Expert Sleepers - General CV
- Order number: 170281
- Depth: 50
A General MIDI synthesizer made for modular setups? – This might sound strange, but is actually really useful. General CV comes equipped with 128 GM sounds, including acoustic material such as pianos, strings or wind instruments, synthetic basses, leads and pads plus quirky special effects. (Think applause, helicopter and gunshot sounds.) On top of that, the module features five extensive drum kits. General CV can be used as an oscillator, a synthesizer with unison, chord and arpeggiator modes, a drum voice or as a fully loaded drum machine. Furthermore, the circuit is able to playback MIDI files with up to 16 channels. For sound enhancement, there are two multi-effects and a four-band equalizer.
General CV comes equipped with nine CV inputs. Their functionality varies depending on the algorithm the module is running. – For instance, in one mode of operation, the connectors serve as pitch, gate and modulation inputs to control synthesizer sounds, while in another mode, they are used for triggering drums. Generally speaking, the connectors can be divided into the following groups:
- Input X and Y: Digital inputs, typically used for feeding gate, trigger or clock signals to the General CV.
- Input 1 to 3: Unipolar CV inputs (Resolution: 10 Bit / Range: 0 V to +5 V)
- Input 4 to 7: Bipolar CV inputs (Resolution: 14 Bit / Range: -5 V to +5 V)
All seven CV inputs can be attenuated.
General CV is edited via five rotary encoders with push function and an OLED display. Presets can be stored in 64 internal slots or on a SD card. The storage medium is also used for feeding MIDI files and firmware updates to the module. Two jacks (left / right) emit audio signals.
General CV features a set of 128 GM sounds. Additionally, there are five drum kits. (A list of all sounds can be found in the manual.) The control options vary depending on the active mode of operation. In some modes, for instance, it is possible to feed 1v / octave and gate signals as well as control voltages for velocity, mod wheel (vibrato), a sustain function and the intensity of the built-in effects to the module. (Again, detailed lists of all parameters can be found in the manual.)
For giving sounds the finishing touch, General CV offers two multi-effects. The following algorithms are available:
- Effect 1: Room 1, Room 2, Room 3, Hall 1, Hall 2, Plate, Delay, Pan Delay
- Effect 2: Chorus 1, Chorus 2, Chorus 3, Chorus 4, Feedback Chorus, Flanger, Short Delay, Feedback Delay
Furthermore, there is an equalizer with four bands. Left and right channel can be adjusted individually.
General CV offers eight modes of operation:
- CV to MIDI: While in this mode, General CV acts as a synthesizer with up to eight unison voices. Besides tuning options, there is a quantizer featuring 16 scales. A manual gate function allows users to utilize the module as a drone generator.
- VCO: Similar to the CV to MIDI mode, but here General CV emits audio material continuously. Gate signals can be used to turn the audio output on or off plus the attack phase can be restarted.
- Clocked Playback: This mode of operation is used for playing back MIDI files. General CV can handle single and multi-track files. This means that the module is able to play 16 tracks at the same time. Up to 32 files can be saved as a set. The playback speed is determined by incoming clock signals. Furthermore, there is a mute function per track. The launch of a new file is quantized to a musically meaningful position in the current file.
- Free Playback: Similar to the clocked playback mode, but the playback speed is set by data contained in the MIDI file. Additionally, the tempo can be modulated.
- Drum: A simple mode of operation for playing drums dynamically. CV signals are used to switch between sounds.
- Drum 9: In this mode of operation, users can choose nine drum sounds and trigger them via the digital and CV inputs. Each drum can be edited in pitch, volume, pan position and effect intensity.
- Chord: While in this mode of operation, General CV generates chords plus inversions. Seven scales and 14 chord types are available. Multiple sounds can be layered with individual volume, pan position and tuning settings. On top of that, there are a filter and two envelopes. Short delays can break chords into overlapping sequences of notes.
- Arpeggiator: Similar to the chord mode, but here melodies are created. Users can choose from nine running directions. The speed can be synchronized to a clock signal. By using the clock divisor and multiplier at the same time, it is possible to create fractional timings.
HE: | 3 |
TE: | 12 |
Depth: | 50 |
Power consumption +12V: | 91 |
Power consumption -12V: | 27 |
General CV @Expert Sleepers
Manual @Expert Sleepers
Andrew Ostler (aka Oz) has gained a well-earned reputation not only with his do-it-all Disting module, but by providing a range of CV and audio signal converters that allow computers talk fluently to modulars, and vice versa.