Increasing pitch

I need a VC function where a voltage slowly increases or decreases from one value to another and then stays there. I guess there are many solutions for this but I do not know how to do it :-(

Hi Rookie,

Interesting matter :-) So do I understand you right that you need a kind of LFO that goes very slowly up to a certain maximum value and then holds that value, right? How long should that hold that maximum value? So what you then need is an LFO that once it reaches the maximum value turns that into an frozen-delay function :-) That would be nice to have indeed and of course vice versa for going down to a certain minimum value and hold it there too.

No idea if that exists, haven't come across that... yet... Perhaps more senior members have ideas how to realise that?

I was thinking of an AH (Attack-Hold) envelope but that might likely not be able too hold that maximum value long enough for you?

Kind regards, Garfield.

”So do I understand you right that you need a kind of LFO that goes very slowly up to a certain maximum value and then holds that value, right? How long should that hold that maximum value?
-- GarfieldModular”

Exactly!
I want it to hold the value until it get a new trigger/gate and starts over again from one level to another.
I guess it requires a complex patching or maybe it is not possible?
Maybe some kind of LFO but I rather think of some other kind of function generator like Maths or an advanced EG.
One patch I will test:
Three oscillators are tuned to the same pitch e.g. C1.
Osc 1 then slowly raise to C2. Osc 2 to E2 and Osc 3 to G2 (with different speeds) so a chord is evolving from the C1 pitch.

EDITED Mar 9th 2020, 08:30

Hi Rookie,

In worst case scenario you need then 3 of those "kind of modules/functions", one for each notes, 3 notes, 3 modules...

Did you had a look into Sinfonion from ACL if that can helps you out? Check their manual for this module especially the chord section and the sequencer section, with a combination of both of these (chords & sequencer) you might get close, but perhaps not exactly what you need.

Good luck with the search and if you find the answer please let us know, it's quite interesting :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Sinfonion looks great but is a little bit to large and expensive for me :-(
And chords is not the main purpose for my goal. Just an example of what I wish to achive.
I guess there is no easy way to get what I want as only you have proposed any suggestion.
But I will try to find out a way. And that kind of work is one of the great things with modular. Even if I don’t achive what I want I’m sure I will learn a lot on the way :-)

Hi Rookie,

Yes of course you are right on the size and the expense of the Sinfonion, it was just an idea.

Did you tried it with an AHDSR envelope? That might do the trick too, perhaps not up till the 100% you are looking for but should give you a good start into the right direction, isn't it? Put Attack to something of your liking and set the Hold to the maximum. Depending on the AHDSR module this might work (or not...).

Kind regards, Garfield.

An EG with AHDSR seems to be the solution!
Most of the modules I find only have Hold times in a few seconds but Ladik C-215 AHDSR
seems to have Hold time for hours? But I’m not sure as the information about the module is not very precise.
But one of the labels is ”hours” but I am not sure if that even refers to Hold time.
What do you think?

Hi Rookie,

I personally don't have experience yet with the Ladik brand so I can't comment much on it. I would like you to advise to try this module out at your dealer or in case your dealer doesn't have this module, you might just want to give it a try, the module doesn't seem to be overly expensive.

Good luck and please keep me updated, Garfield.

So first, let me reiterate what you're saying in case I don't understand correctly.

You want to be able to use a trigger to select different CV voltages. When moving between those CV voltages you want the value to slowly creep to the next value and then remain there until another trigger is received.

So, let's break the problem into the two functions:

The first sounds a lot like a sequencer. You hit it with a trigger and it then moves to the next step that contains a different CV value. In my set-up, I'd use the Noise Engineering Mimetic Digitalis. It will rotate through 16 steps or you can set it to rotate through just four. You can use other lengths if you also supply a "reset" trigger... which you probably want to do anyways. Note: all three examples have reset inputs.

The great thing with this module is that it can store all of the values and you can recall them later. The down side is that you can't accurately change the values as it's running. But it has FOUR channels in it... so you can get crazy if you throw a switch into the mix.

My other option would be the Befaco Muxlicer. It has 8 faders that can output their own CV or take one incoming CV signal and attenuate it accordingly. The upside is that it's really easy to use and adjust on the fly. The bad news is that there's no storage. What you see is literally what you'll be getting. There's only one channel.

My last option is the Ornaments & Crime. It has a dual sequencer. It's more accurate to program than the Mimetic and can even store its settings. But you have to menu dive with a pair of rotary knobs. Not the worst interface... but some people just hate menus...

So whichever option I take... I can trigger specific CV voltages via a trigger.

NEXT... slewing between values.... SLEW RATE LIMITER.

Make Noise has the Maths module. One channel of this is PERFECT for the task. It offers rising and falling slope times as well as different scales of time (exponential, linear, log). Pros: dialing in exactly what I want. Cons: Expensive and a lot of rack real estate.

I also have an Intellijel Noise Tools unit with a generic slew rate limiter built in. I can substitute that for the Maths. Pros: cheap. Cons: only works in an Intellijel case with a 1U rack.

Anyways... that's how I would solve the problem within my own rack. Though there are probably other solutions that would work.

EDITED Mar 13th 2020, 02:59

Thanks for your suggestions !
My project seems to be more difficult than I thougt :-)
I will check the manuals of the modules you propose and see if I maybee already have some of theese functions in my modules.

I would look at ornament and crime - the source code is available on github and some of the existing functions are similar/ partially what you want so creating a new one should not be that difficult - and it will do exactly what you want it to

It seems that I have to buy O&C.
I know some coding but have not practiced it for many, many years. But it should be fun to dive in to O&C:s code.

I wrote a letter to Ladik about my project and he replied immediately!
Here is his response:

”To make such thing properly (and in precise tune), you´ll need something like "starting CV" and "ending CV" (source CV in the beginning and target CV as the end value, both quite precise).
Imagine sequencer with three CV outputs (or three seqencers) controlling notes of your your chords (advancing sequence). For slow transisiton between notes you can use an slew limiter (lag processor).
Envelopes are not usualy made to be "in tune" (no precise voltage output useful for tuning purposes) because they are usualy used for tweaking filter (it does not to be in precise tune) and opening/closing VCA.”

The same solution as Ronin proposed :-)