Intense Tech #09 — Let's Table This Discussion! (Defense Mechanism)

defense-mechanism's lesson on lsdj tables in the intense-tech series: the four columns explained with the details the manual skips, nesting tables with A, a quirk that turns one table into a stereo effect, and attack tricks. Written for LSDj 6-era versions; every example comes with a short video.

Key claims#

• Tables are "arguably the sole most useful feature to shape your sounds" and "there never seems to be enough of them to go around" (there is no table beyond 1F).
• Volume column: first digit the level (0–F on pulse and noise, 0–3 on the wave channel), second digit the number of ticks to hold it — 36 = volume 3 for six ticks. After the last filled line the instrument stays at that level until the note is killed; if all 16 lines are filled the column loops from the top. Example: a wave bass at 1 for three ticks, 2 for three, then 3.
• Transpose column: 01–7F semitones up, 80–FF down; "commonly used for custom arpeggios".
• Command columns work like phrase commands except that some commands cannot be used (D), L follows the transpose column (first column only) and L00 resets the instrument pitch.
• Speed: one tick per line unless a G groove says otherwise; with the table set to Automate it applies one line per note.
• A inside a table: with Automate it stacks a second table for simultaneous effects — one command in the phrase, one in table 01, A02 in its second column and two more in table 02: "a total of four commands at once". Without Automate an A "effectively extends the current table into the table specified". A20 or higher stops the table without a K, "since no tables beyond 1F exist".
• Simultaneous automation: two channels (e.g. both pulses) playing the same Automate instrument at the same time — channel 1 is affected by the even-numbered table rows, channel 2 by the odd-numbered ones: "easy stereo panning or similar effects using only one table, one instrument, and one phrase!"
• Attack: a noise snare with a high instrument volume "to give the snare an initial pop", then an E command that lowers it drastically; 0C in the transpose column on the first tick; a pulse waveform change on the first and second ticks; a high-frequency V on tick one cancelled by V00 on tick two (or lower values for subtle vibrato) — all combinable.

Practical takeaways#

Fill the volume column deliberately (a full column loops), stop tables with A20 rather than K, and reach for nested tables when one note needs more than two commands. The even/odd-row quirk is a free stereo widener for the twin pulse channels.

Notable quotes#

"Tables in LSDj are arguably the sole most useful feature to shape your sounds."

Pages touched#

instrument-tables · wavetable-programming · stereo-panning · chord-arpeggio · volume-slides · lsdj · intense-tech · defense-mechanism