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Hey guys,


just a quick tap into the hive mind of ILF. I've been thinking about utility pedals and ways to get the most out of a smaller setup. And I had the idea that it would be amazing to have something like a small box that contains an envelope follower and that outputs the envelope of the guitar signal in a format that could then be used in a regular expression input, thus making a lot of pedals envelope controllable. I could think of a lot of parameters that could be put on knobs on the envelope follower pedal, but something like sensitivity should be a given and maybe a switch to invert the envelope (the louder you play, the less expression is on the output.)

Hopefully this is something that's easy to do for anyone DIY savvy?

The easiest (but not cheapest) way to do that would be a tiny eurorack setup. Which would open tons of other possibilities obviously.

You'd basically need two modules : an envelope follower (any slew limiter would do the trick) and something like the ALM busy circuits SBG to handle going in/out of the modular and restricting the CV output to something that pedals will not have any trouble with. But then you'll likely want at least a small mixer for CV, an LFO or two, etc. .

But without going into euro or anything else modular, I think anybody good enough at circuit design could make something with an envelope follower and additional circuitry to make sure the CV output remains between 0V and 3V or 0V and 5V. The invert part is more tricky because a simple inverter will for example make your signal from [0V to 5V] to [0 to -5V] and pedals typically only expect positive voltages (often less than 3V because of the processors used in digital pedals and less than 5V otherwise). But that could still be done, just a bit more circuitry...

It's actually a good idea as a standalone box, maybe someone will pick it up .

This is also something I've been thinking about! I wonder if copilot Adam could do it?

This is exactly what I want. I went searching the internet for this a while ago. Very interested.

Well, it depends. The Envelope thingy in a box is doable. BUT it depends on the pedals you want to control. If they have an expression jack, it does not automatically mean they accept CV. The could also utilize the variable resistance of the exp. pedal in a different way. It would probably be the best to not only offer the envelope utility box thingy with voltage output, but also slap a digital potentiometer in there and get the envelope out as variable resistance, like a real expression pedal. then you should be able to make most exp. jacks happy.

yeah, it can be done, most of the things, is that some would prefer lots of control as ADSR controller while other would prefer something with just sensitivity and range of the sweep. I have a couple of stuff in that way, but still in the works, due i would like to be able to offer options, but i havent touched that in a couple of months, as soon as i finish some of the stuff will try to revise and check

autopilot wrote:yeah, it can be done, most of the things, is that some would prefer lots of control as ADSR controller while other would prefer something with just sensitivity and range of the sweep. I have a couple of stuff in that way, but still in the works, due i would like to be able to offer options, but i havent touched that in a couple of months, as soon as i finish some of the stuff will try to revise and check

autopilot wrote:yeah, it can be done, most of the things, is that some would prefer lots of control as ADSR controller while other would prefer something with just sensitivity and range of the sweep. I have a couple of stuff in that way, but still in the works, due i would like to be able to offer options, but i havent touched that in a couple of months, as soon as i finish some of the stuff will try to revise and check

The man!

I totally forgot the Moog LPF can do this. I'll check if the results are what I expect. After that I will pester Autopilot.

I thought about the whole ADSR thing which would basically make the envelope follower an envelope generator that you merely trigger with your guitar. Might be just as useful and as much fun. But I was thinking about something that mimicks your playing. I really like to steer a pedal by the way I play my guitar. Something like digging in harder to have more Reverb (Spring Chicken with exp control!) would be so much fun! Also I think the smaller and less tweakable the more people would concentrate on the fun part: Experimenting on using it with different pedals.

Dread box use to make this. Seems they made into a pedal with env out now. Initially it was just a env for exp.

http://www.dreadbox-fx.com/epsilon.html

I don't know why, but this thread now makes me want some sort of guitar synth. like the dreadbox square tides. damn you, ilf!

external control it just an awesome thing, also you can have the envelope controlled by a drum machine or sequencer or controlled by your bass player or singer, and be playing and suddenly BOMMMBLEEEEPPBLASSTTTT and you go to sonic space and lost the notion of space and time