Hey guys I am just a new starter mod duo x user got mine like 3 days ago and I was wondering about what is the use of the orange cables?
1 Like
Those are for connecting control voltage (CV) devices.
From the online MOD:
2 Likes
What are the use of control voltage? What is it ?
1 Like
This could take a while to explain, @DOUBLE. Without resorting to the “in the beginning there was nothing and God created heaven and Earth” bit, analog synthesis runs on electrical current, which is manipulated in many forms so as to create sound.
When synths came to light, not only each note had a certain voltage value (see a table of note voltages here), but the various ways of generating sounds also employed voltages – and different waveforms – so as to modify the sound being created in some way. Analog synthesis has evolved but has not changed to this day.
When a guitar player bends a string, the frequency of the note will increase because of the extra tension applied to that string. In a synth, the pitch bend wheel will simply increase the voltage of that note, so it will go up in frequency (or down, as if using the tremolo bar.)
To get a full picture of what control voltage is in electronic music, University of Indiana professor Jeffrey Hass’ book is fully online. Nicely illustrated and well explained, even if a but too academic in language. You can see what the principles are and in chapter 4 what CV specifically does.
Here’s a decent video with the very basics:
Now, when it comes to the MOD specifically, CV can be used to generate sounds (see here for instance) or to control a multitude of parameters/functions within its many plugins. Please refer to some of the existing pedalboards here so as to get a glimpse of what can be done.
For instance, a cool thing that can be achieved is A to B cross-fading: either with an external expression pedal (converting midi to CV) or with one of Duo’s knobs mapped to CV control, one can use a mixer with 2 channels, map channel 1 to go from 0 to 100% with the clockwise turn of the knob, then use an inverter and map channel 2 to go from 100% to 0. That way, the knob will slowly mute channel 1 while slowly increasing the volume of channel 2 as one turns it clockwise. It would act like the Xfader in a DJ setup.
Good luck.
8 Likes