Just out of interest really… when Giorgio Moroder was talking on “Giorgio by Moroder” on the new Daft Punk album he said this:
And I didn’t have any idea what to do, but I knew I needed a click, so we put the click on the 24-track, which then was synced to the Moog Modular. I knew that could be a sound of the future. But I didn’t realize how much the impact would be.
So yeah, what’s the click track, where did the click track come from and how do you input it into the modular and what does it do?
A click track is a track on which a click sound, similar to a metronome, is recorded. It is then played back at a high enough amplitude to act as an external clock trigger for a sequencer to make it advance to the next step each time there is a click, whilst recording it on a new track. That way, every other track you will record will also be synchronized. It can also be used as a trigger for envelopes.
A click track is also used in studio for reference for a live drummer recording drum tracks.
Preferably, a click will be generated by an electronically, or mechanically, timed source in order to be stable. It can be from a metronome (a real mechanical one), or a computer, or even a synthesizer with the output of an LFO.
And yes, that click sound can be used to “restart” the envelopes, just as if you were playing a note on the keyboard. Some Moog synthesizers have that option, often hardwired internally, where an LFO will make the synthesizer play notes repetitively automatically.
But with a modular, you have to connect the output of an LFO to the trigger input of envelopes in order to achieve this. But you also have to amplify that signal a lot in order for it to be “loud enough” to be used as a trigger signal, since trigger pulses are usually in the +5 V range. And Moog Modular also uses two trigger systems, a positive pulse one, and an S-Trigger one (short to ground). In that case you need a Pulse to S-Trigger converter to use the signal.
If you were to use a Click to re-trig envelopes, you’d have to take the track output from the reel-to-reel recorder and put it through an S-Trig right? ENVs on the modular only accept S-Trigs as triggers. That would be the same if you were using an LFO I guess?
Indeed, a simple pulse from an LFO works. I use a Koma Elektronik RH301 receiving a pulse from the CP-251 and it converts it into MIDI Clock and DIN Sync. In this way I am able to do ritardandos simply slowing down the LFO a little bit, with a Drumatix and Renoise as slaves.
He’s patching a Sawtooth from a VCO to x (x being something I don’t know) and into y which I think is allowing him to go back to the red LED which allows the LFO to continue to modulate the carrier.
It’s a custom module for sure:
It’s the one on the left. Just not sure what it is exactly.
That would be a great contest idea for Moog Music: click to get a chance to participate in the contest for a randomly selected lucky winner of a Moog Modular 50th anniversary Emerson re-edition ! Only one click per member allowed. No purchase necessary. The draw to be held at a later, yet undetermined, date.
Followed by this disclaimer:
(Note: actual chances of winning anything are nil)
