Give me some CV tips

Mihajlo · 2014-03-03T16:42:01.000Z

So, i finally settled with Slim Phatty, which is coming in a week.

Its my first time using CV on any gear, so, before i start scratching my head and learning it,
i would like to have some insights.

Will i be able to make some parameter locks (for example, Slim’s filter),
like with other Elektron gear, that uses midi???

I will be using all A4’s outputs for my Slim, so any tips and stuff i should explore??

Endling · 2014-03-03T18:04:57.000Z

This is going to be a tad bit long. Feel free to ask any questions if anything isn’t immediately clear to you. I’ll be out at work for a bit but will be around in a few hours, and I’m sure someone else will come along that can give you good advice as well.

I don’t have an Analog 4 yet (getting one soon), but I have a little bit of experience with CV sequencing (I have a Moog LP and a Voyager Old School). I’m pretty sure you can still Parameter Lock steps on the CV track, although there’s a bit of a catch when it comes to opening up the possibilities of full control. I’ll explain.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the Slim Phatty (or any CV synth) has separate inputs for Gate and Pitch. The other real important thing is don’t send two CVs to the same destination.

Both need to be triggered in order for a proper sequence to play: a Gate CV will trigger the Envelopes and a Pitch CV will (obviously) determine what note is played. This differs from MIDI sequencing, where a “Note On” message will do both.

The Analog 4 has two CV Outs; out of the box, both of these will be used up just in order to do any basic melodic sequencing. If you just send a Gate CV, the Slim will only trigger whatever the last note played was. If you only send a Pitch CV, you’d have to trigger the sound by pressing a key, more or less defeating the purpose of sequencing.

Using it in the traditional Gate/Pitch manner would leave you without any free CV Outputs left to do things like affecting the filter. However, fear not, since there are some options, and they’re both fairly simple.

Option One:

Do you have any of Elektron’s other stuff? If so, you could simply use their MIDI tracks to handle the basic melodic sequencing, which would free up both of the Analog 4’s CV outs to do as you wish.The Octatrack would be the best match, since it’s sequencer is closest to the A4’s. Keep in mind, you don’t NEED anything else from Elektron; any MIDI capable device (or computer, iPad, etc) can be used.

Option Two:

If you don’t mind spending about $20 dollars (a lot less than buying an Octatrack!), you can get “insert cables” which can split one output to two sources. This will let you use one of the A4’s CV outs and send it to both Pitch and Gate. That can be set up in the A4’s menus: assign “CV A” to Gate, and “CV B” for Pitch.

That would take care of your basic CV duty, and leave you free to use the A4’s other CV Out. From here you could just use a normal patch cable if you only want to affect one thing, or you could repeat the ‘trick’ with another insert cable if you’d like to use “CV C/D” on both the Filter and the Volume.

Here’s a VERY helpful site I found detailing this method with the more technical aspects: http://analog.pen.io/

Hopefully this helps!

Mihajlo · 2014-03-03T18:31:26.000Z

Wow! That was very helpful. Thanks!

No, i dont have any other elektron gear, but Analog Rytm is coming also, as soon as its available.

I want to make music with just few devices, and i think those three will be more then enough (ill be making electro-ish stuff).

I dont actually mind if i stay without the option to control the filter and volume, but yeah,
thats what i was planing to do… to use both insert cables into all Moog’s inputs.

I am just not familiar how does A4 controls a filter with its sequencer??? I might figure it out as i go, but some explanations could also help.

Endling · 2014-03-04T04:01:32.000Z

Glad to be of help. I guess I’ll just go all out and try and explain the fine details of how an analog synth works. It’s actually fairly simple, and quite fascinating. It will help understand the importance of CV and make things easier when you finally hook the two machines up! I guess this will come in handy for anyone else curious that comes across it, as well.

Analog synths like the Moog operate almost entirely on how many Volts are being sent to it’s various components. The amount of voltage is usually between 0-5v.

When you play a note/key on an analog synth, the instrument is being told two things:

First, the pitch in relation to the amount of voltage received (typically 1 volt per octave). Second, that it’s receiving a Gate trigger. The Gate opens up the envelopes and lets the sound through the output. When an analog synth is “On,” internally it’s always making a sound; you just don’t hear it unless the envelopes are triggered.

For an example, when you get your Slim Phatty, plug a cable into the “Gate” input without connecting it to anything else; the synth will produce a constant sound until you remove the cable. That’s because it’s being sent a constant signal/voltage telling it to let the sound through.

With a filter, 0 volts being sent to it would mean the filter is “closed,” or that the Cutoff knob is turned down all the way. 5 volts would be “open” to its highest setting. When you manually turn the knob on the filter, all that’s happening inside the synth is that more or less voltage is being received by it.

The easiest way to think about CV control is that the knobs on a synth are being turned “by themselves,” since the same effect is happening as it would be if you were controlling the physical knob with your own hand. Envelope Generators work in the same manner; they’re just controlling the amount of voltage and the time the voltage takes to get to a certain level.

So basically, the Analog 4’s CV sequencer is just sending the Moog “new” amounts of volts. Every time it sends out a Gate CV, the Moog will produce a sound; the Pitch CV will determine the note, and sending CV to the filter or volume would be as if you manually turned the Filter of Volume by hand. Of course, the sequencer can just do it much faster and more precisely than a human would be able to.

Trust me, it’s going to be lots of fun! You’ll be able to do some pretty sick stuff with this setup. For example, program a bunch of Notes only into the A4 CV sequencer and put the Gate triggers on the second / FX track (like the mention on that site). You can then “move” the Gate trigs to different positions with the Function + Arrow Key trick to shift the notes that actually play around. You can have a whole different sequence of notes play without having to switch the pattern, since only Gate triggers will make the Slim Phatty play, etc.

