Analogue-sequencer

>>I use mainly analogue synths, with MIDI to CV convertors driving 
them from my P3. A MIDI note of C translates to a whole number 
voltage on the CV convertor output. For some synths, such as my 
minimoog, the incoming CV can be 'transposed' by playing on the 
keyboard. If you play a sequence, and the last note is not a C, you 
are left transposed.<<

to complicate things further, the same voltage isn't the same pitch 
on each of these instruments anyway, neccessitating on my rogues & 
the prodigals a permanent offset introduced by the pitch wheels to 
transpose them away from the G they prefer. the pro-1 & the source 
both have C as their bottom note.
C is usually the home key for keyboardists because the key of Cmaj, 
which I don't know how to play in (seriously- it'd be easier if all 
one's fingers were the same length..), is all white notes. I suppose 
one could argue that this is also true of Amin.....

so I suspect that colin will have to make this user-configurable to 
keep us all happy. what we might be forgetting though is that sending 
a single note through y'r midi>cv converter is only doing half the 
job.
I have spent hours & hours tuning analogue synths- opening & closing 
the cases, breathing on the tweaks, going away for ten minutes then 
coming back again. 
the usual routine is to make the thing work on it's own first- 
keyboard volts, then the cv/glide buffer, then the pitch, scale & 
high-trims on each oscillator. I like 2-oscillator synths to beat 
very slowly at the 0V end & not at all at the high end. 

once this is ok, attention turns to the midi>cv convertor, which 
usually has it's own scale adjustment. this would typically be 
adjusted depending on the condition of the connection to the synth- 
if you are using the same cv to drive two synths, or the cv cable is 
a long one for some reason, there will be a small volt drop.

to cut to the chase, if I may, the trick I usually employ is to write 
a short sequence with a spread of notes across the range of whichever 
synth it is. I won't spend hours getting the pro-1 to squeak in pitch 
if it's playing a bassline, for instance, but I'll get it close.
the shortcut here is to send the same little sequence (octaves & 
fifths is good) /via midi/ to a module with known good intonation (& 
bearing in mind that this might itself be non-standard, if you've 
decided to work in just-C or a balinese tuning or summat). a bit of 
tempo-locked delay is useful as it highlights any discords. 

then throw a mellotron into the mix.... 
& people ask us why we "don't do key changes". 
tcha.

anyway.

I had this mad idea last night. I wondered if it would be possible (& 
if anyone else could see the use) to randomise the pattern playlist 
within a part. so instead of playing the patterns for each track in 
playlist order, the part would be set up to choose the pattern & it's 
number-of-repeats on a variably-random basis.
I think there's a way to achieve the same effect by randomising 
within the patterns themselves but I think this would "feel" 
different. as usual, I've forgotten why this was so important...

d/r.m.i.