DOEPFER Ribbon To Midi Controller R2M User’s Guide © 2005 by Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH Geigerstr. 13 82166 Graefelfing Germany Phone: #49 89 89809510 Fax: #49 89 89809511 Web Site: www.doepfer.de Email: sales@doepfer.
OPERATING AND SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Please follow the given instructions for use of the instrument because this will guarantee correct instrument operation. Due to the fact that these instructions touch on Product Liability, it is absolutely imperative that they be read carefully. Any claim for defect will be rejected if one or more of the items was observed. Disregard of the instructions can endanger warranty.
Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................4 Connections .................................................................................................................5 n Power Supply (9V DC 250 mA) ...........................................................................5 o Manual connector (Ribbon Contr.) ......................................................................5 r CV1 Out........................
Introduction R2M is a so-called ribbon controller that generates control signals by moving the finger on the ribbon manual. The output signals are generated as Midi and CV/Gate control voltages simultaneously. Consequently R2M allows to control both Midi and CV/Gate based equipment (e.g. analog synthesizers or analog modular systems). R2M is the abbreviation of Ribbon to Midi. R2M is made of two parts: the manual and the control box.
Connections MIDI IN t MIDI OUT s Gate CV2 CV1 OUT OUT OUT r q p Ribbon Contr. 9V DC 250mA o n Fig. 2 n Power Supply (9V DC 250 mA) R2M does not have a built-in power supply. Instead it uses a plug-in type external power supply (AC adapter). One reason for this feature is electrical safety. Keeping danger voltages (mains) out of the R2M increases the electrical safety.
r CV1 Out This socket outputs an analog control voltage in the range 0...+5V that depends on the position of the finger. It is normally used to control the pitch of analog equipment (e.g. pitch on an analog synthesizer or VCO). The CV1 output follows the 1V/octave standard (relevant only in the quantized modes). q CV2 Out This socket outputs an analog control voltage in the range 0...+5V that depends on the pressure applied to the manual.
This function can be used to modify Midi data with the R2M (e.g. adding pitch bend to note messages on the same Midi channel). If the arpeggiator is on the Midi merging function is not working. Incoming data on other Midi channels than the currently selected R2M Midi channel are not merged ! The Midi input of R2M is not suitable for large amounts of Midi data (e.g. SysEx strings or Midi messages coming from an computer sequencer) but only for small data rates, e.g.
Fundamental operation notes • • • • R2M contains a lot of parameters that can be adjusted by the user and stored in 16 presets. Similar parameters are collected in the same menu. A menu is activated by pressing the corresponding menu button. The active menu is indicated by an illuminated LED. Repeated pressing of the same menu button leads to the next parameter that can be displayed and adjusted in this menu. The process is circular, i.e.
Menu / parameter overview Menu 1 CV Parameter Index 1 2 3 Parameter Trigger Pol. Direction Direction Sensor 1 1 2 Range 0 to 1 0 to 1 0 to 1 Default 0 0 0 Explanation see chapter ... 1-1 Trigger polarity [1] 1-2 Direction [1] 1-3 Direction [2] Page 10 10 10 Default note off Explanation see chapter ...
Description of menus and parameters Some parameters have an interdependence or cannot be explained without the function of another parameters. Consequently it is sometimes unavoidable to refer to a parameter that may be described in another menu that may follow later. In the chapter Typical applications on page 21 some standard examples of the R2M are described. Please put the manual in front of you with the connector that leads to the control box on the right side.
Menu 2: Midi event number of parameters: 2 This menu contains all parameters that refer to Midi messages assigned to the position and pressure sensor. 2-1 Midi event [1] Range: a - h This parameter refers to the Midi message assigned to the position sensor [1]. It has also an influence to the function of the CV1 and gate outputs.
R2M does not recognize the gate on/off/on transition the retrigger time 4-3 has to be increased until the gate transition is recognized by the receiver. The Midi messages are sent on the Midi channel adjusted in menu 3-1. Only in this mode b the quantization (see 4-1) is active. c Note & pitch relative In this mode pitch bend data are generated in addition to the note on message of mode b as the finger glides over the position sensor without releasing the finger.
The modes f, g and h are more simple. In this case the corresponding Midi messages control change, after touch or program change are generated. If control change is selected the controller number is adjusted by the parameter 3-3 Ctrl number. The Midi messages are sent on the Midi channel adjusted in menu 3-1. In case of pitch bend (modes c, d, e) data are sent with the maximum resolution (2 Midi data bytes).
case a reset has to be carried out at the Midi receiver or the volume has to be set to a normal value otherwise. Same applies e.g. for filter frequency too. Menu 3: Midi parameter number of parameters: 4 This menu contains all parameters that are required to complete the Midi messages of chapter 2 (e.g. Midi channel, control change number, pitch scale). 3-1 Midi channel [1] Range: 1 – 16 This is the Midi channel for all Midi messages specified in chapter 2.
Normally the pitch bend range or pitch bend scale can be adjusted in the Midi receiver. For older Midi devices it may be fixed to a certain value too. Please look at the user's guide of your Midi receiver for details. Remark: Unfortunately there exists no absolute pitch message with high resolution in the Midi specification. This is why the relative pitch bend messages have to be used alternatively. But this requires that the pitch bend scales of transmitter (R2M) and receiver are matched.
