How to create soft “auto de-quantization” with LFO on DT

[Traindepot]

Hey there everyone,

I’ve had my DT since November and I’ve found it to be extremely fun and helpful in creating music for me.

I’ve been making the rookie mistake of quantizing all tracks when I record a sequence into the DT (which is fine in some instances)….

Lately, however, I’ve found that there some instances where I’d love to get a little bit
More of a natural sound. Is there a way to gently shift a track off of the solid grid using the LFO? I’m pretty sure it possible I just can’t figure it out. Can anybody help me out please?

While we are on the subject, are there any other LFO tricks to give good motion, “interest,” or other organic qualities to a beat? Thanks!

[tubefund]

With LFO’s not possible to shift (micro) timing of trigs but some workarounds:
Random LFO on amp or drive to get more natural velocity changes.
LFO on sample start point does pseudo nudge sample back and forth (messing with the transient unfortunately)
LFO on attack for changes in attack (duh)
Swing (unfortunately per pattern but)
Use delay unsynced to create some pseudo parallel movement or remove the wanted tracks from the main audio so delay is fully wet. Try feedback minimal so it doesn’t sound like a delay fx.
Resample the track, clear trigs and place one trig for the sampled loop. Use microtiming or LFO on startpoint to get some movement
Resample the track while sparingly using the left and right arrow to fluctuate tempo while resampling.
Perhaps i can come up with more tricks but this is it for now from the back of mu head.

[wignersfriend]

in addition to @tubefund 's good suggestions, this thread has some helpful info

Emulating a live drummer

Can we share some tips about making the digitakt sound like a live drummer? Here are some techniques I’ve employed already: Choose a good sample. Some samples are easier to use for this purpose than others Use micro timing to nudge notes slightly offbeat, the way that a human woud play the notes Use conditional trigs to create variance, and adjust tuning and volume on the notes with conditional trig’s Use an LFO set to tune with a very slight depth, I usually use between .6 and .12. …

[1-2]

Yes it can be done with an lfo

I really love and use this trick

@tubefund

LFO on sample start point does pseudo nudge sample back and forth (messing with the transient unfortunately)

even though it’s an awesome technique I find it is better for changing the feel or giving a slight variation in timbre

This is what I have done to achieve exactly what you are looking for:

When you sample leave a small gap of silence at the beginning of the sample, then use lfo on sample start and dial in the sweet spot. This way you don’t have to chop off the transient (unless you want to) and the actual time of the note is shifted around instead of hitting at the same time with a different part of the sound

The legnth of the gap along with lfo settings will determine how loose and varied the timing of the groove is. If your gap is too big, just move the start point up a little first and then set the lfo

Sine/saw is good for a shifting speeding up or slowing down feel and random s&h is good for humanizing. P lock to very little or no lfo and close to or dead on the actual start point to keep some notes tighter or gridded if desired (like the 1 for example)

A little prep work yes but it works wonders. Just remember to leave the little space when you are sampling. Samples you already have on the dt would have to be resampled with the gap to use this unfortunately. If elektron would implement microtiming as an lfo destination this would be very easy

Set to taste and combine with the other great techniques listed here for that more natural less rigid sound. With just very subtle variations that might seem almost imperceptible it can really liven things up . You don’t have to to have noticeable variation just enough so that you don’t notice how static it is