External Synth Setup Example

Creations & Ideas
1

Hello everyone

As part of my live setup I’ve made a couple of functions that I use to control my hardware synths. I figured they could serve as an example and starting point for others to work from.

 # An important part of this code is the midi ports that
    # you set for each synth. This depends entirely on your
    # midi setup. I use a 4-port midi interface, and I make
    # sure to connect my synths the same way every time.


    # The Volca Drum has six different "sound slots" it can play
    # The sound isn't determined by the note, but which channel the
    # note is sent to.
    define :volca do |sound|
      channel = 0
      case sound
      when 1 then channel = 1
      when 2 then channel = 2
      when 3 then channel = 3
      when 4 then channel = 4
      when 5 then channel = 5
      when 6 then channel = 6
      end
      midi :c1, channel: channel, port: "midiout3_(midi4x4)_3"
    end

    # the Roland SE-02 is a monosynth, which makes it super easy to work with
    # this function is purely to make my code easier to understand by the audience.
    define :se02 do |note, sustain|
      midi note, port: "midiout2_(midi4x4)_2", sustain: sustain
    end


    # the Roland System-1M is a polysynth with up to four voices, which means
    # it needs a way to handle multiple notes at a time.
    define :system1m do |note, sustain|
      case note
      when Symbol
        midi note, port: "midi4x4_1", sustain: sustain
      when Numeric
        midi note, port: "midi4x4_1", sustain: sustain
      else
        note.each do |n|
          midi n, port: "midi4x4_1", sustain: sustain
        end
      end
    end

    # This fuction is used to send control signals to the synth
    # which controls the different parameters, such as cutoff.
    # It's not particularly clean, but it gets the job done.
    # The parameters and numbers depend on the midi implementation
    # of that particular synth, so give the manual a look.
    define :ctrl do |synth, param, value|
      se02_parameters = {
        "glide" => 5,
        "xmod_filter" => 16,
        "xmod_osc" => 17,
        "xmod_pulse" => 18,
        "noise_mix" => 41,
        "osc1_mix" => 48,
        "osc2_mix" => 49,
        "osc3_mix" => 50,
        "feedback" => 51,
        "lfo_rate" => 102,
        "lfo_osc" => 103,
        "lfo_filter" => 105,
        "delay_time" => 82,
        "delay_amount" => 91,
        "delay_regen" => 83,
        "cutoff" => 74
      }
      
      system1m_parameters = {
        "mod_wheel" => 1,
        "cutoff" => 3,
        "glide" => 5,
        "resonance" => 9,
        "bitcruster_amount" => 12,
        "delay_time" => 13,
        "osc1_mix" => 16,
        "osc2_mix" => 17,
        "sub_mix" => 18,
        "noise_mix" => 19,
        "pitch_envelope" => 22,
        "pitch_attack" => 23,
        "pitch_decay" => 24,
        "lfo_pitch" => 26,
        "lfo_fade_time" => 27,
        "lfo_filter" => 28,
        "lfo_rate" => 29,
        "osc1_color" => 50,
        "osc1_xmod" => 52,
        "osc2_color" => 55,
        "osc2_tune" => 56,
        "hpf_cutoff" => 79,
        "reverb_amount" => 91,
        "delay_amount" => 94
      }
      
      case synth
      when "se02" then
        if se02_parameters.has_key?(param)
          midi_cc se02_parameters[param], val_f: value, port: "midiout2_(midi4x4)_2"
        else
          print "no such parameter"
        end
      when "system1m" then
        if system1m_parameters.has_key?(param)
          midi_cc system1m_parameters[param], val_f: value, port: "midi4x4_1"
        else
          print "no such parameter"
        end
      else
        print "no such synth"
      end
      
    end

    # A handy little panic button
    midi_all_notes_off
1 Like
2

hi @chris.krakou

Big thanks for sharing this piece of code ! I think i will look at it to play with an elektron sample :slight_smile:

Edit :

  • maybe it would worth to have more code to see how you use this.
  • why your code is not colorized ?

Cheers

3

Wait, Ruby has a case statement? I wish I’d known that earlier…

4

Sorry for the late reply, I’m terrible at checking this site. Anyway.

I’m not sure why my code wasn’t colourised, but I’ve fixed it now.

As for use, here’s a simple loop which uses the functions.

live_loop :synths do
  tick
  # drum machine does simple 4-on-the-floor pattern
  volca 1 if (spread 1,4).look
  volca 2 if (spread 1,8,rotate:4).look
  
  # SE-02 does a simple arpeggiator
  se02 (chord :c3, :minor).look, 0.125
  
  # SYSTEM-1M does a drone and moves the cutoff.
  system1m (chord :c3, :m7).choose, 8 if (spread 1,32).look
  ctrl "system1m", "cutoff", line(60,90,steps:30,inclusive: true).mirror.look
  sleep 0.25
end