Modulus MonoWave User Guide

By Till Kopper

(c)2002 Modulus Electronics
Http://www.Modulus.Wavesynth.com


0.9 Foreword

You know: every synth comes with a manual, and every manual starts with a foreword. So here it is.

Paul Maddox is the designer, programmer, father, builder, metal worker, debugger, demonstrator, user and distributer of the MonoWave. We could start by praising all the goodies the MonoWave has, we might even start by telling you an anecdote or two. But to make a short story long, - ahem - to make a long story short, we just decided to sum up the MonoWave in a single sentence:
Imagine a monophonic, MIDI controllable, 19" rack mountable PPG blue wavetable synth minus the the wavetable scanning, plus a user selectable de-rez, with a classic Moogª filter ladder and real analogue knobs.

Perhaps a bit too long for a single sentence ?
OK, next try:

The MonoWave has balls and a special "umpfh" that give it, it's unique sound.

We hope you will enjoy the MonoWave as much as we, the beta testers, did, do and will.

Switch On:
So my friends, if you're ready for the trip, you are invited to dive in the sound of the MonoWave. It is all, to quote Clockwork Orange's hero, Alex, "Bliss, bliss and heaven.... Hear all proper. Hear angel trumpets and devil trombones. You are invited."

Have fun, now its yours.

(words by Till Kopper, beta tester)



1. Setting up the instrument for the first sounds

Some words about the way the manual refers to the knob settings:
all knobs, except for the oscillators octave switches, range from 0 (full counter clockwise) to 10 (full clockwise). The 12 O'clock position is the value "5".

Look at the next section for the analogue parameters available or the section covering the digital parameters.



2. The analogue section

The MonoWave has the following analogue sections:

The TUNE section

The OZ 1 (Oscillator 1) section

The OZ 2 (Oscillator 2) section

same as the OZ 1 section.

The FILTER section

The Filter Envelope section

The MonoWave has two analogue ADSR-style envelope generators. They are optimised for short but very precisely controlled timescales.

The Amplifier Envelope section

The power on-off / and main volume knob

on its full counter clockwise position the MonoWave will be turned off. Use this knob to adjust the volume of the MonoWave to match the mixer or amp to your needs. The PHONES socket will be adjusted this way too.



3. The digital section

the MonoWave has the following digital parameter pages:

Wave Shape

The wave shape display is the main page. Its allways shown when the MonoWave is powered up or during normal playing.

 Oz1:00  Oz2:00   

The MonoWave features 256 different waveshapes. Typically, analogue synths have 6 or less waveforms.
These waveshapes can be selected independently for OSZ 1 and OSZ 2.
By pressing the + and - buttons under the digits of the display you can scroll through them by means of banks and numbers.
They are numbered using the hecadecimal system. That is 0 to F for the first digit and 0 to F for the second digit. You may think of 16 banks named 0, 1, 2, 3,..., 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F as the first digit. And the same values as the wave number in this bank.

00 = saw;
01 = reversed saw
02 = sine
03 = square
04 = triangle
05 = pulse, 25%
06 = saw, rising and rounded (more analog)
07 = cross over point distored sawtooth
08 = cross over point distorted sinewave
09 = 1.+2. harmonic
0A = 1.+3. harmonic
0B = 1.+4. harmonic
0C = 1.+5. harmonic
0D = 1.+6. harmonic
0E = 1.+7. harmonic
0F = noisey/distorted sawtooth

00 to 0F (the O bank) are designed by Paul Maddox
10 to 7F (bank 1 to 7) and F0 to FF (bank F) are originally from from the PPG wave synths (used by kind permision of Waldorf Music).
And 80 to EF (bank 8 to E) are classic digital waveshapes.

See the Appendix for pictures of all waveshapes.

MIDI Channel

Press the * and the CHN button together to select the MIDI channel display. Change the MIDI channel you wish the MonoWave to receive on by pressing the most right buttons under the display.
The upper button (+) will raise the channel number, the lower button (-) will lower it.

 MIDI Channel: 14 

The setting will be automatically saved after a few seconds not pressing any buttons. The display will show a "*" to tell you it is stored. Then it will switch back to the Wave Shape display page.

Re-Trigger

You can change the way the MonoWave trigger here. Press the * and Rtrg lables buttons (the two buttons on the very right side of the button matrix) at the same time.
The display will show:

  Re-trigger? Y   

Where "Y" means "Yes". If you select this value by using the most right + and - buttons, the MonoWave will retrigger on all incoming new notes - whether the last note is still pressed or not. This is the mode most often used by synths nowadays (due to the polyphonic nature of most of them)
or

  Re-trigger? N   

Where "N" means "No". The MonoWave will not retrigger on an incoming new note if the last note is still pressed. This allows legato playing the way the Moogs used to be.

The setting will be automatically saved after a few seconds not pressing any buttons. The display will show a "*" to tell you it's stored. Then it will switch back to the Wave Shape display page.

ARP

Enter the ARP modes display by pressing * and the button near the ARP lable.
The Display will show something like:

 Spd:M16 On:As   

Spd (speed): The speed may be controlled by sending modwheel data to the MonoWave all the time. Except when the MonoWave is synced to MIDI clock.
You may enter and memorise tempo setting by setting the tempo by values, not by using the modwheel.
If you found a tempo you liked by using the modwheel, you may enter the ARP mode and do nothing to make the MonoWave memorise the current speed used.
The unsynced tempo ranges from 10 to FF. Again as hexadecimal values. You can select the tempo by using the 4 most left buttons. The left button changes the first digit; the right one the last digit.
The tempo is stored if not changed for a while automatically as discribed in the wave shape section ( a * indicates storage and the display returns to the wave shape display).

