6 Useful tools you can make with VCAs

‘You can never have enough VCAs’, is a classic slogan. But why? In this video I demonstrate 6 tools you can patch up yourself using just a couple of VCAs and some basic tools. Those are the panner, crossfader, voltage controlled polarizer or ring modulator, simple logic, and voltage controlled mixer.
Patreon: / monotrail
Generic Affiliate links:
Perfect Circuit - US - bit.ly/3xX7ASi
Sound of You - EU bit.ly/3DzdFYi
Clockface - AS - bit.ly/3YkDJ1B
Follow my channel ‪@Monotrailmusic‬ if you are interested in my music!
Timetable:
00:00 - Intro
01:11 - Panner
04:03 - Crossfader
07:17 - VC Polarizer & ringmod
10:32 - Simple logic
13:54 - VC Mixing
Special thanks to Legendary & Crazy Patrons:
Michael Rutchik
Wayne Cowan
Steve Williams
Glnds
Kickroot
Christoph von der Heyden
Giorgio Festa
Sebastijan Semiz
James thompson
Redheart/Freak Nasty
Quinn Fahey
Let’s connect!:
Instagram: / monotrail
Facebook: / monotrailmusic
Soundcloud: / monotrailmusic
Bandcamp: monotrail.bandcamp.com
KZbin: / monotrailmusic
#eurorack #vca #patchtips

[@TheCALMInstitute]

Ah this kind of material is the perfect antidote for the common beginner mistake of buying “high level” modules like a whole voice, instead of more flexible, lower level modules. Thank you!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad it was helpful! And agree, it's important to keep covering both sides on this channel. Have to admit I enjoy digging into some fancy modules to :)

[@michaelkonomos]

Love this series. And I don’t know why but I can’t get enough videos about VCAS. I don’t even own one (yet) but the more I learn the more I am persuaded about the truth of the saying in modular (which I am still new at)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, thanks a lot! Probably because they are such valuable tools! Compared to a lot of stand alone synths, I think having and using VCAs in patches sets modular apart :)

[@michaelkonomos]

That must be it! I am coming from Semi-modular and starting to build out a rack just for supplemental utilities - LFOs and S&H, etc. VCA are now next on the list! @@MonotrailTechTalk

[@MChristian]

You can never have too many VCAs! At least MylarModies tells me so. And now Monotrail gives us so many additional ways to use them!

[@mikegeary8056]

Get the Doepfer slim line quad vca mixer. I have 2 of them. Cheap and incredibly flexible

[@michaelkonomos]

@@mikegeary8056 Thanks! That's exactly the one that's at the top of my list now. It looks like a really great value, and good quality.

[@baronvongreenback]

Your videos are so informative, crazy you don't have more followers, I learn so much from you.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

I appreciate that! And the modular community isn't as big as the general synth community. Already very happy with the attention and support I got in a short time. Feel free to spread the word though :)

[@GeorgeLocke]

I recently learned that you can use a two channel mixer like 3xMIA as a simple latch, ie comparator fixed to compare against 0v. Just send the signal to one input and feed the output back to the other. The gain on the feedback controls the hysteresis. IME the output is a bit gnarly and jagged, so great for audio rate mangling.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hmm, nice, thanks for sharing!

[@DerMannmitderMaschine]

You;'ve done a great job in doing a video about the often underestimated creative power of VCAs...

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you! And thanks for making DROID, really happy with those :)

[@linewizard]

I can’t believe I never thought of using VCAs as logic gates. Great video!!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad it was helpful! Enjoy :)

[@BluemanGil]

Thanks for these explorations

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Sorry, was away for a bit! But glad to hear you like the videos! Cheers :)

[@paulhood1321]

Another top-class video. Thanks.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it! All the best :)

[@reecedeyoung6595]

Great video, you should link your other channel in the channel section. I was combining through your playlists and was confused why I couldn't find jams.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks! And that should already be the case? It's supposed to be in the channels section. As well as channel description. And video description! Really have to make new jams though, that channel is fading a bit :(

[@reecedeyoung6595]

@@MonotrailTechTalk yes I see it now. I must have mistaken it for this channel since the name and Logos are so similar.

[@unsoundmethodology]

This is amazingly helpful. Too many times with Eurorack videos, the patches are specific to module functions that my meager DIY setup can't manage, or they need a set of utilities that I haven't gotten to yet, so I'm often spending more time with gear envy or planning future builds than patching and playing after watching. But looking at the panner, it turned out I actually have built all the proper pieces to use it. I found that my two IamO jfet VCAs work fine for this, my attenuverter can indeed invert an LFO to drive them both, and my headphone amp - the last module I built, by some coincidence - can be fed by the VCAs properly, so I patched it up and it worked exactly right. The others managed to work too, with minor modifications, like how I'm using maths-like function generators to create clock dividers, or an amplified external tape loop instead of a sampler. So thank you for taking the time to break these down for us!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, thanks for letting me know! Sometimes it's unavoidable but in general it's one of my core principles on the this channel. Explain and demo as much as possible with generic functions. Glad you got some use out of it!

[@demagmusic]

New subscriber here. you explain these patches very well, and the diagrams are great too. Excited to try to patch up some of these ideas

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Awesome, thanks for subscribing! And glad you get some use out of these :)

[@jonbrouwer4300]

Beast

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

I often use fun tools like panners, crossfaders, polarizers, and VC gates in my patches. Wanted to make one video that shows how to patch those up using just VCAs and basic tools! Generic Affiliate links: Perfect Circuit - US - bit.ly/3xX7ASi Sound of You - EU bit.ly/3DzdFYi Clockface - AS - bit.ly/3YkDJ1B

[@maleficenthardware]

Good stuff.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!

[@b_r_i_z_z_y]

Another excellent overview, I had to sign up to your patreon. Cheers!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Awesome, and thank you! That means a lot to me :) Cheers!

[@b_r_i_z_z_y]

@@MonotrailTechTalk I cant wait to try out some of these patch ideas, as my system has grown I have realized I need more utilities!

[@MoritzScharf]

You can never have enough VCAs. 🖤

[@TheNormalUniverse]

Lovely video, what software do you use to make the animated block diagrams?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you! Adobe Illustrator and Animate.

[@shpe78]

hi, is it possible to use the first patch you explain in your video, using A-132-2 dual vca doepfer?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi there! And sorry for the slow responds, was on holiday! For these patches you need two independent VCAs. It's important you can modulate the VCAs in different ways. So that would be the 132-1, or 132-3, or 130-2. The A132-2 is a quad VCA with shared controls, that doesn't work :)

[@catscanmeow]

i would just say be careful when summing triggers and gates cuz some modules i think some doepfer modules will break if you send a gate higher than 10 volts.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi there! It's always good to be sensible about levels. If you mix things don't just crank all levels to max :) When mixing though, voltages wont stack limitless. If you mix 3 10v triggers, you won't get a 30v trigger. When mixing audio that would be called clipping, or just distortion when summing signals hit the max output of a mixer or summing VCA. I also never hear of a module breaking when feeding it a high input! Regardless, I'll never claim to now everything, so feel free to link to manuals or info that confirms that. Always a good day to learn, Cheers! :)

[@catscanmeow]

yeah i wish i could remember where i read that +10v thing, i remember reading it on a manual of a module, but that was years ago@@MonotrailTechTalk

[@effiksmusic]

DROID power 🤖.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Ha, for sure! And more to come :)