VM 960 volts-to-note ready reckoner
Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2021 9:14 pm
When attempting to program actual musical notes on the VM 960 sequencer, I found it handy to have this conversion table lying about.
Because the oscillators are 1V/oct, each semitone shift upwards requires an additional voltage of 1/12 V, or 0.08333333 V.
Therefore, if you count 0.000V as being the root note of your scale, these are the voltages you require going upwards in semitone steps:
Semi Volts Note (C as root)
00 = 0.000 C
01 = 0.083 C#
02 = 0.167 D
03 = 0.250 Eb
04 = 0.333 E
05 = 0.417 F
06 = 0.500 F#
07 = 0.583 G
08 = 0.667 Ab
09 = 0.750 A
10 = 0.833 Bb
11 = 0.917 B
12 = 1.000 C
13 = 1.083 C#
14 = 1.167 D
15 = 1.250 Eb
16 = 1.333 E
17 = 1.417 F
18 = 1.500 F#
19 = 1.583 G
20 = 1.667 Ab
21 = 1.750 A
22 = 1.833 Bb
23 = 1.917 B
24 = 2.000 C
Note that this only applies to the X1 row multiplier; when you use X2 or X4 multipliers, the knob setting still displays the same voltage reading, but outputs a voltage of twice, or four times that value respectively. I might follow up this post with volts-to-note settings for the wider scaling factors.
Also note that the quantizer performs the mathematical function of truncation, rather than rounding. As a result, any voltage between 0.000 V and 0.083 V will always be quantized down to 0.000 V. Similarly, any voltage between 1.917 V and 2.000 V will be quantized down to 1.917 V. For this reason, you can never quite reach a full two-octave range of notes when using the quantizer on the X1 setting - even with the knob fully clockwise, it will still output a note 23 semitones above the root (e.g. a high B if you use C as your root). If a full two octave span is critical, you can reach a note two octaves above the root by using the unquantized output (and adjusting the knobs VERY carefully)!
Because the oscillators are 1V/oct, each semitone shift upwards requires an additional voltage of 1/12 V, or 0.08333333 V.
Therefore, if you count 0.000V as being the root note of your scale, these are the voltages you require going upwards in semitone steps:
Semi Volts Note (C as root)
00 = 0.000 C
01 = 0.083 C#
02 = 0.167 D
03 = 0.250 Eb
04 = 0.333 E
05 = 0.417 F
06 = 0.500 F#
07 = 0.583 G
08 = 0.667 Ab
09 = 0.750 A
10 = 0.833 Bb
11 = 0.917 B
12 = 1.000 C
13 = 1.083 C#
14 = 1.167 D
15 = 1.250 Eb
16 = 1.333 E
17 = 1.417 F
18 = 1.500 F#
19 = 1.583 G
20 = 1.667 Ab
21 = 1.750 A
22 = 1.833 Bb
23 = 1.917 B
24 = 2.000 C
Note that this only applies to the X1 row multiplier; when you use X2 or X4 multipliers, the knob setting still displays the same voltage reading, but outputs a voltage of twice, or four times that value respectively. I might follow up this post with volts-to-note settings for the wider scaling factors.
Also note that the quantizer performs the mathematical function of truncation, rather than rounding. As a result, any voltage between 0.000 V and 0.083 V will always be quantized down to 0.000 V. Similarly, any voltage between 1.917 V and 2.000 V will be quantized down to 1.917 V. For this reason, you can never quite reach a full two-octave range of notes when using the quantizer on the X1 setting - even with the knob fully clockwise, it will still output a note 23 semitones above the root (e.g. a high B if you use C as your root). If a full two octave span is critical, you can reach a note two octaves above the root by using the unquantized output (and adjusting the knobs VERY carefully)!