Elektor Formant Modular

I want to midify my elektor formant, I have a doepfer mcv4 and the v/oct works great but the 
gate doesn`t. I guess the doefer has a 12v gate and the elektor 15v or something like that. 
How should I go if I want to convert the 12v to 15v signal? Or is there another answer to this?

-Wille

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
<astroschnautzer@...> wrote:
>
> I want to midify my elektor formant, I have a doepfer mcv4 and the 
v/oct works great but the 
> gate doesn`t. I guess the doefer has a 12v gate and the elektor 15v 
or something like that. 
> How should I go if I want to convert the 12v to 15v signal? Or is 
there another answer to this?
> 
> -Wille
>
Dear Wille,

I use also this MCV4, and works great, also the gate-puls. It is an 5 
Volt pulse possitive,it means it goes from 0 to 5 Volt, you can program 
the mcv4 for an 0 to 5 Volt or a 5 to 0 Volt, so you have to change it 
the right way mentioned above. Succes

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" <jpjm@...> wrote:
>
> --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
> <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> >
> > I want to midify my elektor formant, I have a doepfer mcv4 and the 
> v/oct works great but the 
> > gate doesn`t. I guess the doefer has a 12v gate and the elektor 15v 
> or something like that. 
> > How should I go if I want to convert the 12v to 15v signal? Or is 
> there another answer to this?
> > 
> > -Wille
> >
> Dear Wille,
> 
> I use also this MCV4, and works great, also the gate-puls. It is an 5 
> Volt pulse possitive,it means it goes from 0 to 5 Volt, you can program 
> the mcv4 for an 0 to 5 Volt or a 5 to 0 Volt, so you have to change it 
> the right way mentioned above. Succes


well I tried it but did not work with mcv4 or kenton pro solo, mayby i have missed 
something with the soldering of the gate or something, any ideas?
>

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
<astroschnautzer@...> wrote:
>
> --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" <jpjm@> 
wrote:
> >
> > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
> > <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I want to midify my elektor formant, I have a doepfer mcv4 and 
the 
> > v/oct works great but the 
> > > gate doesn`t. I guess the doefer has a 12v gate and the elektor 
15v 
> > or something like that. 
> > > How should I go if I want to convert the 12v to 15v signal? Or 
is 
> > there another answer to this?
> > > 
> > > -Wille
> > >
> > Dear Wille,
> > 
> > I use also this MCV4, and works great, also the gate-puls. It is 
an 5 
> > Volt pulse possitive,it means it goes from 0 to 5 Volt, you can 
program 
> > the mcv4 for an 0 to 5 Volt or a 5 to 0 Volt, so you have to 
change it 
> > the right way mentioned above. Succes
> 
> 
> well I tried it but did not work with mcv4 or kenton pro solo, 
mayby i have missed 
> something with the soldering of the gate or something, any ideas?
> >
>
What do you mean, can`t you program the gate pulse suited for the 
Formant I earlier mentioned or what.The gate pulse goes from 0 to 5 
volt as a pulse until you press a key from your Midi keyboard. The 
ADSR-modules need this pulse as a trigger to start. That`s it.

JP Klerx

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" <jpjm@...> wrote:
>
> --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
> <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" <jpjm@> 
> wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In ElektorFormant@...m, "astroschnautzer" 
> > > <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I want to midify my elektor formant, I have a doepfer mcv4 and 
> the 
> > > v/oct works great but the 
> > > > gate doesn`t. I guess the doefer has a 12v gate and the elektor 
> 15v 
> > > or something like that. 
> > > > How should I go if I want to convert the 12v to 15v signal? Or 
> is 
> > > there another answer to this?
> > > > 
> > > > -Wille
> > > >
> > > Dear Wille,
> > > 
> > > I use also this MCV4, and works great, also the gate-puls. It is 
> an 5 
> > > Volt pulse possitive,it means it goes from 0 to 5 Volt, you can 
> program 
> > > the mcv4 for an 0 to 5 Volt or a 5 to 0 Volt, so you have to 
> change it 
> > > the right way mentioned above. Succes
> > 
> > 
> > well I tried it but did not work with mcv4 or kenton pro solo, 
> mayby i have missed 
> > something with the soldering of the gate or something, any ideas?
> > >
> >
> What do you mean, can`t you program the gate pulse suited for the 
> Formant I earlier mentioned or what.The gate pulse goes from 0 to 5 
> volt as a pulse until you press a key from your Midi keyboard. The 
> ADSR-modules need this pulse as a trigger to start. That`s it.
> 
> JP Klerx
>
Yes, this is what I thought it to be too, but I haven`t been able to get it to work like this 
so I thought it was something else that was the problem...and it indeed is then something 
else that is the problem.

