Workaround for lack of LFO Retrigger?

[Tausendberg]

Is there a way to get something that behaves like LFO Retrigger in practice using the Modular V? I wish there was at least a way to force the Modular V's LFOs to reset when the song starts playing because I'm realizing when I render/export multiple mp3 sthe LFOs are in different positions and thus giving me quite varying results.

[LBH]

It would be nice if Modulars LFO's could Reset and retrigger. Would make some things easier. I don't think it's possible to force it. It looks like they are constantly running. for the moment i can't see a way to force it to reset and retrigger. For a lot of modern music it would be nice if Arturia made the reset and retrigger of the LFO's possible.

Perhaps someone else knows a way to do it.
Let us know if you find a way.

Using possibilities - like notes and automation and different kind of effects and tools - in your DAW might be a workaround to create the desired result.

[Tausendberg]

I've been digging around but I haven't found it. At this point I'm gonna rely on the next update.

[LBH]

Yes.

In many ways the MIDI sync is useless without a reset and retrigger. So i don't know if it's a fault it's not working like that. Seems so to me.

[Tausendberg]

Yeah, that's what tripped me up, when I saw that the LFOs have MIDI sync available then I just simply assumed that it would 'snap to grid' when I would press play but you know, all it really seems to do is just get the tempo information.

This seems like a really major oversight especially when considering that some of their other synths like the SEM V does have retrigger on their LFO, but you know, Modular V, I think I can say, is definitely the most versatile if not the most outright "powerful" synth in the entire collection...

Do you know if the ARP 2600 V has retrigger? I might start using that one a lot more if it does...

[LBH]

Unfortunately i think ARP 2600 do the same. I don't know if it has a workaround.

I hope Arturia have gone thru every detail in all applications and corrected everything and improoved  where possible in the upcomming updates.

[Tausendberg]

Hopefully, from what I saw of the minimoog, the next update is gonna be a big one.

[Tausendberg]

Hey, I just got a crazy idea... I remember that the modular V can receive external signals... What if I used an external LFO? Any opinion on that process?

Edit: Seems like MidiShaper is the way to go...

I mean, I pretty much needed a 3rd party alternative because under closer inspection, I noticed that if I have both LFOs running, they don't even run in sync to each other. I mean, come on Arturia, forget historic authenticity, you know, I'm just trying to make music.

[LBH]

A emulation shall have the historic authenticity as an option. Then other things perhaps can be added as options. A LFO reset and retrigger option should be there, especially as there are a Midi sync option.

As i wrote:
Using possibilities - like notes and automation and different kind of effects and tools - in your DAW might be a workaround to create the desired result.

MidiShaper i would call a tool. So yes that's a possible workaround.

MidiShaper can be used on many synth, so a tool like that is useful if it's easy to use and you can save your patterns as templates.

[Tausendberg]

The nice thing about Midishaper and Modular V working together is that the free/trial/demo version of Midishaper can run up to four LFOs simultaneously while Modular V has so thoughtfully provided those two joysticks that can output four simulated control voltages allowing for easy conversion from CC to CV essentially. The possibility of more than two LFOs is a really exciting prospect...

[LBH]

Yes.
Sounds like you are being creative and have a great time. Great.
Thanks for sharing your exploration. It can give inspiration.

[Tausendberg]

Cheers! It's not an exaggeration to say that subtractive synthesis has changed my life. I mean, my awareness of sound and what sound is has expanded more in the past few months than in the nearly 10 years playing guitar and other instruments before that.

[Tausendberg]

Yo, just want to give you a heads up if you decide to use MidiShaper...

I just looked at the spectral analysis and Modular V handles information from the XY Pads (or for that matter AT and MOD outputs) differently than a signal from an LFO.

I can go into more detail if you're interested but the crux of the matter is, and I never noticed it until I looked for it in the spectral analysis, but if a modulation input (like on a filter) gets a signal from a mod wheel or an xy pad then it only gives positive values, 0 to 1 basically. But I just noticed for the first time that a modulation input from an LFO will basically go under the filter's frequency setting and essentially oscillate between -1 to 1.

This is an important distinction because I'm finding that if I want to convert a patch from using Modular V's LFOs to using MIDIShaper, I have to lower the '0 point' to where Modular V's LFO's '-1 point' is and then extend the range of the modulation input to reach all the way to the original '1 point'.

Something that would be additionally convenient would be if Arturia would allow an option for the CV from the xy pads and mod wheel to allow negative values.

One more thing I'll add, in practice... The joysticks are very very useful visual indicators of the LFO when coupled with MIDIShaper. They're more useful than the Modular V's blinking light which only indicate the start of a new phase. When I first got Modular V, I thought Arturia's decision to have 'joysticks' was rather arbitrary but now I'm really grateful for them. Honestly, I find them kind of hypnotic now.

[LBH]

Hi, Thanks.

Great you are having so much fun.

I believe MidiShaper and other seperate tools can be very versatile, because they even can be used for things that lack features like that.

I for instance have NI Massive. That has a performer, a stepper and a LFO with many waveforms. Other synths like Serum also have some possibilties. But Arturia synths has a different sound that's not as hard and cold. The sound is vital to me and that's why the sound for me is the most important thing for Arturia to develope and improve. Also Arturias Jupiter has some features and also SEM - especially if just the reset and retrigger when using hold get fixed.

But if i need features like this on synths that lacks the feature, and i don't feel automation can do what i wan't, then it's good it's possible to use tools like MidiShaper f i don't have nother tool that can get the job done.

I find my LFO's work as they shall regarding the baseline in Modular. Get both positive and negative values.
But there are synths where you can set the LFO baseline as you wan't.

In Modular the X/Y pads can be set to the same parameter and then for instance have the X modulation given a negative value and the Y a positive value thru the way you set the modulation input.
Not sure i understand you about this. But the important thing is you get cretive and get some results you like.

About the x-y joystick, then it's authentic. You can read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moog_modular_synthesizer and here http://www.vintagesynth.com/moog/modular.php
It's module 959.
My keyboard controller has a X/Y pad control, and automap also support this. Studio One also has X/Y pad in control link. For some things it's a great control option.

Keep having fun.

Cheers.

[Tausendberg]

Oh, well that's cool, I didn't know that was based off an official Moog Module.

Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse, yes you can set the modulation input that is fed from the X/Y to go into negative values...

What I meant to say was that unlike the Modular V LFO, a single axis on the joystick can't output negative and positive values at the same time, that's all. But I'm not really concerned about that because it's all a perfectly manageable situation once you know exactly what's happening.

If you ever get into MIDIShaper and want some perspectives, please let me know because there's a few steps to getting it to talk properly to Studio One and the documentation by CableGuys is somewhat minimal.