Using Wekstatt with Arturia Beatstep

[janmelin]

For sequencing Werkstatt from Arturia Beatstep I connect the CV Out from Beatstep to VCO EXP IN and GATE OUT to VCA IN on Werkstatt. That is the only combination that works for me.
But there is one problem. I can't get the ENVELOPE to work with the Sequencer. Is there any solution for this or is it impossible to find a routing that triggers the ENVELOPE from Beatstep?

[Wesley]

The Werkstatt envelope is internal only, unless you modify the unit.

I am using the Werkstatt with the Beatstep too. One solution is to use the Beatstep gate to trigger an external Envelope Generator (EG) and route the EG output to the Werkstatt VCA in.

I am also using a Sub Phatty to do this, by routing the Werkstatt audio through the Sub and triggering the Sub EG via the Beatstep gate output into the Sub gate in.

[janmelin]

Thank you very much for the information, now I understand why the EG can't be controlled from Beatstep.
I hope you will share more of your findings about Werkstatt and Beatstep in this forum.

[janmelin]

Is there any connection on Werkstatts circuit board that can trigger the Envelope Generator from Gate Out on a hardware sequencer like Beatstep?

[komputerbrown]

i've heard that the gate in can trigger the envelope, which sounds likely because it should be between the internal keyboard gate out and the envelope gate in, but that it might be risky (if you happen to press a key at the same time?)?

[Struble]

According to the manual, you can trigger the envelope by sending a -2.5v to +2.5v signal into the gate in, as opposed to the 0v to 5v that will just trigger the amp on and off.

[RizalKhan]

Hey guys. I just want to be clear as am planning to buy the beatstep. Are you saying that the internal envelope on the werkstatt won't work when it is being sequenced by the beatstep? Or is this thread all about controlling the werkstatt envelope via beatstep? When I use the Kenton pro solo to control werkststt, a lot of the internal functions of werkststt such as glide and envelope don't work. However the LFO does. Pls confirm. Thanks.

[kenzak]

Hey guys. I just want to be clear as am planning to buy the beatstep. Are you saying that the internal envelope on the werkstatt won't work when it is being sequenced by the beatstep? Or is this thread all about controlling the werkstatt envelope via beatstep? When I use the Kenton pro solo to control werkststt, a lot of the internal functions of werkststt such as glide and envelope don't work. However the LFO does. Pls confirm. Thanks.

The BeatStep is a real cool device. I just wouldn't use it solely for the WerkStatt. It will work but you need to do some extra work (at least in my experience). To answer your questions, the BeatStep will not control glide (not without heavy modification to the Werkstatt). I can confirm that the gate out of the Wekrstatt will work as a gate in allowing triggering of the envelope, but you need to be careful.

The output voltage of the BeatStep gate is high at 8V. Also, there appears to be an impedance mismatch between the two devices using the gate out from the BeatStep. I fixed both by breadboarding a unity gain buffer amp followed by a attenuator (voltage divider). See http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/inde ... 11&VPH=673 for an example. This works perfectly for me.

CV out for pitch works fine. Just be careful not to exceed 5V. I plan on assembling a voltage limiter just to be safe.

My BeatStep now controls my Werkstatt perfectly. A real benefit is that the BeatStep acts as a MIDI to CV converter. I can route a midi keyboard to the BeatStep and it passes out a corresponding pitch CV and gate. It also converts pitch bend signals and applies it to the CV.

[RizalKhan]

Thank you Kenzak. I guess I'll wait to see what other options pop up in the market to sequence the werkstatt

[muksys]

Although I have not used a beatstep with the Werkstatt, I have used quite a bit of different devices (including the Minibrute, which I would imagine the Beatstep CV circuits are based on) to hit the gate and have not had any issues/hicups when sending the gate through a buffer first and routed as a proper Gate In. Of course to do this you need to cut a trace and wire up some flying leads to SMD parts.

You can hit the VCO with +10V without issue, like what a Minibrute outputs. The problem is that the Werkstatt works best with -5/+5V pitch control, so when it receives 0-10V, the "center" is off by 2.5V. You won't have any issues with frying anything out. It may be possible to set up a uni-to-bipolar circuit. I did a quick test of this and had some issues though and didn't really feel like testing it any further.

Here are all of the mods that I've come up with.

[kenzak]

Although I have not used a beatstep with the Werkstatt, I have used quite a bit of different devices (including the Minibrute, which I would imagine the Beatstep CV circuits are based on) to hit the gate and have not had any issues/hicups when sending the gate through a buffer first and routed as a proper Gate In. Of course to do this you need to cut a trace and wire up some flying leads to SMD parts.

You can hit the VCO with +10V without issue, like what a Minibrute outputs. The problem is that the Werkstatt works best with -5/+5V pitch control, so when it receives 0-10V, the "center" is off by 2.5V. You won't have any issues with frying anything out. It may be possible to set up a uni-to-bipolar circuit. I did a quick test of this and had some issues though and didn't really feel like testing it any further.

Here are all of the mods that I've come up with.

Thanks for the info on the pitch CV. Yeah, I know using the gate in is not ideal, but it does work for my simple needs. Either way, I just wanted RizalKhan to know that the Beatstep is not a plug and play solution for the Werkstatt (though it does works with some effort)...

[RizalKhan]

Although I have not used a beatstep with the Werkstatt, I have used quite a bit of different devices (including the Minibrute, which I would imagine the Beatstep CV circuits are based on) to hit the gate and have not had any issues/hicups when sending the gate through a buffer first and routed as a proper Gate In. Of course to do this you need to cut a trace and wire up some flying leads to SMD parts.

You can hit the VCO with +10V without issue, like what a Minibrute outputs. The problem is that the Werkstatt works best with -5/+5V pitch control, so when it receives 0-10V, the "center" is off by 2.5V. You won't have any issues with frying anything out. It may be possible to set up a uni-to-bipolar circuit. I did a quick test of this and had some issues though and didn't really feel like testing it any further.

Here are all of the mods that I've come up with.

Checked out your mods. Awesome stuff.