The guitar solo was done with MusicLab Real Guitar, using with the Les Paul imitation (https://www.musiclab.com/products/reallpc/info.html). The GeoShred guitars somehow never made me happy (but I love their other instruments). I added pitch bends, sustains and a bit more, but really it's just me using the library. It just sounds good as it is. There would be "humanization" options that I didn't yet get into.
I bought several Spitfire string libraries, and they're really great, out of the box. Adding dynamics is so easy with Drambo.
Which is really maybe why I post this here: Drambo and it's sequencer make composing such a joy :)
Are you using your phone as a camera there? How do you combine the camera with the audio? Looks like it’s not even wired. Ive been wanting to start making videos but all of my attempts end up having technical issues. Been thinking of getting a Zoom q2n-4k just to make it easy.
Ive been debating getting an interface for my iphone but Im apprehensive cause I tried using a old Zoom recorder as an interface which was giving me loud popping sounds probably cause the Zoom thing is like 10 years old but its made me less than confident in my phones ability. I think I should though cause it already takes 4k video. I just don’t want to have to do sound and video separately and combine them after the fact. I have kinda a low threshold for tedium.
Could you post to link to your live streams? I'll rarely be there in time, but would love to watch the recordings later on. The photo you just posted is magical!
I've finally gotten around to running some tests to try to determine how to best calibrate my MOTU M4 for interfacing with my eurorack system. Within drambo I programmed a melodic MIDI sequence using 1-octave intervals (C2-C3, and C2-C1), and I patched Drambo so that the MIDI sequence would be converted to CV and then output to my audio interface. Then I used my oscilloscope to measure the voltage at the output of my MOTU interface (ie. measuring the voltage if of different pitches and intervals). I found that C2 == 0V. Since eurorack modules tend to use 1V/oct as their standard tuning, I wanted to scale the CV generated by MIDI in drambo so to align with the eurorack standard. I found that by scaling by a factor of about 1.5325, I was able to achieve 1V/oct.
1.5325 is a very specific and unusual, almost arbitrary-seeming value. I'm not sure why Drambo would have been designed that way -- it's a very odd choice. I'm not sure if I made a mistake during my measurement and calibration process. Or perhaps every audio interface would require its own specific and particular scaling factor to convert Drambo's CV units to actual real-world voltage units?
How are other eurorack users handling this? I read in an old thread from many years ago that at one point, it was theorized that scaling by 0.8 would convert from Drambo's tuning system to Eurorack's 1V/oct tuning system -- but that old comment didn't describe how that conclusion was reached or what sort of signals need to be scaled by 0.8. In any case I'm observing very different results now, which is confusing to me.
EDIT: I should add I was running Drambo within AUM during these tests. But (in theory?) I wouldn't expect it to make any difference, since all other channels in AUM were muted/bypassed, and this channel was set to unity gain.
Unfortunately, there is no single standard describing what audio signal should produce what output voltage, for several reasons:
Audio interfaces are not designed for CV (DC) output in the first place.
If they happen to support it, calibration is up to you.
The idea of CV calibration is to find the precise values to obtain the correct pitches over many octaves.
Being able to use "odd numbers" is the idea of calibration, otherwise calibration wouldn't be necessary.
By the way, a classic multimeter will give you much more precise CV voltage readings than an oscilloscope.
Drambo should not care about absolute output levels because they're up to the audio interface's design.
Drambo's pitch signal is designed for working with Drambo modules and the common -1..1 range of internal values plus the 0.125 per octave scaling factor does make sense internally.
Don't forget that what you're doing here is an unsupported hack that happens to work well enough after some tweaking. Changing levels in your output chain at any point, be it the volume knob or internal mixer settings of the audio interface, will destroy the calibration again.
The "official" way to convert note pitches to CV would be a MIDI to CV converter. Much less hassle and potentially more CV outputs.
How are other eurorack users handling this? I read in an old thread from many years ago that at one point, it was theorized that scaling by 0.8 would convert from Drambo's tuning system to Eurorack's 1V/oct tuning system -- but that old comment didn't describe how that conclusion was reached or what sort of signals need to be scaled by 0.8. In any case I'm observing very different results now, which is confusing to me.
The reason is the interface itself. Different DC coupled audio interfaces will require different scaling (and potentially offset) values. The value 0.8 you mentioned sounds like a value to use for a specific CV interface from the company Expert Sleepers.
Expect live streaming, tech talk and dRambo shows.
My apologies if you don't use Facebook.
My music room is being relocated in to the new venue by the end of next week or by the beginning of the week after allowing for time because I also have to prepare for my gig with my live band mid May which is only around the corner.
a maximum voltage of 8 volts or a little bit more which can give you a bit of leeway
when calubrating 1v/oct from dRambo.
