return to menu
on any drum / synth sound
select
confirm
in the most basic understanding of how to use an LFO (low-frequency oscillator), consider it an impulse to ”auto-tweak” your sound. a sound might seem good, but could get even better when you (for example) turn one of the encoders back and forth. with the help of an LFO, the behavior of that same encoder can typically be automated, or in some cases semi-automated.
sometimes the encoder itself won’t be spinning, yet you will still hear the changes the LFO produces on your sound. as far as visual feedback goes, a lot of the variations in sound will be viewable on the OP-1‘s display. to see the effect of some of the LFOs on a particular sound, consider looking at the details of the patch’s building blocks, using the T1-T3 buttons.
the LFO of a sound, when active, will be found on T4. please note that a few LFOs rely on some manual turning of the encoder to produce an oscillation. This involves the crank and bender LFOs.
let’s start by loading an LFO to a sound, before we look at the specifics of each LFO mode. you access the LFO menu when you are on any drum or synth sound (1-8), by pressing shift+T4. use the blue encoder to highlight your selection. press T4 to confirm which LFO you want to use for the current sound.
choose
amount
destination
destination parameter
the element LFO uses external elements for modulating a sound.
use the blue encoder to choose between the built-in g-force sensor, external input like radio, line-in or mic, synth engine envelope, or synth engine level.
the green encoder sets the amount - this is how much the LFO will affect its target. the destination is then further defined using the white encoder. orange encoder gets more specific, as this sets the destination parameter. dimmed colors in the color wheel represent shifted encoders.
if you selected external input, press shift + mic key to set the input source.
speed
envelope attack/decay
random LFO modulates all parameters for a selected destination. it also has it’s own envelope curve to control attack and decay.
blue encoder sets amount. green encoder sets speed.
white encoder sets destination and orange encoder sets the envelope attack/decay.
pitch
volume
this LFO lets you modulate the pitch and the volume to create tremolo effects.
blue encoder sets speed. green encoder sets pitch and white encoder sets volume. note: these parameters can have negative values, effectively inverting the LFO shape.
orange encoder sets the envelope attack/decay.
use shift + orange encoder to change LFO shape:
the value LFO modulates one single parameter value.
blue encoder controls the speed and green encoder the amount. the white encoder sets destination. orange encoder sets destination parameter.
dimmed colors in the color wheel represent shifted encoders.
another type of LFO is the MIDI LFO, which lets you receive external MIDI control change (MIDI CC) from other hardware, or from your computer’s music software. in this LFO mode, the MIDI CC becomes the LFO.
setting up your OP-1 to receive MIDI CC for a particular sound is done by pressing shift + T4 from any synth or drum patch.
using the encoders in MIDI LFO, you may route up to four incoming channels of MIDI CC, and target them to your preferred destinations.
MIDI CC can be sent from most music software like Ableton Live, Logic, Reason or Pro Tools. depending on what software you’re using, make sure that you have MIDI playing on your computer, which is routed from the software to the OP-1, connected via USB.
the crank LFO puts your hands in direct control over the LFO.
by turning the blue encoder you control the LFO speed. the white encoder sets destination, while the green encoder controls the LFO amount.
it should be worth mentioning that crank mode is also supported in the sequencers called endless and tombola.
OP-1 crank accessory sold separately here .
control bender
the bend LFO offers another take on physical control of the LFO, not unlike the crank in the way it relies on manual control for oscillating.
orange encoder controls the LFO, white encoder sets the amount. green and blue controls destination. (Bender accessory sold separately).
PRO-TIP: change bend direction using shift + orange encoder.
OP-1 bender accessory sold separately here .
the LFO clock found in the tremolo and the value LFO modes indicate a tempo locked clock with numbers and a free running clock with hand.
In certain LFOs you’ll see the destination symbol followed by the letter “F”. this means that the LFO does not retrigger on every note played, when for example a sequencer is running. in this case the LFO is free. a free LFO combined with a slow clock allows for long sweeping effects.
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