iCreate - UK (2020-02)

Logic Pro X

Automated EQ

sweeps with

Logic’s Modulator

L

ogic’s MIDI plugins are a mysterious bunch –

huddled away in their own submenu away from

all the other plugins, they’re often overlooked and

little-used as a result. Get to know them, however, and

you’ll find that they’re capable of some pretty useful

tricks, so this month we’re going to check out the MIDI

Modulator plugin.

Modulators are generally used to modulate or

change things, and this plugin lives up to its name. You

can assign it to control more or less any parameter of

any other plugin within Logic, which makes it a pretty

powerful tool – in this example, we’re going to use it to

control a single frequency band within a Channel EQ

plugin to produce a rhythmic, automated filter effect.

Create synced modulation effects

with the Modulator MIDI plugin

Mod you later

Control plugin parameters via MIDI with Logic’s Modulator

Logic’s MIDI plugins are a powerful set of tools and with the Modulator

plugin you can experiment with frequencies...

20

Time needed

Developer

Apple, Inc

Beginner

Smoothing/steps per LFO

Use the Smoothing slider to round off the

edges of waveforms like the square wave,

for instance. Changing the waveform

shape will affect the timing and feel of the

modulation effect.

Output graph

This smoothly-animated

graph plots the movement of

the LFO at its current settings,

giving you a handy visual

reference to how it’s altering

the selected parameter.

Wave hello

You can switch LFO shape

between triangle, sine, square

or random waveforms. The

symmetry control slews the

shape of the waveform left/right,

changing a triangle wave into a

sawtooth wave, for example.

Offset

control

The Offset slider

controls the overall

depth of the effect. In

the centre position,

the wave is at

maximum amplitude

in both its positive

and negative phases.

What’s an LFO?

Found in the modulation circuits of almost all synthesizers,

an LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) generates a slow,

regular pulse that can be used to control almost any

parameter in any plugin in Logic via MIDI continuous

controller (CC) messages. You can also use the one in the

Modulator plugin to send continuously varying pitchbend

and aftertouch messages.

Knowledge base