasks, restricting it from adding drums and other sounds.
Oh yes it would work just fine on the Lofi-12. Each track can send a different midi channel so you can set one up for the MF, turn it's volume down and set it to mono. This means that track will only consume 1 voice of polyphony leaving 9 voices for samples, but the track used can still send chords to the MF. You can send the Line In to the reverb effect. It would be a tidy sample and synth setup 👌
@@ChrisLodyMusic Ohh that's great, thanks for sharing that! That's a nifty new combination to explore then, looking forward to when I have a bit of time to try that out next week.
Hey Chris, thank you so much for this tutorial and the others about this instrument!!
I received mine few days ago and am still exploring all the incredible possibilites.
One question I have is about "sound quality" : I feel that the overall quality of the sound seems poor wether I use headphones or my studio monitors (I've tried modifying Gain and change the volume per tracks and etc). Same for a kick than an FM melody.. :(
It sounds a bit like a bad .mp3 downloaded on limewire back in the times, and I don't understand why. Why the same audio configuration my Moog or even my Model:Samples seems so clear...
What do you think ?
Thank you again
I've not experienced any audio quality problems at all with any of the XFM models I've worked on which totals 3 including the prototypes. So I'm not sure what part of your setup would be causing problems. The best thing you can do is to contact Sonicware customer support as you be able to send them audio examples for analysis
It does sound a bit like something I've experienced on other devices where a lead is inserted in such a way that it causes the wrong pins to connect and cancels out the centre channel. So if that's the case it could be lead or connector problems, so maybe try a different lead while you're waiting to hear back from customer support.
Thanks for the instructional video, Chris. How does this compare to Model:Cycles , which was on offer for $249 if I'm not mistaken?
I've never used one to be honest but from what I've heard from other users the Cycles has a much more simplified synth engine. So it depends what you need. I like lots of power even if it's complex to get my head around personally, some people prefer easy to use
@@ChrisLodyMusic does it allow 4-op voices per each of 4 tracks of the sequencer ? what's it's polyphony ? thanks again!
Yes the tracks are completely separate so you can have different sounds loaded per track and even automate the sound selection on a per step basis as the track plays. The polyphony is 6 voices total across the 4 tracks. You can set tracks to monophonic to keep the voices under control where needed
Hi Chris, thanks so much for putting your time towards these tutorials. Your explanations are really clear. I just have one question, maybe I missed it: Is there a way to copy the amp envelope across the 4 operators? Or edit the 4 envelopes at the same time?
You're welcome. No that doesn't seem to be possible with the current firmware. When I was designing sounds for the synth I would mostly just write down my envelope settings if I wanted to copy them. Either that or I'd set the attack for operator 1 for example, then switch to operator 2 while the knob was in the same place dial that in and tweak to get them the same then continue with the other envelope sections where needed. I'd edit ratio, feedback, modulation etc in the same way if I wanted them to be the same
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks a bunch for your reply, really appreciate it. Bought a XFM a while ago thanks to you, can't wait to dive in.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Really appreciate what you did here .. No tutorial on the El_Z1 though? I’m guessing maybe you weren’t connected with the company at that time . Oh well , at least we’ve got them for liven. Couldn’t be explained clearer , mate, top job.
Thank you. Unfortunately I don't have an ELZ1 and they're not currently being manufactured due to supply problems so it seems unlikely I'll be able to help with that, sorry
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks for the prompt response then..
Interesting problem for you. I recently tried using my xfm with a Yamaha qx5 sequencer. The sequencer was set to pass through the midi from my master keyboard in real time. When playing I found the gate times for the played notes were behaving strangely. Some notes were cutting off prematurely, and playing without any release. On playing back from the qx5 I experienced the same problem. Yet without midi going thru the qx5 everting played and sounded as normal. Any ideas greatly appreciated.
