Request: Sample and Hold Module

[Steve W]

I used to have one of those for my MiniMoog and it was great!!!! It seems like everyone wants to ask for things such as new features, modes, etc. So, my request is for a faithful software emulation of the Moog Sample and Hold Box from back in the 1970s. My suggestion is for it to be a VM module so that fans of CA products can use it with the MiniVerse Collection as well as other modules or the MiniVerse as a hosted plug-in or as a DAW hosted plug-in. I suppose a version could also be designed as a standalone virtual box.

If you ever had one, you might remember how much fun it was. I miss mine and would love to have a virtual version to go will all my CA products.

[utdgrant]

Hi Steve,

What did the Moog Sample & Hold Box do? Is there a reference to it on the WWW? I'm assuming it's more than a 'standard' Voltage S&H circuit, as there are plenty of those in the VM ecosystem, including VM Nucleus.

[MRBarton]

P O O F !!! Your wish is our command!!

https://store.cherryaudio.com/modules/v ... ample-hold

--mb

[Steve W]

P O O F !!! Your wish is our command!!

Thanks for calling that to my attention, Mark. I actually have it, but since it has a very different form factor compared to my old MiniMoog unit, it never entered my mind that I could design something around the VM900 928 module.

[Steve W]

What did the Moog Sample & Hold Box do? Is there a reference to it on the WWW? I'm assuming it's more than a 'standard' Voltage S&H circuit, as there are plenty of those in the VM ecosystem, including VM Nucleus.

There are pix on line so you can see the sliders, knobs, switches, buttons, and cables. There is an Accessories Service Manual that includes the Sample - Hold - Controller (Model 1125). If that's not the one I had, it looks close enough to what I remember. Basically, I'd play the MiniMoog from it, sort of like a sequencer/arpeggiator/generative controller. Between the control labels and the schematic, you can figure it what it did. It was way cool!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, probably could use any S&H module to develop a patch with those controls. Maybe I will "prototype" a voltage preset with existing modules and use that to teach myself how to design a module with VM Designer. Not sure if I can recapture the same level of coolness, though. (Since you design modules, if you want to be a mentor, I'm sure I could learn some things!)

While I have recordings of me doing stuff on my college's Moog, I don't have tapes of jamming on the MiniMoog with the S&H Box (just ancient memories). There might be some videos on the Internet done by people who have one. I seem to remember looking a couple of years ago, but I don't think I found anything that impressed me (i.e., as cool as what I remember doing).

[utdgrant]

I tracked down a block diagram of what's happening inside the Moog 1125. That should give you a really good idea of how to patch it together using some stock CA modules.

1125-1.jpg (151.05 KiB) Viewed 5967 times

[utdgrant]

I knocked this one together using modules from VM Core. The only extra modules are the (free) Simple Amplifier and ACE SR-Latch for Start-Stop functionality. Just remove SR-Latch and the associated Amplifier module if you don't need these buttons.

Moog1125Screenshot.png (1.34 MiB) Viewed 5949 times

YouTube video demo

Moog1125SampleAndHold.voltagepreset

(23.39 KiB) Downloaded 293 times

[Steve W]

Nice! Thanks for making the time to "knock it together." I like the way you used the knobs and buttons [the Perform section] to implement the 1125's controls. Great two-cabinet design so people can use it as you have done it or swap in other synths, etc. Awesome!!!

[Steve W]

Again, thanks!! More transformations planned, but here's a simple, preliminary adaptation to a single instance of MiniVerse:

S&H2MiniVerse-001b.png (449.3 KiB) Viewed 5879 times

[utdgrant]

I think the CV to MIDI module quantizes the pitch input to semitones (i.e. MIDI key numbers). You could lose some of the weird microtuning effects you hear when using Output 1 or Output 2 to drive a VCO directly. However, on the plus side, this will make for more musically-rewarding results! Plus, you get to drive polyphonic external plug-ins from this configuration, which is a big bonus. An interesting twist!