Who's using an A4 cv to Modular?

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#121

If it were me personally I might rather start with another sound source so you can have something to sequence melodically with the A4…maybe start with the Braids or Piston Honda along with Maths? Even just Braids/PH you could run into your A4 and use one of your synth channels to get some VCA action going…or if it’s Braids, you could send triggers/gates to the TRIG input and use its built in Env/VCA function (it’s only a couple encoder clicks away!) to sequence it with your A4. Braids was my first module and it flipped my brain inside out with how much sonic awesomeness can come from one module. You could use your four A4 CV channels, for example, as:
[ol]
[li]V/Oct pitch control[/li]
[li]Step triggers > TRIG input on Braids to control internal Env/VCA[/li]
[li]LFO, envelope, etc > TIMBRE input[/li]
[li]LFO, envelope, etc > COLOR (or FM) input[/li]
[/ol]
…and have sounds you have never imagined, all synced, sequenced, and p-lockable the way y’all Elektron folks know and love :smiley: And this would be with only ONE MODULE!

But, regardless of your taste in oscillators, I think it’d be more fulfilling to start with something that can give you totally new sounds. You could achieve a different version of the same approach with Piston Honda and a MMG or Optomix or uVCA.

Also, you may find that you don’t need the uScale, depending on your sequencing style. I had planned to get a uScale but getting an AK totally changed my modular thoughts and I think I’ll keep my plans compact and look at the modular as more of an Analog Keys ‘super expander’, or at least plan to use the AK to do most of my sequencing, making an external quantizer redundant. The uScale seems like it’d be the most fun/musical of the quantizers that I have looked into, though!

Again, depending on how you end up using things, you may have plenty or even extra VCAs.
[ul]
[li]Optomix gives you two sorta VCAs if want to use either channel as such[/li]
[li]ADSR has VCAs built into the ‘Level’ inputs so you can control the ‘depth’ of the envelopes with CV (which is a common use of a VCA for modulators)[/li]
[li]Ripples has a VCA built-in to one of its low-pass outputs, controlled by the ‘Gain’ input[/li]
[/ul]

I’m in the (admittedly small) camp that thinks a small setup which you can get to know in-depth, and experiment more intensely (and efficiently!) is more fun :slight_smile:

#122

Wow, thanks for a great reply! I think you are right about prioritizing an oscillator/sound source first. Braids sounds mighty cool, but so does the Piston Honda. If my Blofeld gets sold, I might be able to afford Braids/Piston Honda, Maths and MMG in one go.

I have to admit a lot of this is a bit abstract for me at the moment. I’ve read and heard a lot of these modules, and I’ve seen countless demonstrations, but I don’t really get most of the things that are going on (except it usually sounds very interesting). I think I need to try it out hands on to understand it better. I don’t even have a clear idea of what exactly the A4 can do to the modules, except for sending clock, pitch and possibly some control/modulation signals?

I whole-heartedly agree with you that getting to know one small setup would be much more beneficial than having a large one. Yet I know that if I get enough money to spend on this, I will, I feel a bit like a kid in a candy store, and if you had a lot of money when you were a kid, you’d buy the whole store not thinking about the fact that you’d most likely get sick and throw up. Thankfully, I don’t earn enough to be able to buy lots of modules all the time, so “overloading” shouldn’t be a problem.

One very, very embarassing question I’ve been wanting to ask, but haven’t dared ask at Muffwiggler - I can’t plug a cable in a wrong connector, right? I mean, I know if I do a bad connection, that it won’t necessarily affect the sound, but I can’t like short circuit the system or anything? Hehehe. Also, say I have one system in a box powered by one outlet, and another system powered by another outlet, can I still do connections between the two systems? Stupid questions, I know, just needed to get them out there. :joy:

But! Looking mightily forward to digging in. :slight_smile: Hoping to order my case and the first couple of modules this week or the next.

#123

I don’t know about shorting the system but I have heard that you should never plug an input into an input. But saying that I am equally in the dark as you however I have managed to avoid blowing everything up so far.

