Soundtoys PhaseMistress - Manual (Page 33)

LFO Mode
The "LFO" mode stands for Low Frequency Oscillator. An LFO creates a repeating
waveform (usually with a selection of various wave shapes) that oscillates at a rate
between 0 and 20Hz. This is why it is referred to as a "Low" frequency oscillator as
20Hz is still considered pretty slow in comparison to an audio signal. However, the
PhaseMistress LFO has a slightly wider range and can go as fast as 100 Hz.
Rate
The "Rate" knob controls the speed or rate of the LFO’s sweep and is displayed in
Hertz. A sweep rate of "1 Hertz" (1Hz) means that the LFO modulation will repeat
once per second. As we mentioned, the maximum setting of the LFO in
PhaseMistress is 100 Hertz (100Hz) meaning it will repeat 100 times per second.
Modulating the filter at this speed is pretty darn fast and can create weird "side
bands" that are inharmonic making the sound kind of "clangorous". This is "kind of"
like the sound created by a Ring Modulator and can be a useful effect. Note that at
this speed the sound of the original signal will often be totally warped out and unrec-
ognizable.
Shape
The "Shape" nudge buttons are used to select from the list of available built-in LFO
wave shapes. PhaseMistress includes all "standard" LFO shapes like sine, triangle
and square etc, but also includes a method for you to create you own custom wave
shapes, which greatly increases the sonic modulation abilities of PhaseMistress. The
number of possible shapes you can create is virtually limitless.
33