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Bitwig Classic-LFO Modulator - Classic Periodic Signals

Bitwig Guide | Apr 22, 2022

The Classic-LFO is a versatile modulation tool offering multiple waveform shapes, including random and smoothed random, with adjustable speed, phase, and amount settings for precise control. It supports both free-running and beat-synced modes, and can be used creatively for generative music or cross-modulation with per-voice modulation options. Features like node retriggering, phase offset, and key tracking allow for complex, dynamic sound design tailored to each note or synth voice.

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Short Overview

I love using the Classic-LFO because it offers a wide range of shapes, from smooth sine waves to random modulation, making it highly versatile. I can easily adjust the speed and sync it to the beat, which is great for both quick movements and very slow, evolving changes in my music. The phase and amount controls let me fine-tune exactly how and when the modulation happens, and features like per-voice and key tracking add even more creative possibilities. This LFO really gives me a lot of flexibility for everything from subtle effects to complex generative patterns.

Overview of the Classic-LFO

In this video, I discuss the Classic-LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator), highlighting its versatility and the various settings it offers. The Classic-LFO can serve not just as a basic LFO but also as a random modulator, making it a robust tool for a wide range of modulation tasks in music production.

LFO Shapes and Modes

The Classic-LFO provides several waveform shapes to choose from, including sine, triangle, pulse, saw, random, and smoothed random. The inclusion of random and smoothed random shapes allows the LFO to act as a kind of random modulator, introducing unpredictability and variation to the modulation process.

Speed and Synchronization

The speed control on the LFO covers a broad range, from a very slow 0.01 Hz up to a rapid 50 Hz. This flexibility is useful for everything from slow, evolving changes to rapid vibrato or tremolo effects. Additionally, there are beat-synchronized modes. These let you sync the LFO to the musical tempo, with options as short as 1/64 of a bar and as long as 32 bars. I often use these slower synced settings to sequence generative music, fading synths in and out over extended periods such as 32 bars.

Use of Long Beat-Synced Modulation

For generative music applications, these long modulation periods enable gradual changes in volume or other parameters. By synchronizing modulation over 32 bars, you can smoothly transition elements in and out, maintaining interest and evolution in the soundscape.

Phase Offset

If I want the peak of the LFO, where the effect is strongest, to occur at a specific point in time, I adjust the phase setting. This shifts the LFO waveform left or right, allowing precise placement of modulation peaks in the audio timeline.

Amount Control

The amount knob sets the depth or strength of the modulation. You can use this control to dial back or increase how much the LFO impacts the target parameter. For example, you might set it to 20 percent for subtle movement. This knob is also useful when combining modulation sources, as you can modulate the amount itself with another LFO, enabling cross-modulation for more complex results.

Note Retrigger and Per-Voice Modulation

When using note retrigger, every note played restarts the LFO, ensuring that each note follows the full LFO cycle. This is especially useful for rhythmic or percussive applications. In synchronized mode, per-voice modulation is disabled because all voices must stay in sync. However, in Hertz mode, per-voice modulation becomes available, letting each note played have its own independent LFO rate.

Key Tracking for Voice-Dependent Modulation

Using key tracking, I can change the LFO speed per note based on the pitch. For instance, higher notes might modulate faster than lower notes. Each note gets its own LFO rate, opening up creative ways to shape sound in response to keyboard input.

Conclusion

The Classic-LFO is an exceptionally flexible tool, essential for a wide range of sound design and modulation tasks. Its ability to select diverse shapes, morph speeds dramatically, synchronize to tempo, apply per-voice modulations, and offer precise control over modulation amount makes it suitable for both subtle and complex generative musical arrangements. With features like phase offset and cross-modulation, the Classic-LFO becomes a central part of building movement, interest, and evolution in music production.

Full Video Transcription

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by Whisper, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

Click to expand Transcription

[00:00:00] So the Classic-LFO is basically just a classical LFO and it's also a very versatile LFO because
[00:00:09] you can dial in a lot of settings here.
[00:00:12] We have some shapes here, we have sine, we have tree, we have pools, saw, and we have
[00:00:19] also random and smoothed random.
[00:00:22] So it's kind of also not only an LFO, it's also a random modulator in itself.
[00:00:29] We have your speed setting which goes up to 50Hz and it's pretty fast and it goes down
[00:00:36] to 0.01Hz, pretty slow actually.
[00:00:41] And we have of course here some beat synchronized modes, we have 164 and we can go as slow as
[00:00:49] 32 bars and I use this sometimes to sequence generative music.
[00:00:57] So when I have multiple synths playing and I want to have these synths go out and or come
[00:01:03] in back in a very slow manner, then I use this setting here and modulate just the volume
[00:01:15] like this and then it takes 32 bars basically to blend the synthesizer in and it takes 32
[00:01:24] bars to blend this synthesizer out again.
[00:01:29] So it's pretty helpful sometimes for generative music to sequence generative music.
[00:01:34] And then when I want to have this, the loudest part or the peak part of this LFO at a certain
[00:01:40] point or at a different point, I use the phase setting here to offset basically the phase
[00:01:46] of the LFO to the left or to the right.
[00:01:50] So this is also nice to use here, the phase setting.
[00:01:55] So when I bring this over here, maybe a bit faster on 1.4, basically can offset the highest
[00:02:05] peak part to a different point in time.
[00:02:08] It's hard to explain actually without visuals.
[00:02:13] So we have also here an amount knob, which applies the amount of strength and not only
[00:02:22] can apply the strength here with the mapping itself like this.
[00:02:27] Also say I want to dial this down to 20%, so it doesn't modulate that much anymore.
[00:02:33] And it's also helpful when you want to modulate this parameter with a different modulator.
[00:02:39] We have like an LFO here, different LFO and you want to modulate this amount of like
[00:02:46] cross modulations, which is helpful to have this amount knob here.
[00:02:51] So in here, we have also node retriggers.
[00:02:54] So every time we play a node or the node on is played like this one, you have multiple
[00:03:00] nodes.
[00:03:01] So every time a node plays, we restart, retrigger the LFO.
[00:03:05] You can see here then we can just play here the whole sequence of the LFO across all nodes.
[00:03:30] And we have of course here a pair voice setting, but you can see it's disabled in the synchronized
[00:03:38] mode because it makes no sense when everything is synchronized, all voices have basically
[00:03:43] the same modulation applied.
[00:03:46] So only the herd setting makes sense to have this pair voice and then use maybe a key track
[00:03:53] modulator here and change the speed for each key setting differently.
[00:04:02] So when we have here like multiple nodes, something like this, so each node has a different
[00:04:16] value because it has a different node value and it gets a different point here on this
[00:04:22] line.
[00:04:24] And then we apply different modulation strength to the speed setting here.
[00:04:29] So every node has a different herds, basically modulation you can see here.
[00:04:39] Every dot is basically a node we are playing here and every node gets a different modulation
[00:04:44] speed of the LFO because we have the pair voice mode active here and we dial in a different
[00:04:52] modulation speed with the key track here.
[00:05:01] So the higher the node is on this piano roll, the faster it modulates the LFO, which is
[00:05:11] super nice to create interesting sounds just with these two modulators here alone.
[00:05:20] So the Classic-LFO is a nice versatile LFO for all kinds of situations.
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