Modwheel

[carla]

I like very much the synths of TAL, but there is a major feature missing : the possibility of assign modwheel to a modulation destination (freq, res, lfo...), it's only possible with the pitchbend and not practical.

[binaryoblivion]

I am unable to test this right now, but I believe that in TAL-U-No-LX you can use the midi learn feature to assign your mod wheel as a controller for any parameter:

MIDI LEARN
Assign a midi controller to every control of the synth. Do following steps
to make a successful assignment:
1. Enable MIDI LEARN
2. Move a U-NO-LX slider or push the button you want to control.
3. Move your hardware controller
4. Disable MIDI LEARN or do some more assignments.

Midi Learn is found in the Control section of U-No-LX (not the Blue control section, the other one).

It may work similarly in other TAL products.

[jdnz]

Neither the sh101 (bassline101) nor juno 60 (uno-lx) actually have a modwheel (or the combo pitch/mod stick of later Roland's) - so I guess TAL is just trying to keep true to the original hardware

[carla]

@binaryoblivion : Midi Learn is not really a solution, because Modwheel is used for a relative change (filter, mod) and not an absolute change

@jdnz : I agree for the Bassline-101 and U-no-lx, but this would be a great add for expression... And Noisemaker have his own architecture, so Modwheel integration looks evident

[jdnz]

Actually I'd forgotten about the optional mod-grip for the sh-101, can't for the life of me remember what it modulated though (it's about 30 years since I touched a 101)

[carla]

Hope Patrick is reading this post.

Really, the possibility to assign modwheel to cutoff/Q/lfo/etc. (and, why not, multiple assigns !) would be a giantstep for Bassline-101 and Noizemaker. It's really the missing feature, that one for more expressiveness.

I like Noizemaker, and even more Bassline-101 (testing the demo version). My only complaint is this missing feature.

It does not alter the concept of both instruments, but adds a lot of more possibilities of playing it.

[skippy63]

I agree totally, these features would be absolutely great.

[DuX]

Modwheel assignment is sorely very cumbersome and weird in TAL-sampler, too. I still haven't found an easy way to assign an LFO to gradually mod the OSCs tune with a modwheel. It is possible, I presume. If there was an LFO depth parameter on the OSC, it would be much easier.

Modulation matrix is the most important part of every modern synth as it gives you real-time control over the parameters. We have to have real-time control over pitch, filtering and everything pretty much. The performance has to be expressive. Like when you're playing a guitar, you have total control over the pitch and that's the most important one. Whoever is playing notes like a robot these days belong to 20th century.

Adding LFOs at will to anything and manipulating the sound with a control is essential these days. Every keyboard has a pitch and modulation wheel. These are basic performance controllers. TAL should pay more attention to these.

As I understand it, that's why he added P1-P4 controls which go from 0-127 instead of -64/+64 like all the ones in the modulation matrix, because when you try to modulate LFO depth on any parameter with a wheel, you get -64/+64 behaviour with it which is unacceptable because the LFO is modulating the [tune in this case] value all the time. You just *have to* use one of the P controls to control the modulation depth from 0-127 that way.

It's an interesting way of handling modulations, but wouldn't it be easier to just click the right button on the modulation control and choose between -64/+64 and 0-127 way of working?

So you could get rid of the unnecessary P controls and use that space for a second filter. Since the filter is called "Filter 1" I suppose a second one is planned?

[JeffLearman]

The creators of TAL Noisemakers are clearly devoted to synthesizers, so I just can't understand their lack of understanding of the importance of mod wheel as a live controller, the way it's used by just about anyone who's ever played a classic synthesizer.

Too bad, it's a deal killer for me so despite really loving the sounds I can get with Noisemaker, I can't PLAY it the way I need to.

Sigh, back to the search.

[jsaras]

The lack of mod wheel modulation is an inexplicable omission

[EmptyVessel]

Modwheel assignment is sorely very cumbersome and weird in TAL-sampler, too. I still haven't found an easy way to assign an LFO to gradually mod the OSCs tune with a modwheel. It is possible, I presume. If there was an LFO depth parameter on the OSC, it would be much easier.

I usually set it up like this:

Screenshot 2024-04-03 at 14.46.39.png

I guess in practice you are only getting +64 since the mod matrix controls are bipolar but I find that more than enough pitch modulation for comfort. But it's two mod matrix slots to achieve something very simple when for my own use I often run out of mod matrix slots!

For the other synths yeah maybe it would make sense to have a bit more freedom for what the mod wheel is assigned to but Patrick usually likes to stay fairly close to what would have been possible on the original instrument.