Creating a Groovy Lo-Fi NI Massive Organ

Although I have done a few lessons in designing different types of organs here, it’s time to add some more to help do our part of making sure this incredibly funky and versatile instrument lives on in emerging genres. Taking advantage of the wavetables that Native Instruments provides in Massive, we can design seemingly countless versions of this classic layered sound. And with the built-in modulation controllers that can be used in almost any way, this NI Massive organ should be considered fairly simple and easy to recreate compared to what else is possible.

Start with a Flenders I wavetable loaded into OSC1 and raise the pitch value of the oscillator three octaves. Next, a Flenders II wavetable is loaded into OSC2 and the pitch value is increased two octaves. And a Flenders III wavetable is loaded into OSC3 and the pitch is raised octave. With the overall pitch value higher than the default, we have extended the working range of this NI Massive organ to make it a better match for the Lo-Fi style.

A simple LFO is now set up, which will be used to modulate a few different parameters later. Pay close attention to the crossfade slider positioning and the waveform positioning if you are following along and wish to recreate the NI Massive organ shared in this walkthrough. Also take note that the Internal Envelope feature is set up and used to control the Amp parameter of this LFO, which is what allows for the gradual increase in the LFO’s influence over the sound.

An Acid filter is loaded into the Filter1 panel, and the LFO we just set up is used to modulate the Cutoff and Resonance knobs. This gives the NI Massive organ the bulk of its characteristic wobble.

A Water Pipe Noise is routed through the Filter1 panel, which helps provide part of the Lo-Fi feel of this NI Massive organ.

A Bitcrusher is inserted to add more of a Lo-Fi character.

On the Voicing tab, the total number of Unisono Voices is increased to two. The Wavetable Position feature is used to finish shaping the sound in order to achieve the Lo-Fi appeal this NI Massive organ needs to work well in a wide range of projects. And the Pan Position feature spreads out the sound a bit more.

A Synced Delay effect is used to extend the sound, while a Dimension Expander is used to add more width and depth. The EQ is turned on and used to attenuate the low and high end frequencies, while giving a slight boost to some of the mid-high elements.

Below is a small sample of what this sound can do in a simple mix. Of course, it can easily be modified to become your own sound too.

Remember to shoot us a message before you leave if you have a tutorial request, or would like to share one of your own with the community.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,
OhmLab