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Comments
I love the Moog hardware manuals. So good.
Can someone concisely explain what the 4 'multiples' jacks on the mixer are used for?
The multiples (on the mixer module and the reverse attenuator module next to it) are for making multiples of a signal. one of them is on the mixer module, but it can be used for any signal. They work for audio and controls. Multis come with a set of four jacks: plug a cable into one of the jacks and the same signal comes out the other three. Let's say you want to use The same envelope to control Oscillator pitch and the Filter cutoff. Since the envelope only has one output you need to run a cable to one of the multiples and then two cables from the multiple to their destinations (the Osc and Filter). I think the Amplifier in the lower cabinet can also be used as a multiplier. (A look at the manual confirms this - set the amplifiers for 1 and it will act as a multiple.)
Edited for clarity (which may or may not be there).
Thank you, clarity is indeed there. Your example illustrated it well and now it seems intuitive to me. Appreciate it
Here's another mini-tutorial which is going to introduce the concept of phase-shifting, and should also help to illustrate the use of the Multiples and the Reversible Attenuator.
Phase-shifting is simply when the starting point of an audio wave is moved forward or backwards in time. If you know even a little about wave physics you should be aware that when two identical waves are added together they double in height (amplitude), and that if one of the waves is moved so that it's troughs perfectly match the peaks of the second wave they will cancel each other out - in audio terms this means that you would get silence. So if you phase shift two identical audio waves you are going to get variations in volume, because by phase-shifting the peaks and troughs are going to interact with each other to either increase or decrease the volume.
In Model 15 the reversible attenuator can phase shift a waveform by using the dial, if you move the dial all the way to the left the waveform is inverted.
So let's make a really simple example when one sine wave cancels itself out:
Tap the Sine Wave output from one of the 921B oscillators and connect it to the Multiples below the mixer dials. Using the Multiples will allow us to output the same signal to multiple destinations:
Next tap one of the remaining Multiple slots and connect it to input 1 of the mixer, then tap another Multiple slot and connect it to the input of the Reversible Attenuator:
Then connect the output of the Reversible Attenuator to input 2 of the mixer:
Then turn the dial below input 1 to zero, and set the Reversible Attenuator to -10:
Then we just need to patch out the mixer to get some sound. Tap the output of the mixer:
Connect it to the input of the amplifier:
Tap the output of the amplifier:
Connect it to the Trunk Lines:
Once you turn the volume up on the amplifier you should hear some sound:
So remember that the volume dial on mixer 1 is set to zero, so all we are hearing is the output from mixer 2, which is the phase inverted sine wave coming from the Reversible Attenuator.
Turn the dial on mixer 1 back up to 5:
And as you increase the volume the signal will gradually start to disappear. This is because the original signal is being mixed back in with the inverted signal and they are cancelling each other out.
If you also adjust the dial on the Reversible Attenuator you can double the signal strength by turning it all the way to the right:
In theory you could combine the signals from two separate oscillators in a similar fashion, but in my testing they are not perfectly in sync so the signal drifts in and out of phase, the only way to get perfectly reliable results is to use the same signal via the multiples.
So you might be wondering what the point of all this is: subtle phase shifts on any combined signals will radically alter the harmonics, because some will cancel out, and others will increase, so by using the Reversible Attenuator on a waveform that is being mixed with another can make a big difference to the sound.
For a more in-depth look at these concepts read this article:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug99/articles/synthsecrets.htm
So here is a practical example of how phase-shifting one signal over another can make a difference to the timbre of the sound:
Load the Init patch, and note that one of the 921B oscillators is being fed into the mixer using a sawtooth wave. We will add another waveform into the mix and use the Reversible Attenuator to change the timbre.
In the second 921B oscillator tap the sine wave output:
and connect it to the input of the Reversible Attenuator:
Then tap the output of the Reversible Attenuator:
and connect it to the input of mixer 2:
Then set mixer dials 1 and 2 to ten. As you play the synth at this stage you will only hear the sawtooth from the first oscillator because the Reversible Attenuator is set to zero, meaning that the Sine wave is fully attenuated. Now adjust the dial on the Reversible Attenuator as you play the synth and you will notice a very obvious difference in timbre when the dial is set all the way to left versus all the way to the right. Even though it is the same signal being mixed on top of the original sawtooth wave, the harmonics are changing as the phase of the signal is being shifted:
As the sine wave interacts with the sawtooth wave any changes in relative volume or phase between the two signals will affect how the harmonics in each signal react, some frequencies will be reduced and others will be amplified, and this will affect the timbre of the sound fairly profoundly.
richardyot , Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Thank you! Not many willing to teach us this!
Brilliant Richard, bookmarked etc. V. good.
Thanks - I'm learning as I go along, so this is really just a good way for me to make sure I understand the information I am taking in.
Next up some filter modulations. Sadly the only thing you can modulate in the 904A Low Pass filter is the cutoff frequency. If you could also modulate the resonance (or Regeneration as Moog call it) it would be even more powerful.
