Reaktor Blocks A/B value routing.

Hi folks,

Daft question but is there a way to change the values of the A/B modulation amounts without having to turn them on and move the slider with the mouse. My first issue was using an envelope as a filter envelope follower. I wanted to increase the amount of envelope added to the filter but not turn the filter knob up, just the amount of the A input. I tried connecting MK (knobs) to the A port but all I'm essentially doing is turning the filter dial up from another source and not the actual amount of envelope added. Then it got me thinking about being able to do this in general as you can use the key tracking to loosely control the amount on the filter.

I'm not new to synthesis but still getting to grips with modular, be it virtual or otherwise.

Cheers

 

You can MIDI/OSC map the A/B modulation sliders, I'd also try putting a VCA between the envelope and the A port and using that to attenuate the amount of envelope going in.

 

The standard modular approach to this would be to use a VCA (as Moujik suggested).
Send the envelope output to the VCA, then the VCA output to the modulation input of the filter. Now you can use the manual knob of the VCA, or automate it with its own modulation. That will change the amplitude of the envelope signal.
VCA's are often used to manipulate modulation signals - modulate the modulation... this is where modular synthesis gets much of its power!

Note that the bento VCA has AC and DC modes - for control signals, best to use the DC mode. AC mode is really just for processing audio rate signals - and even then it's not required, just handy in some circumstances.
Also be aware of the difference between LIN and EXP modes. You could use either, but in general, EXP is more natural for processing the volume of audio and LIN is more natural for processing control signals - this is not a 'rule' though.
The tool tips explain it pretty well.

 

Cheers guys. I'm still getting used to the idea that in modular things have more than one use and that sometimes those other things are not usually what you'd think they are.

 

Indeed!
The best modules are the most general with the most uses. There are countless examples...

e.g. VCA can also be an 'AND' processor... one gate signal to the input, the other to the modulation input. Output is high when both input gates are high and low otherwise... similarly a mixer can be an 'OR'
In analogue world, VCA also works for audio rate amplitude modulation, although in Reaktor that might give some unwanted(maybe) aliasing.
Mixers combined with clock dividers can be used as weird sequencers... clock dividers can be glitchy sub oscillators... sequencers can be oscillators (assuming they can be driven at audio rate), filters can be oscillators, filters can be 'pinged' for percussive style sounds.
In Eurorack, function generators (like Makenoise Maths, Befaco Rampage etc.) can be filters or oscillators or trigger delays or envelopes or LFOs or burst generators or clock dividers... lol, you get the picture.

Maybe the real benefit of analogue hardware platforms over digital software platforms is that more of these extra uses tend to work well in analogue than in digital, but in digital we can load up multiple instances of modules at no extra cost (other than cpu), so it's maybe less important.

 

I've been around synths and programming for over 20 years but I must admit that the modular systems still stump me on a regular basis. Not the basic synth building and sequencing but the really experimental stuff, which I feel you've got to learn to appreciate a modular environment. I guess I need to stop thinking about sound processing and more about voltage manipulation. I bought a Microfreak because I felt it was a mini modular for idiots and whilst I love it it's nowhere near as open and and experimental as Blocks.

 

In modular, sound processing and voltage manipulation are the same thing!
In Reaktor it's not real voltage, but the same idea - simulated continuous signal for everything.