Bass Guitar > MF-107 Freqbox > Little Phatty?

[David Smyth]

Hey there,
I'm primarily a bassist and do not own a MF-107 Freqbox yet, but I do own a Little Phatty Stage II (with CV Output Mod), Slim Phatty, CP-251 and EP-2 for synth bass purposes.
I'm interested in the MF-107 Freqbox for use with both my bass guitar (synth fuzz pedal) and my Moog synths (for modular use).
I was wondering if it's possible to play bass guitar into the Freqbox with hard sync on, and with the Freqbox's osc. out (I assume this is pitch) patched into the pitch CV input of my Little Phatty to achieve a massive sounding 3 osc. moog synth from my bass. The problem is, I see no gate out of the Freqbox to trigger the Little Phatty's notes..

Is there a way to make this work? Maybe one of the other Freqbox outputs can work as a gate out?

Thanks,

David Smyth
New Zealand

[EricK]

If it were only that easy lol.

No, it doesn't work like that. I think the best it will do to a synth's pitch input is dirty the sound a bit, similar to what you get if you use white noise.

You need a pitch to cv converter and then something like a q118 instrument interface (synthesizers.com) to generate a gate signal, but it seems to me that something similar with MIDI would be much more practical.

[David Smyth]

So I guess what you're saying is that the Freqbox osc. out isn't a normal pitch CV output. Ohwell, I've got a Divided Pickup for my Bass so I'll go the midi conversion route..

Thanks,
David Smyth
New Zealand

[cliffman]

So I guess what you're saying is that the Freqbox osc. out isn't a normal pitch CV output. Ohwell, I've got a Divided Pickup for my Bass so I'll go the midi conversion route..

Thanks,
David Smyth
New Zealand

The OSC out is the raw oscillator audio, not CV at all. The FreqBox has CV _in_ - but be warned, it's not 1V/OCT, so if you are going to drive the Freqbox you will need a MIDI/CV that scales, like the Kenton units.

[EMwhite]

This may help with your trigger query: http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2011/11/ ... ing-audio/

The scenario could be that you have a direct out of your guitar into your computer then freqbox out of audio into Phatty if that's what you are after in order to trigger the envelope.

Regarding the comment above on driving FreqBox as an extra OSC accurately, I haven't had any issues (from my SEM) it tracks well once in tune. The CV out on my Phatty falls short, at least at the distance between the two devices (I've read that Phatty doesn't drive CV with enough juice across anything but the shortest distance (1 ft) and via high quality cable.

EricK's suggestion, the synth.com instrument interface is a good option if you already have a cabinet/power footprint or plans for other modules.

[cliffman]

To give you a clear example of what can be done, here is what I have used:
Guitar w/13-pin MIDI setup -> Axon guitar/MIDI converter == guitar notes become MIDI.

MIDI -> Kenton MIDI/CV box - creates 2 pitch/gate sets (4 outs)

Freqbox OSC out into Little Phatty audio IN.
CV B (with proper scaling) to Freqbox freq in
CV A (scaled) + Gate A to Little Phatty Pitch and Gate CV IN.

The kenton does the triggering.
The LP provides the filtering and envelopes, Freqbox adds the extra oscillator.
The scaling features of the Kenton allow you to adjust for the different CV ranges
between the LP and Freqbox, as the Freqbox is not 1v/oct.
Hope this clears things up for you.

[David Smyth]

Thanks for the responses!

There are some good ideas to think about above. I just wonder why they wouldn't make the Freqbox 1v/octave..

Thanks,
David Smyth
New Zealand

[soundxplorer]

I just wonder why they wouldn't make the Freqbox 1v/octave..

That requires extra "temperature control" circuitry, which would increase the cost.
Since it is sold as an FX pedal they probably figured it wouldn't be an often-used feature.

[David Smyth]

That requires extra "temperature control" circuitry, which would increase the cost.
Since it is sold as an FX pedal they probably figured it wouldn't be an often-used feature.

Touche'