That is strange. I'm not sure what would have been happening there. My only thought is that there might have been a midi feedback loop depending on how you had it wired up which can cause some very strange problems
@@ChrisLodyMusic not to worry I will try with a different sequencer. Definatly no feedback loop as I was not outputting the midi back from the xfm. Anyway have a good evening.
Hey Chris! Thought you'd be the best person to ask.. I made a simple pattern: Track 1 kick (four on the floor). Track 2 snare with a little delay on it. Track 3, two-note chords, just playing like C and F, and then C and G... four bar pattern.. (each change on bar 1, 2, then repeating 3 and 4). Last track, a bell-like sound (I used the Library for each sound). When I hold the bell sounds, it's muting the drums, and recording that way, too... like if I play a chord and hold the keys down. Really weird behavior. Any idea what this is? It's happening with any sound I choose. Thx! I should add-- is it 6-note polyphony MAX? Or 6-note polyphony per track? Thought it was 6-note polyphonic per track but it's not looking like that... holding 3 notes on track 4 when 4 notes are already playing (kick, snare, two-note chords on track 3)... it mutes the others. Note-stealing.... hmm.
Hey Chris. This will be because you're hitting the polyphony limit which is 6 notes share across the 4 tracks, so 6 poly max. There are a few things you can do to help though. Bear in mind that the track priority is 4>3>2>1 so when I made preset patterns I'd always put important elements like kick drums on track 4 with pads etc on track 1 that would still sound okay if a voice gets stolen. You can move tracks around with the copy and paste function by the way, even between patterns. Also if you turn tracks that don't need to play chords into mono or legato mode this will save polyphony for other tracks.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Ah thank you. I had the drums on Tracks 1 and 2. I honestly thought it was 6-voice polyphony per track, at least for melodic sounds, not drum sounds. But yeah, makes sense... a little limited, but still fun.
Can you tell me or a link please to a power supply please I’m going round in circles what will work .. don’t want to get the wrong one many thanks
Yes they're compatible with Korg Volca power supplies so the easiest thing to do is just to grab one of those. The power supply that Sonicware sent me is a 2 Amp model (2000ma) so probably best to get one with that spec
Hey bro ... you look like my Latvian mate Boyan ... anyway ... very very good tutorial.... the manual was in Japanese ... thanks a lot ❤️👊🏼
Must be a handsome guy 😂 Thanks for watching, have fun 😁
@@ChrisLodyMusic he’s good ppl just like yourself... I just received my synth today ... thanks to you... I’m having fun👊🏼👊🏼
Hi I'm a complete beginner and I like these machines , I like chill out to deep bass chilled house which of the three ( beats and bass , xfm, warp ) would you recommend?
Based on that I'd say that the XFM is probably your best bet. They are all quite versitile but the 8bit Warps leans towards lo-fi and the bass and beats has a monophonic bass section. The xfm is capable of chords for pads, leads, basses and synthesized drums so it should do a pretty good job of what you want
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks , I'm playing with FL studio mobile at the moment but need to get my hands on buttons pads and knobs
And how does this compare to the korg electribe 2?
I've no idea sorry, never used one
Thanks a ton for this. I'm about to order one but I have 2 questions that I would love help with before doing so!
1. Is there only 1 sound each for kick/snare/hat or are there multiple presets for the kick drum/snare/hat etc.?
2. Also can you modify the percussion sounds or are only preset(s) available?
Thanks again from a fellow synth enthusiast!
Thank you, glad you like the tutorial. There lots of different drum sounds to choose from. Actually in the downloads section on Sonicware.JP there is a list of preset sounds for the XFM that shows you different banks of sounds. These are all made using the same 4 op FM engine as all the other sounds so they can be copied and edited as much as you want. You can even build your own drum sounds from scratch. I'll make a 'XFM drum machine' tutorial soon to explain a bit more detail
@@ChrisLodyMusic Unreal thanks so much Chris. SO much power in one box. Just ordered. (without power supply so hopefully the battery life is good!)
