How to set up and use modular macro control

Macro control is a fun and powerful, but not so much highlighted tool in modular patches. In today’s video I explain what it is and give a series of ideas, ranging from controlling a few things in a synth voice, to large parts of track.
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Timetable:
00:00 - Intro
01:25 - What is macro control
03:17 - Patch ideas
13:04 - Advanced patch
Special thanks to Legendary & Crazy Patrons:
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#monotrail #eurorack #macrocontrol

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hello everyone! This topic was requested a few times, happy to have made a video on it :) Generic Affiliate links: Perfect Circuit - US - bit.ly/3Yn0Gll Sound of You - EU bit.ly/3DzdFYi Clockface - AS - bit.ly/3YkDJ1B

[@middaymeds]

Congrats on being full time!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, thanks a lot! Will see how I can cover some gap in my monthly expanses, but have some saving and super happy to give it a go! Cheers :)

[@Rhapsodyinnoise]

Congrats on becoming full-time! Your Monotrail project has been a long time favorite of mine when it comes to eurorack, it is fully deserved :)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, thanks!!! And for watching all this time :) All the best!

[@stromwerk742]

> ...very excited to finally go full time with this channel... Congratulations!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you very much! Will see how it goes, but have some savings to try for this year :)

[@jamesbaynton1881]

The tutorials on concepts are brilliant.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you so much! :)

[@LeoPerantoni]

Cool video! I bought a 3xmia because of your earlier video. It is one of my favorite modules today!

[@MrJemabaris]

So did I and I love it! Btw, an awesome trick I came across which was not mentioned in the video: If you want a unipolar attenuator instead of the bipolar attenuverter (it can be fiddly sometimes to find the exact 0 position at twelve o clock) just mult the signal with a stackcable and feed it into both inputs of one MIA channel. The attenuation doesn't go down to absolute zero but it's enough in most cases. Cheers!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Ha nice to hear, the 3X MIA is still one of my favorites of all time :)

[@BITE_MECHANISM]

I probably will come back to this way to often haha... Still building my setup and looking for stuff I actually need instead of staring at pretty lights and panels 😁

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Nice! And that sounds like the good approach to me. Take your time, learn what you can do with what you have, and explore in your own speed. All the best!

[@wljhawk]

Looks like some great ideas for Droid patches!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Haha, for sure! :)

[@cidst8]

Another excellent video for beginners to advanced modular users.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you, glad you liked it! Cheers :)

[@waitingforthesundown]

I already love your video, but this one.... And the last patch is perfect! Well played & thanx!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

That's good to hear, and thanks for watching! :)

[@electronicgarden3259]

Excellent. I do some macro control but got inspiration to try it out more.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks, and glad to hear it :) Cheers!

[@j.thorgard]

You can sequence the macro control within your pitch and gate sequence using the velocity cv from your sequencer to control the offset bias.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

True! Just add a VCA to the offset and you can control it with anything you like :)

[@lsf3og]

I hope you have fun in your new job 😊

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Ha, absolutely! Thanks :)

[@zetasonics7584]

Brilliant video, thanks, Im a noob and this has helped me so much! Thanks for the awesome content!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for letting me know, always cheers me up! :)

[@samibefree2410]

Awesome video, thanks for the inspiration

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Very happy to help, thanks for watching!

[@wiredcreature3309]

Thank you for this video! Very educational and helpful

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're very welcome! :)

[@robriki2]

Congrats on going full time! Your open ended modular videos like this one are my favorite and are are a great source of inspiration.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Ha, thank you! I like making these to :) I notice some new and fancy modules draw more attention. But at least I want to make a mix of fun new things and good basics and how to-to's. Thanks for watching and all the best!

[@richarquis]

First off, congratulations! I love your channel and your videos, it's great to see you making it a full time thing. You've earned it. Next - Jesus, that patch at 11.37, were you combine those first 3 patches into one behemoth. That sounded fantastic. So much clever patching going on there.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, thanks! I am super excited about this, and it's great to hear people appreciate and support my work :) Thanks for watching, and all the best!

[@nielshulgard3722]

Ah, what a great topic! Really looking forward to watching this one, when I have proper time to take it in 😁

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hope you'll like it! :)

[@nielshulgard3722]

@@MonotrailTechTalk I am sure I will, your videos are always stellar 🔥

[@FursAndMasksMusic]

A lovely thing about modular, as I am coming to learn, is that with a small rack furbished with a healthy supply of utilities I can already accomplish so much with a bit of cleverness. I love this idea of the magic macro knob. It's probably one of the top ways to wow people with a patch and possibly give the modular bug if they're unlucky 😅 Thanks, as always, your channel is absolutely one of the elite!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, that's absolutely true! A good set of basic utilities will get you a long way, and is a huge playground for fun explorations. Thanks for watching! :)

[@catscanmeow]

love macro control, i love when 1 thing can make other modules obsolete. Like if you have a few vca's already sitting around, you can make a crossfader using an offset, rendering the need for a crossfader module almost obsolete. A Gate sequencer with definable pattern lengths renders a clock divider module obsolete. Its interesting problem solving game to try and figure out what is the least amount of modules you need to have the most amount of functions. Another example , you can make ANY logic gate with just 6 NAND gates patched intelligently, because NAND has "functional completeness".

