Moog Music Forum

Should the Voyager be able to manipulate it's Noise source via the LFO? My unit does not seem to allow this, but I wanted to see if perhaps I am not understanding correctly.

Manipulate the noise source with an LFO ? I'm not sure I understand what you mean ?

You can vary the harmonic content of the noise source by passing it thru the filter, and modulating the filter cutoff frequency with an LFO, yes.

But the noise source itself has only one choice: "on" or "off", with its associated volume level knob in the mixer.

Analog white noise, as the noise source on the Voyager, is by definition all the frequencies (from about 20 Hz to 20kHz simultaneously). You cannot, therefore, control its pitch or modulate it per say.

Digital white noise, on the other hand, is created digitally. And some digital synthesizers allow you to vary the sampling playback rate of the noise (varying the playback rate of the random steps in the noise).
But not the Voyager, since its noise is purely analog.

I am looking to modulate the Noise generator with the LFO. My Voyager's LFO seems to only affect the three Oscillators.

Modulating a noise source with an LFO is rather unusual. The only module that has that facility is the Buchla Source of Uncertainty which is a very unusual noise source.

Noise sources from almost everything else are unpitched and modulation will have no effect.

nightfur wrote: My Voyager's LFO seems to only affect the three Oscillators.

That's normal. That's why "noise" is NOT an available destination choice in the modulation Busses.

Thanks for the confirmation. I wish there was a way to do this. If there were a noise out jack on the back of the OS I'd like to route it to an external LFO.

nightfur wrote:If there were a noise out jack on the back of the OS I'd like to route it to an external LFO.

?????

You would like to do what, exactly ? Control the speed of an LFO with random values from the noise ? I'm confused about your expectations... Please clarify ?

(that IS possible in the modulation Busses. Simply choose Noise as a source, and LFO as destination)

I may be using the wrong terminology. I've been wanting to create a simple beat by using two LFOs. For example, I would ideally modulate LFO #1 with a saw tooth wave to create a rhythmic pulse. I'd then modulate LFO #2 in a similar way, but route to a noise source to create another rhythm with a snare-like sound.

nightfur wrote:I may be using the wrong terminology.

Yes indeed. Hence my confusion.



Now, what you want to accomplish is clear: a snare type sound can be created with an LFO with a sawtooth waveform (ramp down) as a modulation SOURCE controlling the amplitude (volume level) DESTINATION of the noise.

Unfortunately, the LFO on the Voyager does not offer ramp down (sawtooth) as a waveform (the XL model has a second LFO with such a waveform).

BTW, you have the Old School model, right ?

Thank you. I do have the OS model. I have a Cluster Flux that provides an LFO with additional waves, but have yet to figure out how to use it for this purpose.

The ClusterFlux has no output of its LFO to the outside world. So you cannot use it as an external LFO. And on the Old School (and also the regular Voyager, with the exception of the XL) the LFO has only 2 waveforms, triangle and square.

What you need is a modular system to create the type of combinations you're dreaming of... On a modular synth, you can combine anything with anything, and are not limited by hardware hardwired design of the engineers. The only real limitation is your budget !

Perhaps the time has come to venture into the modular world. I've been looking at some of the Doepfer products, but have not taken the plunge lol. Moog should create a multi-LFO box.

Nightfur, for next times clarity sakes, here is a humble indication about modulation concepts and terminology.


What is modulation? This: modulating is changing the value of some parameters. You can do so by hand with a knob or a by foot with an expression pedal. You can also tell some circuits or controllers to modulate the parameters for you.

The controller is the "source" of modulation. It can be someting human-triggered (aftertouch,…) or something more automatic (LFO,…)
The modulated parameter is the "destination" of the modulation.

The "cable" or "pipe" through which the controller is modulating the destination is called the "modulation bus".

You can usually set the maximal amplitude the controller is modulating the destination with. On a Voyager, this is called "amount".

At last, on the Voyager, you have the opportunity to add a "shaper" to the equation, which is a secondary controller allowing (attention please ) to modulate the primary modulation amplitude from zero to its maximum value, aka "amount".

So when you said "I want to modulate the noise", Alain answered in other words "what parameter of the noise do you want to modulate??".


That may seem obvious but I hope it helps

Thanks for the clarification - some of these terms have been used incorrectly and I appreciate the insight.

Why would you want eurorack format modular if you you are going to interface to Moog? Look at MU or 5U format with 1/4" jacks and common trigger levels.