Uses for dual LFO

Started by Beo, May 12, 2015, 12:56:09 AM

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Beo

What are the musical uses of dual LFO? I'm thinking Vibe, Trem and Phaser primarily.

Kept separate, they can be a one stomp switch selection between two LFOs, like the CAE Super Tremolo... almost like two presets.
LFO2 can feed into the Speed of LFO1 for a syncopated rhythm/interaction. The same could be done for Depth, but I don't know if that would be particularly musical or audible.
And I think you can blend two LFOs, where they add/subtract from each other, perhaps rhythmically or maybe sounding random.

Not sure how much waveshape (square, sine, triangle) influences an LFO2 -> LFO1 configuration or a blend configuration.

I dislike pedals with controls that don't do much, or are highly dependent on other control settings. Any advice on what effects and configurations work well with a dual LFO setup?
(I'll get around to experimenting myself, but as usual I'd love to save time learning from the vets)



MaxPower

Auto-wah? Dual auto-wahs? Auto-wah and tremolo? etc.
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digi2t

4ms Stereo Panneur.

I have one, and it's brilliant.
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anotherjim

Ensemble chorus effect uses 2 LFO - fast & slow. Not really a guitar effect though. It's classic use is in string synthesisers to turn static sawtooth waves into a string  ensemble.

Govmnt_Lacky

If you want to discuss dual LFOs than the gold standard... IMHO.... is Lovetone.

Doppelganger and Wobulator. Look into those.  ;)
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garcho

#5
any kind of parallel filtering with independent LFOs can sound really cool. Like an orchestra swimming, or a crazy laser gun, or a subtle phaser, etc. I made a pedal called the Folie a Deux, two parallel BP filters, each with their own LFO, including depth, speed, and ramp. It could be improved a bunch, I'm sure, I haven't looked at it for a while, but I've played many gigs with it, it's one of my most used pedals.

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Mark Hammer

Blending two to achieve some aperiodicity is often a good idea.  There are times when you want the predictability of more-less-more-less repetition, but there are times when you just want things to vary a bit, and blending two unsynchronized LFOs can do that.

Note that LFOs can be used to control LDRs, which in turn control other parameters.

Consider this.  One of the reasons for the entrancing sounds of a Univibe into a distortion is that the vibe imposes broad shallow dips in the frequency response, as opposed to steep narrow notches.  As the "dip" moves around, it nudges the signal back from, or closer to, the clipping threshold in the distortion pedal.  This is what yields the "animation" effect of their combined use in that order.

Why not use an LFO to directly vary the gain in a clipping circuit of some kind, without requiring a vibe?  And while you're at it, if you have a simple low-pass filter tone control, like in a Rat, your second LFO could modulate the rolloff point.

rumbletone

If they can run 180 degrees out of phase, Brownface ('harmonic') trem!

Jdansti

Didn't Midwayfair/Jon design something with dual LFOs?
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alanp

Dual mode in the Doppelganger sounds amazing. It goes from the normal phaser sound (which can be somewhat "LOOK AT ME!" sometimes) to a very trippy, washy kinda sound, but without needing extra stages. Especially if you have the two close in rate, but not matching, so they drift in and out of sync constantly.