Voltage Bank Automation

Hey Folks!

hope all is well. Been lurking on here for a while with a few posts here and there, just want to say thanks for all the great info, the sharing and just general awesomeness that this community is all about!

Now, I’ve finally been getting a bit deeper with the 301, what a module! And have finally started to dig into Joe’s bespoke units (damn Joe, your a genius - thanks for sharing your work!). I’ve really been loving the Voltage Bank device that Joe has just released as it fits nicely into the framework I’m working on for a live set. One item I was trying to figure out, is how to do the following, and the reason for my post:

Would there be a way to send a trigger into the Voltage Bank device and have a counter run through and stop at 8 (random selection of 8 pieces of the incoming CV) - basically this would allow me to send a trigger which initiates the re-population of the voltage index.

Right now, I have it setup where I have 2 trigger sources coming into the er301, the first trigger is assigned to the Trigger input on the Voltage Bank which allows me to populate the index when I’ve selected the device input as one of the physical inputs on the 301 which has a pitch CV sequence coming into it and the second trigger is used to move a counter device which changes the index of the Voltage Bank (scrolls through the 8 values). I need to switch the device from listening on the input over to looking at the index in order to ‘hear’ what I’ve captured in the index. Really looking for an easier way to repopulate that index if possible. I use this to augment sequences I have running throughout the system.

The only issue I see with this method is the menu diving required to switch the device from listening to an input over to outputting the index. Not sure there is an easy way to switch this state outside of manual intervention. And of course, the need to manually switch trigger sources in a few spots.

Anyways, I’m going to stop there as I’m not sure if I’ve been able to convey exactly what I want. So hoping someone can help, and please ask questions if you’re not sure what I’m trying to do.

Thanks in advance!

Ypsi Kid

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How about just bypassing the Voltage Bank unit?

Nah, I can’t do that as the Voltage Bank is the Pitch CV source for 3 OSC’s I’m running (each OSC’s v/oct is being driven by the Voltage Bank). So whether monitoring the incoming CV or playing the CV captured in the index, both of these are being done by the Voltage Bank and then fed into the OSC’s v/oct. I have to set the Voltage Bank to either input or index mode depending on whether I’m playing the index or capturing incoming pitch CV.

Then set the source for those 3 oscillators to something else downstream of the Voltage Bank (such as the output of the chain containing it or another unit)?

Thanks Brian. I don’t think I know the platform and terminology as well as I should. What would be the benefit of putting the Voltage Bank in another unit? Wouldn’t the output be the same as if I was taking the CV straight from the device? Please excuse my lack of knowledge, still trying to fully wrap my head around it. I have the Voltage Bank as the first device in the chain, followed by a mixer unit (this mixer unit contains 3 other mixer units, each with it’s own OSC - these OSC’s receive their pitch CV from the main ‘layer’ where the VB is - using the local connections to route the cv from VB to each respective OSC’s v/oct input).

Thanks for your responses Brian, appreciate it.

I’m not sure if I completely understand the problem statement yet. The Voltage Bank is always listening. When you fire it’s trigger, it stores the input in the selected S&H.

The menu choices only affect what is output. It’s always listening and ready to take a sample.

Does that help?

Hey Joe!

Great to hear from you and apologies for the vague problem statement, still really wrapping my head around the conceptual and terminology side. And also big thanks for your work man, amazing stuff!

That definitely helps, but from my experience, when I already have values stored in the index and then want to replace those values with new ones (changing the track in a live, improvisational set/context), if I leave the Voltage on playing the ‘Index’, it self-samples what is already in the index (at least that what it sounds like to my ears, could very well be wrong here). So when switching/replacing the values in the index, I have to switch the VB from ‘listening’ to the index over to listening to the input (ex. A1) which should give me new cv values as I’m sending new pitch CV values to one of the 301’s inputs, I also manually switch the counter device off which is rotating through the 8 stored voltages and then have to manually switch on the VB trigger (assign this to another input, A2, which defines when to ‘sample’ the incoming CV as it fires the trigger parameter on the device which initiates the recording into the selected index slot) to record the new values (I also manually scroll through the 8 index values so the incoming trigger will sample the CV value for the index slot). This takes a bit of time and all of my focus, so looking to streamline this process if possible for a live context.

I’ve tried leaving the VB on ‘listening’ to the Index when re-sampling the CV values while not switching off the counter device (so the counter device is still running through the 8 index values based on an incoming trigger - ex. B1) and it just feels like it is re-sampling itself as opposed to the incoming values (hence the need to change the state of the device itself from Input to Index).

Phew, that’s a lot of words up there and I’m by no means a wordsmith - LOL. Not sure you even understand my attempt at explaining what I’m doing! Over all approach is to be able to sample some of the main pitch CV information which is feeding other OSC’s in the system so that the 301 can play snippets of those values in a sequence that I determine (so it adds some nice related melody to what is already playing). I would have the need to constantly change the index values as I move through a live set (from song to song / part to part). Just trying to see if there is a better way of doing that than what I have in place now (no doubt there is a better way as I’m a big NEWB when it comes to the 301).

Hope at least some of that made sense. Thanks again.

Ypsi Kid
https://instagram.com/ypsi_kid

I will try to do an experiment and confirm, but the output setting in the menu shouldn’t have any bearing on what value gets sampled. The unit input should always get sampled regardless of the output setting in the menu.

Thanks Joe. I’ll also take a look at it again this weekend.