Yeah the battery life is pretty good, especially when you're not using the built in speaker. There is a battery type selection in one of the menus that I have set to NiMH so I can use rechargeables, worth setting up properly or it will switch itself off too early
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks for all the tips. Excited for your new videos. Hopefully mine ships soon!!!
Thanks for a very informative tutorial, I have yet to decide how badly I need this thing on top of my 8bit Warps. If I'm understanding this correctly, the "tracks" on the XFM replaces the looper on the 8bit, but with greater control of the parameters (on the 8bit looper I believe you can only adjust the volume of each loop), correct? Also wondering about the functionality of the line input on the XFM. Can you record an external source on to a track, like you can with the 8bit looper?
Thanks for watching 😁 Yes that's right, there's no audio looper but the tracks are much more powerful. The XFM can't record the output from the line in but you can run the line in through the FX section.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Understood. You're a busy man, but it might be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison, pluses and minuses, of the two Sonicware Liven synths.
Yes it's on the list so I'll try to make something like that soon if I can find the time
Thx for making this vieeo! Very helpful!
You're welcome 😁
In the first shot, what is the synth on the top right, please? 😀 👊
It's also a Liven XFM but it has the edit overlay on. I have the release version and a prototype so I thought I might as well double them up in the background, seems I got a few people excited though 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks!!
@@ChrisLodyMusic daaaang, I was hoping for a gritty Liven 12-bit sampler...
Yes I'd love that too. Like a Volca Sample that can actually sample, now that would be awesome
Hi Chris, thank you for this nice tutorial.
Got my xfm since few days, I have one question, does the arpeggio play mode has a hold function? I don't find it in the manual.
Thanks
My pleasure, glad you like it. I has a general hold mode that also works with the arpeggiator. It works by holding OK and then pressing notes. These notes are added to a stack of held notes which a played until OK is pressed again. Hope that helps
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thank you very much.
How did this groovebox escape me? Thanks for this tutorial!
Its a sleeper hit I reckon, small company vibes 😄 Thanks for watching
Can you explain a little more why you ran the headphones out the Line out instead of the headphone jack?
Yes. That's a 3.5mm to phono splitter cable in the line out socket rather than headphones that is connected to my audio interface. I could have used the headphone socket but this would mute the speaker and I wanted to demo the speaker switch feature. Plus that leaves the headphone socket free if you want to monitor it that way while recording.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thank you for the replay and explanation! I just ordered one of these and will be using your channel to learn the ropes. Cheers!
You're welcome. That's awesome, I hope you have fun with it
Hi Chris, I have a question..
If I am on track one and I get a full drum. Kit, snare hihat bass drum..
Is it possible different drum sound I. One canal?
Manny thanks
Yes that's possible. You can use the Sound Locking feature which allows you to program different sounds per step. I show this in the section starting at 31:32 with an example adding hihats to the kick pattern
How do I latch the arpeggiator on a single bass line .. mine doesn’t seem to no matter what I consult or press thanks
You can use hold mode to latch the arpeggiator. Just hold some notes and press OK to hold notes, when in ARP voice mode this will latch the arpeggiator. To cancel I think it's CLR and OK (I'm not in the studio right now so I can't check)
Many thanks 👍
How do you copy a completed pattern to a second location if I want to edit the second one while preserving the first?
