Eigenharp and VCV exploration

Ok, so this is the start of what I hope to be some documentation on my experimentation with using the Eigenharp Alpha with VCV rack. I should have been sleeping, but I got a little hooked and an hour and a bit later, I’m writing this instead of sleeping, it’s worth it.

Current setup:
Eigenharp Alpha -> EigenD -> LoopMIDI -> VCV Rack
Once in VCV Rack I was using the MIDI-CV for note data and then MIDI-CC for continuous control.
A notes panel next to MIDI-CC helps me remember which CC is which and is as follows:
EigenD custom assignment
CC20, Pressure
CC21, Roll
CC22, Yaw
CC2, Breath
CC23, Strip Position 1
CC24, Strip Position 2
CC25, Absolute Strip Position 1 (Breath Side)
CC26, Absolute Strip Position 2

I have setup these up in the MIDI preferences tab within EigenD, with the following changes. Roll and Yaw are set to default to 50 (ie the middle), Strip position 1 and 2 are also set to default to 50 to allow for positive and negative swings. Absolute Strip Positions are scaled to 0.5 to allow for a full range of movement along the length of the strip. I still struggle to use the strips with anything other than the back of my finger. The pads are always to grippy. Pressure and Breath are as default right now. I haven’t setup Channel Aftertouch etc. as I’m only exploring monophonic sounds at the moment.

Within VCV Rack, I have a simple voice of “Basal Smooth Operator” ->“VCF” (LPF out) -> “VCA” -> “Spring Reverb” (Mix out) -> Mixer ->Audio Out. For control, Roll and Yaw into Mod1 and Mod2 of Basal; Absolute Strip 2 into VCF Frequency; Breath into VCA CV; Absolute Strip 1 into Reverb Mix.
Just realised that I should put a screen capture.

My wish list that are probably contained in other modules I haven’t looked are:
A CV inverter with offset. I wanted to use Pressure to control the attack of an ADSR, but I couldn’t find a way to flip the pressure CC once in VCV.
A VCO with CV for Fine pitch. This would make things like vibrato much easier.
Maybe a bit more range on the breath sensor input in the eigenharp. I feel like I blow out the sensor before it responds how I’d like it to. I can’t really change this, but making the patch saturate towards the top end of the sensor could be a good option.
A CV curvenator. Haha, think like curves in Photoshop. An input->output mapping from linear to non-linear for fine tuning CC responses.

I’ll leave it there tonight and see what I can get up to another time. What experiences or tips/tricks do you have from combining the Eigenharp with VCV?

Edit: My first thought with the modules I’d like is, it can’t be that hard to code it up, I’ll just make them. Then I stop myself, because every other time I’ve gone down the make the tool path, I’ve not picked the make the music bit up again. I’ll save my learning for understanding modular synthesis, rather than coding for now.

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A quick update.
I was experimenting on OS X, normally I run on windows, and selected Eigenlabs1 as the MIDI output. This resulted in strange behaviour where some keys would cause the drum loops to start, and different keys would cause the keybed to transpose and move around. Enabling the IAC driver and using that instead fixed the issue.

I’m exploring the Mutable Instruments Braids (Macro-Oscillator) at the moment with the breath controlling both the VCA and the frequency of a LPF. The Gate output on the MIDI-CV is also now going to the TRIG input on Braids. The Roll and Yaw are also connected to Timbre and Color. This works well for some oscillator modes, but gives limited playability for others.

sounds like some kind of midi loopback

yeah, plaits and braids are fantastic… also trying rings (and elements, though this is ‘less immediate’)
I love my MI stuff :slight_smile:

all hail rings into clouds!