In the latest WMDevices video, host Alex “Nasty Nachos” Anderson offers an introduced to control voltages in modular synthesis.
In modular synthesis, control voltages (CV) are low-voltage electrical signals used to control parameters of the sound, rather than carry audio.
A CV can tell an oscillator what pitch to play, open or close a filter, change an LFO’s speed, adjust envelope times, control amplitude, or automate almost any other function that accepts modulation. This is what makes a modular synth “patchable”: instead of fixed internal routings, you connect CV sources—such as keyboards, sequencers, envelopes, LFOs, random generators, or touch controllers—to CV destinations with patch cables.
Some CVs are continuous and smoothly changing, while others act more like on/off signals, such as gates and triggers, which are used to start notes or fire events.
CV is the language that lets the different modules in a modular synth communicate “talk” to each other and shape the sounds that you make.
What would you tell someone trying to get started with control voltages in modular synths?
The latest video from synthesist Julian “J3PO” Pollack captures a live improvisation, centered around the Arturia KeyStep Pro.
Here’s what Pollack has to say about the technical details:
“In this video, I set a few sequences in motion, followed them where they wanted to go, and improvised along with them in real time.
Using the Arturia Keystep Pro as the central sequencer, I built a foundation of evolving patterns and then improvised freely around them. The result is a fully spontaneous performance where composition and improvisation begin to blur together. When I perform this way, the sequencer becomes less of a tool and more of an improvisational collaborator.
This is a DAW-less performance. No computer was used in the creation of the performance itself, aside from recording and creating the final mix, including some additional processing for levels, compression, and overall balance.”
