Midi cable from old drum manchine into moog grandmother ..

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

After finally getting to grips with the grandmother over the last few weeks , I heard that I could plug my old Boss drum machine  into it.

Well, I did that  and it was a waste of time .  I tried using the audio input , by using a cable with the mini Socket from the drum machine on one end and using a larger phono Jack to connect to the grandmothers audio input socket . Still nothing . 

I know that midi is supposedly complicated, but what am I doing wrong ?  
 

I'd expect that the scenario would appear to all synths and drum machines , but what do I know ? 
 

Thanking you in advance ..😼

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

...but what am I doing wrong ?  ...

What is it you're wanting to do..? Have you read the manual..? In the manual (Page 15...), it says that an audio signal can be plugged into the Osc 1 socket. Osc 1 will be removed and the audio signal used instead, the level of which is controlled by the Osc 1 knob. The same goes for Osc 2. Is that what you did..? MIDI is not concerned by these functions, it's just injecting audio from an external source instead of using the internal oscillators. The output from the drum machine has to be audio for this to work, taken from the normal audio output socket, or maybe the headphone socket.
Hope this helps. 

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Thanks DAD 😼

Of course I haven't read the manual 😺

I did watch a few you tube clips etc ,and it seemed straightforward enough .

I did try connecting to the clock sequencer at the back .

The drum machine is a Boss DR-202 if that means anything 

I plugged my bass into the input socket , and nothing doing there either .

I will follow your advice , and report back .

My electric shaver packed up, so I was faffing around looking at reviews etc which has made the time fly⏰🦅

Will keep you updated ..

 

[BigRedX]

MIDI is not audio. It is mostly digital information about what notes are being played and how they are being played.

Think of MIDI data as the punched roll on a player piano. 

If you want to know what MIDI functions the Grandmother will send and receive have a look at pages 43 & 44 of the manual.

AFAICS most useful thing you can do is to synchronise the the Grandmother's sequencer and appreciator to the drum machine clock - see page 37.

[Dad3353]

45 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

...AFAICS most useful thing you can do is to synchronise the the Grandmother's sequencer and appreciator to the drum machine clock - see page 37.

I understood from the vague OP that the issue is injecting audio into the Moog, probably to play around with the filters and stuff for Fx. An audio signal, in place and stead of an oscillator, should be possible; no MIDI involved. I may have got it all wrong, of course. 
The reading, and understanding, of the manual would reap dividends, I'd suggest. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Dad3353

[BigRedX]

31 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

I understood from the vague OP that the issue is injecting audio into the Moog, probably to play around with the filters and stuff for Fx. An audio signal, in place and stead of an oscillator, should be possible; no MIDI involved. I may have got it all wrong, of course. 
The reading, and understanding, of the manual would reap dividends, I'd suggest. 

In that case no MIDI needed. However if it is possible to control the cut-off frequency and other parameters with the Grandmother's built-in sequencer, then being able to synchronise the two might be a useful function.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Thought I'd best update ..

I read the manual .  I  found out that when inputting an external instrument , you have to set  VCA Mode to Drone before doing anything else . Success!

No midi , just the input at the back of the moog .

I spent a fair bit of time , and tbh and imho it sounded dreadful . That's me that's got to get to grips with it ,  If I'm in the mood I may have another mess around with that scenario. 
I plugged my bass in the moog , and again  imho it was poor. 
 

What I also did just for fun, was plug the moog into my Roland bass combo which has various effects etc . Roland bass micro cube . That didn't sound too bad .  The only thing of note there, was the t-wah wouldnt agree with the moog 

What I'll probably do , is keep all instruments seperate when recording , though I may  plug the drum machine into various effects etc or through the amp.

I am considering offloading the drum machine , and getting something more modern and smaller,. That's something for another time . 
 

I'll leave it there for now ...

Edited March 11, 2021 by RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Just one more update 😼...

I tried a few times connecting stuff via midi and no go . Fair enough , I left things at that . Not the end of the world . I'm going to keep the boss dr groove dr202 drum machine , despite the buttons sticking at times and the cheesy tunes . It has a wicked roll function . I'm still not inspired enough to setup my own user presets . 

What I did a couple of weeks ago ( times being extremely hard ) . I took a gamble and purchased a moog dfam  off a great ebayer . This to me is like tangerine dream in a box . Or nine inch nails ...

I may purchase a cheaply korg type drum machine which is as easy to use as the dfam .No rush though ..

Anyway , I'll leave it there ...

Thanks for your help 

Edited April 8, 2021 by RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE