The Tempo module is a handy source of sync signals for when Voltage Modular is used in standalone mode. It’s designed to integrate nicely with the Song Control and Song Part modules to effectively become part of the LSSP Song Control Sequencer, but as it produces a standard 96 PPQN clock signal it’s fairly general purpose.
By default the SYNC IN socket of the Song Control module is invisibly connected by normalization to the SYNC OUT socket of Voltage Modular’s I/O Panel. So LSSP will automatically sync with either the DAW tempo or the tempo set in the Toolbar at the very top of the Voltage Modular window when in standalone mode.
However, if you want to have more control over tempo in standalone mode then you can bypass the normalization by connecting the SYNC OUT socket of a Tempo module to the SYNC IN socket of Song Control.
The benefits of doing so are that tempo settings will be saved as part of the patch, it’s easier to select the tempo required using the COARSE and FINE knobs rather than the Toolbar and finally the Tempo module enables you to use voltage control to set and change the tempo.
The two CV IN sockets and their associated attenuverters allow you to automate tempo change in a highly controlled fashion so things like accelerando, ritardando and rubato become easy to achieve.
COARSE sets the basic tempo in the range 30 BPM to 480 BPM. The 12 o’clock position is 120 BPM.
FINE provides a means of making small adjustments to the coarse BPM setting, enabling you to get precisely the right tempo.
The CV IN 1 and CV IN 2 sockets enable the tempo to be voltage controlled by two separate modulation sources.
The knobs to the right of each socket control the magnitude and polarity of the effects of the voltages fed to their respective sockets. At 12 o’clock the CV IN signals have no effect. At maximum setting a 5 volt input produces a doubling of tempo, at minimum setting a 5 volts input produces a halving of tempo.
Two CV channels are provided so that you can easily have several things going on at once. For instance a very gradual increase in tempo as a song progresses combined with a dramatic slowing down in the outro. Or perhaps having choruses 10% faster than the rest of the song combined with subtle changes programmed into one or more CV Sequencers that vary the tempo in sync with melodic phrasing to give things a really human feel.
The final tempo is based on the sum of the COARSE setting, the FINE setting and the CV IN voltages as adjusted by their respective attenuverter knobs. The total range is limited to 1 BPM to 999 BPM.
Availability
The Tempo module is available as part of LSSP XL or the Adroit Toolkit.