External Triggers and Step Movement
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Process Objective
We are going to make a preset melody on the Vector, and then let an external device tell the vector when to increment each step. This means you can take advantage of things like euclidean sequencers or a Turning Machine and have that module tell the Vector when to play each step.
Routing Overview
The routing for triggers works like this at a conceptual level:
- Vector sends CLOCK to external module.
- External module receives the CLOCK, and does whatever magic it does (eg. generates a pattern).
- The external module sends triggers back to the Vector.
- The Vector increments the steps of your PRESET in accordance with the incoming triggers.
- Other Vector PARTS will run as normal.
This means you can do some pretty wild and interesting things combining Vector step progress with an external device which may be commonly clocked, or may be doing it's own thing.
Example Scenario
I am going to use the Vector, Jack Expander (JE), Pamela's New Workout (PNW) and a Turing Machine (TM) in the below workflow.
1. Create a PART and PRESET of the type you want (eg. a MONO melody part of 8 steps) and fill in some PITCH and GATE content.
2. Go to ROUTE (Run, Clock, Reset) on the Vector and ensure your CLOCK OUT settings match the external module you will be using.
For Pam's New Workout I am using RUN, S24, W as my settings. I am running a clock out from the Vector (CLOCK/RUN) to PNW, and then a PNW output with a x4 multiplier to the CLOCK input of my Turing Machine.
3. Patch from your external module to one of the Trigger jacks on your Five12 Jack Expander (JE). Let's use T1 for this example.
IMPORTANT: You can only use JE Triggers 1 to 6 for this purpose!
4. Go to GLOBAL then ROUTE and J-EXP TRIGS page and adjust the TRIG you have patched to the external module to be EXT (external) and is at the very end of the available settings. Press the encoder to select your choice. It will switch from greyed out to white.
TIP: You can use SHIFT and the encoder to get to EXT which is the far right, after 8.4, far more quickly.
5. Select your PART and go to the SEQ CTL screen by pressing CONTROL once.
6. Change MODE to the appropriate JE Trigger (T1 through T6). You can also change the RATE here. The default is /16 but you can make it whatever you like.
7. Hit PLAY. The Vector will send clock to the PNW, then to the TM, and the TM will send triggers back to the JE T1 input which you have set to EXT.
8. Your PRESET should increment steps whenever the external module sends a trigger.
9. You can also change the RESET variable within the PRESET if you want the sequence to always start from STEP 1 at a certain point, or leave it free running.