Can the Volca Modular be controlled by the MS20 Mini via CV?

Uncle_Alex · Post by **Uncle_Alex** » Thu Oct 17, 2019 12:19 pm

Good afternoon all, I wonder if anyone out there can help me at all?

I recently bought the Volca Modular and (my bad) I quickly realised that it has no MIDI IN. I own several other Volcas which all have MIDI IN and I guess I just (foolishly, again my bad) assumed that the Modular would be the same.

I am completely inexperienced with CV, however I understand that it may be the answer to controlling the Volca Modular in a similar manner to MIDI. I also own an MS20 Mini and I note that it has a few INs and OUTs which relate to CV. Is it possible to connect the 2 synths together in such a way so that I can use the MS20 Mini to give me MIDI-type control over the Volca Modular?

I'm guessing that it can be done, but I must be honest - I simply do not have the technical know-how to make it happen. Any help would be enormously appreciated, thank you so much people.

All the best

Alex

slug · Post by **slug** » Thu Oct 17, 2019 10:12 pm

Volca Modular is designed so you can trigger typical gate/pitch by using a TRS jack in the Modular CV input by (from MS20 Trig Out and Keyboard CV Out), but that is it out of the box.

Uncle_Alex · Post by **Uncle_Alex** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 8:52 am

Thank you SO much for the quick response Mr Slug, it is much appreciated.

I think I understand what you're saying. So will I need to buy some sort of splitter cable so that the 2 cables from the MS20 can be simultaneously plugged into the CV IN on the Volca Modular?

Apologies for my ineptitude on the subject of CV.

Many thanks

Alex

slug · Post by **slug** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 10:00 pm

Yes thats right, it is basically an insert cable, but with 3.5mm jacks instead. One end is TRS, and the other is 2 x TS jacks. Its a bit of an oddball, i had to make my own.

Uncle_Alex · Post by **Uncle_Alex** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 8:23 pm

Thank you so very much Slug.

I got the cable from Amazon and I'm now up and running.

One minor gripe is that when I play a MIDI sequence and then press stop, the Volca Modular holds the last note played, and just keeps on playing that note indefinitely. I can work around it, but it does seem a little odd!

Alex

slug · Post by **slug** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 9:32 pm

Hmm yes i just tried this and the gate is inverted, and I can't think of an easy way to change the polarity.

However I then tried taking the trigger from the EG1 output on the MS20 with both attack and decay set to zero - it works as expected as a gate on/off triggering the Volca Modular. Give that a go!

Uncle_Alex · Post by **Uncle_Alex** » Thu Oct 24, 2019 5:39 pm

You're a flippin' genius Slug! I don't know how you know all this stuff, but it flippin' worked.

Many, many thanks for your help with this issue - you've gone above and beyond sir. You're a flippin' legend. 10 out of 10, would recommend!

Alex

slug · Post by **slug** » Thu Oct 24, 2019 9:55 pm

haha no worries I use a eurorack setup so I already had an insight into how gates work, and it certainly helps that i work at a shop where i have MS20 and Volca Modular setup to experiment with!

Im sure you will learn a lot very quickly using these semi-modular synths, being that necessity is the mother of invention

zaphod betamax · Post by **zaphod betamax** » Tue Feb 25, 2020 6:10 pm

As long as its not pitch control.
The MS-20xx has Hz/V,whilst the Modular is V/octave.

Uncle_Alex wrote:Good afternoon all, I wonder if anyone out there can help me at all?

I recently bought the Volca Modular and (my bad) I quickly realised that it has no MIDI IN. I own several other Volcas which all have MIDI IN and I guess I just (foolishly, again my bad) assumed that the Modular would be the same.

I am completely inexperienced with CV, however I understand that it may be the answer to controlling the Volca Modular in a similar manner to MIDI. I also own an MS20 Mini and I note that it has a few INs and OUTs which relate to CV. Is it possible to connect the 2 synths together in such a way so that I can use the MS20 Mini to give me MIDI-type control over the Volca Modular?

I'm guessing that it can be done, but I must be honest - I simply do not have the technical know-how to make it happen. Any help would be enormously appreciated, thank you so much people.

All the best

Alex

Bargibanti · Post by **Bargibanti** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 1:27 pm

Hi there,

i`m getting a weird scale when triggering the Volca Modular via Midi and CV in
with two different Midi-CV interfaces.
Internal pitch offset is normal chromatic, other CV controll functions (filter, envelope, ect.) and gate are working fine.
Any ideas?

Thanks, Bargi

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Can the Volca Modular be controlled by the MS20 Mini via CV?

Can the Volca Modular be controlled by the MS20 Mini via CV?

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