Can you explain what you mean by this? 8 volts where? Do you mean choosing a DC-coupled interface capable of outputting up to 8Vp-p? Or capable of outputting +/-8V? Or do you mean perform some sort of calibration involving 8V? How do you perform the calibration?
I would suggest not using the external cv module but going directly to the audio output
that you're using to send out CV signals and using the Scale Offset module to scale and offset the cv signal.
What do you mean by "going directly to the audio output"? I only just started using a multichannel audio interface (MOTU M4) within the past couple weeks, and I'm still learning my way around it. But I've found it not at all intuitive to understand how to control whether a physical output coming from drambo is mono or stereo. I've actually been emailing back and forth with MOTU support for days trying to better understand what's going on with mono/stereo signals on the iPad.
Could you please explain how to map the output from a Drambo track to the physical outputs of a USB audio interface? Especially when dealing with a combination of tracks where some are meant to be mono and some are meant to be stereo.
Comments
Thanks!! <3
The guitar solo was done with MusicLab Real Guitar, using with the Les Paul imitation (https://www.musiclab.com/products/reallpc/info.html). The GeoShred guitars somehow never made me happy (but I love their other instruments). I added pitch bends, sustains and a bit more, but really it's just me using the library. It just sounds good as it is. There would be "humanization" options that I didn't yet get into.
I bought several Spitfire string libraries, and they're really great, out of the box. Adding dynamics is so easy with Drambo.
Which is really maybe why I post this here: Drambo and it's sequencer make composing such a joy :)
@chrisb78 Good to know in regards to MusicLab Real Guitar.
Agreed, it does sound good as it is.
Yeah, dRambo and it's sequencing capabilites does make composing so much fun. :)
Are you using your phone as a camera there? How do you combine the camera with the audio? Looks like it’s not even wired. Ive been wanting to start making videos but all of my attempts end up having technical issues. Been thinking of getting a Zoom q2n-4k just to make it easy.
That photo was from when I was working outside, I had set up office in a local Bar/Restaurant/Work Space.
Really nice place and the coffee is not bad.
The wine is much, much better.
I'm currently using a Google Pixel 5 for my live stream connected to
a Soundcraft Notepad 5 via USB C to get both audio and visuals to the stream.
One quote from the live chat was ,"It sounds like a studio".
I'm not using any third party just the YouTube app on Android.
I was using OBS Studio during the summer however I was getting audio dropouts
so I'm rethinking that one because the aspect ratio and colouring is what I like via OBS Studio.
I can't change to the wide angled lens on the Google Pixel 5.
Anyways, cabling is involved. :)
Ive been debating getting an interface for my iphone but Im apprehensive cause I tried using a old Zoom recorder as an interface which was giving me loud popping sounds probably cause the Zoom thing is like 10 years old but its made me less than confident in my phones ability. I think I should though cause it already takes 4k video. I just don’t want to have to do sound and video separately and combine them after the fact. I have kinda a low threshold for tedium.
That's why I like the Pixel 5.
Just plug n play.
When I had first joined the now Loopy Pro Forum and started getting into dRambo I was doing the whole shebang.
Videoing footage, full on editing, titling, treatments etc, etc and for what.
3 or 4 views if anyone could be bothered so I switched to just doing stuff whenever I felt like it.
My live is stream is now a really cool hang out joint with tech talk. ;)
Just use your phone, if you really don't like it then delete it and if you really like it
then you can download your own video from your account after the fact and add stuff to it if you feel like it.
Yes, using an external audio interface really is a must and the loud popping sounds could be anything.
Buffer size, sample rate mismatch, software etc.
However if you set the buffer high then you're good to go because you'll be using that
to stream rather than the audio interface that you're using to create sounds from.
Basically
ipad creative tool>iPhone+External audio interface+Youtube app or Third Party app for streaming.
I'm going to be live streaming again starting from tomorrow night so if you want to pass through
and have a chat about dRambo and audio in general then you're more than welcome. ;)
Winter.
Could you post to link to your live streams? I'll rarely be there in time, but would love to watch the recordings later on. The photo you just posted is magical!
Thank you.
Here's the most recent stream.
https://youtube.com/live/n5vbvcuh3sQ?feature=share
I've just completed rewiring my rig and I'm currently testing it for gremins.