The procedure for this is just to use the save system. Press Func+PTN then OK to save the pattern down to it's current slot, then press Func+PTN but at this point pick a new save slot before saving the pattern. This way you can save the pattern to as many slots as you want
I have to tell you that these tutorials and the info you provide helped me decided not to sell this cool instrument. I don't know if it's my age but I am having such a hard time wrapping my head around this synth. I literally have to pause and rewind a million times before I can get it. I have had so much difficulty. One thing that I'm worried about is that one of my keys has a weird "click" like it sticks sometimes. But aside from that I also find that unless i hold the function button I can't change the filter. Even though the literature show not holding that button. Also I erased the low kick drum sound by accident when I was excited that I created a sound. I had to save the High Kick in the same slot and try my hand at editing it to make it sound more like a low kick. Not sure how great it is but at least it's a kick. Is there a way to get the sound back without losing all the other patterns I have been making? THanks again
Sorry to hear you're struggling with it, it's quite a deep instrument to learn completely so the deeper you go the more technical it gets. Strange about the filter, I'm not sure why that would be. The Cutoff should move without Shift held with Resonance added or removed with Shift held. A filter has to be selected first on an empty pattern though as they are off by default. Currently the only way to recover any of the stock sounds and patterns is to perform a factory reset as Sonicware haven't uploaded all of the sounds separately, though I could record a Sysex midi file of which ever sound it is you're missing if you let me know to Bank and Sound names at they appear on the screen. Do you have a midi interface for PC?
@@ChrisLodyMusic oh thank you so much !
And okay I think you said something that I remembered. If I try to move the filter without holding the button then it does say “off”
I haven’t gotten through your whole video yet
Is there a simple way that you could tell me here how to turn it on ?
And also I have a Roland midi interface and a Mac. That’s how I updated the firmware. Is that what you mean ? And thanks so much
No problem. To turn the filter on hold Func and press step 2 that has Filter written beneath it. You can then select the filter type and envelope shape with the value encoder. The Depth and Time controls will then affect how the filter cutoff changes over time.
Yeah that midi interface will do the job. I can export a midi file that you can import and save to replace the missing drum sound
@@ChrisLodyMusic that would be awesome
I belong to the Facebook group If that helps :)
Yeah sure that probably makes it easier to share. Are you the same username on there? I use my real name there, Chris Dodsworth
This may seem like a dumb question, but can a MIDI keyboard be used on this unit? There is no info anywhere if this is possible, but it would be great if it would work. I ask because I don't like plugging things in if I have no idea if it would damage the unit.
Yes you can play the XFM using a midi keyboard. The 4 different internal tracks will respond to different midi channels so typically a midi keyboard will default to channel 1 so whatever is loaded into track will will be playable with a keyboard. A lot of the sounds are set up with velocity sensitivity so it will also be very responsive to touch. It won't damage the unit even if it's connected incorrectly as midi is very forgiving in that respect. Hope that helps
Is there a hold function, for example, can i play a cord or note and it will play forever until the hold is off?
You can yes. If you hold a note or notes and press OK those notes will hold, press CLR and OK to end the notes. You can play other notes over the held notes and it also works with the arpeggiator
@@ChrisLodyMusic awesome thanks :)
Hi. Me again. Is there a way of toggling/altering LFO sensitivity on a per-operator basis? Say for instance have LFO only effect the carriers or only one of the modulators?
Short answer is kind of. The front main LFO will always be sent to all operators by the same amount, so no on that. But if you make a pair of patches that differ slightly you can use the X-LFO to use that to modulate any FM parameter, or multiple parameters by any amount at the same time. Alternatively you can sacrifice an operator, set it to fixed speed, turn down the speed and even route the envelope to it and use that as an LFO for pitch. Kind of a shame there are no LFOs in the FM edit section but I can understand why they wanted to move that to the front panel.
Outside the xlfo mode can you modulate anything other than pitch and filter with the lfo or are those it? Like the op or fx levels?
No unfortunately not. You can get a lot of flexibility by using the morph functions like XLFO to modulate between two different versions of the same preset to get op level changes. The FX send can't be modulated with the LFO but it can be controlled using the parameter locks, aka per step automation
@@ChrisLodyMusic thats good though at least i can use the automation. Also i know its not modular but i was gonna try experimenting running it through my rig so ill have extra modulation there sorta just not the liven xfm parameters. I just ordered one but i couldnt find much info on the lfo so i appreciate your response
Do you prefer to have the knob latch activated?
