1 Topic by ZeHa (edited by ZeHa 2011-07-25 18:39:38)

  • ZeHa
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Topic: How does CV sync stuff work?

Hey there,



I always wondered about how those pre-MIDI syncing methods work, but I've not been able to find any articles on that subject. I sometimes hear stuff like "The synth gets triggered from my 808", but I'm not entirely sure what this exactly means.



My primitive mind is able to understand the concept of a "start" and "stop" signal, that starts external sequencers when they receive it. But what about "sync" and "trigger"? Is that the same or two different functions? Does the sync simply emit a pulse for every 16th note? Do the other machines' sequencers then adjust their internal tempo and play along, or does the received pulse signal really trigger each "next" note of the sequencer?

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • From: I'aintsterdam
  • Registered: 2008-07-14
  • Posts: 1,429

Re: How does CV sync stuff work?

sync is most of the time a start/stop signal plus a sync signal of pulses that controls the tempo of a sequencer. Trigger is just one pulse which can control an external sequencer (1 pulse for every step) or can trigger drumsynths and/or filters or other controls on a (semi)modular synth. (In some settings an audio signal can also be used as trigger).
The thing with analog sequencing is to find out the values of every signal and if it responds with the instrument you want to control. There are various types of cv/gate, sync and trigger and it depends a lot on the manufacturer.

Some examples (if I'm correct):
Moog & Yamaha = s-trigger,
Roland = 24pps (pulse per quarter note) sync, cv/gate 5v, triggers
Korg = 48pps sync, ch/hertz
Sequential Circuits = cv/gate, tape-sync
etc..

ZeHa wrote:

Hey there,



I always wondered about how those pre-MIDI syncing methods work, but I've not been able to find any articles on that subject. I sometimes hear stuff like "The synth gets triggered from my 808", but I'm not entirely sure what this exactly means.



My primitive mind is able to understand the concept of a "start" and "stop" signal, that starts external sequencers when they receive it. But what about "sync" and "trigger"? Is that the same or two different functions? Does the sync simply emit a pulse for every 16th note? Do the other machines' sequencers then adjust their internal tempo and play along, or does the received pulse signal really trigger each "next" note of the sequencer?

TB or not TB

Freek's Website

3 Reply by ZeHa (edited by ZeHa 2011-07-25 20:00:47)

  • ZeHa
  • Robot
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Re: How does CV sync stuff work?

Ahh okay, that clears things up!

Understanding the difference between sync and trigger now, I just looked at a picture of an 808 and it has three trigger outs, seemingly mapped to three of the percussion sounds. So that means it's possible to trigger the "next note" of a sequencer with the 16-steps-grid? Awesome smile is it also possible to trigger arpeggiator notes or only "real" step sequencers?

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • From: I'aintsterdam
  • Registered: 2008-07-14
  • Posts: 1,429

Re: How does CV sync stuff work?

In my case I use one 808 entirely as sequencer to control external devices: there are 11 sounds and 2 of them are also triggers and the 'accent-out' also has an external-trigger out. I use the external audio-outputs to trigger channels on the Simmons drumsynths (In this case audio-triggers have the advantage that you can shape the trigger in length or you can use some kind of velocity while a 5v-trigger always has the same length and strength).
The 3 triggers-out I use to control different functions like: the arpeggio or filter of the juno-60, the internal sequencer of the sh101, the steps of an analog sequencer and sometimes for a drumsynth that doesn't respond to audio-triggers.

The nice thing with triggers compared to a sync signal is that you can make loops that change constantly or have a different scale than the master sequence. For instance the sequencer is programmed with 12 notes while it receives 9 triggers every cycle/loop/16 steps

ZeHa wrote:

Ahh okay, that clears things up!


Understanding the difference between sync and trigger now, I just looked at a picture of an 808 and it has three trigger outs, seemingly mapped to three of the percussion sounds. So that means it's possible to trigger the "next note" of a sequencer with the 16-steps-grid? Awesome smile is it also possible to trigger arpeggiator notes or only "real" step sequencers?

TB or not TB

Freek's Website

  • ZeHa
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Re: How does CV sync stuff work?

That sounds really great, I didn't know that you could do so much stuff with this. Thanks for the answer smile I'll stick with MIDI though, but who knows what the future might bring...  big_smile

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • From: I'aintsterdam
  • Registered: 2008-07-14
  • Posts: 1,429

Re: How does CV sync stuff work?

ZeHa wrote:

I'll stick with MIDI though, but who knows what the future might bring...  big_smile

you can also try a combination of both smile

TB or not TB

Freek's Website