Got my Voyager RME today, and im about to try and set it all up with my other gear.
i would like some advice on how to set this all up best.
I have:
Voyager RME (The centre of my universe)
Little Phatty (i want to be able to use the phatty’s own sounds of course..and naturaly i want to be able to play the voyager rme through it)
CP251 - Im still experimenting with this thing but id like to know where in the chain this should be insterted, if anywhere or should it just be used when i want to go into the CV inputs on the Phatty.
Moogerfoogers - 104z Delay, Phaser, Ring Modulator and Freq Box
Should these bad boys be daisy chained from the audio out on the Phatty, or Voyager..and should i just run certain sections into the CP251 when required?
My Audio Interface is the Motu 828 mk3…so the way im thinkin is to have the phatty’s audio going into one channel…and the voyagers audio going into another channel(s)…Having the midi cable running from the Voyager IN to the Phatty OUT..then the Phatty OUT to the Motu 828 IN..Since ill be using the Phatty’s keys to play my Voyager…Do i need to bother with the Voyager Midi thru port?
Please bear with me on this, i would really appreciatte some help because im gonna attempt to hook it all up tonight and i know im gonna struggle.. Loads of questions i know but i thought what the heck..may as well get it all out and take it from there..
I would not advise daisy chaining all your MFs together permanently. You will find that you get completely different sounds when you have them linked in a different order. For instance, how are you going to Ring Mod your delays from the 104 Z if the 102 is in line (daisy chained)? You want to set yourself up for maximum flexibility with the Moog stuff.
As far as audio in to your MOTU, you are going to want to run the output of the RME and LP into whatever line inputs the MOTU provides. If you are running either through a MF then the output of the MF would be what gets plugged into your MOTU.
As far as midi goes, I believe you need to go LP out > RME IN, RME OUT (maybe thru) > MOTU IN, MOTU OUT> LP IN. That would complete the loop. I’m no midi expert but I believe you need to have a loop so that you could send sequences from your DAW (Performer, Logic, Protools) to either the LP or RME.
If you selected 1) you need to run the Phatty Midi out to the Midi of your midi interface. And the Voyagers Midi out to another Midi interface in for recoding knob movements.
And from each individual Midi outs of this Midi interface to the Midi in of each unit.
And be sure to avoid double notes (through the keyboard and the midi received) by setting the Little Phatty into the Local Off mode.
If you would like to play manually 2) then Little Phatty Midi out to the Voyager Midi in. Voyager Midi thru to other Midi gear or sequencer if needed.
With the audio cables you have many, many different possibilities. Depending if you like to combine the two Moogs by using the external in.
I would route them all into a mixer and then route one FX post fader send into the external in of the RME. And connecting each Moogefooger to one FX send and return individually for maximum flexibility and easy handling without audio patching. I don’t know if your Audio Interface and software is able to do so. I am using computers for everything, but not for music recording. I am using a harware mixer and a hardware digital recorder.
A Midi loop is nothing one really should do. It would give you strange things like notes being unheard and zippery CC movements.
If the setup is Midi cabled like this, you need to have the Little Phatty in Local Off mode !
And you will have to use the RME’s thru port to actually record the Midi notes of the Little Phatty. But this way no CC data of the RME will be recorded. So use a dual Midi input interface. And connect each synth’s Midi output to the Midi interface inputs. And the Midi interface outputs to the synth’s Midi inputs. And let the software do the midi thru from the Little Phatty to the RME.
And of cause again Local Off on the Little Phatty.
If you experience strange behavior of midified synths, check for Midi loops first. It is a common problem in many synth manufacture’s forums. Just pull the Midi plug on the input or output (depending if the unit is meant to send or receive midi) and check if the problems are gone.
If i set it up as follows i can play and record the voyager through the phattys keyboard…and using ableton i can lay down some midi patterns and play them back while messing with the voyagers presets and front panel controls..
However when i try to play just the phatty i cannot hear audio back when i try to record in ableton, it lays down midi but wont play it back…despite me changing the external instruments box in ableton to recieve audio from the correct channel that the phatty is on..
RME IN - MOTU OUT
RME OUT - LP IN
LP OUT - MOTU IN
Just to re-iterate what im trying to do here…i want to be able to play the voyager through the phattys keyboard…and record the midi into ableton. Then i want to be able to play back the midi and apply any effects like filter changes and record that into a new audio channel in ableton…i would also still like to be able to have the option of playing just my phatty and be able to do the same…
Your Midi problem is:
the RME receives the Midi you recorded. Also the Midi of the little Phatty, but it will not pass this Little Phatty midi data back to the Little Phatty. The Midi thru of the RME needs to connect to the Little Phatty. But then no RME knob movement will get ever recorded without connecting the RME to the Motu in. That’s why I wrote down my rather complicated scenarious.
It is not possible without using a Midi merger (not recommended !) or a multiple in and out Midi interface.
my 2 cents:
I have no clue about the possibilities of your Midi and Audio interface.
But the Midi interface should ave atleast two Midi outs and two Midi ins.
And the audio interface should have an individual input for the RME and Little Phatty.
The routing of the Little Phatty (in Local off again) to the RME should be done with your software. This is for shure possible in Cubase and Logic.
Then you could do what you described easily and without problems ones you set it up and know how to use the software.
Go with a 2x2 or 4x4 MIDI interface. Individual ports make life so much easier.
And lot’s of patch cords!!!
I just picked up a Frostwave Fat Controller to take a stab at hardware sequencing with CV capability. The Frostwave seems a lot less daunting than the Doepfer Regelwerk.
And my vote still goes to hardware sequencer as the next Moog product!
