Sequencing an SH-101 from the Analog Four

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#1

Hello Elektronauts,

I’ve recently become the proud owner of an SH-101 that had been on extended lease in my “studio”. Until now, i was sequencing it from Ableton Live using a Doepfer MCV4 MIDI to CV box ( http://www.doepfer.de/mcv4.htm ).

However, using the Analog Four slightly more, it came to my mind it could be very fun to sequence the SH directly from the A4 sequencer instead of using live’s piano roll. I tried plugging the Gate and CV cable in the A4 CV outputs, but to very little success. I somehow feel like i’m missing the proper cables, as the CV outputs seem to send both gate and CVs ?

I’m really a noob regarding CVs and gates, so any help will be greatly appreciated. Ultimately, if someone knows of a Youtube tutorial of some sort, please post up the link :slight_smile:

CV tuning
#2

Not sure exactly how to answer as I don’t have a 101 but there’s decent A4 cv tips here that use a 101 in an example which might be helpful.

[font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://analog.pen.io/

#3

Cables could be your problem. The Analog4 CV out are dual outputs using TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) and you can configure which CV signals depart from the Tip and Ring independently.

Outputs A and C are tip, B and D are ring, sleeve is ground.

This means you will need a suitable INSERT type cable, i.e a single TRS jack to two TS jacks… Or more commonly known as a Stereo to 2x Mono jack lead. Like this: http://www.audiospares.com/home.php?cat=363

Info on how to configure each of the four outputs is on page 38 of the manual with further info in Appendix C.

When I get a chance I’ll post a demo…

#4

Yes, everything should be there…but it looks like pen.io messed up the formatting of the page. I’ll fix it in a bit.
Anyway, I second modul-r’s assessment: it’s all about the cables.
Perhaps, Elektron should supply at least one of these 1/4" stereo to 1/8" dual-mono cables with the next batch of A4s.
Anyway, if you can’t find the dual cables, you can always just use two standard 1/4" mono cables and 1/8" adaptors. You’ll sacrifice two channels of CV, but at least you could sequence one external CV instrument.

#5

Thanks for your replies.

Sorry i didn’t let you know how i got this working. It seems i’m not getting any notifications from the new forum?

I actually got this to work using a Y cable i had lying around. I simply plug each output to their relevant input in the SH.
It actually worked a treat :slight_smile:

#6

I am looking for a Y cable to connect my AK to SH101. Is there anyone that actually makes a stereo 1/4 to two mono 1/8 plugs? I can only find 1/4 to two 1/4. Is that what you guys are using and putting 1/8 converters on the two 1/4 mono male parts?

#7

yes i do, PM to order
here ,


or …
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=291219988887
cheers
#8

I can vouch for analogback’s cables. Bought one off him a couple weeks back to use with my sh101, works perfectly, great build quality and by far the cheapest A4 cv cable option I’ve seen short of making your own. Shipped fast and great communication. Highly recommended!

#9

Can somebody please post the exact settings (step by step) on the Analog Four to control an SH 101 via CV and to route it’s output trough the fx of the Analog Four?

#10

look at descriptions also my fellow berliner! … dash berlin… I think I may have heard that before

#11

Nice to see you got this working TrabanT. :slight_smile:

It works however my 101 is not playing notes correctly from the A4 keyboard.

Sounds like the note distances are wrong. It does not sound like a traditional scale.

Thoughts?

#12

my SH101 is not note stable over ALL octaves… lets focus on 1 octave, okay?

first uplug all from the SH, and make sure you have a stable 1 note sound coming out of it … nothing modulating, nothing fance, I darn straight note, no attack, long decay long sustain long release… volume up, no modulations!

in the settings menu in the A4

on cv track you hit fn osc1 … you should see type gate, polarity v trig AND LEVEL 5.0 Volts …
.
if you switch to osc2 now…hence CB B you will see… pitch V/oct
note 1 C1 …
voltage 0.034V
.
.
.move cursor to Note 1 C1 (so it is white on black) and PRESS YES on the A4 … you should hear a sound… from there you should calibrate… if you cant get a tuner and get a c out of your box here… your sh is …hmmm, “too old”… other scenario, you have a bad OS on the A4 ! …
.
.
.lets continue …

so , bullshit … I am infront of A4 and SH right now… and have the tuner up in ableton… all notes are all over the place! …

totally forgot to mention the TUNE know on the SH101 …

you know what… my thing is totally out of tune too…it is only working in 1 or 2 octaves … had absolutetly no no nooo joy in setting her up the last time…

i remember it to work REALLY well few month ago … lets say it is a CV a4 problem …

anyways with the tuning knob all the way to the right on the sh, and voltage 2 = 9.019v … when I hit YES i get a C# -2,3ct in ableton.
.
.
in the center octave on the a4, when I press C I get a Eb +49,4 in ableton … bear in mind the tuning is all the way to the right on the SH …
.
.
.
I bet this did not help… but if you happen to get theEXACT same crooked values…we know it is the A4 CV control …

