Sick of the Stock Digital Low Pass in your MPC?

Upgrade to something a bit more moist.

The Monotron (an Analog synth which Korg just released for $60) has a pretty juicy analog low pass filter inside of it, and also comes equipped with an auxiliary in so you can run any external source through the filter and out through the headphone jack. A good look.

What's really interesting though is that this little synth is quite easy to modify so that it accepts control voltage (that's how electronic instruments "talked" with each other before MIDI). Little known fact: The MPC can send control voltage signals right from the 1/4 inch jacks. You see where I'm going with this? With the hack in place you can control the filter cutoff with the Q-Link slider AND sequence filter changes, just as if you were manipulating the internal filter, except a hell of a lot wetter. I made a quick video outlining this and doing a demo of how it sounds. Check it out here ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stv5_cFfbNM Skip to 1:00 to get to the meat...

That's it, That's all I got to say...

dope!

Jfalconcrest wrote:That's all I got to say...

hey man, the potential there is pretty neat! well done man!

so in your example, its like the mpc sample acts like the waveform of a synth, and the CV controls cutoff and the amp envelope?

AntonPD wrote:so in your example, its like the mpc sample acts like the waveform of a synth, and the CV controls cutoff and the amp envelope?

CV only controls the Cutoff. The amp is controlled like you normally would via Pad velocity or Q-Link... A lot of interesting creative possibilities for this... I could imagine running a juicy Bass synth in the background, then doing a simultaneous Pad with the Kick Drum being tied to the pad that opens the filter... Extra evolving Boom.

Quality vid mate! Thanks for posting, think I will have to invest in one of these on pay day! I presume I can google instructions for the mod closer to the time, or is it something you figured out yourself?

The schematics for the Mod are the Easiest I've ever seen. You can find them Here ---> http://www.dinsync.info/2010/06/how-to- ... otron.html

You may need to do a bit of research if you're new to the solder / circuit game. The modification he outlines on the site is for CV control of Cutoff, Pitch, AND LFO I believe. However, it requires breakout boxes (the whole hack won't fit in the original case) and the CV control of the pitch is apparently kind of sketchy.

If you are going to be using this thing in conjunction with your MPC, you really don't need:

A. The pitch control, because you could just sample the Monotron if you wanted, and besides that, the synth sound itself is "eh". It's the filter that's the real gem. You also don't need:

B. The LFO control because as I have demonstrated the MPC sending CV signals simulates a unique sort of LFO anyway. SO,

When you eliminate those 2 unnecessary (for us anyway) pieces, not only is it WAY simple, but the addition also fits in the original housing. A clean look.

Bookmarked thanks for that! I've had a little experience making home-made "synths" from scratch before so this looks easy enough.

for another mpc CV examples with other synth search for the 'mpc 2500 controlling a lil phatty 'on youtube

well done, man... i gotta give props where they are due.

while i already have enough options as far as low-pass filters are concerned, this is a cool idea for a portable setup.

Super Portable. That's one of the reasons I did it. I'm touring Europe this year and I wanted a way to tweak filters live on stage without lugging the Rackmount bitches every-damn-where...

Nice! Does the ol' 2k classic emit CV as well?

I should know, but I never thought to try.

nice video!

so how do you get CV out of an MPC? do you just use a varying audio signal as a varying voltage signal?
e.g. play a sample of a really low freq wave?

polarAC wrote:Nice! Does the ol' 2k classic emit CV as well?

I should know, but I never thought to try.

I believe so...

Pastor-of-Muppets wrote:nice video!

so how do you get CV out of an MPC? do you just use a varying audio signal as a varying voltage signal?
e.g. play a sample of a really low freq wave?

Yeah, really loud mostly low frequency Signals. Sounds like bassy clicks, or sometimes really high frequency squeals. I have some samples that were made strictly for this purpose, they are really rudimentary and require some volume tweaking to use properly. I can send them to anyone who is interested. CAUTION: When in main screen / most menus on the MPC the CV signals will run through the out you assign them to, However, in TRIM mode they will play through your stereo outs! Very easy to blow a cone this way so turn the volume down down.