A next generation Tape and Microsound music module that uses Reels, Splices, and Genes to create new sounds from those that already exist, informed by Musique Concrète and Microsound techniques.232
Capabilities 5
Granular Synthesisgranular-synthesis
Gene-Size shrinks the playback window into progressively smaller Genes; Slide moves through them non-linearly; Morph controls overlap and staggering of successive Genes.232
Looperlooper
Morphagene records audio into Reels (up to 2.9 min), divides them into up to 300 Splices, and plays them back with Organize and Shift controls for real-time audio buffer manipulation.232
With CLK input patched and Morph above 2/1, the module time-stretches or time-compresses the selected Splice; Vari-Speed changes pitch without affecting speed.232
Varispeed Playbackvarispeed-playback
Vari-Speed knob: bipolar speed and direction. 12:00 stops playback, CW forward, CCW reverse. Range about 12 semitones up and 26 down. Vari-Speed CV input is bipolar -4 to +4V.232
Jacks 16 — 12 in / 4 out
Name
Signal
Voltage
Description
Inputs (12)
CLK Input
clock
≥2.5V
Synchronizes REC, Gene-Size, and Morph. Expects Clock or Gate of at least 2.5V in amplitude.232
Gate HIGH triggers or re-triggers playback from start of currently selected Splice. If held HIGH, Splice Loops. If held LOW, playback stops at End of Splice. Normalled High. Slide offsets the Play Reset/Start point.232
REC Gate Input
gate
≥2.5V
Clock or gate input for Record. Toggles Record ON/OFF. Expects Clock or Gate of at least 2.5V.232
Left audio input. Accommodates modular synthesizer signals and line-level sources via a 4-step input gain selection (firmware 155+): -3 dB (Blue), modular level (Green), +6 dB (Orange), +12 dB (Purple) — Hold REC, Press Shift to cycle. In firmware <155 input gain was set by the Auto-Leveling procedure (Hold REC, Press Shift). Combined with R into the stereo recording buffer.232
Signal In R
audio
—
Right audio input. Same gain staging as Signal In L. With the pmin firmware option enabled (Phase/position Modulation Input, firmware 155+) and the Left input unpatched, this jack becomes an audio-rate phase/position modulator for the playback engine rather than a recording input; when a signal is present on the Left input, this jack reverts to standard audio-input behavior.232
Control signal representing the average energy of the signals at the Audio Outs; functions as an envelope follower output.232
End of Gene/ Splice Gate Output
gate
0V to 10V
Outputs a Gate at the end of each Splice and/or Gene. Affected by Gene-Size and Morph parameters.232
Signal Out L
audio
—
Left audio output of the stereo playback engine. Approximately 10 Vpp post-leveling. Reads from the same stereo buffer as Signal Out R; together they reproduce the captured Reel/Splice content shaped by Vari-Speed, Gene-Size, Morph, and the Sound-on-Sound mix.232
Signal Out R
audio
—
Right audio output of the stereo playback engine. Approximately 10 Vpp post-leveling. Reads from the same stereo buffer as Signal Out L.232
Controls the amount of playback overlap between the end of a Gene instance and the beginning of the next. CCW adds a gap; around 9:00 is seamless 1/1 loop; beyond 12:00 overlaps multiple instances; beyond 2:30 introduces a 4th Gene overlap, pitch up variations, and panning.232
Organize
knob
—
Selects the next Splice to be played. The currently selected Splice or Gene plays to the end before the next Splice is selected. In Reel Mode, used to select the Reel.232
Slide
knob
—
Manual control for traveling through the captured sound. Allows scrubbing and offsetting the Play Reset/Start point. Affected by the Gene-Size setting.232
Vari-Speed
knob
—
Manual bipolar speed and direction control. At 12:00 playback is stopped. Clockwise increases forward speed; counter-clockwise increases reverse speed. Capable of about 12 semitones up and 26 down.232
Adds user-definable Morph Chord Ratios (mcr1, mcr2, mcr3) from -4 to +4 octaves; replaces Auto-level with 4-step input gain selection (blue/green/orange/purple); reverts playback gain to pre-mg157 level; improves signal-to-noise ratio; minor bug fixes.232
157
—
Minor bug fixes; playback gain adjusted by 2/3 (-3.5 dB) before TLA, affecting Time Lag Accumulation function.232
155
—
Minor bug fixes; adds user-definable options via options.txt file on SD Card, including Vari-Speed mode (classic/1V-oct/positive-only), input record option, phase modulation option, Organize immediacy option, Gene smooth option, Record button swap option, Play gate mode, Clock control mode, and CV Out mode (envelope follow vs. ramp gene).232
137
—
Improves Vari-Speed response for slow modulation rates; improves SD Card file format compatibility; doubles total record time per Reel from 1.45 to 2.9 minutes (no change in audio fidelity at 48kHz 32-bit); increases max number of Splices to 300.232