And there are additional synced to MIDI values you may enter here:
M01, M02, M03, M04, M06, M08, M12, M16, M24, M36, M48, M96:
The "M" stands for synced to MIDI".
The number is the fraction of a whole note each note of the ARP is played. M04 means a quarter note per whole note, ie 4 notes to the bar (4/4 time).

There are 6 different ARP modes to choose from: The ARP starts playing when you press a key (in non-MIDI sync mode).
In the case of MIDI sync (speed settings "Mxx") it will start playing if you're upto 1/16th after the beat, else it will wait until the next beat is due before starting. This ensures you're sequence is always in time with MIDI clock. You may name it "ARP start quantisizer".

Sending the sustain pedal MIDI CC will cause the MonoWave hold the played ARP notes even after releasing all keys.
Without this controller being sent, the ARP will be silent after you release the last pressed key.
And the sustain will make the MonoWave react as if your are still holding the keys you pressed to make the ARP pattern. That is, if you press a few notes and press and hold the sustain pedal before lifting all fingers, you can enter nore notes into the 64 notes long ARP memory of the MonoWave.

Audition

This is a special mode you will most likely not use regulary. It a way to get the MonoWave play a sustaining note without having a MIDI signal connected to the MonoWave at all.

Press the function button "*" and the button right of the button labled ARP together.
The Display will show something like this:

 Note:C  Gate:Off 

By pressing the two buttons below the "Off" shown in the display, you select whether theMonoWavewill react as if a key is pressed or not. Ofcause you have to set up an audible sound with sustain to hear the selected Note in the mid range of a normal MIDId keyboard.
You may change the notes pitch by selecting a new note within a scale of 1 octace by pressing the two buttons below the note's name. If you want to change the octave, select it by turning the rotary octave switches in the oscillator sections.
To exit Audition mode, and return to the wave shape display, press the "*" button


4. Appendix

Waveshapes


wave shapes 00 to 07

00-07



wave shapes 08 to 0F

08-0F



wave shapes 10 to 17

10-17



wave shapes 18 to 1F

18-1F



wave shapes 20 to 27

20-27



wave shapes 28 to 2F

28-2F



wave shapes 30 to 37

30-37



wave shapes 38 to 3F

38-3F



wave shapes 40 to 47

40-47



wave shapes 48 to 4F

48-4F



wave shapes 50 to 57

50-57



wave shapes 58 to 5F

58-5F



wave shapes 60 to 67

60-67



wave shapes 68 to 6F

68-6F



wave shapes 70 to 77

70-77



wave shapes 78 to 7F

78-7F



wave shapes 80 to 87

80-87



wave shapes 88 to 8F

88-8F



wave shapes 90 to 97

90-97



wave shapes 98 to 9F

98-9F



wave shapes A0 to A7

A0-A7



wave shapes A8 to AF

A8-AF



wave shapes B0 to B7

B0-B7



wave shapes B8 to BF

B8-BF



wave shapes C0 to C7

C0-C7



wave shapes C8 to CF

C8-CF



wave shapes D0 to D7

D0-D7



wave shapes D8 to DF

D8-DF



wave shapes E0 to E7

E0-E7



wave shapes E8 to EF

E8-EF



wave shapes F0 to F7

F0-F7



wave shapes F8 to FF

F8-FF



5. Shematics and specs

Shematics

(Attached to back of the printed manual)

Specs



All specs are subject to change without notice.

MIDI Implementation Chart

Model: Modulus MonoWave Date: June/08/2002
Version: 4.01


Function Transmitted Recognized Remarks
Basic
Channel
Default
Changed
X
X
1
1-16
Memorized
Mode Default
Messages
Altered
X
X
X
X
X
X
No Modes supported
Note
Number
 
True Voice
X
X
1-96
1-96
 
*1
Velocity
 
Note ON
Note OFF
X
X
O
X
 
After
Touch
Key's
Ch's
X
X
X
X
 
Pitch Bend
X O  
Control
Change #
1
16
17
18
19
64
X
X
X
X
X
X
O
O
O
O
O
O
*2
Osc 1 Waveshape Bank (0-F)
Osc 1 Waveshape Number (0-F)
Osc 2 Waveshape Bank (0-F)
Osc 2 Waveshape Number (0-F)
Sustain Pedal
Prog
Change
 
True #
X
X
X
X
No Programms available
System Exclusiv
X X No MIDI Out provided
System
Common
 
Song Pos
Song Sel
Tune
X
X
X
X
X
X
 
System
Real Time
Clock
Commands
X
X
O
O
MIDI Clock
Start, Stop, Continue
Aux
Messages
Local ON/OFF
All Notes OFF
Active Sense
Reset
All Sound OFF
X
X
X
X
X
X
O
X
O
O
 
Notes:
 
*1: Osc 1 & 2 octave switches serve as transpose.
The 12 O'clock position is non transposing.
*2: Modwheel controlls ARP speed only (if ARP not set to MIDI clock sync)



  (c)2002 Modulus Electronics