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Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

2005-07-30 by ivancu@aol.com

I had bought an Expressionmate when they first came out and was turned
off by the fact that it output info as pure MIDI notes, so instead of a
continuous "portamento" it was a "glissando." Of course later I
realized that this is a function of MIDI, where it is designed around
discrete notes rather than continuous variable voltages.

Is there a way to get around this?

Ivan

Re: [motm] Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

2005-07-30 by Greg Amann

Which leads to a related/similar question. Is there a VCO that uses digital technology to avoid tuning issues, but allows VC inputs for flexibility in a modular system? I am trying to build a "modular" instrument, not necessarily an "analog" one.

Heretically yours, Greg

ivancu@... wrote:

Show quoted textHide quoted text

I had bought an Expressionmate when they first came out and was turned
off by the fact that it output info as pure MIDI notes, so instead of a
continuous "portamento" it was a "glissando." Of course later I
realized that this is a function of MIDI, where it is designed around
discrete notes rather than continuous variable voltages.

Is there a way to get around this?

Ivan

[motm] Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

2005-07-30 by Scott Juskiw

Check if the Expressionmate can do either of these:

1. Can it output a continuous controller message instead of note on/off?
2. Can it output note on/off with pitch bend?

Either of these modes should be able to produce a reasonably smooth
portamento from MIDI messages. The brand D ribbon controller supports
both of these.

At 10:26 AM -0400 2005/07/30, ivancu@... wrote:

Show quoted textHide quoted text

>I had bought an Expressionmate when they first came out and was turned
>off by the fact that it output info as pure MIDI notes, so instead of a
>continuous "portamento" it was a "glissando." Of course later I
>realized that this is a function of MIDI, where it is designed around
>discrete notes rather than continuous variable voltages.
>
>Is there a way to get around this?

Re: [motm] Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

2005-07-30 by ivancu@aol.com

Right, but how can you get it to control a MIDI synthesizer so as not
to play individual notes when sliding up and down the ribbon?

Ivan

-----Original Message-----

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From: Scott Juskiw <scott@...>
To: ivancu@...; motm@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:07:51 -0600
Subject: [motm] Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

Check if the Expressionmate can do either of these:

1. Can it output a continuous controller message instead of note
on/off?
2. Can it output note on/off with pitch bend?

Either of these modes should be able to produce a reasonably smooth
portamento from MIDI messages. The brand D ribbon controller supports
both of these.

At 10:26 AM -0400 2005/07/30, ivancu@... wrote:

>I had bought an Expressionmate when they first came out and was

turned

>off by the fact that it output info as pure MIDI notes, so instead of

>continuous "portamento" it was a "glissando." Of course later I
>realized that this is a function of MIDI, where it is designed around
>discrete notes rather than continuous variable voltages.
>
>Is there a way to get around this?

Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

2005-07-31 by Dana Countryman

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, ivancu@a... wrote:

> Right, but how can you get it to control a MIDI synthesizer so as not
> to play individual notes when sliding up and down the ribbon?
>
> Ivan>>

Hi Ivan --

Long time, no chat!

Regarding the Expressionmate, the bad news is you CAN'T do true
portamento stuff on it. I bought one a few years ago, and had the same
frustrations.

So I called their tech support, and the guy admitted that it wasn't actually
designed to just play smooth theremin-like notes. A bit misleading, since the
original Moog ribbons were designed to do just that.

All I ever found the Kurzweil good for is arpeggio stuff, and I haven't even
recorded anything with that feature.

The unit is basically gathering dust with my keyboards. A waste of money.

So I went over to the Doepfer ribbon, which DOES what you think it would.
Check out my modifications here:

http://www.danacountryman.com/ribbon/controller.html

Cheers,

- Dana Countryman
Everett, WA

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>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scott Juskiw <scott@t...>
> To: ivancu@a...; motm@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:07:51 -0600
> Subject: [motm] Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate
>
> Check if the Expressionmate can do either of these:
>
> 1. Can it output a continuous controller message instead of note
> on/off?
> 2. Can it output note on/off with pitch bend?
>
> Either of these modes should be able to produce a reasonably smooth
> portamento from MIDI messages. The brand D ribbon controller supports
> both of these.
>
> At 10:26 AM -0400 2005/07/30, ivancu@a... wrote:
> >I had bought an Expressionmate when they first came out and was
> turned
> >off by the fact that it output info as pure MIDI notes, so instead of
> a
> >continuous "portamento" it was a "glissando." Of course later I
> >realized that this is a function of MIDI, where it is designed around
> >discrete notes rather than continuous variable voltages.
> >
> >Is there a way to get around this?

Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

2005-07-31 by djbrow54

There has been lots of comments made about the Expressionmate
and it's performance. I bought it for my son specifically for
his MIDI setup and it and it work fine for his needs. He no
longer was using it so I adapted it for my MOTM system.

