Thank you for explaining @Martebar, @Patch77 and @Unifono for the help. I guess the moral of the story is I finally actually need at least 1 VCA that I was hoping to avoid for now at least with my current modules. I know I know, one can never have too many VCAs!
Any particular VCA recommendations for something to complement my current setup? I’m looking only to buy my modules slowly one by one and get what I absolutely need when I need it.
ALM Busy Circuits Tangle Quartet is a great four channel vca
had this as well… works also as mixer
Another option is Intellijel’s Quad VCA, adjustable response from linear to exponential and a 6db signal boost switch (both per VCA), it’s a bit larger though at 12HP. I have that one that I pair with Plaits sometimes, I’m very happy with it.
Press and hold left button + turn MORPH.
Very wise 
Thank you again all for the really helpful tips!
I have been eyeing up the Quad VCA, but I feel quite inclined toward Low Pass Gates for their more ‘real world’ sound, plus the Optomix’s Strike seems quite cool. Is this a worthy combination with my OT and Plaits?
Also @Martebar - Quadratt does indeed attenuvert CV as well - I think (can’t truly remember) I got it for the reason that it seemed to be a cheap VCA and mixer and most Intellijel 7u racks I saw on Modulargrid had at least 1, often 2!
if you’re using Plaits then level can be used as the vca level. (*) so you don’t need a vca. just feed your env into level. (and don’t use plaits trig)
(*) technically it opens up the LPG not the vca, so it’ll also affect timbre (brightness). i usually want this, but if you don’t then … yeah, you’ll need a vca.
I know, what I meant is that it can’t itself be modulated by CV.
If you put your oscillator throught a VCA and want an envelope to control the volume this VCA lets through over time, you have to be able to CV control that VCA, which you can’t with the Quadratt.
I’m having a real hard time trying to figure out how exactly to send CC from the OT to Yarns. I can’t seem to determine what settings need to be adjusted on the OT’s CC menu… Any help would be very much apprecieated!
“Lots of fun using Yarns in Euclidean mode along with the Elektron sequencer, especially with the arps to trigger changes.”
I know this thread is more than 3 years old but if you’re still around here, would you care to share how you do this (beginners/dummy-proof)?
thank you
Updated my live rig, kept the octatrack and added some modules. Any advice/resources on how to use Octatrack with CV.OCD greatly appreciated!
hey xdementia – Octrack with CV.OCD works great. I use it configured to send 4 1/v+gate pairs (each on its own MIDI channel) for controlling voices in the modular, plus another 4 gate outputs (each on channel 10, with the different gates corresponding to different note values).
I find that instead of using a steady MIDI clock output for the modular, it’s much more interesting if one of the gate patterns clocks it – so I can do things like switch a pattern and have the modular timing go to half-time, or doubletime, or some other variation.
So in my Octa, T1-T4 midi tracks correspond to the gates, and T5-T8 correspond to the voices.
T1-T3 are gate patterns, and T4 is the clock. I mostly make rhythmic patterns within the modular itself, so T1-T3 are often used to do things like reset an LFO periodically, or with contain a one-shot trig so that as I change patterns I will advance Stages or sequencer one step. I also like to have the gate be high for the entire pattern and attenuate the gate it in the modular to, say, change the mode selection in Plaits or open up a VCA, to help give that pattern its own distinct sound.
Great band!
OT + ZZZ ES-8 + ZZZ F2 (the rest of yer rack) = 
Interesting. So can gates be used as a CV signal as well?
Have you ever reprogrammed the CV.OCD? Supposedly you can do that right?
yes, the programming CV.OCD is relatively straightforward - here’s the web interface for it: http://www.six4pix.uk/cvocd/patch.asp You can set the CV range for the 4 CV outputs, adjust trigger length, and so on.
I’m not sure what voltage the gate output is – 5v? 8v? – but I’m pretty sure it stays at that level for as long as a the gate is high, so you can use attenuation to dial in a more precise value.
Thank you, that is so bad ass!