I do personally yes as it stops you moving a setting accidentally but it's nice to have both options
hi, can you te ll me how to save all the midi and clock settings. because every time I turn the xfm on again the settings are back on default.
They are saved automatically at power off. So make your changes and power down the device with the power switch and they should be there next time you power on
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for quick responds. I always turnf off all Equipment on one Switch. I dont know what is the englisch name for that unit. But yes I guess that is the reason why all settings get default again
Sorry about some of the auto text errors
Somebody please help me I'm trying to load a sound that I've saved in Bank One to create a track with how do I do that
I'm not sure where you mean you've saved the sound. Are you a member of the Liven Facebook group? If you are you can post pictures and videos to get support from staff and other group members including me
@@ChrisLodyMusic I just watched another one of your videos and it explained exactly how to do what I was asking so thank you appreciate it
when you change synth sounds can you save them and does it recall them how you saved them i read somewhere that when you save a sound it doesnt save it has you changed it and recalls a different sound please answer because everyone does a review on patterns and an external seq does this better the sounds are what makes this synth interesting but if you create a sound and it recalls a different sound then it makes the unit useless thks in advance
Oh yes it will recall any changes you've made as long as you save them. You just have to be aware of the way the memory is arranged with the FM operators and envelopes being edited using the overlay and saved as presets then everything else like morphing and filters edited and saved in patterns.
@@ChrisLodyMusic but i saw a tutorial of the sonic a bit warps the guy made a new sound saved it recalled it it sounded totally different and he changed the converstion real quick which makes me scated to buy this thing it jas to save my sounds and recall them exactly hoe i changed them not using the 2 sound morphing engines
The way that the memories work on the 8bit Warps is quite different. There are sound memories and pattern memories and you have to remember to save both. Also if you save the pattern before the sound memory the pattern may load the wrong sound when it's loaded back up. It's easy enough to understand but I've also managed to mess it up a few times myself while making songs. It's just a case of getting used to the workflow
@@ChrisLodyMusic no the guy saved his sound no pattern and it was different
Honestly it has to be user error, there's nothing wrong with the unit
Hi Chris. I've got a tiny request. Could you/somebody please tell me what the secondary functions of the 16 step buttons are? The XFM's user manual has the same accessibility issues as that for the 8bit Warps (i.e. buttons/knobs are referred to pictorially rather than by name. So when I convert the pdf to text, it's like playing madlibs/Blankety Blank). Through guesswork/watching vids I've figured out 1=Synth engine, 2=Filter type, 3=LFO Shape, 4=LFO Delay
but that's as far as I got with that. Also, if you/somebody would be so kind as to transcribe the overlay, that'd be enormously helpful (but that's not so urgent). Thanks in advance.
Let me know what you need to know about the overlay, I cover it all here and I'll go into it in more detail with FM synthesis tutorials. But for now the buttons are 1. Synth engine 2. Filter type and envelope shape 3. LFO shape 4. LFO delay 5. Voice mode 6. Voice adjust (glide or ARP type) 7. Sweep range 8. Sweep curve 9. Step note value 10. Pattern length 11. Transpose 12. Random step value (for random sequencer mode) 13. Effects type 14. Line in to effects amount 15. Random sequencer mode 16. Stutter sequencer mode
@@ChrisLodyMusic Many thanks. Just what I needed. Wen you're pushing buttons or turning knobs during your FM tutorial, please try to say where they are (e.g. "5th step" or "the middle C key" or "penultimate knob on the second row"). Cheers.
Sorry if you've mentioned this and I've forgotten, but is this required because you're particularly sighted or blind?
@@ChrisLodyMusic No prob. Blind. The XFM is a bit of a steeper learning curve than the Warps but I'm sure I'll get there (it's only been 24 hours).