In terms of what you can do with the A4, basically I have a filter and an oscillator and it already pretty much acts like a 5th voice for the A4 (albeit a different sounding and little less complex one).

Can’t recommend the braids enough. It compliments the A4 well.

#124

Daisuk - Yes you can safely connect the A4 to your modular, the grounds on the boxes you ordered take care of this, so no worries there. One thing to be aware of is that the CV setup on the A4 is best done using a tuner or multimeter, as the values shown in the LCD are not too accurate.

By the way the design of my boxes has changed slightly since the pic posted earlier, the sticker is slightly different and the plug I was using is discontinued, so has been replaced with one of the same quality.

Here is a pic

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OZ0ac11VoCc/U00jvbenE4I/AAAAAAAAAJs/0SJ8gQAlDKk/s640/blogger-image-351468966.jpg

#125

Ok, that’s good to know, at least, thanks! I’m swaying more towards the Braids at the moment, but still very curious about how you actually operate parts of it, haven’t seen any good demos where all its features are showcased. But it sure as hell sounds sweet, and all of those synth-methods are very enticing. I actually scored a 9U case today for less than the 6U case I was going to buy, so might have space to add a Piston Honda later anyway. :wink:

#126

Yep, that’s very nice, and why I ordered them! I might not know a lot, but reading through your thread where you posted them, I figured it would be a good investment to get a couple. :slight_smile: Noted about the multimeter or tuner as well, that’s good to know, thanks!
Looking forward to receiving them and trying out! Thanks, man. :slight_smile:

#127

I agree with joshuagoran about starting with a sound source first.
Nedavine, It is output to output the thing to avoid. Anyway, most contemporary modules have a 1K resistor to their output for protection. It happened to me a couple of times in the patching frenzy to do this but all went fine.
Instead, the really bad thing that can happen in eurorack is reversing power cables, so always ALWAYS check the negative polarity both on the power bus and on the module’s PCB. It’s clearly marked on the silkscreen, so it’s easy to check. Otherwise you can fry your modules.

#128

Any module made by a reputable manufacturer will not “Blow Up” if you plug an output to an output, however you will add “stress” to the components and shorten their lifespan.

#129

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Got my new modules. Didn’t have much time to play with them but the STO seems to be a sync and FM beast. No screws with my pittsburgh mixer which sucks but luckily I had some spares left laying around form when I built my shruthi.

#130

Hey btw, is there a way to get the A4 to send pitch bends? Doesn’t seem to respond to them. And I am not quite sure how to build a pitch envelope in the modular domain.

#131

Pitch bend is a MIDI parameter, so answer is no.
To build a pitch envelope just patch an envelope to V/OCT or FM (depending on the type of response you’re after) input of your oscillator

#132

Pitch bend is a MIDI parameter, so answer is no.
To build a pitch envelope just patch an envelope to V/OCT or FM (depending on the type of response you’re after) input of your oscillator[/quote]
Thanks. So 1v/oct to the envelope in and then the envelope to the VCO input?
Sorry to sound like an idiot.

#133

So you’re liking the STO? I’ve been trying to discern if it would be a compliment to my DPO or just redundant. Can we get a demo, when you get a chance?

#134

So you’re liking the STO? I’ve been trying to discern if it would be a compliment to my DPO or just redundant. Can we get a demo, when you get a chance?[/quote]
I only had 10 minutes with it last night. It certainly has some beef and fm is great. I’ll try and make a little video before the weekend is out. I want to try using the brands as a modulation source for it.

