Audulus on iPad using ES-8 and Digitakt

I’m planning to add a small modular skiff to spice things up on my MFB Dominion 1. My plan is to start with a ES-8 and use Audulus on iPad to spend less money and to discover which kind of modules to get next. I also want to sequence things with my Digitakt, it’s pretty convenient since I can sequence notes, MIDI CC and change them with the internal LFOs, so I was wondering if I can avoid getting a MIDI to CV converter, is it possible to do the following?

iPad <----> Camera connection kit <----> USB Hub <-+-----> ES-8
                                                   |
                                                   +-----< Digitakt (Outputs MIDI notes and CC)

The idea would be using Audulus with 4 ins and 4 outs of the ES-8 for modules and also using it as a MIDI to CV converter dumping things in the other 4 outs of the ES-8. Is that actually possible? Any ideas?

EDIT: Fixed typos.

The Digitakt will, all things considered, be much better served by a module like MI Yarns, or a disting+midi breakout, or your favorite midi to CV solution.

But the diagram you have outlined should work, so long as you are routing everything through audulus and not trying to divide the ES-8 outputs between audulus and other soft-synths. Audulus wants all the outputs to itself. Maybe things will be different with Audulus 4, but Audulus 3 wants to use all the outputs.

I started with exactly this plan. I must say that spending less money did not exactly occur for me. I made more with the modules I had, for sure! I felt less compelled to get modules like sample and hold and VCA’s and Switches, but that space just went to nice modules that, while I still love, cost more than the utilities mentioned above. So, I just wouldn’t anticipate conserving money at all buying eurorack unless you buy used modules.

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Hey, thanks for the pointers, I’m glad that my plan will work and it’s good to know that if I use it with Audulus I can’t use other apps. You are right about the specialized MIDI to CV module, but in general I want to start small and add things when they become a need so eventually I’ll add one, just not in the beginning. Regarding the other point, it’s true that Eurorack and saving money are not two terms that go together! I’ll try to restrain myself from buying too much stuff, also the used market for modules is big in my city :D.

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http://mfberlin.de/en/device/mfb-dominion1_en/

I have lusted over this synth - the design is so top notch and the sound matches as well!

Just make sure you get the camera connector kit that can also charge at the same time - it’s more expensive but definitely worth not having to recharge your iPad and break up your modular time.

It would be worth getting the converter if only to save outputs from ES-8 to do other things. But as a starter, it’s a great way to unify the system you have.

I’d love to see some video or hear some audio of this rig in action once you get it working!

What kinds of modules are you thinking about starting off with after you get the ES-8? Are you looking to merely expand the Dominion to make it beefier, or are you wanting to add whole other voices?

@taylor (the creator of Audulus) has a Digitakt I believe and I’m sure he’d love to see what you come up with in this hybrid system.

The Dominion is great in terms of sound, flexibility and usability. For me, the only downsides I see are the almost inexistent MIDI implementation, that it weights a lot and the lack of MIDI syncable LFOs. Given the old-school style of the synth those downsides are kinda expected but maybe some day they will come up with MKII with a couple of modern features. In general, a great synth!

I’ll make sure to get the right camera connector and upload some recordings after I have everything set up.

I currently have a jamming rig of Digitakt, Digitone, MFB Dominion and Virus B. I also have an ITB rig for recording Synthwave songs with a Keystep and a Laptop running Ableton with soft synths. In some point I want to have a more hybrid approach, but that’s another topic haha. My main objective is to get into weirder stuff with my jamming rig, spicing things up in the Dominion. I want to start “modulating my modulations”, to add some randomness, to have an interesting digital voice, to get some stuff for generative/algorithmic music and maybe in the future to have some different sounding filters like a SEM or an OTA (although the Dominion 1 filter is great). Also with the Digitakt I can sample things for using them later and do interesting audio manipulation. In general I want to get into less vanilla stuff.

EDIT: I have the Virus B, not the C haha.

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That all sounds great! Audulus is definitely perfect for modulating modulations, and can help keep stuff in sync. You can even smooth out the MIDI zippering with a filter in Audulus and then send that out as CV.

Also I lusted after the Virus when I was a kid before I even really knew what synthesis was - it’s such a gnarly synth!

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Audlus is really shines in this department as well. It takes a little getting used to, using the random node, but once you know a few basic tricks you can create all sorts of systems based around probability and quantization to augment your typical elektron workflow.

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