If you load the Init preset you should notice that one of the envelope generators (the one on the left) is connected to the filter via an attenuator:
This means that you can control the envelope of the filter independently of the sound itself, the filter can kick in more slowly than the note being played for example. Turn the attenuator all the way to the right and also add some Regeneration to the filter:
Then go to the leftmost envelope generator and adjust the dials while listening to how they affect the sound. If you turn the topmost dial to the right you will hear the filter come in more gradually as the notes are played:
We can add some further modulation with some Low Frequency Oscillation (LFO for short). Low frequency simply means that the waves are slow, usually in the sub-audio range. Tap the Sine Wave output of the 921 Voltage Controlled Oscillator (the one in the middle):
And connect it to one of the available inputs on the Filter module:
Set the oscillator to Sub-Audio and move the range up to 4:
At this point you should be able to achieve an almost wah-wah like effect with the Oscillator modulating the filter at a slow-ish frequency. Play with the envelope that is driving the filter, the resonance, and the frequency of the LFO to fine-tune the effect to your liking. You can also try the other wave types from the LFO, they will affect the sound very differently: the sine wave is smooth but the triangle is not, and each wave will modulate the sound in its own characteristic way.
Finally you can add a further modulation to the filter. Tap one of the Modulation outputs on the Controller Outputs panel:
And connect it to the last remaining control input on the filter panel:
Now you can use the mod wheel to control the cutoff frequency, while the LFO is simultaneously driving the filter. Alternatively you could use the mod wheel to control the frequency of the LFO, which might be quite interesting.
This is fantastic. Thanks!
What great science project this would have made in school dammit....
Ya, hope not for ballistic engineering students under the name for protections.
Kill more life!
Yeah, all they ever learn today is dna splicing and quantum teleportation ... 8/
@richardyot ,
More tutorials, please!
Ring? AC /DC and Sync in on OSCs? Signal In/Out vs Control In/Out? LFO on LFO, stacking? LFO on EG?
Those are important for users.
Highly appreciated.
@richardyot
Very nice !
Many Thanks !
Thanks for creating all of this. It really is appreciated.
Oh yes! Thank you! I learn aLot here
@richardyot Off to Maine for a couple of weeks. Am taking the new beast and your tutorials which I have copied into a document (you should sell the e-book!) in case of no connectivity in the wilds. Thanks again...
I haven't had time to go through these yet, but thanks for doing these @richardyot . I thought I was pretty on top of synthesis but this one is a BEAST, with the sound to show for it. The crazy part is that it looks pretty simple, but I think I see why modular is popular with some folks- a lot of it seems to be about finding new ways of using the same tools, and it looks like tiny tweaks to controls have big effects down the line.
I have a day off this Saturday and I hope to be able to sit with it for a little while.
@mrufino1 I'm a complete noob, but I think the appeal of modular is that you can connect anything to anything else, so it allows you a lot of freedom with your sound design. If you compare it to a normal synth, where everything is already hard-wired and the signal flow is set in advance, modular gives you far more options because you can use anything (more or less) to affect anything else.
Look forward to hearing how you fare with nothing but an oil lamp and an iPad for company. Don't go into the woods at night...
Problem: The house is IN the woods....
Watch out for Fisher cats!
No kidding. They are always the nighttime chorus.
Thank's Richard for the course in synthesis! Top notch!
The next patch is going to be to create a basic vibrato effect, and then a tremolo effect.
Load the init patch and in the 921 VCO set the switch to sub-audio and the range to 4 to create an LFO (gotta get with the acronyms, makes it sound as if you know what you're talking about). Select the Animoog style keyboard so that we can use aftertouch.
Tap the Sine wave output:
Connect it to one of the Reversible attenuators in the bottom cabinet (the ones with a "control" input, this is important):
tap the output of the reversible attenuator:
And connect it to the Frequency input of the 921A VCO:
What this has done is to use one oscillator using a low frequency to modulate the pitch of the oscillator that is playing the tone, so that the pitch of the note is being shifted by the LFO. A bit like a human player applying vibrato to a string. Except you won't hear it yet because the attenuator is set to zero, let's fix that.
To add a little control patch the Aftertouch output into the control input of the reversible attenuator:
Now as you play the animoog keyboard you can control the amount of vibrato by sliding up and down the keys in a vertical fashion.
You can convert your vibrato to tremolo with the following steps (vibrato modulates the pitch, tremolo modulates the volume).
Tap the input going into the frequency of the 921B oscillator to disconnect it:
and connect the cable into the control input of the second reversible attenuator in the bottom cabinet:
The tap the cable going into Trunk Line one to disconnect it:
and connect it to the input of the reversible attenuator:
finally connect the output of the reversible attenuator into trunk line 1:
Adjust the dial of the second reversible attenuator to around 5, and now you have aftertouch controlled tremolo.
I gotta set aside some time to go over all the tutorials from @Kaikoo2 and @richardyot . Looks like some great information guys, and I appreciate the time and effort you've put into it!
Good 101 vid
@richardyot your visual teaching method's beautifully in sync with that astonishing modular model, making perfect sense, thank you.