Minitaur and cv control

[Kirneh Ness]

I have just gotten the Minitaur, and the sound(s) are just awesome. A fantastic synth.

I have experimented with the cv control inputs with cv coming from either an EP, CP-251 or an EHX 8 step program. Only the filter part gives result, enabling autosweeps and the like as expected. But there is very little response to amplitude, and pitch cv gives either nothing or a high pitch sound (above the oscillators' range).

The last is particularly disappointing as I had hoped to do some sequencing with the 8 step (which works like a dream on a MF-101 set to selfoscillation where filter cutoff then is pitch control. I can make nice step sequences with that setup. But the minitaur gives just nothing or a high bleep. Does one really have to do a lot of computer calibration for this to work? (Ultimately I can of course trigger sequences from my DAW via midi, but I like the idea of controlling the pitch with CV.)

Any comments most welcome!

[jsharpphoto]

I'm 99% sure that the 8-step can't actually sequence a synth. It doesn't send gate AND pitch, it only sends a single voltage per step. This CAN be used for pitch, but since it's not triggering the gate of the VCA, you have to send it a note via midi to trigger the gate, and in that sense, the voltage sent to "PITCH" will just be added to the existing note.

To sequence the Minitaur over CV, there are several options available. The one that would be most similar to your current setup is the Korg SQ-1. It can be USB powered and sync'd to your DAW, and provides 2x8 OR 1x16 steps. So if you don't have to have a "pedal" you can get much more bang for your buck with the SQ-1 than the EHX 8-Step. Granted, for the same money as the SQ-1, you could get an Arturia Beat Step (not the pro) and have slightly more control, with the ability to save patterns. This however would need to be hooked up via midi since it outputs more voltage than the moog can handle safely.

If you go with the SQ-1, there are a few "voltage range" options that you can adjust the spectrum of output. You want the "5v" range, not 8v. 2v would work as well, but you would have much less range to work with. Another benefit of the SQ-1 or Beat Step, over the 8-Step, is the ability to quantize the voltages to specific scales.

Or, just use the EHX8 Step for just modulation, as it was designed for. I think you're trying to get a limited piece of equipment to do more than it can. Another option is to remap the CV inputs (using the editor) to things that respond more to stepped voltage changes. There are lots of options on the minitaur, release and glide time for instance can be really useful for basslines that can push the Minitaur into TB303 areas.

[Kirneh Ness]

Thanks a lot for your detailed answer and good suggestions. You may be right that I am pushing the 8 step to do more than it is meant to do. I was just stoked by the sequences I could make with it on the MF-101 - which in selfoscillation mode is a synth .

In any case, when I play a note on the Minitaur, I would have expected that sending CV into Minitaur's CV pitch in (by whatever means) would imply that you could manipulate that note pitchwise. If I just plug in an expression pedal, I hear the played note. When moving the pedal towards toe position, I get the high pitch note added to the played note. So, the Pitch CV input appears to me as a gate that at some voltage trigger a high note, below that voltage nothing. And that's that.

Edit: Here is one demonstrating what I would like to do on the Minitaur. Here it is done on a Korg MS 20 http://youtu.be/tNaat6y9f_4. And s/he "gates" with the keyboard in a very analog fashion! I am aware that this will not give me perfect note Control (that I will achieve by computer and DAW), but it gives some instant gratification.

EDIT2: I solved it! Sorry for talking to myself, but maybe someone can use it also. Have your Minitaur hooked up to the computer by USB. Plug in a controller in midi (I use an M-Audio Keystation 61). Turn on everything including your EHX 8 Step, and have a patch cord ready. Open the Standalone Minitaur Editor. Set the EHX to just one step, and set it to lowest slider position and minimum depth (=1). Press C1 on the keyboard, and patch the CV Out from the EHX to the Pitch CV on the Minitaur. Then press "Pitch CV Calibration 1v" in the Editor. Then put the slider all the way up on the EHX, and turn depth to maximum (=8). Then press "Pitch CV Calibration 4v" in the Editor.

Now, when you press a note, the Minitaur will be ready for voltage controlled pitch changes of the full range. As noted by previous poster, you will not be able to accurately play "composed" notes, but you can make some pretty sick sounding sequences still. So I am happy. If you perform live and want to make musically meaningful sequences on the fly, the EHX will not cut it. But as a sync-able pitch effect (and very easily customized controller of other CV inputs in e.g. MoogerFoogers), it is really great for the price.

[egjanuary]

If the system you are calibrating to uses 0-5VDC you can calibrate it correctly by playing A1 for 1VDC and A4 for 4VDC.
Other systems may be 0-10V, or -5 to +5VDC

[tomatoketchup]

Hi there,

I'm trying to calibrate my Minitaur so that I can cv-control it with my Mother 32, but no luck. By default, I have to play on octave 7-8 on the M32 for the minitaur to play in its own internal C3-C4 range.

I tried using the librarian calibration utility but doesn't seem to work at all.

Has anybody managed to use those 2 synths together? Any help would be appreciated.

Can't believe it though, you'd think that 2 synths from the same manufacturer would have a minimum of cross-compatibility at factory settings!