Controlling a Monotribe with an external keyboard?

[MartieFuncum]

How do people do this? I have a microkey 61 air and an Arturia microbrute and would love to be able to use them with the monotribe. Any tips greatly appreciated. Thanks

[LM]

I use an Arturia Keystep, which allows me to control the Monotribe via CV/Gate. No mods are required on the Monotribe, other than the latest software update from Korg and an adapter cable that plugs into the Sync In jack.

[MartieFuncum]

I use an Arturia Keystep, which allows me to control the Monotribe via CV/Gate. No mods are required on the Monotribe, other than the latest software update from Korg and an adapter cable that plugs into the Sync In jack.

Thanks, what kind of adapter cable are you using? I'm thinking if it works with the Keystep it might work with the Microbrute?

[LM]

It's a 1/8" T-R-R-S adapter for smart phones, which gives you a stereo headphone jack and a mono microphone jack from a single T-R-R-S plug. It turns out that each of the jacks is wired just right to work with the CV and Gate inputs on the Monotribe.

Or you could follow the directions from the Korg documentation and build your own, although 1/8" T-R-R-S plugs are not so easy to find.

I suppose the Microbrute should work too, if it has CV and Gate outputs. I found the the SQ-1 also works, when used as a USB (computer) to CV interface, or just by itself as a standalone sequencer.

Note that if you want to sync your analog gear with the Monotribe's drums then the Monotribe has to be the sync master when controlled by CV, as its analog sync input is not available. In my case, it's CV/Gate from Keystep into Monotribe and Sync Out from Monotribe back into Keystep Sync In (for the arpeggiator and sequencer), with the Keystep set to external clock. I hope that makes sense.

[MartieFuncum]

It's a 1/8" T-R-R-S adapter for smart phones, which gives you a stereo headphone jack and a mono microphone jack from a single T-R-R-S plug. It turns out that each of the jacks is wired just right to work with the CV and Gate inputs on the Monotribe.

Or you could follow the directions from the Korg documentation and build your own, although 1/8" T-R-R-S plugs are not so easy to find.

I suppose the Microbrute should work too, if it has CV and Gate outputs. I found the the SQ-1 also works, when used as a USB (computer) to CV interface, or just by itself as a standalone sequencer.

Note that if you want to sync your analog gear with the Monotribe's drums then the Monotribe has to be the sync master when controlled by CV, as its analog sync input is not available. In my case, it's CV/Gate from Keystep into Monotribe and Sync Out from Monotribe back into Keystep Sync In (for the arpeggiator and sequencer), with the Keystep set to external clock. I hope that makes sense.

Thanks again, yes, the microbrute has CV and gate outputs. Would I need an adapter or a lead with the 1/8" T-R-R-S connectors at both ends?

[LM]

You need an adapter with a 1/8" T-R-R-S male plug at one end and two 1/8" female jacks at the other.

I use something similar to this (Amazon link): http://a.co/2Mr5fDk

[MartieFuncum]

Thanks, so if I were connecting the microbrute to the monotribe so I can use the microbrute keyboard how would I connect the lead tou mentioned. What are the female outs for?

Sorry, I'm a fairly typical old school 'guitarist' and all this cv/gate/midi stuff makes my head spin so any help massively appreciated

[LM]

The male plug goes into the Monotribe's Sync In, while the female jacks are for connecting the CV and Gate leads coming from the controller (Microbrute).

CV goes into "Microphone", while Gate goes into "Headphone" (on the adapter).

Note that you must first follow the instructions that come with the Monotribe 2.1 update, on how to switch it to CV mode and calibrate it with your controller.

[MartieFuncum]

Thanks LM, I'll give that a try and see how I get on. Thanks again, really appreciated

[LM]

Once you get it to work, try routing the audio out of the Microbrute into the Monotribe's audio in, adding an extra oscillator to the Monotribe.

[MartieFuncum]

Cheers LM, will give that a try

[Darkside]

Hi.
Sorry for breaking in, but I thought not to make another microtopic just to share a little positive emotions.
So a year ago I got my Monotribe modded with a simple declicking solution and it almost became a new instrument so much better for recording. Now this same friend got me sorted with the correct cable for cv/gate and it's yet a new synth again!
Five years ago I bought my Monotribe mainly because of its sequencer, as for simply playing that little ribbon thing is really too tiny. Now it's possible to play the Monotribe using my Roland Tb-03 as a sequencer with chained longer patterns and a slide capability or feed midi into its input thus making it a midi to cv/gate converter. So yeah - finally got to the main point - to play Monotribe with any keyboard in here. This way it's really possible to tap into the wild power of this little Monobeast, discovering along the way, that for a single oscillator synth, it can be almost anything: raw basses, leads and theremin impersonations, sfx/drums - and the Monotribe is still smiling or even laughing at all this.
So yeah, it's completely possible to get by without adding midi to the Monotribe, but once again, declicking mod is really essencial, as without it recording the synth is only thinkable with heavy external processing.
While Korg has stopped making and supporting the Monotribe, its prices get only higher. It probably won't become as legendary as certain silver bassline box from the past, but it's already possible to read about people regretting selling their unit. So yeah, let's stick to our boxes and hope they will last long.

[LM]

I hear you there. I also have a Monotribe w/ declick mod and CV/Gate adapter. Coupled with an Arturia Keystep and its sequencer/arpeggiator, it becomes a whole new instrument. It's probably my favorite toy. Definitely underestimated.

[Darkside]

Another really funky possibility is to record the incoming sequence into the Monotribe doing it of course in flux mode. Last point is very important, because when the flux mode is off, Monotribe quantizes the sequence, turning most of it into garbage due to the fact, that slides are not recognized when quantizing and there's a small oddity, where in cv/gate mode there is always some really almost imperceptable sliding between notes and quantizing can snap just somewhere in the middle of that frequency slide thus causing garbage notes. It's also somewhat fiddly to get the tempos right as there's no sync in when in cv/gate mode, but with a little patience it's not that much of a problem.
So as a proof of concept working, here is a little track with Volca keys, Monotribe and Erica synths eurorack. Notice, how Monotribe becomes much more acidic when those slides are there. Happy listening and experimenting!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7b070drkubygo ... 9.mp3?dl=1

[LM]

Yes, flux mode is the important bit when playing via CV.

It can also be used to record 32nd notes, or record two bars by slowing the tempo in half, although the 16ths on the drums then become 8ths. But that can also be somewhat circumvented by proper use of the Drum Roll function.

When using it with the Keystep, I set the Monotribe as the master clock: by connecting Sync Out from the Monotribe back into Sync In on the Keystep and setting it to external sync, the appeggios and sequences from the Keystep will play in sync with the Monotribe drums. It also makes it a lot easier to record note sequences on the Monotribe, by first programming them on the Keystep and then just pressing Rec on the Monotribe.