Several quantization tables are available and can be chosen in this menu: 12 tone Major Minor Quart Quint MajorCh MinorCh Quart6 Quint6 MajCh6 MinCh6 Quart7 Quint7 MajCh7 MinCh7 all 12 semitones of an octave are generated only the tones of the major scale are generated only the tones of the minor scale are generated only fundamental and quart only fundamental and quint only the tones of the major chord are generated only the tones of the minor chord are generated only fundamental, quart and sixth only fund
Menu 5: Arpeggio number of parameters: 5 An arpeggiator takes apart the notes from a chord and outputs them as a sequence of notes. Different methods can be used to generate the arpeggio pattern. The main parameters of an arpeggiator are tempo, order (or sequence), transpose and gate length. The tempo determines the time between two succeeding arpeggio notes. The order of the arpeggio notes are defined by the order of the storage of the notes in the arpeggio memory.
5-2 Octave Range: 1 - 5 The arpeggio can be copied by up to 5 octaves. The octave parameter is used to determine if the arpeggio memory is played without octave copy (octave = 1) or with up to 4 octave copies (octave = 5). If an octave value above 1 is chosen the arpeggio memory is played and then played again with one octave transposition. This is repeated up to 4 times (value = 5). Example: The arpeggio memory contains the notes A3-C4-F4-G4.
8). The table below shows some typical relations between gate length and the resulting arpeggio time (in measures). Gate length arpeggio time (measures) 3 1/32 6 1/16 12 1/8 16 1/6 24 1/4 32 1/3 5-5 Norm CV Range 0 to - 96 This parameter is used to define an offset for the note messages in the arpeggio memory to make sure that the control voltage generated at the CV1 output is in the range 0...+5V. The norm CV value is subtracted from the note number before CV1 is generated. The default value is –36.
Preset / Store R2M has available 16 presets that are used to store and call up 16 different settings of all parameters. The buttons Preset and Store are used to control these functions. Principle: Once a preset has been called up it is loaded into the so-called work-buffer. This buffer contains the currently active set of parameters. Only the parameters of the work-buffer can be modified. In order to modify a preset it has to be called up (i.e.
Typical applications Generating a quantized pitch control via Midi and CV/Gate For this example the continuos position control voltage coming from the manual is quantized and only certain notes are generated via Midi and CV/Gate. The Midi output generates only note on/off messages. Additional pitch bend data are not generated as these are not required in the quantized mode. The first step is to define the number of octaves (1...5) that corresponds to the complete manual length.
position sensor 24 1 C 36 2 C# 37 3 D 38 4 D# 39 5 E 40 6 F 41 7 F# 42 8 G 43 9 10 G# A 44 45 11 b 46 12 H 47 Fig. 7 Fig. 7 shows an example with 3 octaves (4-2 Octaves = 3), semitone quantization (41 Quantization = 12 tone) and the first Midi note 24 (3-2 Note =24). This is a "C" one octave below the lowest "C" of a standard 5 octave Midi keyboard. If another quantization is used (e.g. major chord) R2M would generate only tone from a major "C" chord in this example.
Generating note messages only (no pitch bend) In this mode only note messages that correspond to the position of the finger are generated. The parameter 2-1 Midi event has to be set to Note. If the finger moves over the position sensor without releasing the finger the result depends upon the current setting of the parameter 4-3 Retrigger. If this parameter is zero no new Midi note is generated as the finger glides over the manual.
Note event a b c Pitch bend - * Pitch bend + Fig. 8 In the R2M the parameter 3-4 PitchScale is used to adjust to conversion of the position data from the position sensor into Midi pitch bend data so that they correspond to the setting of the Midi receiver. It is recommended to set the pitch bend range or scale in the Midi receiver to ± 5 octaves or to the maximum value if this is not possible. Otherwise the R2M cannot be used over the full range of 5 octaves.
center note # - 1 center note # ? center note # + 1 ? note # - 1 note # note # + 1 a b c pitch bend - * pitch bend + Fig. 9 Fig. 9 shows the basic principles for this mode. The grey area is the position sensor. The position sensor represents a virtual keyboard that is divided into 13, 25, 37, 49 or 61 note areas. The number of note areas depends upon the setting of the parameter 4-2 Number Octave (1 = 13 areas, 2 = 25 areas, 3 = 37 areas and so on).
In any case it is the best solution is to adjust both the pitch scale of the R2M and the Midi receiver until a satisfactory cooperation between both devices is reached. As soon as the optimal setting is found it is recommended to stored the settings as a new preset (see page 20). Attention has to be payed to the transition range between two note areas (labelled with question marks in fig. 9), i.e. if the finger remains in a position that is exactly between two Midi notes.
If the selected Midi event 2-1 (see page 11) generates continuous Midi data the corresponding CV output even generates a continuous control voltage. This applies to the following Midi events 2-1 e 2-1 f 2-1 g 2-1 h Pitch bend Control change After touch Program change In these four modes no gate signal is generated.
Appendix The following tables can be used to write down complete R2M settings (presets). Simply copy this page and complete the column labelled value with the corresponding values. Menu 1 CV Parameter Index 1 2 3 Parameter Trigger Pol. Direction Direction Sensor 1 1 2 Range 0 to 1 0 to 1 0 to 1 Value Explanation see chapter ... 1-1 Trigger polarity [1] 1-2 Direction [1] 1-3 Direction [2] Page 10 10 10 Value Explanation see chapter ...
