MIDI Tutorial

Using a MIDI keyboard with the ARP

MIDI to Analog converter

The Arturia keyboards in the studio are equipped with control voltage (CV) outputs labeled 'pitch', 'gate', and 'mod'.  The 'pitch' output can control the frequency of Oscillators using the cv volt per octave standard - some devices will label the input for this output 'CV', or '1V', the ARP simply indicates inputs to Oscillators with arrows. 'Gate' goes to an envelop generator's gate in, and 'mod' is a continuous voltage controller driven by the mod pad on the keyboard.

There is also a stand alone midi to cv converter in the studio made by Kenton. MIDI output from the any midi keyboard with a 5 pin midi connector, like the Alesis Q49, is converted to control voltage/gate (CV) by the Kenton converter box on the rack. This is a digital-to-analog conversion.

In either case, the converter should be wired to the top patch matrix of the ARP such that CV (pitch) is sent to bus 11, gate (envelope) is sent to bus 12, and aux is sent to bus 13.

Setting up the ARP

Since CV is an analog signal of pitch, we want to bus it to one of the modules that can accept some frequency or note input (such as an oscillator). Use bus 11 to direct the CV signal into one (or more) of the oscillator inputs. I have bussed it to the Dual Oscillator Module 1023.

Gate can be used to control either (or both) the amplitude and filter envelopes. This can be done by setting bus 12 as an input to the envelope generator and bussing the output to the Control Amplifier and/or Filter inputs of the Filtamp Module on the right. A schematic is shown below:

Another use case is to have the both the CV and sequencer bussed into the oscillator as shown. This can be used to build an arpeggiator.

Using a MIDI keyboard with the Verbos

The VERBOS can be set up with the keyboard in a similar fashion, but you will probably have to make your own connections between the Kenton convertor box and inputs on the VERBOS.

To control pitch via the keyboard, plug the CV out cable from the convertor box to one of the oscillator c.v. or v/oct inputs on the VERBOS. A signal from the c.v. inputs goes through a "reversing attenuator on it’s way to exponential modulation of pitch", while the v/oct inputs are calibrated to more accurately control pitch. In short, the v/oct input will give you better control over melody and allow you to play notes on a scale. I have chosen to connect the CV out cable to the v/oct input of the Complex Oscillator.

Controlling the envelope is a bit trickier, but can be done by connecting the gate out cable to any number of inputs. I have chosen to plug the gate out into the gate input of the multi-envelope, and bus the AHDsR output to the level input of the Amplitude & Tone controller with the width and center knobs of Scan & Pan turned down. 

Kenton converter box details