Moog Liberation cv to midi using Novation bass station rack

[omvibes]

Hi all,
I'm trying to utilise my Liberation as a controller by using a Novation bass station rack, which claims to be a CV to midi converter. The CV out of the Liberation to the CV in of the Novation is fine, but what do I need to do with the S trig out on the Liberation to get it to work with the bass station input (1/4 inch jack).
Can anyone point me in the direction of relevant cables or options, please, or is it simply not possible to use the S trig in any form in this way?
Oli

[thealien666]

Hello Oli,

Your Liberation outputs an S-Trigger signal (it shorts the output wires together), while the Novation Bass station expects a Gate (or positive voltage trigger pulse) signal. No cable adapter can perform this conversion on the fly.
You would need some sort of S-Trigger to Pulse (or Gate) signal converting circuit.

These annoying analog synths incompatibilities are exactly why MIDI was invented in the early eighties...

[CZ Rider]

You will just need to make a female 2-prong cinch-jones type to 1/4" cable adapter for the gate input. There is a setting on the Bass Station Rack to accept positive gates or Moog S-triggers. Setting 02 or 05 is for S-triggers. Should be noted that this controlling from the Liberation will only convert MIDI note number and note on/off. It will not follow pitchbend as that is a different MIDI message. The liberation sends both summed pitchbend and I believe oscillator modulation over that CV. This will be ignored and only the CV to note at the time of the trigger on will be converted to the appropriate MIDI note number. So no pitch bend or modulation. May be a deal breaker depending on what you want it to do. The CV to MIDI is crazy fun with an analog seuqencer to trigger any MIDI module from percussion to whatever. I have both the Novation and the Waldorf Pulse Plus for CV to MIDI note conversion, and the Novation works best for not leaving hanging notes. The Waldorf will retrigger by changing the CV, so an LFO will give many note on messages, while the novation will only send a note on when there is a gate. Sill much fun to be had as no matter what CV you send it will be quantized to a specific MIDI note number.

This is what the cable would look like. Ground/sleeve is the large tab and the small tab is gate/tip. If you just want to experiment you can hook that up with a pair of alligator jumper clips to a 1/4" patch cable to see if it is worth soldering up the special cable.

[omvibes]

Hi, thanks for the input, it's appreciated. I see there is someone selling that kind of cable...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S-trigger-cab ... 1010829318
I guess this is what I need?

[CZ Rider]

That cable looks like the correct one. Might want to try the alligator jumper just to be sure it works the way you want before investing in a special cable. Just needs one alligator jumper between the small male S-trigger tab and the tip of a 1/4" cable to get the trigger. The CV cable carries ground between the two units, so you don't need an extra ground for the S-trigger. Either way you should be able to trigger the Novation and CV to MIDI from the Liberation.

[omvibes]

Thank you for the info and photos, it's appreciated.

[thealien666]

"There is a setting on the Bass Station Rack to accept positive gates or Moog S-triggers."

Next time I'll read the user manual more carefully before writing useless info.

[CZ Rider]

Next time I'll read the user manual more carefully before writing useless info.

It's all good! If we stop writing responses there won't be much of a user group. Wish I had thought of it sooner when someone asked if the Liberation could be MIDI-fied. It is limited to monophonic and note on/off. But there is still quite a bit that can be done with such a controller. I tried maping percussion sounds from a MIDI module to track along with the Liberation. Hours of fun there, and any MIDI sound can be triggered that way. You could even set up zones and maps via MIDI to trigger sound effects or just the lower octave for MIDI. The Liberation really shines though with the CV out as that will track the bender and modulation to whatever CV input you want to control. Makes an interesting controller for something like the modular Moog or Minimoog. The afterftouch is nice as the whole keybed pivots and uses an opto sensor. Not a bad design at all. Many ways to configure the Liberation and the added MIDI, even if only note on/off, is a plus.

[omvibes]

An update...got the cable, and tried it out. Midi rx channel on the Novation bass station rack is working fine, however...it works in an inverted way, i.e. press a note on the Liberation and the Novation stops playing, let go of the note and it starts playing. Also, can only get it to play one note, regardless of whatever notes I play on the Liberation.
Any advice? Is there something simple I should be doing?
OM