Voltage 78 user guide

01

First setup

Load to first rhythm

1. Load Voltage 78

Insert Voltage 78 in a CLAP / VST3 / Audio Unit instrument slot. The dedicated plug-in exposes only Voltage 78 sound and sequencer controls.

2. Check the clock

Set Sequencer Clock to Internal when you want the panel controls to run the pattern. Host follows the DAW transport. Off leaves MIDI active and silences pattern triggers.

3. Press START

The factory starter pattern begins at step one and reaches the production rhythm circuits. Press STOP to hold the pattern position and playing state.

4. Choose a voicing

Use the PRESET arrows to load one of eight complete machine settings. Balance, Accent, add levels, service trims and cancel groups all move together.

02

One connected circuit

Shape the complete machine

Continuous controls

Master sets the final Main output level.
Balance crossfades the tonal and noise buses around its centre detent.
Accent sets the depth of per-step lift at the master VCA.
Add Tambourine, Add Guiro and Add Metal Beat join after Balance and keep their own levels.
Snappy balances the snare noise burst against its shell.
Noise trims the shared source used by cymbal and hi-hat. Maracas uses it too.

Cancel groups

Cymbal + Hi-Hat cancels both triggers. Metal beat remains independent.
Bass Drum removes the bass-drum trigger group.
Snare Drum cancels the snare trigger while its calibrated circuit settings remain fixed.
Cowbell + Claves follows the shared hardware cancel line for those two voices.

Eight factory voicings

Reference Circuit · Warm Room · Bright Deck · Street Parade · Metal Run · Hand Percussion · Dry Count · Full Tilt

How the bank behaves

Each voicing contains all twelve Voltage 78 sound parameters. Loading another one never carries a cancel switch or trim from the previous setting.

03

Fourteen circuits, fifteen triggers

MIDI note map

The guiro provides separate high-rate and low-rate triggers from one circuit. Notes 42 / 44 / 46 all reach the single Voltage 78 hi-hat.

Voice	MIDI notes	Voice	MIDI notes
BD · Bass drum	35, 36	CY · Cymbal	49, 51, 57
SD · Snare drum	38, 40	HH · Hi-hat	42, 44, 46
RS · Rim shot	37	MA · Maracas	69, 70
CL · Claves	75	TB · Tambourine	54
CB · Cowbell	56	GU · Guiro high	73
HB · High bongo	60	GU · Guiro low	74
LB · Low bongo	61	MB · Metal beat	53
LC · Low conga	63, 64

VELOCITY

Velocity feeds the accent path.

Per-hit velocity reaches the machine before the final output stage.

GUIRO

Duration follows the step.

The scrape lasts for one sequencer step, so changing tempo changes its duration.

SOURCES

Related voices move together.

Cymbal and hi-hat draw from one shared noise source. Maracas draws from it too.

04

Pattern and transport

Program the pattern and control transport

01

Edit the grid

Click a cell in a voice row to toggle a trigger. The ACCENT row marks a step for master-VCA lift. Voice labels audition their own trigger without changing the pattern.

02

Run internally

Choose Internal clock, set Tempo and Swing, then press START. STOP holds the current clock position and stores the stopped state.

03

Follow the host

Host clock reads DAW play state and tempo. It also reads quarter-note position. Seeking or looping moves the pattern to the corresponding step.

04

Move pattern data

Copy and Paste replace the complete editable grid. Clear turns every step off. MIDI import quantizes note-ons to sixteenths; export writes the mapped pattern at 480 PPQ.

05

Stereo Main plus fourteen

Route circuit outputs

What the buses carry

Main contains Balance and the add voices. Accent and Master are included too.
Individual 01-14 carry the circuit sections before those machine-level stages.
Each individual bus is stereo dual mono.
The two guiro rates share one circuit and one output bus.

Host setup

Enable the auxiliary buses, send the required Individual outputs to their own tracks, then process or print them. Keep Main when you want the complete connected-machine balance. The raw taps are useful for separate processing but do not sum back to Main by themselves.

Bus	Circuit output	Bus	Circuit output
01	Bass drum	08	Low conga
02	Snare drum	09	Cymbal
03	Rim shot	10	Hi-hat
04	Claves	11	Maracas
05	Cowbell	12	Tambourine
06	High bongo	13	Guiro high / low
07	Low bongo	14	Metal beat

06

Project state

Automation and recall

VOICING

The machine setting returns.

Balance and Accent are stored with the three add levels. Snappy and Noise return too, along with Master and all four cancel groups.

PATTERN

The rhythm returns.

The grid and clock mode reopen in a fresh instance. START/STOP state returns with the stored tempo and swing.

IDENTITY

The plug-in stays focused.

The fixed MODEL label returns as Voltage 78. Instrument selection remains in the host.

07

Fast checks

Troubleshooting

START does nothing

Set Sequencer Clock to Internal. Host mode waits for the DAW transport, and Off keeps the pattern silent.

The pattern starts but a voice is missing

Check the matching cancel group. Then confirm the current grid contains that trigger and raise the affected voice's add level.

The DAW transport and pattern disagree

Select Host clock, start the DAW and confirm it provides musical position. A seek or loop should reposition the pattern.

An individual output ignores Balance or Accent

This is expected. Voltage 78's individual buses are circuit taps before Balance, add voices, Accent and Master. Use Main for the connected-machine mix.

MIDI notes do not reach the expected voice

Use the Voltage 78 note table in this guide. The single hi-hat accepts notes 42 / 44 / 46; the two guiro rates use notes 73 and 74.

For support, include your operating system, host, plug-in format and sample rate. State the clock mode and the shortest sequence that reproduces the problem.

Voltage Drums supportOpen support

Trademark notice. The Roland CR-78 is referenced only to identify the hardware studied and measured. Roland and CR-78 are trademarks of Roland Corporation. Voltage 78 and Voltage Drums are independent products with no affiliation or endorsement.