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CONTENTS
PART 1: GENERAL
A. Introduction
B. Changing things in "Edit mode"
PART 2: THE SEQUENCER
A. Motion sequence edit
B. Rename a program
C. Step mode/step edit
D. Change sequence length
PART 3: THE ENVELOPE GENERATOR
A. 'Type' knob function
B. 'Intensity' knob function
PART 4: THE LFO
A. One shot mode
B. Effect of the waveforms
PART 5: THE SHIFT BUTTON ON INT
A. Envelope generator intensity
B. LFO intensity
PART 6: SOME PATCHES
A. The "Yai" effect
B. Fake 3 oscillator
C. Some classic game sounds
PART 1: GENERAL
A. Introduction
Everything that is clear in the manual is not in this text file. This is a companion to the fine manual. However, some things can be written down a bit more clear and in a short set of steps, which is attempted in this file.
- A "program" contains settings (a patch) and a sequence.
- Press 'Write' twice to save a program.
1. Press the button 'Edit mode' a few times to activate one of three modes:
- Program
- Sequencer
- Global
3. Radio buttons at the bottom of the display indicate the amount of parameters that can be changed by pressing this sequencer's button multiple times.
4. Turn the 'Value' knob to change the selected parameter.
5. Press 'Write' to save.
PART 2: THE SEQUENCER
A. Motion sequence edit
1. Make sure some motion of knobs has been recorded.
2. Set switch to 'Motion'.
3. Press and hold down a button from the sequencer.
4. Turn a knob.
5. Press 'Write' twice to save.
B. Rename a program
1. Press 'Edit mode'.
2. Select 'Program edit'.
3. Press sequencer button 9.
4. Change name (button 9 + Value knob).
5. Press 'Write' twice to save.
C. Step mode/step edit
1. Make sure the sequencer is not playing.
2. Press 'REC'. The display will echo: "Step rec", "Step 1" and the current programmed note. Select an other step if needed.
3. The player can press and hold down a note. In case of a mistake an other note can be pressed and held.
4. Upon release of the note the sequencer progresses to the next step.
5. Press the 'Rest' button to intert a blank note.
D. Change sequence length
1. Press 'Edit mode' until "Seq edit" appears in the display.
2. Press button 6 from the sequencer (the second one that lights up).
3. It's the first one that apppears.
4. Turn the 'Value' knob and press 'Write' twice to save.
PART 3: THE ENVELOPE GENERATOR
Refer to the figure on page 4 of the manual for the numbers of the switches and knobs in this part. In this part the switches and knobs under number 9 in the figure will be discussed. They are:
- Switch 9a: Type
- Knob 9b: Attack
- Knob 9c: Decay
- Knob 9d: Intensity
- Switch 9e: Target
Switch 9a. Probably to keep costs of this device low there is a "non classical" way to manipulate envelopes. One can change the envelope of the volume of a played note (VCA EG), the pith of an oscillator and the cutoff frequency of the filter. A classic full ADSR EG was probably too expensive (note that that might have also been the case w/ the Minimoog since it has no discrete release setting). One can only set rise and fall: attack and decay, or attack and release.
Type 1. A/R:
(attack and release) The attack and decay knobs affect both the the volume (VCA) of the note as well as the intensity of the 'Target' from switch 9e (i.e. pitch or cutoff).
Type 2. A/S/D:
(attack, sustain and decay) Affects both VCA and Target. The sustain is determined by the player and depends on how long a key is pressed. The only difference w/ type 1 is that the note can be sustained by the player.
Type 3. Gate & A/D:
(gate for VCA and A/D for Target) This is a complicated one. The figure on page 19 of the manual explains a lot. The VCA is gated (i.e. the volume of a note is max. on key press and zero after depress). The attack and decay of "target" switch 9 (i.e. the pitch of on of the oscillators or the cutoff frequency of the filter) can be set w/ knobs 9b and c.
B. 'Intensity' knob function
Knob 9d. The INT knob of the envelope generator (EG) has two functions. When the intensity is set to 0 (zero) in the A/D and A/G/D modes the the attack and decay knobs (9b and c) control the rise and fall of the volume of a struck note, but no pitch or cutoff. So if the intensity knob is set to zero then the values of knobs 9b and c do control someting: the VCA.
PART 4: THE LFO
Notice: the LFO is not re-triggered on key press! One notices that if the LFO acts on pitch, the Rate is set low and set to Sawtooth. Then when one presses two notes after each other the 2nd note does not start all over again to get lower but continues "where it left off" on the 1st note. The LFO can not be set to re-trigger via the Edit menu.
A. One shot mode
This is an alternative - or extra - envelope generator. It generates one single oscillation from the LFO. This oscillation can be applied to the pitch, shape from the VCO's or the cutoff from the filter. The triangular wave resembles the A/D Type of the EG.
B. Effect of the waveforms
On the filter cutoff, for instance, a triangular wave LFO makes a note sound like a continuously alternating wah-wah like effect. The sawtooth can generate a fast alternating drone like in Giorgio Moroder's "I feel love". The square wave generates an alarm-horn like sound.
