“How do I sync the LFO of a Roland JV-1080 to an external source?”
Synchronizing synthesizer parameters to external clock sources (MIDI Clock in this case) is a very effective – and relatively easy – way of embedding a part into a piece of music in a rhythmically meaningful way. It also provides an easy way to have synth parts take on a life of their own instead of just laying in a mix. The procedure here is specifically for how to do this on the Roland JV-1080, but the concept is basically the same for any synthesizer with synchronizable LFO’s.
1) Press PATCH and select desired Patch.
2) Press SYSTEM, press MIDI to select the PATCH MIDI screen.
3) CURSOR over to CLOCK and select MIDI.
4) Press EXIT.
5) Press PARAMETER so it is lit, then LFO.
6) CURSOR over to EXT SYNC and select CLOCK.
7) CURSOR over to Rate and use the VALUE dial to set the resolution (24=16th note, 48=8th note, 96=quarter note, etc.).