Rotary Speaker question

[lancekeltner]

Hello All,
I was wondering if anyone knows of a way to accomplish the following.

1. Have a FC12 switch dedicated to on/off for the rotary effect.
2. Have a SECOND switch that could control the ramp rate up and down like a real Leslie would have.

Thanks!!

 

[Dave Merrill]

Hello All,
I was wondering if anyone knows of a way to accomplish the following.

1. Have a FC12 switch dedicated to on/off for the rotary effect.
2. Have a SECOND switch that could control the ramp rate up and down like a real Leslie would have.

Thanks!!

A second switch to toggle between two channels, each set to different speeds, is pretty common and what I do. You can set the speed of the transition in the block's parameters.

But you asked for a switch to control the rate of the transition, so pressing it would make it happen faster it slower the next time a transition happened, presumably when you pressed yet another switch.

Is that actually what you meant? I imagine it should be doable, but I've never done it. A nice lifelike speedup and slowdown is all I need.

Beyond that, you could use a pedal to control the speed directly, and change it however you like.

 

[ScottyB]

Not sure if this helps your situation, but I use an expression pedal to control the speed of the rotary.

 

[cje]

FM9 user here, but perhaps this can apply... I set up one switch where tap is rotary bypass and hold toggles between channels A (slow) and B (fast). To literally change the ramp rate variable, you might want an expression pedal for that, a switch would only toggle or select from up to 4 settings.

 

[unix-guy]

I am pretty sure @Joe Bfstplk has some clever tricks around good topic.

 

[Patzag]

FM9 user here, but perhaps this can apply... I set up one switch where tap is rotary bypass and hold toggles between channels A (slow) and B (fast).

This is what I do and it's flawless so far. The FX ramps up and down automatically when you switch channel.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Here's how I do it…

The values are based on Wikipedia's Leslie speaker article.

This is the slow speed.


High speed…


Brake… don't discount this setting. It has a different sound than bypassing the block, and is used by rock and blues organists often.


I set up a per-preset assignment, then assign using an Override, or the Per-Preset layout. Tap enables/bypasses, and Hold increments the channels making it easy to cycle through the speeds. This keeps the control on one switch, and because the rotary ramps up and down, there's plenty of time to hold without it being apparent, in other words, the speed change is smooth, even when stepping from slow --> brake, or fast --> slow or brake --> fast.

 

[Patzag]

Yes, I love that setting (break) but I don't have it implemented in my presets yet. I'd love to find a way to make it happen with a single switch. Maybe I'll do it by Channel Increment - Brake, Slow, Fast.

 

[InsideOut]

@Greg Ferguson curious if you like rotary before or after amp block. Before or after cab block. I've always just done long press as A/B on channels, but adding a brake is a great idea. Will try for sure

 

[Dave Merrill]

Hmm never tried rotary before amp, impossible in the real world with a real Leslie, seems a bit unlikely to be great, but I'll give it a shot when I get a chance.

 

[InsideOut]

Hmm never tried rotary before amp, impossible in the real world with a real Leslie, seems a bit unlikely to be great, but I'll give it a shot when I get a chance.

Indeed impossible in the real world. However, similar (IMO) effects like chorus, phaser, univibe can work well before the amp. I'm always curious about where other people like it.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

@Greg Ferguson curious if you like rotary before or after amp block. Before or after cab block. I've always just done long press as A/B on channels, but adding a brake is a great idea. Will try for sure

I do it after, which is how it was always done traditionally. That way it picks up the amp’s sound when it is distorting.

Experiment with the Drive control in the Rotary block also. There have been plenty of recordings of guitar or organ made with the rotary’s amp growling away.

Listen to these in stereo …

 

[sprint]

I use an on/off switch + expression pedal tied to rotary rate, with special attention to the damping parms to get a speedup / slowdown sound I like. For my kitchen sink, I like 2 rotary blocks - one before and one after (one or the other active / never both at once), since, like most mods, there's interesting nuanced differences between the two placements.

 

[allenma]

I use an external footswitch dedicated to Rotary rate, and also place the Rotary block after the cab and delays/reverb. Works great!

 

[iaresee]

Here's a cool trick: if you change channels on the rotary block, and the channels have different rates set on them, the rate will change to the new value and respect your ramp settings.

I have one rotary block with slow/medium/fast/crazy speeds set up on each channels and then just step through the channels to change the rate.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Here's a cool trick: if you change channels on the rotary block, and the channels have different rates set on them, the rate will change to the new value and respect your ramp settings.

Yes, the High and Low Time Constant settings. I use 3.5 seconds for the drum, but it’s really about 5 seconds on the real deal, which takes too long for me. I want (nearly) instant gratification.

 

[iaresee]

Yes, the High and Low Time Constant settings. I use 3.5 seconds for the drum, but it’s really about 5 seconds on the real deal, which takes too long for me. I want (nearly) instant gratification.

I’m not sure what you’re talking about here.

 

[Dave Merrill]

I’m not sure what you’re talking about here.

The times it takes for the top rotor and bottom drum to speed up and slow down.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

I’m not sure what you’re talking about here.

Those are the parameters that control the time it takes for the rotor or drum to settle at a new speed.

The Low Rate Multiplier is important too because that sets the drum speed.

The values in my screenshots above are based on the Wikipedia article and from the Leslie service manual.

 

[brianv4]

I like the way Cooper does it, using Smart Bypass and 2 switches. Watch the whole video but at 5:28 he demonstrates with the Rotary block.