Sorry this was even longer than the other post!
I’m excited for when I get an A4 since I’ve been dying to have a good sequencer for my Voyager and it’s dozen CV inputs. Not to mention my MoogerFooger Ring Mod and Delay, whose controls can also take CV inputs (something to think about!)

Mihajlo · 2014-03-04T14:55:41.000Z

I actually enjoy reading your explanations.
It really makes me wanna get my hands dirty with it even more…
Oh, well, one more week to go!!

Thanks, helped alot!!

sammymyman · 2014-03-05T01:45:50.000Z

Thing is, the A4 has 4 cv outs on 2 output jacks.
Using insert cables, you breakout all 4 outputs.
They are CV a,b,c, and d.
Set a/b for the sequencing
set c/d to send cv values to whatever you can find
that has cv control.
Explore the CV config under the function/global menus.
I hope this is helpful!

Zouaoui · 2016-02-05T09:46:27.000Z

""Mihajlo"":

So, i finally settled with Slim Phatty, which is coming in a week.

Its my first time using CV on any gear, so, before i start scratching my head and learning it,
i would like to have some insights.

Will i be able to make some parameter locks (for example, Slim’s filter),
like with other Elektron gear, that uses midi???

I will be using all A4’s outputs for my Slim, so any tips and stuff i should explore??

thanks for that link very helpfull!

Zman · 2017-01-27T14:48:57.038Z

I’m a little late to the party here, but I’ve broken out the 4 CV outs on my A4 and have it all sorts of hooked up to my SV-1. The A4 is like having extra eurorack modules! For free! Ok, we’ll, for the cost of the A4 I already owned. I’ve got CV A and B running pitch and gate, and then I get to have fun with C/D.

Right now, I’ve got C running midi clock pulse to the syncable LFO on the SV-1. You can then plock the clock divider control to have it spit out different tempos. I was just thinking - if I can route one of the A4’s LFOs or EGs as a mod source to the clock, it should spit out all sorts of rhythmic weirdness.

CV D, is set as a ‘value’ channel. I can route the LFOs and EGs to that, and BAM! new CV modulation source with intensity controllable by the modulation depth function. Plus you can plock various LFO and EG parameters, or even stack them on top of each other for even more complexity. But, unfortunately, I don’t think you can use the key-tracking LFO on the CV channels, which is tragic, because it would be a great FM source.

That’s two features I would definitely want:

Key tracked LFOs for use with the CV outs, and
The ability to modulate one LFO with another. I don’t think you can do that either. If you could, you could set up some wild 4-op FM chains.

kid_kozmoz · 2017-01-29T21:59:56.923Z

Hi Mihajlo,

Other things to consider: The CV tracks can use trigs from any of the track sequences. Unfortunately, that can eat up tracks for other voices or FX.

For example, today I was driving a x0x heart 303 module using my AK. The module has a 1v/oct input for pitch, a Gate In for the envelope, plus two Gate Ins for Accent and Slides. The pitch and envelope gates could be tied to the same trigs, but I used the trigs on the FX track for my Accent gates and the Track 4 trigs for Slides. It works great (except I am not sure you can tie trigs together to make a longer gate), but it makes me wish there were at least one more set of CV dedicated trigs.

Hell, you could set all four CVs to Triggers and use it to sequence drum modules, but it would eat up 4 of your 6 tracks.

RytmTrak · 2017-01-30T04:17:39.199Z

Start messing around with FM via CV LFOs asap!

Am_Version · 2017-03-21T07:24:46.586Z

My apologies but I too am taking my first dive into the CV on the AK. I have a 101 and MS20 hooked up and for starters just want basic sequencing.

I keep reading about how you can use the FX to trigger/sequence cv notes but for the life of me can’t figure out how to do it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

LyingDalai · 2017-03-21T08:08:36.046Z

On the CV track, the menus make it possible to assign any track to CV control.
You can set T1 to T4 but also FX and CV track.
You can output 4 different CV signals.
These can be e.g. two Gate + Pitch signals, basics.
Or you can choose to output a value controlled by A4 ENV or LFO…

Am_Version · 2017-03-22T05:48:40.630Z

So simple. Thank you.

oyrgawd · 2017-03-25T21:23:17.920Z

Piggybacking here…

I have CV AB connected to my modular, tip 1V/Oct pitch, ring Gate. I can play notes on the A4 (and external) keyboard, and I can set trigs on the CV track, but those trigs aren’t sending CV for playing back a sequence. I do have the source track for pitch/gate set to CV, and when I make a different track the source for the Gate CV, that works, but I’m wanting to dedicate the CV track to the modular. Any ideas what I’m doing wrong here?

EDIT: never mind. Lesson: always do a full factory reset on a used item. I don’t know what it fixed, but it’s fixed.

k7audio · 2018-04-01T00:48:03.427Z

Hi. I use the A4 to trigger an Oberheim Sem Pro.
I control pitch and gate with CV A and B, and VCF ext mod with CV C.
There is no filter tracking on the Sem, but I would like to program the A4 to do it.
How should I do ?
Thank you.

Acidvideo · 2024-04-17T12:29:38.930Z

cool! what are good parameters to set as destinations for this?

wowzer · 2024-04-17T12:37:26.873Z

It was less clear to me than expected when I started to use my matriarch next to my a4, connected by cv.
Now it is easy

CV a is gate (to trigger)
Cv b is pitch (check the manual of the moog for correct pitch settings, how much volt for one octave
Cv c is value, for example for your filter.
The lfo’s on the cv track work for your cv values, also p locking. It will open your moog and it’s just amazing.

If this works. You understand how it works and you can find your own way by doing your own experiment