ValhallaUberMod: The MOD Parameters

ValhallaÜberMod allows the user to dial in different chorus, ensemble, and glitch shifting modulations through the use of the MOD controls. By clicking on the MOD button at the upper right of the GUI, the 5 modulation parameters can be viewed and adjusted:

The MOD parameters:

  • MOD SlowRate controls the slower delay modulation LFOs, with the value represented in Hertz. Depending on the Mode being used, this will control the speed of anywhere from 1 to 16 LFOs.
    • In modes with multiple LFOs, the modulation rate varies for each LFO, so the SlowRate value maps to the cycle speed of the slow LFO with the highest frequency – all the other LFOs will be somewhat slower.
  • MOD SlowDepth controls the modulation depth of the slow LFOs. This is more of a scale than an absolute value, and is used to balance the slow and fast LFO depths (which are both scaled by the high level DEPTH control).
    • The MOD SlowDepth also depends on the MOD OverMod setting, which acts as a control to set the slow LFO depth beyond reasonable bounds – see below.
  • MOD VibRate controls the faster delay modulation LFOs, with the value represented in Hertz. Depending on the Mode being used, this will control the speed of anywhere from 1 to 32 LFOs.
    • In modes with multiple LFOs, the modulation rate varies for each LFO, so the VibRate value maps to the cycle speed of the fast/vibrato LFO with the highest frequency – all the other vibrato LFOs will be somewhat slower.
    •  For most applications, the MOD VibRate should be used to add vibrato to a chorus, with the main detuning generated by the MOD SlowRate and MOD SlowDepth controls. However, this is just a suggestion – the fast LFOs can generate cool chorus effects by themselves.
  • MOD VibDepth controls the modulation depth of the faster LFOs. This is more of a scale than an absolute value, and is used to balance the slow and fast LFO depths (which are both scaled by the high level DEPTH control).
    • The MOD VibDepth setting doesn’t get as deep as the SlowDepth control, as LFOs running at faster frequencies cause more pitch change than slower LFOs.
    • In addition, the MOD VibDepth isn’t affected by the setting of MOD OverMod.
  • MOD OverMod. Acts as a scale on MOD SlowDepth. At the default OverMod setting (1X), the slow LFOs are optimized for creating chorusing and detuning effects. For higher settings of OverMod, the detuning gets deeper and deeper, until it moves into the realm of pitch shifting and backwards delays.
    • The modulation depth established by MOD SlowDepth and MOD OverMod is also scaled by the high level DEPTH slider.
    • The pitch shifting is not the controlled type found in ValhallaShimmer. The amount of pitch bend depends on the interconnections between MOD SlowRate, MOD SlowDepth, MOD OverMod, and the DEPTH slider. A better name for this would be “glitch shifting.” I just threw up a little in my mouth as I typed this, but it is the most descriptive phrase I can think of for the OverMod artifacts.

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