I just discovered this by accident. Of course, it was always there and some of you may have seen it before. It’s just a bit of fun at this stage but it could be developed for performance.
Some expensive synths have ribbon controllers and they can be used to good effect. Having experienced gear envy I had got used to the idea that I would never own one of these things (I know cheaper touch strip control modules are available in hardware).
The VCV MIDI > CC module has the option for Mouse control. In this patch at least, the mouse modulates pitch with a left - right movement on the screen. I set up some markers for the notes but this is a continuous effect, so it can sound very like a theremin.
I’m playing this by holding down a C4 on my keyboard and moving the mouse. The output from the MIDI > CV goes into the FM input on the VCO and the attenuator I set to 15%. A higher number gives a greater range of notes. This is probably also very dependent on your window size so some experimentation may be required.
This patch is a very simple demonstration of what can be done with the mouse control. I found it a lot of fun to play with.
I love this! It gives me ideas for additional control mechanisms to activate/deactivate the CV control on demand, and to make the CV value relative to the starting position.
I’ve created a Virtual Mouse Pad prototype that I think I will turn into a free Venom module.
The upper left is the module interface.
The upper right is a silly demo showing how it could be used.
The bottom row is the implementation details that would be inside the module.
The actual module would allow configuration of what action activates the mouse. Perhaps allow independent activation control over X, Y, or Both. The prototype allows you to configure which combination is enabled, and the Alt key activates the selected channels.
Nice! Works well with my Harp module too (this adapts @ScreenSlave 's patch to use the mouse position to feed the Harp pitch input - uses the same “gate from MIDI” approach to simulate “finger down” on the strum.
