LP Audio Input w/ softsynths

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:11 pm

I rammed my old Korg MS-2000 through the audio input on the Little Phatty, and immediately quadrupled my use for the old virtual analog that I had all but abandoned. It fattened up the sound so much that I have hardly been playing anything else for the last week. Now I'm bored and really want to run some softsynths through it, (beefing up Arturia VAs is my main objective) but I'm having problems implementing that in any DAW. I use Logic Express and Ableton Live, and neither seems to be able to make it work.

With Logic I have tried this: I make a channel for my softsynth. I add an I/O plugin in the Insert slot. I choose the output, which is wired into the audio in of the Phatty, and choose the input, into which the Phatty's output is wired (I can only choose stereo outs for some reason), and nothing happens.

In Live I'm not even sure where to begin. Please help!

Amos · Post by **Amos** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:26 pm

If you are using the Phatty as a standalone filter box, then you want the Phatty output to be "always on" (unless the Phatty is also your MIDI controller for the softsynth). You can make the phatty output stay on by plugging a dummy cable (short patch cord not plugged into anything else) into the Gate jack on the side of the Phatty. Be sure your volume envelope Decay time is set fairly short if you are leaving the gate always on, or you will gradually lose output volume. This makes no sense, but it's a "feature" of Bob's envelope circuit

If you are using Live 7 it's really easy to do this stuff, using the (new in v7) contraptions called "external instrument" and "external effect".
You can set up a channel for your softsynth, then drag an "external effect" plugin after the softsynth on that channel. The external effect plugin has an input and output channel (these can be mono, as long as Live's audio preferences are set up to allow mono ins & outs, which is easy). Set the input and output channels to correspond to the physical ins & outs on your audio interface that are hooked up to the Phatty. Now when you either play keys on the phatty or plug a plug into its Gate jack, you should be passing signal from your softsynth through the Phatty and back to the softsynth's channel within Live. You can also set up a separate MIDI channel in Live and send MIDI notes to the Little Phatty for rhythmic gate-type effects... great for trance stuff...

-amos

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:31 pm

Thanks for the quick response! I'm still having trouble though.
I plugged a cord into the Gate input. I made an external effect box in live after my plugin, ran a cable from output 5 into the LP's input, and set audio to to 5 and audio from to 3 (the channel the Phatty's output is plugged into). However I get no signal from the Little Phatty. If I turn the control all the way to 100% wet I hear nothing, which I can turn to hum if I boost my preamp. If I turn it to dry the plugin signal comes back. I also sometimes get a constant and very loud note with the plug in the Gate input. Before now I've always just played notes on the Phatty, or taped a key down with short attack and decay, and long sustain. But at any rate, I am either getting nothing, or a single feedbacky-sounding note that seems to be independent of the key I'm playing and of the plugin's output, and whose pitch is controllable by the cutoff and resonance controls. So as far as I can tell the plugin output is not making it into the Little Phatty. I don't know why this could be, since I've had success with physical instruments.

Very frustrating.

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:35 pm

By the way, the Phatty's output does come through the Wet signal of the audio effect plugin, it just doesn't contain the signal from the instrument plugin.

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:56 pm

GrangeGrover wrote:By the way, the Phatty's output does come through the Wet signal of the audio effect plugin, it just doesn't contain the signal from the instrument plugin.

Does the external audio come through if you hold down a key on the LP?

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:04 pm

it does not.

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:06 pm

let me clarify: the LP's signal comes through into Live, but the plugin's signal does not make it into the LP's.

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:56 pm

fidooda · Post by **fidooda** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:41 pm

a bump after 3 hours on this forum, that's a first

hi, sometimes i get some trouble hearing the external audio passing thru the phatty, i usually try to bring the volum down on the oscillators.

Now when i'm programming patches for audio in, i always start with the calibration patch and bring the 1st oscillator to zero.

ymmv

good luck

p.s. make sure to test the signal on that audio in to ensure the phatty is receiving it properly too

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:44 pm

I've been doing the same thing re bringing the volume down on the oscillators, and I've also sometimes done the "always on" gate control. The problem I think is that my interface isn't outputting the sound right. I get either nothing or something that sounds like feedback.

Amos · Post by **Amos** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:13 pm

if hardware synths run into the phatty come out OK, then it must be that your computer audio setup isn't putting out audio correctly.

come to think of it I had a similar problem when trying to use moogerfoogers as "external effects" within Live... which ROCKS!! when it works right... but in my case I don't know if it was a Live issue or a bad patch cord. I was using two external effects in Live and one worked and the other didn't... but it didn't seem like any of the cords were bad... so maybe there are further mysteries to this Live thing. Maybe they fixed it in Live 8

GrangeGrover · Post by **GrangeGrover** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:18 am

I'm actually starting to think it's a hardware issue with my MOTU Ultralite. I've tried Live and Logic, and running softsynths as standalones, and none of them seem to output audio correctly. I've also tried a bunch of different outputs and the weirdest thing is I can't find any way to edit settings on the outputs for the Ultralite.

esmilez · Post by **esmilez** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:09 pm

i just try it out and its nice to route vsti thru the phatty..good idea thanx .its not loud enuff the audio input