In the last two episodes I found the gremlins and solved the issues. :)
I've finally gotten around to running some tests to try to determine how to best calibrate my MOTU M4 for interfacing with my eurorack system. Within drambo I programmed a melodic MIDI sequence using 1-octave intervals (C2-C3, and C2-C1), and I patched Drambo so that the MIDI sequence would be converted to CV and then output to my audio interface. Then I used my oscilloscope to measure the voltage at the output of my MOTU interface (ie. measuring the voltage if of different pitches and intervals). I found that C2 == 0V. Since eurorack modules tend to use 1V/oct as their standard tuning, I wanted to scale the CV generated by MIDI in drambo so to align with the eurorack standard. I found that by scaling by a factor of about 1.5325, I was able to achieve 1V/oct.
1.5325 is a very specific and unusual, almost arbitrary-seeming value. I'm not sure why Drambo would have been designed that way -- it's a very odd choice. I'm not sure if I made a mistake during my measurement and calibration process. Or perhaps every audio interface would require its own specific and particular scaling factor to convert Drambo's CV units to actual real-world voltage units?
How are other eurorack users handling this? I read in an old thread from many years ago that at one point, it was theorized that scaling by 0.8 would convert from Drambo's tuning system to Eurorack's 1V/oct tuning system -- but that old comment didn't describe how that conclusion was reached or what sort of signals need to be scaled by 0.8. In any case I'm observing very different results now, which is confusing to me.
EDIT: I should add I was running Drambo within AUM during these tests. But (in theory?) I wouldn't expect it to make any difference, since all other channels in AUM were muted/bypassed, and this channel was set to unity gain.
Unfortunately, there is no single standard describing what audio signal should produce what output voltage, for several reasons:
How are other eurorack users handling this? I read in an old thread from many years ago that at one point, it was theorized that scaling by 0.8 would convert from Drambo's tuning system to Eurorack's 1V/oct tuning system -- but that old comment didn't describe how that conclusion was reached or what sort of signals need to be scaled by 0.8. In any case I'm observing very different results now, which is confusing to me.
The reason is the interface itself. Different DC coupled audio interfaces will require different scaling (and potentially offset) values. The value 0.8 you mentioned sounds like a value to use for a specific CV interface from the company Expert Sleepers.
See also:
https://forum.beepstreet.com/discussion/401/how-to-scale-drumbos-internal-voltage-to-eurorack
@aaa @rs2000
I'm in agreement with the both of you.
I started modular via dRambo and though dRambo's way of determine 1v/oct
works perfectly within dRambo it doesnt translate precisely into the real world
when using audio interfaces even when using an Expert Sleepers ES3.
My advice is to use a multimeter like @rs2000 suggested and create
a maximum voltage of 8 volts or a little bit more which can give you a bit of leeway
when calubrating 1v/oct from dRambo.
I would suggest not using the external cv module but going directly to the audio output
that you're using to send out CV signals and using the Scale Offset module to scale and offset the cv signal.
The other thing to bear in mind is that you will have to calibrate quite often when using external modular stuff.
Not because of the audio interface, because the external modules will drfit.
I designed a precison adder so that I can get the notes pitch perfect
however you can do rough calibration using just octaves and a tuner.
By the way part of the reason theres been tumbleweed is because I'm creating an Artist hub here in London, UK.
Where creatives from right across the board can share ideas, meet like minded people and have fun.
More news to follow in that regards. ;)
Here are some photos of the new creative space.
Expect live streaming, tech talk and dRambo shows.
My apologies if you don't use Facebook.
My music room is being relocated in to the new venue by the end of next week or by the beginning of the week after allowing for time because I also have to prepare for my gig with my live band mid May which is only around the corner.
Here's my FB
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DZ1591DBm/
Follow for more news. ;)
Quoting @gravitas:
a maximum voltage of 8 volts or a little bit more which can give you a bit of leeway
when calubrating 1v/oct from dRambo.
Can you explain what you mean by this? 8 volts where? Do you mean choosing a DC-coupled interface capable of outputting up to 8Vp-p? Or capable of outputting +/-8V? Or do you mean perform some sort of calibration involving 8V? How do you perform the calibration?
Quoting @gravitas:
I would suggest not using the external cv module but going directly to the audio output
that you're using to send out CV signals and using the Scale Offset module to scale and offset the cv signal.
What do you mean by "going directly to the audio output"? I only just started using a multichannel audio interface (MOTU M4) within the past couple weeks, and I'm still learning my way around it. But I've found it not at all intuitive to understand how to control whether a physical output coming from drambo is mono or stereo. I've actually been emailing back and forth with MOTU support for days trying to better understand what's going on with mono/stereo signals on the iPad.
Could you please explain how to map the output from a Drambo track to the physical outputs of a USB audio interface? Especially when dealing with a combination of tracks where some are meant to be mono and some are meant to be stereo.
@aaa
There will be video about how to calibrate 1v/oct in a future video once my Patreon becomes active.
@lala has a Motu M4 I do believe so he maybe able to tell you how to configure your routing.