When a triangular wave LFO is applied to the pitch then it produces a vibrato effect.
PART 5: THE SHIFT BUTTON ON INT
There is an almost "hidden feature" of the Monologue if one uses the Shift button on the Intensity knob of the EG and/or LFO. The Shift button makes the INT knobs go into negative (inverted) values instead of positive.
Notice: there seems to be a nasty (firmware?) bug that causes the negative value to suddenly jump to a positive value as if the INT knob was turned a bit without keeping the Shift button pressed.
A. Effect on EG
For the following examples the intensity of the EG is set to approx. -350 (~75%) using the shift button. The attack is set to 0 and the decay to ~50%.
1. Applied to cutoff of the filter:
This converts the filter virtually to a high pass filter (as opposed to the low pass filter it actually is). Example: set the filter completely open. In low pass mode that would mean every frequency is let through which results in a high pitched, unaltered, note. But now the note starts off low (below the set value of the filter!) and "decays" as if the cutoff frequency knob of the filter (knob 8a, page 4) was slowly opened (to the value set by the cutoff knob of the filter).
2. Applied to the pitch of VCO 1 or 2:
The note starts of low and gets higher. If the INT of the EG was set to the regular positive value then it would be the other way around: starting high and getting lower.
B. Effect on LFO
1 . Applied to the pitch of the VCOs
1a. Sawtooth
- In regular LFO mode this results in a note that gets higher instead of lower.
- In "1 shot mode": same thing, sounds different from positive mode though.
- In regular LFO mode almost none since a triangle is symmetric.
- In "1 shot mode" note gets lower and then higher, instead of the other way around.
1c. Square - In regular LFO mode almost none since a square wave is symmetric.
- In "1 shot mode" starts low, get high all of a sudden in a step.
2 . Applied to the shape of the VCOs
Set shape to ~25% and int. of the LFO to ~50%
2a. Sawtooth
- In regular LFO mode: the note gets more deformed periodically (instead of less).
- In "1 shot mode": same thing, but sounds different from "positive" mode of course.
- In regular LFO mode: not much since a triangle is symmetric.
- In "1 shot mode": should be different, but does not differ that much.
- In regular LFO mode: not much since a square wave is symmetric.
- In "1 shot mode": note starts off relatively unaltered and jumps to it de-shaped form that was set w/ the Shape knob.. In positive mode it starts off heavily de-shaped and jumps to its shaped from that was set w/ the Shape knob.
3a. Sawtooth
- In regular LFO mode this results in a significantly different sounding effect than in positive mode. Regularly a downward slope sawtooth-like oscillation in high frequency applied to cutoff of a note results a sort of "stutter" because the filter is applied abruptly a few times a second (instead of gradually as w/ a triangle) and then gradually reduced. If the Shift button is used to turn the downward sloped sawtooth into an upwards one it results in a "tape played backwards" effect like on Alice Cooper's "Halo of flies".
- In "1 shot mode" a note starts of without filter and and gradually applies the filter instead of the other way around.
3b. Triangle
- In regular LFO mode almost none since a triangle is symmetric.
- In "1 shot mode" note goes down and then up instead of the other way around. Sort of the same effect that Shift has on EG in "Cutoff mode".
- In regular LFO mode almost none since a square wave is symmetric.
- In "1 shot mode" the note starts with the Filter applied to it and suddenly stops filtering instead of the other way around.
The "negative" mode by using the Shift key on EG can virtually turn the Filter into a high-pass one.
The "negative" INT mode of the LFO by using the Shift key has the most differing effect from regular positive mode when it produces a sawtooth wave. Because that one is not symmetric it sounds different in oscillating mode and in one shot mode because it rises then instead of decaying.
PART 6: SOME PATCHES
A. The "Yai" effect
Like in preset No. 35 "Disemvowel".
- LFO: Target = cutoff; INT = max.; Rate = max.; Mode = fast; Wave = trioangular.
- EG: A= 200; D = 200; INT = 95.
- Filter: Cutoff = 50; Resonance = 830.
- VCO 1 = square; VCO 2 = triangular + ring + lowest octave + pitch all the way up.
The trick is to find find a setting, or "sound" that you can still hear w/ the filter almost closed. Then set rate and int. of the LFO to the max. Fiddeling a bit w/ cutoff will perfect the "yai".
B. "Fake 3 oscillator"
This is preset No. 6 (by Yebisu303). A very typical sound that is well known (I can't remember from what song or advertisement, though). I do not yet know how this patch was achieved exactly.
- It uses the self oscillation of the filter as a "third oscillator". So turn resonance 100% up.
- Probably one shot LFO w/ the cutoff as its target.
C. Some classic game sounds
1. Phoenix for the Atari 2600. In the boss level where one shoots at the UFO the sound when you hit the UFO is triangle wave w/ the LFO set to: sawtooth, 1-shot, rate to ~325, int. to ~420.
2. Pac-Man (arcade). The background sound (that gets higher as time progresses to make you nervous) is a triangle wav with the Filter cutoff set to ~700, resonance to ~520. The LFO set to: triangle, slow, rate ~500, int. ~260.
