Perfect Leslie/Rotary - 60 Second Sounds #8

mjrockwellus said:
I use an LFO Modifier set to square wave to automatically switch between low and high speed. It works really well and you can focus on playing rather then manually switching.
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If you're rotating back and forth between them, then anyone who is aware of how the speed setting of a leslie is usually used will instantly hear that it's not being used right. It's used to add tension and release, or treated more like a wah, to emphasize certain passages. In other words, it's a deliberate switch.

Instead of a LFO, try tying the speed to the envelope follower, and make sure the envelope follower is using the correct input source. At that point soft passages could be slow and louder could be fast and it won't mindlessly speed up and slow down.
 
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mjrockwellus said:
I use an LFO Modifier set to square wave to automatically switch between low and high speed. It works really well and you can focus on playing rather then manually switching.
Click to expand...
If that works for your stuff, you're good to go.

But, if you really listen to organists, they switch it at arrangement-significant times, like building up to a chorus that's starting in a couple beats, or similar, as part of their performance, rather than cyclically on an LFO....
 
mjrockwellus said:
Sorry misread your post. I get that you can use it to accentuate phrases but it also works great to use it as I said. Don't knock it 'till you try it!
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I have tried it, and it doesn't sound anything like how a Leslie is really used. I occasionally play with some really good rock, blues, and jazz organists and listen to what they do, and I use the rotary block in many of my presets. It's easy to set up a more flexible control.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
Rotary is one of my favorite sounds. I don't remember the first time I heard it, probably on a George Harrison or Eric Clapton song, well before I heard Frampton use it. Anyway it's almost always in my presets, and, like you said, it's a replacement for the Chorus block, especially when running into a stereo rig. Having it in the modeler instead of a big, very heavy, cabinet is wonderful.

It seems like Leslie's cabinets ran at varying speeds, and definitely other manufacturers used different speeds, but, based on Wikipedia's article on Leslie speakers, I went with 50 RPM for the slow ("choral") speed and 400 RPM for fast ("tremolo"), or .833 and 6.66 respectively in the Rotary block's A and B channels. I also use 0 for the rate to give me a brake/stop setting on channel C. (50/60=.833 and 400/60=6.66)

Then, on my enable switch on my foot controller I set the hold function to increment from A to B to C then wrap back to A, letting me use one switch to turn it on/off and to switch between the speeds or brake. It works well, but takes a little getting used to when wanting to switch from fast to slow because I have to step through the brake first. It works because of the way the speed ramps down, so two hold presses sounds like I've gone from fast to slow without fully stopping. The custom label for hold is showing what the next press will do, so starting on A, the next press is Fast, then Brake, then Slow.
View attachment 86478I like your other settings more than what I was using, so here's a blend of my RPM settings with yours.
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Ah, but switching through brake is what the lever switch on the organ does IRL. You just have to double tap quickly. Theoretically, you should switch through brake when speeding up, too.... :)
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
Ah, but switching through brake is what the lever switch on the organ does IRL. You just have to double tap quickly. Theoretically, you should switch through brake when speeding up, too.... :)
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Yeah, I double-tap, well, double-long-press, but because of the ramp up/down it's not too obvious, especially with band racket happening.

I'd love to have the ability to do a channel increment then decrement within a range. I guess it's time to use another wish. :)
 
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I'm glad I resurrected this thread. Interesting discussion this afternoon! BTW, I was able to get what I wanted after the right keywords were tossed around (modifier and control switch) so I knew where to start looking. So thanks all... Cheers!
 
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