Moog Music Forum

Does anyone here know if you can apply LFO from the dedicated LFO on the voyager to a signal coming in on the external in path.

situation: you have another synth, say a module from your rack or whatever, you want to mix that signal with the onboard VCO's (easy), and use the mod wheel for vibrato on the output of the mixer section (both internal and external signals).

I can route the signal in and mix it with the Voyager's Oscilators just fine, and I can also use the filter section to effect the incoming signal, but Mod Wheel only effects the onboard oscilators.

I can't imagine this is not possible, since the documentation seems to indicate that LFO is applied to the Filter section, which does in fact have it's way with the inbound signal.

This would effectively turn the Voyager into a 5, 6, or more ocsilator monster of a lead synth, and everything in between. Currently testing the sound of 2 Oberheim SEM oscilators mixed with all three Voyager VCOs and it is pretty amazing what you can get with these two venerable sources of sound... but my modulation just doesn't make it to the SEM part of the signal.

Any help is appreciated.

Digital:
You can't send the actually LFO waveshape via MIDI. Just the amount is transmitted via MIDI to external synths. So the LFO is not synchronized in speed and shape. Its rather easy to get the later, but the LFOs will never be in the very right phase correlation. And the Voyager LFO is real analog and is therefor not (speed) syncronized to MIDI clock. It just uses MIDI clock for re-starting the LFO waveshape.

Analog:
You may use the VX-351 CV Expander to get a analog CV output of the Voyager's LFO. Route this into the CV pitch in of another analog synth for modulation. But then you have the right shape and speed, but not the amount. So you need an external VCA to amplitude modulate the LFO output of the VX-351 CV Expander with the mod wheel output of the VX-351 CV Expander. And by now you may notice, why this is seldom done, except by modular synth freaks.

And, just as your other started thread of nearly the same question: You can't modulate the pitch of an ingoing external audio signal of the Voyager. You may do so by using harmonisers or pitch shifters. But these are FXs and not synths.

Thanks for the info. I got the same response basically from Moog support. I had thought that the manual for the Voyager indicated that LFO was applied to the audio signal post mixer section, but yes absolutely correct as you state, the LFO is applied at the VCO level, which makes sense since it needs the capability of PWM, ect.

What I'm doing is routing an Oberheim SEM Pro, triggered by the Voyager's midi out into the Voyager's Ext. Audio In port. The SEM recieves and processes note on and off, pitch bend, but not LFO depth, so I was hoping to be cable to add LFO for vibrato via the Voyager.

Regardless, it's a great sound I'm getting, mixing the two synths together. With 5 Ocsilators to work with, there are some great sounds you can get, particularly for super fat lead playing.

Thanks for the reply.

Ya, I had misread the manual a while back and thought it said that LFO was applied post Mixer Section. I had not really put 2 and 2 together in terms of the LFO needing direct access to the VCO's. Duh. How else would it do PWM.... silly me.

Anyway, I've settled on a solution for this that is good enough, and the sound is pretty amazing. Running an Oberheim SEM into the moog for an even fatter lead sound than you can already get with the Moog on it's own. The SEM has a very distinct sound that isn't necessarily better, but when combined, the synth is really cool sounding for leads. I can still get enough vibrato even though in reality it's not doing anything to the SEM's signal. Personally, I don't find the SEM all that great for much other than leads. i know a lot of guys seem to think it's the holy grail for sequencing, but really, it's a toy compared to a Voyager, Prophet 5, or ARP. The Voyager is an extremely well thought out synth. Love it.

The AT controller is the bomb. Thank you Moog for adding that!