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Teach me to use LFOs
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| Swing |
Teach me how and you fellow TA's to use LFO's
Well, that's not really true, because I already know how to use them in a basic sense.
What I want are advanced methods of using them to make your synth sound better.
Here's what I know already
As the name suggest, these oscillators run at low frequency and are adjustable to run at a variable speed, from, for example, one cycle every ten seconds, to 30 cycles every second.
They can be of varied shape, ie. sine, trapezoid, sawtooth etc., so that the cycles can be smooth up/down (sine), or slow up and sudden down (sawtooth) etc.
They cantrol a multitude of synth parameters depending on the quality of the synth.
Linked to pitch, they can move the pitch slowly up/down or rapidly (tremolo)
Liked to frequency they can sweep the filters up and down
Well, I've done all that, and I must say it all sounds rather boring. A sweeping pitch ? A sweeping filter ? Doesn't sound that great.
So what am I doing wrong. How come synth presets using LFO's can sound great ?
What suggestions do you have for advanced LFO use ?
Share the knowlege |
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| Subtle |
| what is LFO`s :nervous: |
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| pho mo |
Not to be too pendantic I hope, but altering the pitch is called vibrato.
The tremelo effect, which was mentioned, means altering the amplitude (volume).
My best suggestion when using LFOs, is to tweak the delay parameter for the LFO. Doing so will bring in the LFO effect after the specified amount of time, instead of being full-on straight away.
Especially for leads this can make LFO use really expressive.
While the delay parameter is like the attack in your standard ADSR envelope, I'm not sure if any synths have full-on ADSR envelopes for their LFOs. These days they probably do.
Other ideas :
- use two LFOs to modulate the same parameter - two of the same wave but with slightly varied tempos will interact to produce a much more complicated wave. May sound but who knows.
- link the frequency of the LFO to some multiple of the tempo of your tune, for rhythmic goodness. |
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| CandyRaver666 |
The easiest and one of the best uses of LFO is noise.
Use it to analogue up all your sounds. You say you've got a V-synth too Swing ? You can make the VA sound a lot more analogue by using this technique, but it works for all synths and soft synths too.
This is a specific V-synth example, but can be done with whatever synth you use.
Choose two oscillators which allow for suboscillators
Let's go for your typical trance saw type lead by choosing all saws. Of course, you can mix different waves too.
Choose the pitch of OSC 1 to -6, LFO depth 5
Choose the pitch of sub OSC 1 to -3 LFO depth 5
Choose the pitch of OSC 2 to +3, LFO depth 5
Choose the pitch of sub OSC 2 to +6, LFO depth 5
Now, choose the LFO shape - Chaos (otherwise known as noise).
A much fuller, more analogue sound will present itself to you now.
(Resample the sound on the V-synth to create Supersaws).
Don't forget that half the trick of making phat sounds is effects.
If you're wondering why your sounds don't cut it, try adding effects, for example, chorus, delay, reverb. Don't forget you can stack these up (chorus through a delay through another chorus then EQ'd then through a reverb)
Oh, and don't forget that parametric EQ is an effect too. Try cutting the bass to brighten up your sounds etc. Sometimes it can be the difference between a searing, cutting lead, and something that sounds misplaced.
Personally, I think most leads need the bass dropped out of them to some extent. Try it and see. |
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| Vert |
| quote: | Originally posted by CandyRaver666
The easiest and one of the best uses of LFO is noise.
Use it to analogue up all your sounds. You say you've got a V-synth too Swing ? You can make the VA sound a lot more analogue by using this technique, but it works for all synths and soft synths too.
This is a specific V-synth example, but can be done with whatever synth you use.
Choose two oscillators which allow for suboscillators
Let's go for your typical trance saw type lead by choosing all saws. Of course, you can mix different waves too.
Choose the pitch of OSC 1 to -6, LFO depth 5
Choose the pitch of sub OSC 1 to -3 LFO depth 5
Choose the pitch of OSC 2 to +3, LFO depth 5
Choose the pitch of sub OSC 2 to +6, LFO depth 5
Now, choose the LFO shape - Chaos (otherwise known as noise).
A much fuller, more analogue sound will present itself to you now.
(Resample the sound on the V-synth to create Supersaws).
Don't forget that half the trick of making phat sounds is effects.
If you're wondering why your sounds don't cut it, try adding effects, for example, chorus, delay, reverb. Don't forget you can stack these up (chorus through a delay through another chorus then EQ'd then through a reverb)
Oh, and don't forget that parametric EQ is an effect too. Try cutting the bass to brighten up your sounds etc. Sometimes it can be the difference between a searing, cutting lead, and something that sounds misplaced.
Personally, I think most leads need the bass dropped out of them to some extent. Try it and see. |
I'm using a synth with a modulation matrix, what would you map the noise to?
es |
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| hey cheggy |
| For leads, I tend to modulate the oscillators with an LFO just a little bit as well as modulating the Pulse Width. There are many things you can do with them. Using a digital waveform, you can make an arp by linking it to cutoff. There's lots of stuff. |
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| KilldaDJ |
i link it to frequency to get a flanger effect.
in most cases it makes the synth 3x fatter than it was just by a simple LFO. but thats my opinion. |
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