As I experimented with small, one rack setups in AE Modular, I felt the need for a module that could convert any CV input (LFO's, envelopes,..) into an arpeggio of notes (CV + triggers). Much like the TW Quantizer can convert a changing input into different output notes, I wanted this but with more control over the different output CV's. This is why I made the Five Steps module, and it turned out to be useful for a lot more stuff!

The Basics

Before I delve into the deeper workings of the module, I can tell you that its a lot of fun to play with. You can input a CV, for example a triangle LFO, and as the LFO is rising, the Five Steps will output the different CV's that you dialed in with the knobs sequentially. When the LFO is falling down in voltage, the dialed in CV's will be heard in the opposite order. So if you use this for the tuning of a VCO, you'll get a rising & falling arpeggio. The speed of the arpeggio, is determined by the speed of the LFO you input. There is also a transposing CV input: each value you input here, gets added to the output value, basically transposing the arpeggio. As output, you get the different CV's out sequentially, but also a trigger each time a new CV is output (so if your arpeggio changes notes, just like with the TW Quantizer). And also different logical outs depending on which note of the arpeggio is playing (more on that later).

In essence, you can view it as an analog version of the Quantizer, but with more control over different CV outs, but less possible CV notes out (as you 'only' have five knobs).

A quick & lofi demo over on youtube: https://youtu.be/RtrSgU_20dU

The inner workings & more specifics

The module basically consists of 4 comparators with fixed thresholds at 0.833V, 1.66V, 2.5V and 3.33V. When you input a voltage below the first threshold, the output will be equal to the first CV you dialed in with the first (= upper) knob. Each knob can dial in any CV from 0-5V according on the knob setting. When the input voltage passes the first threshold of 0.833V (eg your input LFO is rising), the output CV will change into the voltage of knob 1 + the voltage of knob 2. When the next threshold is passed, the new CV out will be the sum of knob 1, 2 and 3. Because the output is a sum of the knobs, once you hit 5V in total, the CV can not go up further and the later knobs will not add CV. The CV out can also only go UP when the input CV goes up. If you want for example an arpeggio to go from a high note to a low note, you will need to input a saw wave LFO with a falling CV. If you want more complicated patterns, I advice running modules like the RBSS in the input.

The second input makes it able to add any voltage to the output CV. So if you use this for notes, it means that you can transpose your patterns with a fixed voltage. You can for example use the outputs of a SEQ8 to sequence the different 'root notes' of the arpeggio.

The second outputs are triggers, much like the Quantizer has. You get a trigger pulse each time a threshold is passed, so each time a note is changed. This makes it possible to use the Five Steps as a kind of sequencer.

Lastly, there are four logic outputs, labeled 2-5. With nothing plugged in, these outputs are all 'high' at 5V. Every time a threshold is passed, one of these changes from 5V to 0V or the other way around. For example, if none of the tresholds are passed, all logic outs will be 5V. When the first threshold is passed, this means Knob 2 is activated for the output CV, and the output labeled '2' will output 0V at this point. The other outputs will remain at 5V. When the next threshold is met, output '3' will change to 0V etc. These outputs can be a lot of fun to control CV switches, gates, accents, or run them through The Great Divide to actually extract an analog output out of this digital combination!

Cheers!

BF Synths

. . PS:

'legacy' description for the oldest, green version from 2021:

To start, I would like to point out that this version contains a mistake in the PCB wiring. But as I have 20 of these around, I pretty much have to sell them, because it was quite an investment.. The mistake is as follows: potentiometer/knobs 2-5 are in reverse order. So the knobs from top to bottom are: 1 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2. Other than that, the module works perfectly!