Triggering a note from a button not a keyboard.
I want to trigger a note from a button on my Synthesizers control panel, but I can’t get it to work, why?
Connecting a button directly to your synthesizers ADSR module won’t work quite as you might expect.
The reason is SynthEdit’s sleep mode. When a MIDI to CV module finishes playing a note, it powers-off any downstream modules as this saves CPU. However this also prevents the ADSR module from responding to the button.
All is not lost though, simply connect a Button to a Trigger to MIDI module.
Connect the Trigger to MIDI modules MIDI out to the MIDI to CV modules MIDI in. Now when you push the button, a MIDI command is sent to the MIDI to CV, just like any other note-on. The MIDI to CV then wakes up all the modules and starts the note.
Weird voltages from the Velocity Plug
I Connected the Velocity out from the MIDI to CV module to a volt meter and got weird values. The voltage seems to go higher and higher instead of going low when you lift the key. Is this a bug?
No, there is no bug.
The MIDI to CV is polyphonic, although there’s only one on-screen, imagine there are 6 of them, all connected to your voltmeter.
When you first push Play, all 6 modules output zero (Voltmeter reads “0.00”). You then play a note, and the voltmeter, reads “1.0” (for example), You play a 2nd note, the voltmeter reads “2.0”, you play a 3rd note, the voltmeter read “3.0”, etc., etc.
In a polyphonic synthesiser, these voltages add up, higher and higher, until you reach the maximum polyphony.
There is no bug, except perhaps that the Voltmeter is not Polyphonic, so instead of showing you 6 readings (for 6 voices), it adds them all together, which can be confusing.
Note: For Debugging- go to Mono Mode.
If you need to take voltage readings to debug your synth, the easiest solution is to set your project to Mono mode. Voltage readings will make much more sense. (you can set your project back to Polyphonic once you’re done).
I released a note and the voltage didn’t return to 0.
Why doesn’t the voltage return to zero when you release the note?
Because each note takes time to fade out, the MIDI to CV module continues to output the same voltages as when you first hit the note. Imagine if the pitch went to zero the instant you released a note, instead of fading gracefully to silence, notes would thump into a low frequency buzz.
Imagine if the Velocity output went zero on note-off, if you were using it to control the note loudness, the note would click instantly to silence, like an organ sound. So, when you release your finger from a key, the MIDI CV continues to output the same pitch and velocity.
Note: The “Gate” voltage does drop to zero instantly in all scenarios.
How to stop notes “Sticking”
How do I stop notes from “sticking” in my SynthEdit synth?
There are several reasons why notes could be sticking, usually due to construction errors. If you are getting stuck notes, check for the following:
1) Ensure that your Envelope module’s Gate inputs are connected to a proper Gate signal. e.g. From the Gate output of a MIDI to CV Module.
2) Make sure that the Envelope module’s Gate inputs are not being controlled by a slider, or fixed value module.
3) Check your VCA module’s Volume input to make sure that it is not being directly controlled by a Slider, or Fixed Value module.
“Poly to Mono” module
This module converts a polyphonic signal to monophonic by splitting off only the most recent note played. The output will be similar to a monophonic instrument. This is useful when trying to modulate a monophonic object (e.g. an LFO) from a polyphonic signal (e.g. note-pitch), which is usually not possible in a meaningful way.
“Voice Combiner” module
This module mixes-down a polyphonic signal into a monophonic signal that includes all voices that are playing.
Converting MIDI 1 to MIDI 2
SynthEdit also provides a MIDI converter module that can convert MIDI 1 to MIDI 2 and vice versa.
This is useful for maintaining compatibility with MIDI 1 only modules.
MIDI 2.0 is now the default MIDI standard, because MIDI 1, MIDI MPE, and Steinberg Note-Expression can all be converted losslessly to MIDI 2. However it’s not always possible to convert MIDI 2 to MIDI 1.
The SynthEdit SDK now provides helper classes that will convert MIDI for you.
This allows you to write your MIDI code without having to handle all the different types of MIDI.
Note: It’s recommend that you write your modules to use MIDI 2.
The SDK contains the ‘MIDI to Gate’ module that shows how to write a MIDI 2 module that also accepts MIDI 1 transparently.
You can intercept the MIDI signals anytime before it reaches the Patch Automator.
Note: The MIDI-CV secretly sends it’s MIDI to the Patch Automator.
By default the MIDI in SE 1.5 is Version 2.0. The MIDI-In module converts everything to MIDI V 2.0. You can send version 1.0 also, but SE’s own MIDI modules will tend to covert it back into Version 2.0 if they get a chance .
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