Sorry that was supposed to say partially sighted, damn my thumbs! The Liven series seems to be attracting a few partially sighted and blind users, I think it would be a good idea if I made a tutorial with that in mind describing all of the controls in order rather than the way I've done it here. The XFM is definitely more difficult to learn in that respect due to it having more reliance on the LED display and LEDs above the buttons. Gets me wondering, is there a device that blind users can use to convert an LEDs on\off status to touch or a beep somehow?
It would be nice if Sonicware would sell edit-overlays separately, in case if something bad happens to the original. In the case that it take too much resources/bandwidth, an alternative would be to provide SVG for the overlay.
Yes that would be very helpful if you could get hold of replacements, I could definitely see them getting lost or damaged
Thanks for the great and very throughout tutorial tho, and the instrument itself is just amazing! And dead cheap as the only real alternative costs 4x the price of Liven XFM.
Thank you 😁 Yes I was looking at getting some sort of FM hardware including Volca FM before Sonicware asked me to work on this, much better bang for the buck than the Volca FM 😄
Could this be used in conjunction with the liven bass & beats do you think, thanks.
Yes absolutely. They will sync together using either the analog sync sockets or midi so they will work really well together. I've been planning some videos with the Bass&Beats used with other gear but building my new studio used my spare time up. Now that's done I should have time for more videos
@@ChrisLodyMusic nice one, many thanks for the reply
Is there a way to preview steps on the sequencer? Say, you have drums programmed linearly on one track, can you check what is on each step if you forget?
Or is there any indication that a step is parameter locked vs holding any note?
Yes if you go into record mode with the sequencer stopped you can press a step and it will play back its contents. You can check the value of any stored parameter lock by holding a step and turning say cutoff or something and the saved value for that step will be displayed, but you have to work out which parameter locks or where yourself if you know what I mean
@@ChrisLodyMusic oh ok! That’s good news. Thanks for taking the time to explain!
You're welcome
Is single track on sequencer polyphonic?
Yes that's right. You could use up the whole 6 voice polyphony on a single track if you wanted to
I'm very intrigued by this. However, I'm even more curious to know what that other Sonicware device is over your left shoulder?
I confused a lot of people by doing this, its the prototype XFM with the overlay used for editing on top. I just thought it'd be nice to fill the background out a bit 😄
Do you know if it’s possible to import patches from say, a SEGA Megadrive instrument file with Sysex?
Not currently no. The 4 op architecture is quite different to anything else on offer. I imagine it might be possible to convert a preset in software if someone wrote the right code as the XFM does use sysex to export sounds but they would no doubt sound different.
Are there any other tutorials for this
Yes. I've put together a playlist which is tutorials for the Liven series so far, so there's 8bit Warps and Bass&Beats in there too Sonicware Liven Tutorials: ua-cam.com/play/PLZtzlNHvZRO3G0mOfl0V2bLB-QWFYTfIA.html
Will these do polychain? I can see myself having more than one of these
No unfortunately not, it would be a great feature for sure so I'll have to suggest that to the engineerimg department
So, 6-voice poly per track?
Also, is it possible to loop a pattern more than once in the 'song mode' thingy?
It looks like a lot of fun.
It's 6 notes of polyphony across the 4 tracks. It would be nice if you could trigger a pattern multiple times like on a Pocket Operator but sadly not with the current firmware. It has 128 sequence memories though so it's fairly easy to copy a pattern into multiple patterns to play them in sequence
@@ChrisLodyMusic Has there been a firmware update since this video?
@@inthefade Yes there has, you can find that here. I also made a video about how to update which works via midi sysex sonicware.jp/pages/downloads
ua-cam.com/video/bHxyV0qwFns/v-deo.html
@@ChrisLodyMusic I actually find this limited polyphony fascinating. It reminds me of old limited video game synth engines (the YM2612 comes to mind). Those limitations can be interesting.
I don't know if you address note priority and stealing, but I imagine it will be important to understand that if I want to make complex tracks.
