Using Expression to control Diva volume

[scoplunk]

What does everyone do about MIDI controlling Diva's volume? If I use Expression to control the main output, there's no way to balance the relative volume of each preset, plus I run into lots of clipping when loud presets are turned all the way up. I'd prefer to use the amp volume and assign the expression pedal to vol mod, but since the volume mod is bipolar, the expression pedal doesn't work correctly. If I make the volume mod positive then the volume never turns down, just offsets louder from the original volume. If I use negative volume mod, then the pedal actually does what I want it to do, but it works backwards - pedal minimum value is the original volume and pedal maximum value is silence. There doesn't seem to be any combination of settings that will give me a normal pedal sweep that's silent when the pedal is at minimum and the preset volume when the pedal is full value. Is there a simple way to do this that I'm missing?

[Howard]

In MODIFICATIONS: INVERT = StackIndex, ADD = Invert + Expression
In MAIN: Vol Mod = 100.00, source = Add

[scoplunk]

Ha! Brilliant! Well, at least I can console myself by saying that solution wasn't exactly simple. Or maybe I should just say it wasn't obvious. I wouldn't have ever thought about using Stackindex that way.

Thankfully, I don't use a lot of stacked voices, so this is going to work wonderfully. Until I get a better computer, I'll be safe.

Thanks Howard!

[Howard]

You're welcome. Here's an alternative that doesn't use StackIndex:
RECTIFY = Alternate, INVERT = Rectify, ADD = Invert + Expression
Vol Mod = 100.00, source = Add

[scoplunk]

Both of these methods are great because they allow a fixed value to be used as an offset. I guess it's sort of like the constant in Zebra's mod mixers but the constant isn't scalable - it's either +1 or -1 (if I understand this correctly). Both of these methods are really clever, but in the end they seem like workarounds for a feature that Diva is missing. It would be great if there was a scalable offset that could be applied to Diva's modulators so we didn't have to use up a bunch of the other mod features just to create that ability.

On a side note - while I was trying to figure out exactly what was going on with these methods, I had a good time playing with Stackindex and the Add and Multiply functions. If you multiply Stackindex and an lfo, you get lots of interesting things happening as you increase the stack number. I definitely need to come back to this and make a useful patch out of it. I'm sure somebody already has...

Thanks again Howard.

[Howard]

VCA modulation *could* have been implemented to accommodate unipolar sources, I agree. BTW if any factory presets are silent by default, people complain. There are a few in The Dark Zebra, which caused a few "bug reports".

[thetechnobear]

seems a little similar to the 'issue' I reported with trying to use breath control to modulate the VCA fully.
(i.e. you cannot set main vol to 0, and vol mod to 100, because vol mod is a multiplier to main vol)
I think this would be a very useful addition as discussed in the other thread