FreqBox X Minitaur X Bit Commander

Plug in here for info tips and strategies for your Moogerfooger Analog Effects. Connect more than one for plenty of fun!
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TheMadTrucker
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Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 5:25 pm

FreqBox X Minitaur X Bit Commander

Post by TheMadTrucker » Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:03 pm

Let me first preface this by saying that I have not been working with CV very long and I primarily make experimental hip-hop.

A while back I finally pulled the trigger and got me a Minitaur. I paired it with the Arturia Keystep, which to me is a match made in heaven. Before long it struck me that I had baught a FreqBox for my wife's synth rig years ago, which was now collecting dust in the closet. So I dusted it off, ordered some new patch cords, and started experimenting. Though I found many combinations to be a blast, eventually one combo stood out as most interesting for my music. I worked with that combo (I'll describe in a sec) for a while, but then I found that the Minitaur was so bright and clear that it was not melding with my sampler loops I accompany. So, I took a small risk that paid off huge, and got me a little Biyang Baby Boom reverb. After being totally obsessed with what I had put together, I started getting curious about the potential of a guitar synth pedal, so I went down a long rabbit hole of research that led me to Earthquake Devices Bit Commander.

My signal path explained: I run the mono audio output of the Minitaur to the Bit Commander to the FreqBox, then run the oscillator out of the FreqBox to the audio in of the Minitaur. I then run the headphone out of the Minitaur to the stereo in of the reverb pedal. Then the reverb pedal and the Freqbox audio outs get run to seperate channels on a little minimixer. I keep all this in the same case with my sampler rig, which consists of a Roland SP404SX and a Korg KP3.

The result of all this is that I have a Moog/verb dominated volume knob, and a bit/freq dominated volume knob, to the extent that it functions like two synths in unison. One side is focused on soft atmospherics, and the other side is focused on harsh noise. Before introducing the Bit Commander, I was just letting the audio output of the Freqbox go to waste, so now it's like something has awoken.

OK, so now I am getting curious if I am leaving more untapped potential on the table in regards to the possibilities with the CV on these two Moog units. Initially when I got the Moogerfooger for my wife, she was using it to create a second synth layer when she played her Roland Gaia. It worked and sounded great, but that was years ago and we don't recall the CV cable arrangment that makes the FreqBox match the pitch of the input signal. Part of me feels like that's what I'm already doing, but I could have sworn we had to use one extra cable to patch the FreqBox back into itself. Can anyone tell me what I am doing? It sounds totally incredible to me, but I know with CV there are certain things that are just flat out wrong and dangerous to my gear.

Can anyone explain some of the technical aspects of sending an oscillator out to an audio in, and what the cord set-up in general is most ideal to make the FreqBox's oscillator match the pitch of the input signal?

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stiiiiiiive
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Re: FreqBox X Minitaur X Bit Commander

Post by stiiiiiiive » Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:46 pm

Hi TheMadTrucker, welcome to the forum :)

I have no idea whatsoever about feeding the FreqBox back to itself. Mine has been in unused for some time now, however I've got it back to work a couple of days ago.

But I remember that it would follow the input signal pitch when SYNC is on and the oscillator pitch is lower than the input signal pitch.

It may be obvious, but it may be useful ;)

I'm curisous to hear some of your noises, by the way!

TheMadTrucker
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 5:25 pm

Re: FreqBox X Minitaur X Bit Commander

Post by TheMadTrucker » Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:27 am

I have enjoyed my two cable connection between the Freqbox and the Minitaur all year and I am just now coming back around to thinking about adding a third cable between them, because I ordered a crazy phaser (Total Sonic Annihilation 2), and a crazy tape drive ("Jive" by Jptr FX). I'm just going to drop the Freqbox output into the TSA2, and then use the TSA2's effects loop to send the signal through the Bit Commander and the Jive.

You can hear my results if you want to send me a follow on Instagram. My IG handle is "The_Mad_Trucker." It's set to private, but I accept all requests. Most (if not all) of my IGTV content is demonstrating various parts of my live rig. I have a separate section where I send the Akai Rhythm Wolf through six guitar pedals arranged in traditional guitar-player order. I only very recently perfected that arrangement of pedals.

I really love having two sides to the Minitaur, very much like Jeckyl and Hyde to me because they are two very different sides with a dedicated volume knob for each side on my micromixer, but they poison each other because of the Freqbox OSC OUT going to the Minitaur audio, meaning that the OSC of the FB is bleeding into my otherwise wildly clean and beautiful reverb side. Now I think I want a cable connecting the PITCH OUT of the Minitaur to maybe the FREQ IN of the FB. I just can't wrap my brain around the relationship between pitch and frequency. I should probably figure that out though before these next two pedals arrive. What I was going for initially (and mostly am still going for) is something like an ugly version of a polyphonic orchestra made up of layered monophonic tones working in unison to make an aggressive sound. It's a process. lol

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