.
.
.dont make me get my oscilloscope and voltmeter involved :frowning:

#13

MC 202 same thing. Weird.

In your video you sequence the same (filtered) note, have you tried sequencing a melody this way?

#14

probably melody too … did you follow my “instructions” to a T ?

#15

The SH-101 is 1v per octave. So you will get the correct tracking with these settings.

Page: CVA CFG
Type: Pitch V/oct
Note 1: C 2
Voltage 1: 0.000 v
Note 2: C 5
Voltage 2: 3.000 v

Page: CVB CFG
Type: Gate
Polarity: V-trig
Level: 5.0 V

#16

will try that tomorrow! thanks for the input cloxlix!

EDIT:

had to change tip and ring on my SH

#17

we have 11 octaves on the A4 … here are my tuner values from ableton… mind the tuning knob on the SH dead center! …

pressing C on the mini keyboard on A4
lowest octave, so
octave 1 is; Ab
2: E
3: C
4: Ab
5: E
6: C
7: Ab
8: E
9: C
10: Ab
11: E

I d like to blame the SH date of birth and not the CV from A4 for that behaviour :stuck_out_tongue:

#18

taking the CV control off of my SH here are the values for C

l c : c
l c2 : c
m c: c
m c2: c
h c : c
h c2 : c

if I go through all notes on the SH in all Octaves (with the tuning knob in the center)

ALL my notes show in Ableton Tuner as the corresponding values what I press on the keyboard, but almost all notes are exactly 1 ball off left or right, none is dead on green, they are rather yellow, and 1 ball off… if you look at the ableton tuner you know what I am talking about ;p

hence I figure: MY sh101 is a bit old and not entirely stable: the A4 CV option is a bit off, hence these 2 factors combined will give you a shit scale …

#19

I would not suspect that the A4 CV is off as it’s stable down to 0.002V , and you should even get rid of some of the SH-101 linear scaling issues if you follow Cloxlix example and the added instructions below. Also before you start make sure that the SH-101 is already in tune when playing its own keyboard using the Tune knob on the SH-101.

After setting this up highlight Note 1 and press YES. When holding down Yes the A4 sends out the Note 1 value and a GATE. Now tune the SH-101 to a C by changing the Voltage 1 value up or down a few mV.

Next go down to Note 2, press YES and change the Voltage 2 up or down until you get a C that is 3 octaves above Note 1.

/Olle

1 Like
#20

[quote="“Olle”"]

I would not suspect that the A4 CV is off as it’s stable down to 0.002V , and you should even get rid of some of the SH-101 linear scaling issues if you follow Cloxlix example and the added instructions below. Also before you start make sure that the SH-101 is already in tune when playing its own keyboard using the Tune knob on the SH-101.

After setting this up highlight Note 1 and press YES.

C = -4,9ct

When holding down Yes the A4 sends out the Note 1 value and a GATE. Now tune the SH-101 to a C by changing the Voltage 1 value up or down a few mV.

I would not change anything now I am fine with -4,9 ct
…. but hey, lets change Voltage 1 to 1005 V which tunes to C +0,5ct … 1.004V results in C -0,6ct

Next go down to Note 2, press YES and change the Voltage 2 up or down until you get a C that is 3 octaves above Note 1.

note 2 = C 5 for 3.000 V tunes to C +6,9ct … so changing Voltage 2 to 2.994 V tunes to C-0,9ct

Sh101 is still all over the place :slight_smile:

pressing c on mini keyboard going all the octaves up here are the values:

[b]Ab E C Ab E C Ab E C Ab E

thank you very much Olle for your support! … will try again after leaving A4 and SH101 on for more than 30 minutes…
[/b]
:slight_smile: [/quote]
:slight_smile: : )