I've got an XP60, which I am quite happy with, except for one thing. I've written a patch with a cool LFO, got it synced with the sequencer, and try to record it. It sounds all wonky and out of sync, like it's trying to catch up. I have everything set up so the LFO is synced to the sequencer- patch tempo set to seq, same with performance. In the song however, it's all out of whack. Any ideas?

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"Jim, Chekov's got your pants on!"

I once had a similar problem, as if the sound would only play ON the beat. If I tried to do something different, it would still play on the beat - this was all after I played a sound whose LFO was modified by me.

Then I checked the quantize feature. . Oops, quantize value was set too high! Bring it down a bit.

The Infamous EPU.

Are both LFOs for each tone sync'ed to the sequencer ("Ext Sync=CLK")? Is there any delay time set for the LFOs?

Altering the LFO wave shapes will change how "tight" the LFO-controlled sound is when sync'ed with the rest of a tune. Also, the type of waveform of the sound itself will also impact this.

Remember, if you modify a user patch which you're using in a sequence, you have to rewrite it to user memory, then reselect it in your performance for you to hear, in your song/sequence, the changes you made.

Yep, that happened to me, too. Another problem might be the type of wave you choose. If you are using a sine wave to control volume on quarter notes, for instance, then the loudest part will occur on the off beat. This can make it sound as if the sound is canstantly trying to catch up. Try switching to a square wave and setting the offset to its lowest value, see if that is any improvement.

Another thing that caught me was setting the sync value - make sure that you're setting it to "(quarter note)", not "less than (quarter note)."

D'OH! After rereading this thread, I realized that Wilkes already made that suggestion. My bad.

Thanks for the replies everyone, I've checked all the suggestions, but it still sounds out of whack.

This part has me a little confused as well. The tempo of the song is 122, and in the LFO settings I have the clk value set to 24. Is that correct? Also, for all 4 tones in the patch, the LFO settings are identical except for filter & level, which are slightly different.


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"Jim, Chekov's got your pants on!"

Another way around this would be to set the [Patch Source] parameter in the [Common] menu to PATCH instead of Sequencer, and set the patch tempo to modify the sequencer tempo.

This will elimintate any type of "catch up" sound from the sound itself. This however, is where you may want to use the Quantize feature.

The Infamous EPU.

Oh, please don't ask me to do math on a Friday!

Forgive me, I'm at work now and not in front of my synth, so I'm going by memory. When you set up the LFO rate, and you are sync'd, little graphical notes show up in the rate display. It will tell you if it is sync'd to a quarter note, or "less than" a quarter note, etc. Make sure it is set to the exact value, not the "less than" value.

Yes, 24 is the correct value for the LFO to oscillate in sync with sixteenth notes (48 for eighth, 96 for quarter note, etc.).

Are you experiencing the "lag" on each wavelength of the LFO or just at the start of each time a note or chord is changed (like if you sequenced a four-measure loop, with the notes of the sound modulated by the LFO changing only at the start of each measure, do you just hear the lag at the start of each of the four measures or is each of the sixteenth oscillations lagging)?

Reduce your patch to one tone and let that tone by modulated by its LFOs (with rates set at 24 or 48). Do you still hear the lag?

Try setting all envelope attack times for TVA and TVF to zero. Lower the depth settings for the LFOs as much as possible without taking away from the sound you want to achieve.

I think that is all of the ideas I have.

Yep, I've tried all of that, still no go. Thanks for the help though, I've e-mailed Roland about this so we'll see what they say. It's frustrating to think that the machine isn't capable of this simple function, so I hope it's a parameter that can be adjusted.

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Edges of Seven

Well here's something that may be a clue. I recorded the patch with the sequencer in patch mode, and it sounds just peachy! However, I need to get the same quality in performance mode, but I don't know what parameters to adjust. I have the performance tempo set to sequencer, so I don't know what else to do here Any ideas based on this late breaking info? We now return you to your regularly scheduled synth madness.

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Edges of Seven

Are you basing the timing of the LFO (in sync with sequencer) in PATCH mode on how it corresponds to the metronome? Did you do this in PERF mode, too? Or were you judging the tightness of sync of the LFO by its timing compared to the rest of the tracks in that sequence? If there are other tracks, how many?

It may take a little time, but if you post the main parameters - waveforms, envelopes, LFO settings, and filter settings - of the (User) patch in question, I'll try to re-create your situation on my XP and see if I can help. Or you could e-mail it to me. Of course, by posting it here, others could help as well.

Try turning key trigger off in the Patch - LFO menu. Sometimes when I am playing busy lines, that makes a difference.

Cheers