Converting MIDI to CV?

[Tyler Kirschner]

Hello, I'm currently on a search for something to control the cutoff of my Moog LPF and am considering MIDI as an option. I see that the MP-201 has this as an option but it's a bit out of my price range as of right now. Kenton makes a box called the "solo mkII" that supposedly converts midi to cv and I was wondering if anyone had tried it, and what their thoughts on it were. I was also wondering if this could be set up to be velocity sensitive, so if I sent a softer midi note through my DAW it would have a less dramatic effect over my cutoff. Could yield some interesting results.

[lankyloo]

Finally something I can help a little out with! I know MIDI-CV converters from the modular synth world, and there are not a lot of options. I ended up building a Paia kit, but have heard nothing but great things about the Kenton models. People in particular like the PRO 2000, but have heard high marks for the Solo model.

It would work to send out a velocity CV. For the cutoff you would be sending the pitch CV from the pitch out, and then would assign the AUX out to convert the velocity MIDI data to a CV. Not sure if the Moog LPF would be able to read that, so you should look into the documentation there to see what can be controlled via a control voltage in the LPF.

[Tyler Kirschner]

Alright cool. I did a little searching on Moog's forums and someone wrote that it works well with the 101. I will check the documentation to be sure before buying one though. Was the Paia hard to build? I'm not too bad with a soldering iron, but I am pretty anxious to use drum beats as LFOs for the 101, so I might have to skip building one for right now.

[bigchiefbc]

Yeah, you're pretty much limited to the Kenton units, the old Roland MPU-101 or the Moog unit.

[Tyler Kirschner]

Hmmm... I couldn't find the exact amount of voltage that's accepted by the MF-101 in the documentation, or the exact amount of voltage sent by the Kenton. It just said "sends V/Oct, Commonly used in Moog Synthesizers" and that it can also send hz for korg synths.

[bigchiefbc]

In the MF-101's manual, on page 12, it has a diagram that shows 0 to +5V for external CV devices.

[Tyler Kirschner]

ok. thank you. it looks as if the Kenton sends out different voltage depending on what octave the note sent into it is, and that the MF-101 can except up to +5.7? Should be all set then. Bottom C is 0 and my keyboard only has 5 octaves! I emailed the store selling the Kenton just to be sure though.

[lankyloo]

The paia wasn't that hard to build, but I'd probably just buy the Kenton.

[lankyloo]

Originally Posted by Tyler Kirschner

ok. thank you. it looks as if the Kenton sends out different voltage depending on what octave the note sent into it is, and that the MF-101 can except up to +5.7? Should be all set then. Bottom C is 0 and my keyboard only has 5 octaves! I emailed the store selling the Kenton just to be sure though.

You might need to tune the LPF, but the CV out from the Kenton will send out a voltage that goes up 1V for each octave, so bottom C is 0V, the next C is 1V, etc. I couldn't see exactly the range from the documentation, but it should do at least 5V for pitch, and probably more like 8, so you will be just fine.

[Tyler Kirschner]

Ok. What exactly do you mean by "tune the LPF"? Just the settings or do I have to have it modified?

[Wud]

You can alter the C.V. scale etc directly on the Kenton.
You won't need to modify the Moogerfooger. in any way.
The Kenton converters are very solid indeed.
I use an ancient Pro 2, as well as a Pro 2000 for sequencing various old Mono Synths.
The results are much tighter using the Kenton converters, compared to using the MIDI - CV conversion built into the Novation Bass Station.
You could go all out ballistic, and control pretty much all the available Moogerfooger CV parameters with the Kenton.

What DAW are you going to use to generate the MIDI ?

[recnsci]

Tyler,

check Small sized MIDI2CV, dual channel.
There are few advantages of Midimplant in your situation: it's small, and can be powered from 9V if you chose so, so you can fit it in pedal enclosure. Whole module is ready made, so amount of DIY required is minimal (just wiring whole thing and putting in enclosure). And it's one person company, and I know Roman Sowa from waaay before as nice and knowledgable guy, who could probably even help you with some customisation (like putting switch on pedal for some function, like modulation of note CV with velocity info which you want).

[Tyler Kirschner]

Originally Posted by Wud

What DAW are you going to use to generate the MIDI ?

Ableton Live 8

Originally Posted by recnsci

Tyler,

check Small sized MIDI2CV, dual channel.
There are few advantages of Midimplant in your situation: it's small, and can be powered from 9V if you chose so, so you can fit it in pedal enclosure. Whole module is ready made, so amount of DIY required is minimal (just wiring whole thing and putting in enclosure). And it's one person company, and I know Roman Sowa from waaay before as nice and knowledgable guy, who could probably even help you with some customisation (like putting switch on pedal for some function, like modulation of note CV with velocity info which you want).

Thanks. I'll read up on it.

[recnsci]

Originally Posted by Tyler Kirschner

Ableton Live 8

If you want to generate MIDI in DAW and send it to pedal, there are few solutions that use soundcards/converters to generate CV.
This is one solution, and here is the list of compatible devices.
edit:
And you can use this approach with any converter with just a bit of DIY and lower precision (which is not a problem since you wont drive VCO with CV). Here is explanation.

[Tyler Kirschner]

Wow that's really cool that you can send CV with that app and an audio interface! I don't own a nice one though, and at some point i might want to control CV without a computer and just a midi drum machine.