Tiptop Circadian Rhythms - Manual (Page 24)

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Advanced Tutorial 3: Programming Gates
The CR doesn’t generate only triggers. It can also generate gates in Patterns.
As a review, triggers and gates are both “on-off” voltage signals used to activate another module (for
example, to start an envelope generator, advance a clock, or fire a Tiptop BD808). The main diffe-
rence between the two is the length of each and how they are used. A trigger is typically a standard,
short duration (5ms) signal and is used trigger (hence the name!) a drum module, ping a LPG, or ad-
vance a clock. A gate is the same signal as a trigger only the duration of the signal is variable. A gate
is used to activate modules such as an envelope generator where the duration of the output varies.
As an example, let’s set gate in a pattern in Vertical mode for the first five beats of an 8 beat Pattern.
In this case, instead of connecting the Output to a drum trigger input, connect it to an envelope gene-
rator such as the the Tiptop Z4000. Connect the envelope generator to a VCA so that the envelope
is activating the VCA, set the Sustain knob on the Z4000 to maximum. Plug in a oscillator (such as
the Tiptop Z3000) to the VCA input to have a sound source.
To activate the gate in the CR for example, hold down the first button Step in the Pattern and the fifth
button Step in the pattern until the first buttons turn to red. That’s it! There’s your gate! To change
the length of the gate to seven Steps, you hold down the seventh Step and the intermediary steps
will be activated (Step 6 and 7). To deactivate the gate, either hold down the first and the last step
in your gate until the buttons are no longer red or press each button in the gate pattern individually.
Pressing Step in an active gate also allows you to edit your activated gate to create multiple gates
in a Pattern.