Sho me your lfo

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#1

HI GUYS AND GALS,

I love my Rytm mkii dearly. Owned if for almost 2 years now. However, I’ve never used the LFO. Either on a TRIG or the master LFO, it’s always seems so daunting and when I try to tinker with it I end up not knowing what I’m doing and it sounds like poop. I’ve seen what some of y’all have commented on; siting “exponential LFO” and other things that I don’t understand. My discussion topic is:

Do y’all have setting that are your favorites?
And can you post exact parameter knob adjustments so that I can use on my kits?

FYI: I like playing live, and making loops. Not so much a “techno” guy. I like to make the Rytm sound as real as I can thru samples/filter FX.

Thank you.

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#2

Best use of Rytm LFO is, according to me, an exponential LFO (with ONE cycle) on Overdrive.
Set AMP/OVR to 0, then tweak depth, mult and speed to get the punch you’re looking for.

Second use is a 2k rate on e.g. AMP vol or filter frequency with fast fade out and TRIG mode on a percussion to add some noise/transient at the start of each hit.

6 Likes
#3

Just randomize the LFO settings until something sounds cool would be my tip.

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#4

I do a lot of either Pitch or Pan Modulation of Hats. Very settle, always RND with Trigger reset. As I am using the DualVCO a lot on the Rytm, I like to introduce some very low modulations for the bass line or whatever I am doing to give it some movement.

Never really used it for drums like kick, Toms or Snare, but I could think of modulating the snare (if I would like it in my music) to make it more dynamic.

I would love to switch LFO Targets over Tracks btw. While I don’t need one on my Kick for Example, I would love to have 3 on my closed hats. All Random, all TRIG, one for Velocity, one for Pan, one for Pitch. Did that on the OT and loved it a ton!

#5

That’s actually a really great suggestion. Randomize the settings until you like it and then examine it in details to learn what it is doing.

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#6

I use the LFO mainly for hi hats and other percussive elements, here I set the speed time to maximum, multiplier to 8 or 16, the depth only at + or - 5, the destination PAN.

For kicks I sometimes use the TUNE destination, but then only very discreetly, to create sucking or pumping effects.

With a sample you can also set the destination to the SAMPLE SLOT and then work with trig conditions, so that random sounds constantly appear in a pattern.

Otherwise i think the tip quite good to try the randomizer.

The LFO can often bring a lot of dynamics into your kit.

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#7

Think about the lfo as an automated knob movement. You can set when which knob is turned and in which way. (Fast, Slow, continuously, or only one time when you hit a note/trig or the whole time your pattern runs…)

Exponential means in this case just turn it (the knob) very fast in the beginning and than with less speed over time…

Watch YouTube videos about lfos for example some loopop tutorials about analog four. He explains it very clearly imho…

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#8

For this, try a random LFO shape on hi-hat/percussion velocity, MODe on HOLD, with a small amount of depth to keep it subtle.

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#9

I always try to use a one shot lfo, as a really fast envelope. On overdrive so it just comes on fast to cut down on background noise. And just recently I solved a problem I’ve had, use it to quickly fade up synth (or sample) amplitude when layering.
I feel it’s wasted if I don’t use it for something, even if it’s very mild pitch change with random.

What about the FX LFO? What do you guys use that one for?

#10

I favor random LFO on [parameter] per step trigger setting.

Maybe reverb on hi-hats would be a decent starting point.

Also, Start point on sample also leads to wonderful outputs

#11

Nice. Thanks for the randomizer tip, I didn’t think about that until now!

The hi hat pan idea sounds okay but something that sounds more fun might be an envelope effect LFO to change the timbre of the hats or rim shots. :thinking:

#12

I love mapping the LFO to sample start for hi hats. Just a little bit makes the hats sound a lot more natural and alive.

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#13

Interesting. I would think that hi hats are to fast that the start time would just change from full on to no sound. I’ll give it a try

#14

definitely not the case. Id suggest spending some time learning how to dial in LFOs. Just start with it maxed out and then bring it down. For this case I doubt I go much past 3-5% if that.

#15

Half of the time I use an LFO it’s the classic slów moving (1x, speed between 1-8) triangle on the finger cutoff. About +5 often already does lots, as it goes both ways positive and negative.

Other uses are slight variations on hats or snares or percs to give it some life. Mostly amp or drive or filter frequency or amp decay.

I don’t always succeed in intended results with a oneshot LFO set to drive or amp, so curious to hear what ballpark tempo/amount people use.

#16

As I use the dual VCO a lot too, but don’t tend to modulate it other then filter cutoff, what modulations do you got for?

#17

I play around with all of them. The OSC it is fun, Tuning for Vibrato, Tuning for FM Ratio, you can even modulate the Wave form (can be fun for psy fx).

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#18

Seconding the LFO on Waveform idea. I like using a predictable wave type (Sine, Saw, Tri, etc) that is tempo synced to some kind of speed ratio (12, 16, 32, 48) and have it hold the value. With staccato, mono-note patterns with differing hold/decay times you get some nice Drexciya type subnautical grooves. P lock the tuning of the OSCs for extra funk too!

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#19

Exponential decay envelope routed to sample level to have better control over the dynamics when using a sample as a transient layer, treating it like a second envelope + VCA just for the sample.

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