KVR Audio

elektrasoul · Post by **elektrasoul** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:57 am

can someone explain trigger output please.

i take it it means controlling one synth from another but i dont really know...

eg. bass from a 101 being triggered by a 909.

?

jean-bat · Post by **jean-bat** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:24 pm

could you give a hint about the context ? did you see this in an article or something?

could be about trance-gating, ie having the synth go through a gate that is opened by another track routed to the gate's "trigger" input.

elektrasoul · Post by **elektrasoul** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:28 pm

someone told me that mr fingers can you feel it bass hook i sfrom a 101 triggered (trigger output) from a 909.

and i dunno what that really means. do you?

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:40 pm

One device sends trigger signals to which the other responds. I can't explain it any better than this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CV/Gate

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:45 pm

elektrasoul wrote:someone told me that mr fingers can you feel it bass hook i sfrom a 101 triggered (trigger output) from a 909.

and i dunno what that really means. do you?

I read it that a Roland TR-909 is linked with a Roland SH-101. Each beat the TR-909 sends a trigger, and the SH-101 responds on that by playing a note. Instantly! Midi commands take some time (3 to 10 ms) to be transferred and interpreted, but CV/Gate links work within a fraction of a millisec.

elektrasoul · Post by **elektrasoul** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:08 pm

i take it this method wouldve been used before computers/software? i kinda know what its getting at but cant really picture it.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:17 pm

Yes, this was the pre-Midi method of synchronisation of synths / sequencers / drum machines.

In more detail, this is what happens:
* A patch cable is used to connect the "Trigger Out" jack of a drum machine (TR909) to "Gate In" jack of a synth (SH101)
* When the Start button on the drum machine is pushed, then each 16th note a trigger voltage is sent out through the wire. This stops when the stop button is pressed.
* When the voltage on the "Gate In" of a synth is raised, then that's being treated like a note-on midi message.

Comprendre?

elektrasoul · Post by **elektrasoul** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:21 pm

aye. so how do you change key/velocity etc? surely not from the drum machine. can you then tweak that on the synth?

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:27 pm

Keys must be pressed by fingers, or they are controlled by a sequencer / arpeggiator (either internal of the synth, or some external gear)

Velocity is simply not there.

elektrasoul · Post by **elektrasoul** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:32 pm

all i can imagine now is an arpegio on 16th spat from the 909 to the synth.

would a clap ot hat from the 909 send a different key to the 101? the 909 could be muted.

i dont understand. lol

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:35 pm

Some visual feedback:
(ignore Japanese narrator)

The drum machine only controls the tempo: time at which the notes are played, not which notes are played.

endfindead · Post by **endfindead** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:42 pm

The 101 has a triger in socket, to control the tempo, as well as having CV. Now, I want to trigger that from my PC, so I passed it out a signal kik/hat/white noise pulse, through a preamp pedal, and....nothing. Boo. Any ideas?

elektrasoul · Post by **elektrasoul** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:45 pm

any ideas? use cubase. lol

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 1:20 pm

I would imagine the trigger in question (from the 909) is purely to control tempo of a sequence within the 101. It'll send a pulse out at the start of every bar, and the 101 simply uses that to play it's own sequence. OSCars etc can do it too, but each synth tended to have their own format for triggering in those days.

You should be able to do it from a PC soundcard out...but you need to match the type of sound and the output to what is acceptable. Different synths will take different voltage inputs to trigger. And it may need to be a certain length of sound...some old synths took quite narrow pulses to trigger. All of those old analogue synths had manuals, and you really need to check its manual to figure out what voltage/volume/pulsewidth trigger is acceptable. Generally, a short noise burst or narrow pulse, or even a drum sound (but not necessarily a kick...a kick may be too flabby to trigger.)

When I get a chance, I'll check my 202 manual...I would imagine the trigger is the same as in the 101.

annode · Post by **annode** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:39 am

The trigger closure is not a synchronizing pulse. They are two independent things within the devices.
The trigger is a 5 volt to zero volt closure to the slave device.The closure,when active,will be sent when a specific drum sound key in the drum sequencer,such as "clap",normally sounds. But in this case doesn't sound.Instead,that is replaced by whatever sound or sequence runs when it is seen by the slave device.

This is not considered something you can do with a pc....although if you are computer hardware knowledgable,you can pickup a 5volt TTL signal closure from your serial connector in order to trigger an old triggerable hardware device.
To do this you will also need a software routine that will toggle a TTL voltage from a pin on your serial connector.
The best way to get into this sort of thing is to pick up an old commodor28 or 64 or any 8 bit computer that lets you write assembly.
I'm no expert,but ppl that have "tracker" experience with old computers are the ppl that can help you with voltage triggering and sequencing hardware devices.