Minitaur for live DAW-less setup

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Hi guys,

Lately I’ve been thinking about getting a Minitaur - it should work well with my recently acquired Digitakt.

Thing is, from what I’ve seen, all the presets are managed from the editor application, so I’d need a computer in case I wanted to take it with me to play live and be able to switch from one preset to another. Is this correct? Because that’s a major downer for me :frowning:

Any suggestion would be appreciated. I really love the Moog sound but I’d rather get something functional, so I’m open to any other option that can provide excellent basslines and live versatility :slight_smile:

Thanks!!

#2

Have you considered reading the manual?

You can load the presets right on the Minitaur:

“NEXT PRESET: Press and hold GLIDE and then press OSCILLATOR 1 WAVE switch. PREVIOUS PRESET: Press and hold GLIDE and then press OSCILLATOR 2 WAVE switch.
SAVE CURRENT PRESET: Press and hold GLIDE and then press & hold RELEASE switch; hold both for 1 second. Settings will be saved in the currently-active preset location.
SAVE TO A NEW LOCATION: Press GLIDE + RELEASE switches; let go. You’ll see GLIDE and RELEASE LEDs flashing on and off. You can change presets in the normal way (hold GLIDE button, press OSCILLATOR 1 or 2 buttons to change preset); when you find a preset you want to save over, hold GLIDE + Press RELEASE to finish saving. Press RELEASE by itself to cancel without saving.”

Additionally you might use program change messages:

“Minitaur also supports MIDI Program Change messages to change presets.”

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#3

Thanks for the reply! No, I haven’t read the manual - I should have. Anyway, I’ve watched many online tutorials and in most of them they were using the app for this purpose so I was making this assumption, my bad!

I’ll have to read the manual carefully because it doesn’t seem like a very hands-on workflow for a live situation…

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#4

I think, it is a relatively new function of the latest firmware so on some older tutorial this function might not have been available.

Anyway, due to the lack of the display, the selection of presets might indeed be a bit complicated in a live situation. I would recommend to use only midi-messenges from the digitakt and not to touch the minitaur at all :wink:

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#5

Yeah, that sounds like the most sensible thing to do. I’ve downloaded the manual and I see that the presets part is something they added later, sort of an addendum.

Will think about it, I really like the unit and but I wouldn’t like to get something that will cause me too much trouble down the way. I guess I’m kind of new to all this stuff and right now it seems a bit complicated, but I’m up to the challenge if that means being able to release crushing basslines that will upset my soundtech :slight_smile:

#6

hey there, i’ve been thinking about getting a minitaur too!

i’d be using it with an analog4 and wondering if this is how i would set it up:

  • midi out of A4 to midi in on Minitaur
  • then stereo cables to control CV (or a y splitter)

is this all i would need to control the sequencing of the minitaur from the A4?
i was watching a few videos:


#7

additionally, to be able to “see” which preset you are on, and change with a visual numerical indicator, the Tech 21 MIDI mouse sends program change and gives you a visual Patch # display.

They run about $60 used.

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#8

the midi from the A4 will only be able to clock the LFOs, you can achieve control from the A4 to the minitaur note on off (gate) / pitch / filter / volume cv from the 4 CV outs of the A4.

Setup the CV track for the ABCD outputs to be
A -> cv gate -> minitaur gate cv input
B -> pitch cv v/oct ->minitaur pitch cv in
c -> value lin -> minitaur filter cv in
d -> value lin -> minitaur volume cv in

of course filter cv and volume cv aren’t essential but if you aren’t using those 2 cv outs might as well plock those bad boys using the A4 sequencer.

don’t be afraid to set the track source for the CV to the FX sequencer track for another layer of sequencing if you want to separate locks for filter/volume and gate/pitch

also check this out, i haven’t looked at it in much detail because I figured it out on my own but it looks to answer all detailed questions about a4 cv to external synths

a4 and minitaur is a badass combo. I’ve been using them in my setup for years and haven’t been disappointed with the results. Minitaur is pretty cheap in the second hand market so i urge everyone who wants some fat analog bass and a bad ass moog style filter beside their elektrons to grab one

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How to cv control minitaur?
#9

Looks like a good idea, I’ll keep an eye on it!

#10

Thank you!

What cables would be needed to use as you mentioned above?

Would it be be two stereo to y cables? Then each of these to split to the minitaur 4 control ins?

Thanks in advance.

#11

Correct, the 2x stereo Y cables is what you need. Aslong as they’re 1/4" on all ends you’ll be golden.

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#12

Thanks

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#13

Hi,

Do you know the program change Midi CC number to change the presets for Minitaur ?
There’s no information about it in its manual. I’ve tried cc32 and cc0 but it doesn’t work. My firmware is updated and I can control everything with Midi CC messages except program change. I also checked the editor, program change send and receive is on.

It’s very urgent for me. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

#14

Wow, Moog have shot themselves in the foot a little there. If they had dedicated program change buttons on the machine itself I would have bought one. I didn’t even know the Minitaur had patch memories because looking at the front panel, it just looks like an old-school synth with no presets… so I bought a Pulse 2 instead. :neutral_face:

#15

Program Change is not a CC message. It’s a Program Change message. :slight_smile:

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#16

Program change messages are different then CC (Control Change) messages. Although, some MIDI devices will use CC 145 or something like that to act like PC messages, but in general, you need to be able to send the Minitaur a standard PC (program change) message.
I didn’t read the whole post to see what you are using to send the messages but whatever it is, it most have the option of PC messages to do so. For example, I dropped my usage of Beatmaker 3 because they didn’t include program messages, which, for an app that claims to sequence external gear, is imho an absolute necessity.

#17

Here is a link that can help clear stuff up.
https://www.noterepeat.com/articles/how-to/213-midi-basics-common-terms-explained

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#18

Thank you very very very much @Freebot777 !

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#19

MIDI as a system to connect music gear is really archaic by now and in desperate need of an overhaul. The USB MIDI thing is a big fail, IMO.

#20

I think midi is still great because it works with old and new machines. 30 years ago, it was brilliant.
I’d like an additional new universal audio / midi protocol, with Usb or something new if it’s too limited. It will come one day. I can deal without it for the moment.

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