#135

That’ll do it :slight_smile:
I agree, start small or indeed smaller, there are so many possibilities here, a lot to grasp!
I’d start with Braids & Maths or/& Optomix. MMG can come later as can Echophon. Routing thru the A4 for Filter & Delay will cover a lot. Personally I’d get Phonogene before Echophon anyway, all that gene & micro sound stuff is awesome!
One thing to bear in mind is that if you do get a system like the one pictured, you’re gonna want your Cirklon back lol

#136

Hey Daisuk
Neither of these are stupid questions!!!
As mentioned, avoiding output to output with ALL equipment is advisable. With Mod stuff you’ll likely get away with it, do it with power amp stages & …well you won’t need a smoke machine :slight_smile:
Drawing from 2 outlets is unlikely as you should have a bus board fitted in your case that’ll distribute power to all your modules.
This is an interesting point however & worth mentioning!
At home all the power in a given room should be on the same ring main & most likely on the same spur. Ie one socket will be an extension of the previous just like linking 4 ways or what have you.
In small (older) venues however you’ll often come across power from various sources, (you shouldn’t & I won’t bore you with technicalities but you do!)
If for eg 2 performers set up 2 modular systems each drawing power from a different source & then decided to cross patch between the 2 systems you could encounter all kinds of issues!
Always make sure that all kit that is connected together via Audio or CV is drawing power from the same source!
Bigger gigs/festivals with a pro PA company won’t be a problem as they’ll have dedicated Distros for backline.
Hope that helps someone somewhere down the line :slight_smile:

#137

Pitch bend is a MIDI parameter, so answer is no.
To build a pitch envelope just patch an envelope to V/OCT or FM (depending on the type of response you’re after) input of your oscillator[/quote]
Thanks. So 1v/oct to the envelope in and then the envelope to the VCO input?
Sorry to sound like an idiot. [/quote]
No…
If you have an envelope module it is:
A4 gate CV> envelope IN> envelope OUT> VCO V/OCT IN
or you can assign A4’s CV envelope to VALUE/LIN and patch directly A4’s CV out to VCO’ s V/OCT (or linear FM).
Mind you, V/OCT covers a very wide frequency range, so you might like to give to the envelope signal some deep attenuation before patching it into the oscillator.
BTW if you want to have pitch bending in modular domain, you should have some joistick module (like Intellijel planar) and mix its CV out to to the V/OCT coming from your A4/keyboard controller before feeding it to the oscillator.
Now that I think of it, I don’t know if on the Analog Keys you can assign joystick to CV VALUE/LIN, that would be cool (if you happen to have one, which is not my case).

#138

Thanks for the detailed reply. What’s confusing me is that I thought only 1v/Oct could control pitch. I didn’t realise you could send pitch with a gate signal. I thought gate was just open and closed.

#139

Pitch bend is a MIDI parameter, so answer is no.
To build a pitch envelope just patch an envelope to V/OCT or FM (depending on the type of response you’re after) input of your oscillator[/quote]
This might be true for the A4, but most MIDI>CV modules translate pitch bend data to 1V/Oct CV.
My MicroBrute does that (pitch CV output includes pitch bends), but I couldn’t figure out getting my AK to do it, but I assumed there is just a setting to adjust.

#140

I am sorry, I’m afraid that my replies brought more confusion than help…
Nedavine the V/OCT on your oscillator is an input. As any other modular input, it can receive any CV signal. V/OCT just means how the CV sent to this input affects the oscillator behavior (that is, the pitch of the oscillator is altered of one octave per Volt) If you want to control pitch with an envelope you have to send the envelope module’s output to the oscillator’s V/OCT. But you could as easily control pitch with a LFO, an offset, or whatever comes in your mind that spits out CV, or the whole mixed together. That’s the beauty of modular. You can patch any output to any input. The worst that can happen is that you won’t hear nothing, if for example you send CV to an input that expects audio, CV signal being at a frequency too low to pertain to audio range. But many interesting things can happen by just ignoring CV/audio signal distinction and experimenting.
The gate, as you rightly say, can just be on or off. In the patch of my previous reply it is used to control the behavior - that is the length- of the envelope. If you would patch directly a gate signal in the V/OCT input, you would hear the pitch switching from the highest to the lowest frequency of the oscillator’s range, with a rhythm that would follow the gate length.

Joshua, I my previous reply I had been too laconic. Obviously you’re right, it is possible to convert MIDI pitch bend to CV, given the right hardware.

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