Hey guys, first time poster here. I have a few questions about my Werkstatt (which is my first Moog) that I absolutely love. Like most, I placed an order in November for the Mother 32 and I am waiting on confirmation of shipment. Impulsively, I also bought the Werkstatt to eventually hook up to the M32. While doing research I have read a few things about how the Mother is basically a Werkstatt with a sequencer and some other bells and whistles. Is this true? I’m still excited for the Mother 32 but I’m wondering if I bought a sequencer like the Electro Harmonix 8 step program (or something similar, suggestions?) and hooked it up to the Werkstatt, would I more or less have a M-32? In the description for the Mother, it says it’s a perfect companion to the Werkstatt. True or just a good sales pitch? Sorry for the noob questions. This is (obviously) my first foray into synths which I know can be a rabbit hole. I’m just trying to understand all my options. Either way I can’t wait to hook these up to each other.
I think the answer would be, kind of sort of. From my understanding the M32 and the Werkstatt share a similar synth engine but the M32 also appears to be a little more full featured. High pass filter for starts. Also the M32 has much more cv i/o control as well as midi in.
As far as a seq. for the Werkstatt, I use a Beat Step Pro with mine. The gate out on the Werkstatt works in reverse as a gate in.
The Mother-32 sequencer is a lot more sophisticated than the one in the EHX pedal.
It does seem that much of the voice architecture is similar, excluding highpass filter as mentioned, and simultaneous saw/pulse waves. I only have a Werkstatt, so can’t do more than speculate. I can say it sounds great, however!
Does the BSP trigger the Werkstatt envelope when used this way? The Korg SQ-1 won’t, unfortunately.
Thanks for the reply. There is so much involved with this form of music that it makes my head spin but in a good way. I guess my next question is will the Mothers sequencer also run the Werkstatt if I hook them up together or would it make sense to get something like the BSP or an Akai MPK 25 as well? Everyone posting videos with the M32 has a midi controller of some sort. I play guitar and love pedals so the familiarity of EHX stood out to me to run the Werkstatt but it seems a midi controller would be a better option? I can alreaDy see how addicting this can become.
Agreed. I was blown away how great the Werkstatt sounded and can’t wait to hook it up to a Mother.
Yes, my BSP triggers my werkstatt without any problem (I was sad the SQ1 wouldn’t as well).
Yes it will. Just run a cable from the CV output on the Mother to the CV input on the Werkstatt. This is where the mini-phone extension comes in real handy.
Stephen
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Hello there.
I also have a Werkstatt and as this is my first piece of analog gear I am a complete beginner. I was going to get cv expander with a SQ1… After reading this thread and other threads, I’m getting some mixed messages. Which is the sure shot for the Werkstatt beat step or SQ1?
I was also thinking of picking up a used electribe ea or er or em (super cheap in Japan) and using it as a midi sequencer for longer sequences…
Does anyone think this would be possible? Or should I focus on something a little more recently made??
I can’t comment on either of the Beatstwp or Beatstep Pro, as I don’t have them. Toryjames above seems to have good functioning with the BSP, however. The SQ-1 does not trigger the Werkstatt envelope, so will not fully work (note is either on or off, but nothing else). Personally, that is insufficient for me, so will probably modify the WS to get it to work.
MIDI sequencing will not work because it has no MIDI!
I have heard the original Beatstep does not have a strong enough trigger voltage for opening the gate/env on the Werkstatt and neither does the SQ1 (5 volts I’m guessing) but the Beatstep Pro puts out a stronger trigger (8-10 volts) that works well in my experience. The Beatstep and SQ1 control voltages work fine controlling other aspects of the Werkstatt (pitch, filter, volume, etc.).
The EHX 8-Step can only be a modulation source, because as far as I know, it doesn’t send gate CV. It’s just sending a generic voltage that’s fine for things like frequency cutoff, but not consistent enough for pitch, and you’d have to get a gate signal from something else.
I use a beatstep pro, daily. It’s more than enough to do everything you can think of with a werkstatt, and would even make a great addition to the mother32, using it’s multiple sequencer lanes to transpose the built-in sequencer, and do some crazy modulations at the same time.
So can the BeatSteps’ two sequencer lanes behave independently of each other with different tempos, numbers of steps, etc? Or do they always have to be synced?
They are always sync’d to the same clock, but have:
- Independent control number of steps
- Independent clock division
- Independent direction (forward, backward, back and forth, random, etc.)
- Independent swing control (if you want swing)
- Independent randomized fills.
Ok thanks.
Thanks for all the responses guys! I just got a confirmation that my Mother is en route and I’m super psyched. I think I’m going to hold off on a midi controller at the moment and see what I can do with just the mother and my Werkstatt.
Everyone seems to love the BSP but I don’t want to drop that much on a controller just yet. Are there any other recommendations for a similar midi controller? What are people’s thoughts/experiences with the novation launchkey 25 or the Akai mpk25? Are they decent or would I be better to shell out for the BSP? 
Arturia is coming out w a Keystep controller in March/April. It has midi, CV, an arpegiator, and a polyphonic sequencer. It is supposed to cost around $125.
Can you expand on this? Apologies if poor interpretation on my part, but there isn’t a “CV Out” on the Mother 32 (literally speaking), nor is there a “CV In” on the Werkstatt.
Sorry not to answer to this, But I’d like to bring some info on this older post:
The EHX 8SP features a sync mode that allows to go through the steps thanks to a gate signal input. This means that you can use a common gate generator as envelope trigger AND 8SP clock.
Plus the 8SP circuit board allows a mod for gate output. This can be easily found on the web.
Now it’s true that it is a bit rough for pitch modulation, but as it can store presets, well, it can do the job.