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, thanks for sharing! That's all very true :) It's a fun game to play in deed, and can lead to new discoveries! Cheers :)

[@MartinDoudoroffLLC]

Nicely done! I’m already pretty good at this, but I need to put more effort into using macro control to introduce melodic variations.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks! This one is focusing a bit one the basics, but good to hear you are on it :)

[@Hikove]

I was a little unwilling in getting a macro controller module, thanks to you, now I will get one. The Sonocurrent C GF4 is my choice.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Nice! I wanted to do the video with no specific modules, but there are some good ones out there indeed! Enjoy :)

[@danieljackson3868]

I wish Circuit Abbey still made the INVY--it has two offsets and attenuverters, and you can mix the two signals. It is so useful.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Looks like the same functions as the Klavis Tweakers, if you are after the small footprint. My favorite is the 3x MIA, as it also does mixing very well.

[@danieljackson3868]

@@MonotrailTechTalk Oh yeah, MIA is a must have. I'll take a look at the Klavis!

[@corticallarvae]

Congrats longer videos would be golden... they are excellent as they are.. but I would love to see more

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks, and I agree more is more :) But these videos (between 15-20 min) already take me over four days to make, and KZbin stats show it's a good point audience attention wise. But happy to hear if people are interested in certain topics. I can always make a 'deep dive into topic X or Y' video :) Cheers!

[@corticallarvae]

@@MonotrailTechTalk I understand from a marketing and monetization perspective...one thing I need to see are the waves as system is altering them etc...a spectral rundown a couple of mordax datas show me the wave before and after a module... maybe I mean presentation... as opposed to length.i helps turning everything off with a mixer switch and seeing the reality....

[@corticallarvae]

@@MonotrailTechTalk still great videos as they are

[@fredericroy6844]

Another flawlessly executed tutorial video, can’t wait for the next one. In the meantime, I recommend checking out the ADDAC306, a simple and intuitive macro control module. I don’t think it’ll ever leave my case!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you liked it! The ADDAC306 is cool indeed. Really like what they did with the slider, 5 outs and CV in. Pretty fun way to deal with Macro for sure! Enjoy :)

[@glnnk_art]

Got that as a trade and haven't yet played with it. Looking forward to that :D

[@nukiolbartes6279]

Makrow by Future Sound Systems come into mind.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Ha, yes. I decided to cut the part with some suggestions on that, but there are a few dedicated modules out there, also the Bear modules XXPRSS, and Robaux 3PT. Cheers!

[@DMT1985]

I recently fell over your channel. The diagrams are really helpful. As a beginner in eurorack- i see that you got a mix of analog and digitals. How to clear this once and for all? What power bus do you use? Thanks and love your content! Got into XAOC Decices caused by ❤😊

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hello! Glad to hear you get some use out of my work :) As for analog vs digital: I'd say the best thing is to not care about it to much. See what things/sounds/functions/features you like, and decide based on that. For filters, I prefer analog. Things like oscillators already have advantage in each domain. And I personally love things like clever digital sequencers and sample players! As for power: I have quite a few different solutions in the different cases. The most common is a separate 4hp power module with flying bus boards.

[@xavierxeon]

I am hoping that you will do a Grainity video

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Working on it! But always want to take some time with stuff and explore some sounds. I personally don't like the quick 'first patch' style things. But coming soon :)

[@xavierxeon]

@@MonotrailTechTalk take your time!

[@MrNicolate]

How do you manage to control the frequency of the filter both with the envelope and the macro controller? Some kind of cv adder?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Quite some filters have multiple cv inputs. Otherwise just use a simple mixer!

[@blindianajones]

Ive been thinking, too much, about how to manage gates, triggers and volume. Is what your talking about with offset similar to using a fader and having that fader control several events at once with the up and down of the fader? Also, Ive been using the drum triggers on beatstep as an interface to gate/trigger whatever in the modular. Do you know if there are any clever ways to create and route gates / triggers in modular vs having the beatstep? To be honest, Im having the hardest time trying to figure out what to use to route the gates and triggers however I like and be able to change that routing when and however I like.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi there! Always try to answer all questions, but have to admit your posts are often to packed :) As for the fader, yes, that's the same. As long as the fader has a voltage output, you can use that voltage to modulate anything you like. As for routing: Of course you can just plug the triggers wherever you want directly. But if you want to take a single trigger track of the Beatstep pro and switch the destination on the fly, have a look at switches, and or panners.

[@blindianajones]

@@MonotrailTechTalk haha, fair point about me jamming a lot into a comment. Your videos are so helpful and prompt a lot of thoughts and questions. Between you and Divkid, I owe you two school tuition.

[@MrTR909]

What software do you use for creating flowcharts? Thx

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi, I use Adobe cloud, so Illustrator, animate, AE and Premiere Pro.

[@VagPoop_]

for example....