I'm not going to defend it's performance but I have done a
lot of work in software with it. It has some strange
quirks and I'd love to look inside it's software and see why
it does what it does. The ribbon is actually constructed
of three ribbon sections each with it's own output (2 common
divider ends and 3 output are used the 6 pin connector). At
one time I had completed an analog design to just use the
ribbon and piece the three sections back together.

I decided to gather my notes and document the Expressionmate
peformance on my ribbon module page. I see less than 5 mV
steps in a typical setup. I also have samples of glides with
a MOTM-300 VCO.
http://modularsynthesis.com/modules/DJB-011/djb011.htm

If I were still using this in a MIDI setup I would use my MIDI
processor to transform the output into any needed command sequence.
Love those AVR processors!

Dave

PCB update

2005-08-01 by Scott Juskiw

With the upcoming Stooge panel run, I thought it would be prudent to
let everyone know about the status of printed circuit boards that I
have (or will have) available for some of the panels. I've also
gotten a number of queries about PCBs in the past couple of weeks.

1. The TLN-156 Neural Agonizer will be available again by the end of
August. This is my spring reverb circuit. I have another batch of
boards ordered and there is already a Stooge panel for this.

2. The DB-120 will be available again by the end of August. This is
Richard Brewster's circuit that adds more outputs to the MOTM-120.
I've had a few requests to run another batch of boards and there is
already the Stooge 120R panel for this.

3. The DB-320 will NOT be available anymore. The DB-320 is Larry
Hendry's circuit that adds more outputs to the MOTM-320. Instead,
there is a new multi-purpose daughterboard coming out that will be
able to recreate the functionality of the DB-320 (and a whole lot
more). This new board is another joint effort between Richard
Brewster, Larry Hendry, and myself and will also be available by the
end of August. I don't have any information about this new board
posted yet; I will be working on that fairly soon. So if you were
thinking about getting a Stooge 320R panel, go right ahead.

4. The DB-800 is still available. This is my add on board to the
MOTM-800. No Stooge panel is required for this one.

5. The JLH-2090CV is still available. This is Larry Hendry's add on
to Dave Hylander's expansion board for the Blacet MiniWave (which is
an adaptation of Wiard's Waveform City). Whew. There is a Stooge
panel for this entire concoction.

6. The TLN-854 Sword Of Kahless is available now. This is my new
ribbon controller project. The Stooges and I are still working out
the details on the panel. You can order the PCB now, but if you are
also interested in getting any of the other boards that are coming
out in August, I'd rather you wait until then. Less boxes to ship
means less trips to the post office for me and less shipping costs
for you.

The launch point for all of these boards can be found here:

http://www.tellun.com/motm/diy/diy.html

Thanks gang.

Re: [motm] Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate

2005-08-01 by Scott Juskiw

I'm not sure about the Expressionmate, since I don't have one, but
the D*epfer one can generate a MIDI message with pitch bend that does
not generate multiple note on/note off messages as you slide up and
down the ribbon. You would have to program your MIDI synth on the
receiving side to have quite a wide range of pitch bend if you wanted
to cover several octaves. Otherwise, I would just have the ribbon
generate some continuous controller message and use that over the
full width of the ribbon.

At 6:06 PM -0400 2005/07/30, ivancu@... wrote:

Show quoted textHide quoted text

>Right, but how can you get it to control a MIDI synthesizer so as
>not to play individual notes when sliding up and down the ribbon?
>
>Ivan
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Scott Juskiw <scott@...>
>To: ivancu@...; motm@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:07:51 -0600
>Subject: [motm] Re: Ribbon Controller - Kurzweil Expressionmate
>
> Check if the Expressionmate can do either of these:
>
> 1. Can it output a continuous controller message instead of note on/off?
>2. Can it output note on/off with pitch bend?
>
> Either of these modes should be able to produce a reasonably smooth
>portamento from MIDI messages. The brand D ribbon controller
>supports both of these.
>
>At 10:26 AM -0400 2005/07/30, ivancu@... wrote:
> >I had bought an Expressionmate when they first came out and was turned
> >off by the fact that it output info as pure MIDI notes, so instead of a
>>continuous "portamento" it was a "glissando." Of course later I
>>realized that this is a function of MIDI, where it is designed around
>>discrete notes rather than continuous variable voltages.
>>
>>Is there a way to get around this?
>
>

Re: [motm] PCB update

2005-08-02 by Mike Estee

On Mon, 1 Aug 2005, Scott Juskiw wrote:

> With the upcoming Stooge panel run, I thought it would be prudent to

Alright, silly question

oops, Re: [motm] PCB update

2005-08-02 by Mike Estee

Uhm, I slipped on a banana and accidentally typed "ctl-X, Y" in pine.
Nothing to see here, move along...

--mikes

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On Mon, 1 Aug 2005, Mike Estee wrote:
> On Mon, 1 Aug 2005, Scott Juskiw wrote:
>
>> With the upcoming Stooge panel run, I thought it would be prudent to
>
> Alright, silly question
>
>
>
>
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