Analogue-sequencer

so Colin, we all see the extra space you left in the P3's enclosure.  
We figured it out, the cat is out of the bag.  So tell us, when is 
the P3 midi/CV board coming??  There's enough space for 3 or 4 voices 
worth of jacks out back : )

I had an idea of integrating an Oakley/Maddox Poly-DAC PCB and parts 
into mine, but they're out of production it seems.. . .

I hate making suggestions when I can do nothing about it, but hey Im 
sure more than a few people would be likewise interested!!


anyway...

enjoy your sunday everyone,
~Steve

The reason I mention this is because I was surfing about recently and 
came upon a page for Tidal electronics (which I thought was totally 
defunct) and I remember "Theo" and "Tidal" and his yellow "Step-One" 
sequencer.  Anyone else remember this thing?  It was similar to the 
P3 (midi,pattern,multi track) but it had a CV out board for 4 tracks, 
each with note,gate,veloc and one other (I forget)..  anyway it never 
made it to production and I wanted it so bad back then (4/5 yrs ago) 
in my modular days..  now just recently i'm back at the modular thing 
and having the converter and sequencer in one piece would definitely 
be cool.  I would want two tracks worth of outputs, or about 8 
jacks.  Any more would probably be overkill for 90% of users.. 
perhaps they all could be freely assignable to whatever, or make 3 
just for gates/triggers and the other 5 for cv's..  maybe these could 
be semi modular in that if you wanted 4 tracks worth of cv-outs, you 
buy two boards, 6 tracks, buy 3, etc..  I realize that the P3's micro 
is pretty much maxed out so it would have to be more or less a set 
and forget add in.  I guess in that case, why not just get a midi/cv 
behind a modular panel?  yeah yeah I know, its probably the best 
thing anyway..   I just look at all that empty space in the case!


thinking out loud here. . . midi-cv for modulars  I think the 
analouge systems RS140 is a nice implementation of midi/cv for 
modular use.  Assignable outs and assignable output range for those 
outputs.  Very configurable is the key here, and it has a display of 
its own.  64 setup memories too..
well Ill have a solution of my own regardless, probably a decent unit 
or two behind a panel in my system..  

later
~Steve

Steve,

> I had an idea of integrating an Oakley/Maddox Poly-DAC PCB and parts
> into mine, but they're out of production it seems.. . .

Well, not out of production, just sold out, waiting until we get 5
pre-orders before doing another run (I'm not made of money).
 
Its a nice idea, but with colins MIDI retrofit to his 303, I doubt CV/Gate
is something on his list, but I could be wrong.

Paul

> so Colin, we all see the extra space you left in the P3's enclosure.  
> We figured it out, the cat is out of the bag.  So tell us, when is 
> the P3 midi/CV board coming??  There's enough space for 3 or 4 voices 
> worth of jacks out back : )

That's not something I have plans or time to do.
I'd recommend the Oakley midi/poly DAC if you want to do a custom job.

Personally, I like to keep the CV generation separate from the sequencer. I
have fairly limited studio space and there's enough cabling coming out of
the sequencer already.
I've used home-built midi to CV conversion for a long time, but I've only
built a couple of units for other people.
My first CV convertor grew out of the first step-sequencer I built, which
was based on a BBC Micro with 8 CV/gate outputs and a midi interface.
The current source of CV in my studio is my 808/909 clone module, but this
is no longer used for drum sounds since I got the real things, and really
wants to retire.
I had a case all drilled and ready to take a new CV convertor when I got
round to building it, but recently I've been tempted to move away from the
central midi to CV convertor idea, and midi-fy each analogue synth
individually.
This saves the space otherwise occupied by a multi-channel CV convertor, and
means I only have to route a single DIN lead to each synth for control,
instead of maybe a cv, gate, and two or more aux leads.
Plus it's easier to re-patch a midified synth to a different control source
(another sequencer ? surely not ! ;-))
And if a CV convertor breaks down, it only takes out one synth.

First victim of this policy was the 303, which is a special case in that it
really needs an internal midi interface to be able to generate exactly the
right control signals for the anal acid purist (e.g. me), and i wanted midi
output from its internal sequencer.
Next victim has been my minikorg 700s, which makes a very good case for a
custom internal cv convertor board, since its vco input ideally wants a
linear voltage in the 2.5 to 20v range - try getting an off-the shelf CV
convertor to do that.
The minimoog is now the only device attached to the main CV convertor, so
its own dedicated convertor will follow shortly, and if I ever get my
modular re-assembled, it'll get a dedicated midi to CV module with a load of
outputs to be patched as I please.
Putting lots of devices on the same midi bus can lead to timing latency, but
the music I do is pretty minimal, so that's not a major worry. But with a
single midi to CV convertor there would be no way to separate each synth
onto a different midi bus, should a multiple-output sequencer appear
sometime in the distant future...

Cheers,
Colin f

Sounds good to me Colin. . .

carry on
~Steve



> That's not something I have plans or time to do.
> I'd recommend the Oakley midi/poly DAC if you want to do a custom 
job.
> 
> Personally, I like to keep the CV generation separate from the 
sequencer. I
> have fairly limited studio space and there's enough cabling coming 
out of
> the sequencer already.
> I've used home-built midi to CV conversion for a long time, but 
I've only
> built a couple of units for other people.
> My first CV convertor grew out of the first step-sequencer I built, 
which
> was based on a BBC Micro with 8 CV/gate outputs and a midi 
interface.
> The current source of CV in my studio is my 808/909 clone module, 
but this
> is no longer used for drum sounds since I got the real things, and 
really
> wants to retire.
> I had a case all drilled and ready to take a new CV convertor when 
I got
> round to building it, but recently I've been tempted to move away 
from the
> central midi to CV convertor idea, and midi-fy each analogue synth
> individually.
> This saves the space otherwise occupied by a multi-channel CV 
convertor, and
> means I only have to route a single DIN lead to each synth for 
control,
> instead of maybe a cv, gate, and two or more aux leads.
> Plus it's easier to re-patch a midified synth to a different 
control source
> (another sequencer ? surely not ! ;-))
> And if a CV convertor breaks down, it only takes out one synth.
> 
> First victim of this policy was the 303, which is a special case in 
that it
> really needs an internal midi interface to be able to generate 
exactly the
> right control signals for the anal acid purist (e.g. me), and i 
wanted midi
> output from its internal sequencer.
> Next victim has been my minikorg 700s, which makes a very good case 
for a
> custom internal cv convertor board, since its vco input ideally 
wants a
> linear voltage in the 2.5 to 20v range - try getting an off-the 
shelf CV
> convertor to do that.
> The minimoog is now the only device attached to the main CV 
convertor, so
> its own dedicated convertor will follow shortly, and if I ever get 
my
> modular re-assembled, it'll get a dedicated midi to CV module with 
a load of
> outputs to be patched as I please.
> Putting lots of devices on the same midi bus can lead to timing 
latency, but
> the music I do is pretty minimal, so that's not a major worry. But 
with a
> single midi to CV convertor there would be no way to separate each 
synth

> onto a different midi bus, should a multiple-output sequencer appear
> sometime in the distant future...
> 
> Cheers,
> Colin f