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
<astroschnautzer@...> wrote:
>
> --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" <jpjm@> 
wrote:
> >
> > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
> > <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" 
<jpjm@> 
> > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
> > > > <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I want to midify my elektor formant, I have a doepfer mcv4 
and 
> > the 
> > > > v/oct works great but the 
> > > > > gate doesn`t. I guess the doefer has a 12v gate and the 
elektor 
> > 15v 
> > > > or something like that. 
> > > > > How should I go if I want to convert the 12v to 15v signal? 
Or 
> > is 
> > > > there another answer to this?
> > > > > 
> > > > > -Wille
> > > > >
> > > > Dear Wille,
> > > > 
> > > > I use also this MCV4, and works great, also the gate-puls. It 
is 
> > an 5 
> > > > Volt pulse possitive,it means it goes from 0 to 5 Volt, you 
can 
> > program 
> > > > the mcv4 for an 0 to 5 Volt or a 5 to 0 Volt, so you have to 
> > change it 
> > > > the right way mentioned above. Succes
> > > 
> > > 
> > > well I tried it but did not work with mcv4 or kenton pro solo, 
> > mayby i have missed 
> > > something with the soldering of the gate or something, any 
ideas?
> > > >
> > >
> > What do you mean, can`t you program the gate pulse suited for the 
> > Formant I earlier mentioned or what.The gate pulse goes from 0 to 
5 
> > volt as a pulse until you press a key from your Midi keyboard. 
The 
> > ADSR-modules need this pulse as a trigger to start. That`s it.
> > 
> > JP Klerx
> >
> Yes, this is what I thought it to be too, but I haven`t been able 
to get it to work like this 
> so I thought it was something else that was the problem...and it 
indeed is then something 
> else that is the problem.
>
Have you still the interface between the analog keyboard and the 
Formant, because this is where you have to plug in your mcv4. Or do 
you have the external inputs at the ADSR-module earlier mentioned on 
this board. This has to be working. Can you messure the voltage of 
the gate-pulse with a Voltmeter.Good luck.
JP Klerx

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" <jpjm@...> wrote:
>
> --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
> <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" <jpjm@> 
> wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In ElektorFormant@...m, "astroschnautzer" 
> > > <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Pierre Klerx" 
> <jpjm@> 
> > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > --- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
> > > > > <astroschnautzer@> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I want to midify my elektor formant, I have a doepfer mcv4 
> and 
> > > the 
> > > > > v/oct works great but the 
> > > > > > gate doesn`t. I guess the doefer has a 12v gate and the 
> elektor 
> > > 15v 
> > > > > or something like that. 
> > > > > > How should I go if I want to convert the 12v to 15v signal? 
> Or 
> > > is 
> > > > > there another answer to this?
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > -Wille
> > > > > >
> > > > > Dear Wille,
> > > > > 
> > > > > I use also this MCV4, and works great, also the gate-puls. It 
> is 
> > > an 5 
> > > > > Volt pulse possitive,it means it goes from 0 to 5 Volt, you 
> can 
> > > program 
> > > > > the mcv4 for an 0 to 5 Volt or a 5 to 0 Volt, so you have to 
> > > change it 
> > > > > the right way mentioned above. Succes
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > well I tried it but did not work with mcv4 or kenton pro solo, 
> > > mayby i have missed 
> > > > something with the soldering of the gate or something, any 
> ideas?
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > What do you mean, can`t you program the gate pulse suited for the 
> > > Formant I earlier mentioned or what.The gate pulse goes from 0 to 
> 5 
> > > volt as a pulse until you press a key from your Midi keyboard. 
> The 
> > > ADSR-modules need this pulse as a trigger to start. That`s it.
> > > 
> > > JP Klerx
> > >
> > Yes, this is what I thought it to be too, but I haven`t been able 
> to get it to work like this 
> > so I thought it was something else that was the problem...and it 
> indeed is then something 
> > else that is the problem.
> >
> Have you still the interface between the analog keyboard and the 
> Formant, because this is where you have to plug in your mcv4. Or do 
> you have the external inputs at the ADSR-module earlier mentioned on 
> this board. This has to be working. Can you messure the voltage of 
> the gate-pulse with a Voltmeter.Good luck.
> JP Klerx
>
I have "replaced" the analog keyboard  with the mcv4, the gate works correctly with the 
keyboard, I will have to try and measure the gate pulse then, it is probaly no big issue I 
just haven`t got any experience in electronics so have to ask a question quite often:)  
thanks for your help!

