3.12 Controller Rack

Controllers are used to vary the position of a knob or other control over time using another signal such as an LFO waveform. They differ from automation because automation uses a shape drawn manually and usually the shape is not a repeated pattern. In contrast, LFO controllers use waveforms to yield a regular pattern.

Controller rack

The Controller Rack displays all the controllers created within this project.

There are 2 types of controllers:

• LFO controller

• Peak controller

The right-click context menu allows you only 1 options: "Remove this controller". You can change the names of the controllers by double-clicking on the current controller name.

3.12.1 LFO Controller

LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator.

This button is the Controller Rack show/hide toggle button (F11). To add an LFO controller entry to the Controller Rack, click the Add button at the bottom of the window.

To edit the settings for a particular LFO controller entry, click the Controls button on the right side of the entry. The LFO controller settings are:

• 8 waveform option buttons

• 4 knobs

  • BASE: the center (or zero line) around which the wave oscillates

  • SPD: speed is the rate (frequency) of wave oscillation

  • AMP: amount is the size (amplitude) of the wave

  • PHS: phase offset is where in the waveform the wave starts its first oscillation

• 3 speed-multiplier option buttons

3.12.2 Peak controller

A Peak controller allows you to use the volume peaks from an audio source to automate the values of a control. A Peak controller is similar to Gate, but with greater flexibility. Peak controllers commonly use the output signal of a percussion track to control the volume of a sustained sound on a different track. This results in the sustained sound being chopped up in time with the percussion. In LMMS, when you add a Peak Controller it is visible in the Controller Rack, but it's actually an effect applied to an FX-channel. If you click on the "Controls" button you'll get a window telling you to use the FX-channel's controls (magenta arrow). Therefore, to get to the Peak Controller settings, click the "Controls" button on the Peak controller entry in the Effects chain box (yellow arrow). Beware an FX-channel can have more than one Peak controller entry.