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R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:01 am
by MichaelPeterTrowbridge
Has anyone used this combination? Are these two compatible?

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:37 am
by Voltor07
MIDI ribbon controller? Whatever happened to the CV ribbon controller? What good would a MIDI ribbon controller do? I imagine it would work, seeing as how MIDI is universal, but then, I'm more familiar with CV functions. Perhaps Amos or Kevin Lightner could shed some light on this mystery? :)

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:20 pm
by Zorn
Look at this video I did months ago.
It's just a Little Phatty and a Doepfer R2M.
I did not use MIDI but CV and gate out from R2M to Moog LP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZblzFM_WWg&fmt=18

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:17 am
by MichaelPeterTrowbridge
Zorn wrote:Look at this video I did months ago.
It's just a Little Phatty and a Doepfer R2M.
I did not use MIDI but CV and gate out from R2M to Moog LP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZblzFM_WWg&fmt=18
Brilliant!

What do you think of this cheaper option:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RIBBON-CONTROLLER-C ... dZViewItem

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:50 am
by denoiser
Never tried, but you can see that controller in action here:
http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2008/08 ... s-40m.html

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:46 am
by MichaelPeterTrowbridge
dagargo wrote:Never tried, but you can see that controller in action here:
http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2008/08 ... s-40m.html
I fear that it is rather short and that it will be far to difficult to play a melody precise... Whereas the range on the R2M is better... Thereagain I don't need the whole MIDI fuzz...

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:23 pm
by bgf1973
Last week I received my R2M controller. It´s fantastic and very easy to use. I used it with my little phatty.

Re: R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:35 pm
by stiiiiiiive
Hey guys.

I'm zombifying this thread since I got a R2M a while ago and could not manage to use it as intended with my LP. So I have several questions, eventhough I (re)(re)read the manual. I also consulted the different threads here, but I've been quite unable to find one where the exact usage is described, unlike the Utube videos which seem to show that I can do what I want to do.

What I would like to do is play the LP with both the keyboard and ribbon. Is that possible? I mean: whenever I use the keys, they act like no ribbon is connected, and whenever I use the ribbon, it controls the pitch over three octaves.

I used the pitch and gate CV outputs. I tried the volume one, too. But I could only approach the use I planned.

Another potential factor of my halfailure is the cables: I used a TRS 1/8" jack to 2xTS 1/4" jacks. This sounds right, doesn't it? Otherwise, I tried with TRS 1/8" jacks and an adapter to TR 1/4" on the LP side.

Here am I. I though this would be immediate, but the only way it seems to do what I want it to is using MIDI. Ahem. I want continuous CV. The R2M MIDI mode does not offer such fluidity.

Your advice is very welcome :)

Re: R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:46 pm
by namahshaman
Hi stiiiiiiive,
I use the R2M with my SP (CV only). Using the standard 1/8" to 1/4" cable that came with the unit, I route them into the pitch and gate jacks. The SP is controlled via MIDI with a Nord Lead 2x, but no MIDI is running into the R2M. I press the 2nd button from the left and scroll until it says, Note&Pitch/REL, then I press the fourth button twice and scroll until it says, 5 OCT. In this mode with this setup, the keyboard and the R2M work together so that whatever key you press will be the lowest point on the ribbon, so while playing, whatever note you'e on can be modulated by the ribbon. I've also tried it with the filter and it seems to work. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Re: R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:37 pm
by stiiiiiiive
Hey Namah. Thanks, I'll have to try that this week-end. I hope it will be cool.
Fact is I don't had the cable with it, but I have the plugs and the cable to solder a couple of them.

Re: R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:24 am
by stiiiiiiive
Ok Namah and guys, here I am.

Yesterday, I followed the process you desribed and fell back onto a setting I had experimented myself. Basically, it works: no steps, the Doepfer's three CV outs send what they are supposed to, andthe Phatty reacts good.

However what I would like to do is having the ribbon just above the Phatty's keys and connect the ribbon into the Phatty so that whenever I play the keyboard, I get the right pitch, and whenever I put my fingers on the ribbon, I get the pitch of the key that is in line with the position on the ribbon, or the pitch in between if my finger is such located.
BTW Namah, the setting about the number of octaves covered by the ribbon is relevant only for MIDI, IIRC. You can try to change it, it does not affect the CV range. The actual range of the manual is about 3.5 - 4 octaves.

Now, thinking of it yestereday, I arrived to the conclusion that it may be impossible. The voltage injected into the Phatty's pitch CV-in jack is added to the keyboard CV, right? What I'm looking for is to have one CV replaced by the other as soon as the said controller is used. I don't see any way to do that, currently. Some of my EHX pedals can do that: the delay time isset either by the tap tempo switch or the knob, according to the last one you touched. BUT I guess there is some kind of digital controller involved, isn't there?

Any lights welcome :)

Re: R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:46 am
by namahshaman
Ah yes, basically you want it to work like a French Connection/Ondes Martenot, right? (minus the ring, of course). That was my desire when I initially purchased the R2M, but I never figured out if that was possible, and eventually sort of gave up :oops:

As for the octave setting, I'm sure you're right, but I swear I remember testing that and noting a difference (more than likely a mistake on my part, twas a couple years ago).

What you're after may require MIDI and CV connection, I'm not sure, and I realize the manual is of little help.

Sorry, I couldn't help you more. I really hope you get this figured out. If you do, please remember to share it with the rest of us. :D

Re: R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:34 am
by stiiiiiiive
namahshaman wrote:Ah yes, basically you want it to work like a French Connection/Ondes Martenot, right? (minus the ring, of course). That was my desire when I initially purchased the R2M, but I never figured out if that was possible, and eventually sort of gave up :oops:
Ah. Basically yes. :lol:

namahshaman wrote:What you're after may require MIDI and CV connection, I'm not sure, and I realize the manual is of little help.
Sorry, I couldn't help you more. I really hope you get this figured out. If you do, please remember to share it with the rest of us. :D
This could be a track indeed. I'll push this further and tell you if I reach some interesting point.

Re: R2M Midi Ribbon Controller / Little Phatty

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:37 pm
by Sir Nose
If you can program the R2M to send a midi note and CV at the same time where the midi note is always the same no matter where you are on the ribbon it should set the base frequency and then the CV would be added to that instead of the last note played on the keyboard. Probably would not use the CV gate as the midi note event will open it anyway.