-Wille

Hi there, if the ADSR works ok with the analog keyboard, than only�2 things can cause this problem in my opinion:

�

1.�Your MCV4 is defect�on the aspect of generating the gate-pulse. That means it doesnot generate a gate-pulse at all or it generates a gate-pulse�with a different voltage.�You�can check�this by measuring the gate output of the MCV4 while pressing a key.�If you are not�comfortable with electronics, ask somebody who can help you with this.

2. Something goes wrong�in the connector(s) or in�the cabling from MCV4 to Formant.�If you did pass check 1 and have found that your MCV4 is ok, than check if the pinning of your MCV4 output is compatible with�Formants input. So, you can simulate a 5 volt pulse (with a battery or powersupply) to the input of the�Formant connector. If the ADSR's react on that pulse, you have the correct pinning. This should be compatible with MCV4.

�

Good luck from Holland,

Arjo�

--- On Thu, 4/17/08, astroschnautzer wrote:

ok, thanks very much for your answers, I will try it tomorrow.

I have now tried to fix this problem but no luck yet... 
I cannot measure the voltage of the mcv4 but I tried it with my korg ms-20 (wich  has a 5v 
gate if I remember correctly) and it works fine.
I have opened the back and soldered an gate input by connecting the gate and ground from 
the synth to a cable that goes to the mcv4, and it doesn`t work, and it is not he cable, I`ve 
tried 3 different ones. The weird thing about this is that the gate works perfect if it`s played 
by the keyboard. Can it be that this particular elektor formant has a higher gate voltage?
I have also tried all this with my kenton pro solo.

-Wille

on more thing: I get the gate light to lite up when you plug the cable from the Elektors gate 
input to the midi cv, but it is not reacting to any gate signal from the midi cv. So the "gate" 
light will light up but it is constant and the adsr lights doesn`t do anything, where as with 
the formants keyboar both of these light up and everything works...
Could this be somekind of a grounding issue as with the midi-cv the  ground comes from 
another powersupply?

-Wille

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" 
<astroschnautzer@...> wrote:
>
> on more thing: I get the gate light to lite up when you plug the 
cable from the Elektors gate 
> input to the midi cv, but it is not reacting to any gate signal from 
the midi cv. So the "gate" 
> light will light up but it is constant and the adsr lights doesn`t do 
anything, where as with 
> the formants keyboar both of these light up and everything works...
> Could this be somekind of a grounding issue as with the midi-cv the  
ground comes from 
> another powersupply?
> 
> -Wille
>
Does the gate-led lite up from the MCV4 when you push a key from the 
midi-keyboard?
JP Klerx

Yes, and the mcv4 works perfectly with other synths... I have also tried all this with a Kenton 
pro solo and doepfer a-190 midi cv, same problem with all.... so it has to be the elektors 
problem...

> >
> Does the gate-led lite up from the MCV4 when you push a key from the 
> midi-keyboard?
> JP Klerx
>

Digged out the elektor after a while and FOUND THE PROBLEM!! The guy who built it has not grounded the jacks on the machine, ok this I knew but didn´t get it to work still.... It turned out that he who built this machine had put the "sleeve" of the jack for signal so the whole systems jacks where "viceversa" plugged so no wonder that it didn´t work with anything :D . Well now I know :)

-W

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" <astroschnautzer@...> wrote:

>
> Yes, and the mcv4 works perfectly with other synths... I have also tried all this with a Kenton 
> pro solo and doepfer a-190 midi cv, same problem with all.... so it has to be the elektors 
> problem...
> > >
> > Does the gate-led lite up from the MCV4 when you push a key from the 
> > midi-keyboard?
> > JP Klerx
> >
>

Good find!  :-D


>Digged out the elektor after a while and FOUND THE PROBLEM!! The guy who built it has not grounded the jacks on the machine, ok this I knew but didn´t get it to work still.... It turned out that he who built this machine had put the "sleeve" of the jack for signal so the whole systems jacks where "viceversa" plugged so no wonder that it didn´t work with anything :D . Well now I know :)
>
>-W
>
>--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "astroschnautzer" <astroschnautzer@...> wrote:
>>
>> Yes, and the mcv4 works perfectly with other synths... I have also tried all this with a Kenton
>> pro solo and doepfer a-190 midi cv, same problem with all.... so it has to be the elektors
>> problem...
>> > >
>> > Does the gate-led lite up from the MCV4 when you push a key from the
>> > midi-keyboard?
> > > JP Klerx/


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