UNDERSTANDING CV AND GATE

Control Voltage (CV) and Gate ports on synthesizers and other pieces of hardware are used to transfer messages from one machine to another. CV signals usually control pitch, whereas gate messages control the on/off status of notes. In a modular synthesizer, rather than the separate components being ‘internally connected’, a patch cable is required to transmit signals from one module to the next. Picture a controller keyboard with a CV output triggering the oscillator stage of a synthesizer – the CV output would control the pitch that oscillator produced, and individual key strokes would open the gate then close it upon release. Now imagine a separate LFO, whose output triggers a variable (rising and falling) CV signal, so that, when patched into the oscillator, pitch is changed via that input. Any large modular system simply requires patching to connect any and all available modules in almost infinite ways.

MIDI replaced CV and Gate signals, as it’s a more sophisticated protocol, but as Eurorack’s popularity has grown, so a CV and Gate renaissance has occurred