Yes I'm not sure I mentioned that in the video. The priority is setup track 4>1 and it's possible to control voice allocation by changing selected tracks to mono or legato
Sadly, I cannot input chords the same way as described around minute 29 and am really struggling. I am in polyphonic mode and I am playing the chord between a set of steps as shown, but the play back is all single notes.
I've tried different instruments, but the same problem arises. Additionally when I attempt to live record a chord in, I have a similar issue, though only one note is added to the sequencer. I'm not sure what I might be doing wrong. Any ideas?
The only things I of is to remember that Poly mode isn't global so it's set on a per track basis, so perhaps poly is on a different track to the one you're programming. Other thing is if you've hit the maximum 6 note poly across the 4 tracks then this would also cause notes to be lost. Beyond that it would be best to contact customer support. I should be on the official support team soon to help from there
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks for your time, Chris. When I dig in tonight, I'll see if it's an issue of hitting the max voice limit. My machine is from the second or third pre-order bundle, fwiw.
Chris, I have exactly the same problem. The pattern is totally clean and I when I try to record a chord I only get individual notes. What could be the problem?
@@joebetz6317 did you find any solution to this ?
@@ChrisLodyMusic Chris I have the same problem and I couldn't find a solution. I set the track in poly and both the pattern and track are empty and even though I couldn't record a continuous sound, only separated notes. Same when I try live record
Hi Chris! Can the effects be applied independently to each track, or is it just a global effect? Can't seem to find a solid answer. Thx!
Its a single global effects type that is saved per pattern. The send amount can be adjusted per track, or in the case of insert type effects, turned on or off per track
Can pattern chains be stored? If so, where are they stored/recalled?
Sorry no they are only temporary
Is real time recording into a sequence locked to quantization or can you record unquantized?
It's always going to be quantified with 1\32 being the maximum resolution and 64 steps being the longest sequence which is two bars at that resolution
Is there any Stutter resolution control there ?
I'll have to check, but I think stutter works at the step resolution of the track
Thinking of getting this as a birthday present to myself, would you recommend it to someone who's only other synths are a pocket operator and a monotron delay?
I would yeah as long as you find this tutorial easy enough to follow then you'll be fine. It's quite cleverly layered so all the most commonly used features are easy to get to but with deep editing as an option. It has a Pocket Operator style sync option too
It is difficult to use the sequencer with an external midi keyboard. Are there any settings for sequencer quantization? I can't find anything about it.
You can easily connect up a midi keyboard to play the XFM live or record directly into the sequencer. Each track has a 'Note Value' setting that determines how long each step is with settings from a 32nd of a bar to a whole bar per step. Using that you can quantise your recording, the default setting is a 16th note.
unfortunately it doesnt seem you have control over the volume of each track which is a bummer
It does have that function. It's located on the 3rd knob from the left in combination with the knob shift button. There is also track panning available. Both of these can be automated using parameter locking
This is fantastic, thank you for making such a great tutorial!!! I’ve barely needed to look at the manual, even though I should...
It would be amazing if you were to make a sound design/patch video like you did for the NTS-1! (Also it looks like patches can be saved in a midi file, so no need for patch sheets... I think?)
You're welcome. Yes I could do a patch collection video for it, great idea. I did a lot of work on the FM patches for it so it'd be nice to build a collection that more thoroughly explores the possibilities of the pattern edit mode using the filters, LFOs etc. And you're right I could easily share sysex midi exports for that
Please stop making this thing look more awesome than it already looks! You could buy a DX7 for 350 about 3 years ago.....
Until they started trending and now we can't find one without the accrued 'Hipster Tax'.
Let's just keep this secret between you and me, baby...
Please?...
Ha yeah I wish I'd grabbed a DX or CZ something or other before they went shooting up. As long as Sonicware keep making these though they are very reasonable 😁👌
What are the pieces of sonicware in the background at the start of video? Out of the two there is one I don't recognize.
There's an 8Bit Warps, XFM release version then an XFM prototype with the edit overlay on. Made people a bit excited by accident with that as it's not been shown much looking like that 😄