Why you need a crossfader - The secret Swiss army knife, Doepfer A134-2

The crossfader can be used as mixer, VCA, polarizer, ring modulator, switch, trigger combiner, basic logic, and of course cross fading! In this video I explain how the crossfader works and how you can achieve it’s many functions. As always, I also go over a series of example patches and ideas to get you going with your own experiments! In the second chapter there are a few basic patches, followed by a few dual crossfader setups.
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Timetable:
00:00 - Intro & sounds
01:06 - The Crossfader - and it’s many functions
03:59 - Basic patches
03:57 - Dual crossfader patches
Special thanks to Legendary & Crazy Patrons:
Michael Rutchik
Wayne Cowan
Steve Williams
Glnds
Kickroot
Christoph von der Heyden
Giorgio Festa
Let’s connect!:
Instagram: / monotrail
Facebook: / monotrailmusic
Soundcloud: / monotrailmusic
Bandcamp: monotrail.bandcamp.com
KZbin: / monotrailmusic
#eurorack #crossfader #doepfer

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hello everyone! I mentioned the crossfader a few times in other videos, as it's one of my favorite 'simple' utility modules. But glad I found the time to make a dedicated video. All the best!

[@JacobSkriver]

Brilliant video. One thing that makes your content stand out compared to other modular shows is that your patches always sounds so good 🙏

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you like them! I try to put some efford there. But also have to say it's a part that easily takes a lot of time, still room for improvement I think :) Cheers!

[@JuanDale]

Love your videos: I hadn't thought about using a crossfader as a VC polarizer. Something I do like that you didn't mention is an envelope to Input A and mult'ed to the CV control, with something like an LFO or attenuated random into input B, so that you get an envelope that starts complex and fades to a simpler shape over the course of the envelope. Cheers!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

That's a great idea! I tried to add a lot, but there are more fun tricks to be found fun sure :) Cheers!

[@Harrison_Strunz]

Absolutely great clips! What a fine utility tool!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you liked it! Cheers :)

[@Audiorial]

always a thing to learn when one stops at Monotrail Tech Talk, thank you!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear you get something out of these, happy to make them as long as people like it :)

[@NEVERSLEEPmovies]

Whohoo - my next must-buy module after seeing your video 😛. Was great btw meeting you yesterday at the Berlin Modular Society event!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, yes, happy to see those going and people getting together! Will be around there more. All the best!

[@wariusgaius]

Been experimenting obsessively with wave replacement synthesis. Next up is the first dual crossfader patch you show. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Awesome, sounds great. Enjoy!

[@bsbazzman]

whoa. I def never thought of my Warps Crossfader algorithm being a potential VCA. Brilliant idea

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you liked it! Cheers :)

[@ThroughTheBag]

Awesome!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@decapitateallcops3214]

I fucking love the experimental/non traditional patching you do! Please keep it up if you don’t run out if ideas. At work I’ll think of something and write it down for later.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you! Glad to hear you like it, and will keep it up for sure, have a lot of ideas. As long as you promise not to decapitate anyone in the meantime ;)

[@vielseitig6413]

wow very good and straigt foreward/organised video! great content, gave me some new ideas.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for letting me know, and glad it was helpful! Cheers :)

[@keythinwatford7153]

A cheap and simple module with endless possibilities. I've just ordered one.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Haha, I think you will enjoy it!

[@mpingo91]

I really appreciate the parts with block diagrams. For example, I didn't know that I could use the crossfader as a VC polarizer. Thanks to them, I can better understand the essence of modular synthesizers. You are doing a great job! 👍

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, that's lovely to hear! Using graphics to explain patches was one of the core reasons I felt I had something to add, glad people respond well to them :)

[@ArchieFunker]

Lots of great ideas in this one, thank you!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Bermuda3Mafia]

Deine Eurorack Videos sind mit Abstand die qualitativsten auf ganz KZbin 👍 einfach Gold der Kanal!!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Das ist schön zu hören! Alles Gute :)

[@Chris-qq7mt]

Truly inspiring! Love your highly educational videos.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks so much! All the best!

[@Banksyyt]

Thank you, once again, for this excellent video.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear you liked it, cheers!

[@olivers460]

Loving these instructional vids!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you like them! Cheers!

[@mymodularjourney]

Nice demo. Glad you found the time. 👍

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Me too! Glad you like it, cheers :)

[@SidRockett]

These videos are golden!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear you like it, all the best!

[@digitaly26]

Danke vielmals. Wieder etwas gelernt. Deine Videos sind mega, weiter so 🤘💪

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Schön, dass die Videos hilfreich sind. Ich werde auf jeden Fall weitermachen!

[@__divmod__]

Excellent patch ideas, as always. It’s quite easy to use the A134-2 as a panner (signal into IN1B which is normaled to IN2A).

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks! And indeed, I wanted to keep the ideas suitable for other single fader setups, but that is a great use!

[@earanwe]

Sooo good vid again. Im building and learning modular and the most I learn is from your videos :)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know, comments like these make it a lot more fun :) Cheers!

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks for another brilliant and really useful video! Great timing too, as I have a Ladik A-410 (VC crossfader/panner) arriving any day now - there are lots of things in this video that I want to try :)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad it was helpful! Enjoy the Ladik!

[@AndreaArturoGiuseppeGrossi]

Hello there and friendly greetings! Thanks again for another amazing tutorial!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

My pleasure! Glad you like these, all the best!

[@eyeprod3101]

Excellent tutorial. Crossfaders are so useful. It's one of the best features on my Yamaha CS-15. Yet, I haven't got one in my eurorack case yet.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you liked it! CS-15 is an awesome device. All the best!

[@chasethevioletsun9996]

Don't want to spend $100 on an A134? Make one for six times the price with a Maths and a Zlob Vnicursal like I did! I kid. I really appreciate the breakdown of how the module is internally patched in this video. One doesn't always need to rush out and buy a new dedicated module.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Always multiple solutions in modular land! Cheers :)

[@duncanthompson957]

These videos are so so useful and inspiring, they need to be seen more! Could you perhaps do some collaborations with Andrew Huang, Bo Beats, Heinbach, Christian Henson, Ricky Tinez, and so on, so that more people are exposed to your brilliant content? For example modular challenges: choose only 4 (?) modules plus a sequencer and come up with as many different patches as possible. Or challenge the collaborators by limiting the module functions. And so on. The modular world needs to see more Monotrail!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, first off, thanks a lot! Really excited about this new project, and super happy to keep going! I have a lot of plans for videos, some ideas for collaborations are forming as well. I have to say I can imagine these great people get a million and a half requests from people who would like to do that. So thought id focus on my own first and aim for that magical 10k sub count! It feels like a milestone to me getting there, then I can imagine it is indeed a nice to to seek some collabs :) Thanks for the kind words, always feel free to share my stuff :) And all the best!

[@MartinDoudoroffLLC]

Excellent! (Also: I spy a Droid setup!)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks! And yes, working on a video on that, but needs more time than regular modules. Really excited about it though!

[@snorrevonflake]

Wanted to ask this for some time, do you have the SQ 1 in a flatter enclosure or does it just look like that ?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Just looks like it I guess! It's just a regular one :)

[@nikkortumblr]

I’m trying to use Mk4 H1 - Crossfade/Pan to Crossfade between two triggers patterns but it does’t work as expected. I don’t know why.

[@nikkortumblr]

I found the solution, parameter 1 (clip mode) has to be set to 1 and not 0