Dave Smith Instruments MOPHO User Manual

Operation Manual

Mopho

Operation Manual

Version 1.2

August 2009

Dave Smith Instruments

1590 Sylvaner Avenue

Saint Helena, CA 94574-2340

USA

www.DaveSmithInstruments.com

Tested To Comply With FCC Standards FOR OFFICE USE

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.

Cet appareil numerique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Reglement sur le materiel brouilleur du Canada.

For Technical Support, email: support@davesmithinstruments.com

Contents

Quick Start................................................................................................. 1

Getting Connected ....................................................................................3

Front Panel Controls .................................................................................5

Basic Operation......................................................................................... 9

Global Parameters ..................................................................................13

Program Parameters...............................................................................15

Oscillator Parameters ..........................................................................15

Miscellaneous Oscillator Parameters .................................................. 16

Mixer Parameters ................................................................................17

Low-pass Filter Parameters................................................................. 17

VCA Parameters.................................................................................. 18

LFO Parameters .................................................................................. 19

Envelope 3 Parameters .......................................................................20

Modulation Parameters .......................................................................21

Push It Switch Parameters .................................................................. 22

Clock Parameters ................................................................................ 23

Arpeggiator Parameters ......................................................................23

Sequence Parameters.........................................................................24

Name Parameter .................................................................................25

Modulation Destinations..........................................................................26

Modulation Sources ................................................................................28

Parameter List.........................................................................................29

MIDI Implementation ............................................................................... 30

MIDI Messages.................................................................................... 30

NRPN Messages ................................................................................. 33

Global Parameter Data........................................................................ 34

Program Parameter Data ....................................................................35

Sysex Messages .................................................................................41

Packed Data Format............................................................................ 44

Hidden Functions ....................................................................................44

Quick Start

Thanks for purchasing your Mopho synthesizer! Listen to the sounds, twiddle some knobs, have some fun!

Please Register!

Please go to www.davesmithinstruments.com and register your synth. If you purchased directly from us, there is no need to register—we already have your contact information.

Powering Up

So, plug in the power supply, connect (in stereo!!) to your mixer/sound system, and start playing!

You can use the P

USH IT switch to trigger sounds without a keyboard. If you’re

using a MIDI keyboard, try applying keyboard pressure (aftertouch) and the mod wheel. Many sounds are fairly simple at first, then come alive when you use the controllers. With other sounds, you may need to hold the notes a while to let the sound unfold. Playing in different ways has a big effect on the programs.

Selecting and Editing Programs and Global Settings

You can use the increment and decrement (+ and -) switches to step through the programs. Hold them down briefly to increment or decrement the bank. There are 3 banks of 128 programs.

If you want to edit a program, just turn any knob. The new value will be displayed in the bottom line of the LCD (the top line displays the programmed value for handy reference).

After turning knobs, just hit P

ROGRAM MODE so the LCD goes back to the

program/bank screen, allowing you to change programs again.

Press and hold the P

ROGRAM MODE switch briefly to display the Global menu

and change higher level parameters such as MIDI channel number, Transpose/Detune, and so on. The P

ROGRAM knob changes the displayed page

and increment and decrement change the values. These settings are remembered when the synth is turned off.

Summary

You should be up and running now; for more operation information, read on. Or, just look up specific parameters for detailed notes. Pages 26 through 28 contain a handy reference for mod destinations and sources. At some point you should

read through the manual to discover all the little features that you might not notice at first.

Don’t forget you get a free editor for Mac OS or Windows with your purchase. Download it from www.soundtower.com/mopho.

I should mention that this manual does not include explanations of basic analog synthesizer functions. It assumes you already know what an oscillator is, how a low-pass filter affects the sound, what an ADSR envelope looks like, and so on.

Fortunately, these days it is quite easy to find such resources on the Internet. If you want to learn the lingo and the basics, just try a search in Google (or the search engine of your choice), something like “analog synthesizer tutorial.” You’ll find plenty of good reading material.

Have fun!

Dave Smith

Special thanks to:

Jeff Koepper, Andrew McGowan, Dave Polich, and Stefan Trippler. Thanks also to the authors of the Prophet ’08 programs, many of which are used in Mopho.

Getting Connected

Mopho has several inputs and outputs on its back panel.

Power Input — Connect the power supply included with your Mopho. The

power supply comes with different AC adaptor prongs that enable it to work almost anywhere in the world. If for whatever reason you need to use a different supply, it must match the specifications printed on the front panel.

Note: The power supply label says “Evolver” on it; we use the same supply for the mono Evolvers, the Prophets, and Tetra.

MIDI In — To receive MIDI data from another device, connect this to the other

device's MIDI Out.

MIDI Out — To send MIDI data to another device, connect this to the other

device's MIDI In. This output can also be configured as a MIDI Thru using the MIDI Out Select parameter in the Global menu.

Audio In — Mopho can be used as a signal processor. Audio is routed through

the filter and envelopes and, when the signal level is high enough, a gate is generated. Audio can also be used to advance the sequencer when Seq Trigger is set to Audio In.

Note: Though Mopho can process external audio, it does not have a pitch detector, so the oscillators do not track the pitch of the source audio.

Audio Out — Mopho’s unbalanced, stereo outputs.

Phones — A 1/4 inch stereo headphone jack.

Front Panel Controls

Input Gain — Used to adjust the gain of AUDIO IN. For more about using

Mopho to process external audio, see page 11. For low-level sources (like guitars), I be turned down. Turning it down does not turn it off, it just decreases the gain. External Input Volume (see Mixer Parameters on page 17) controls the amount of signal that gets mixed into the filter and must be turned up for any audio— external or feedback—to be heard.

NPUT GAIN should be turned up. For line-level sources, it will usually

Note: The factory programs use a naming convention where “FB” indicates a program is designed to take advantage of the feedback capability. When nothing is plugged into the Audio In jack, the left Audio Output is normalled to the input. This provides a feedback path that will create some unique, wild sounds. I

NPUT GAIN is not a

programmable control, so its position will have an effect on those programs. For most FB sounds, the

INPUT GAIN should be set to

minimum, and will get out of control (often nicely!) when turned up.

Program — Use PROGRAM to change and scroll through the programs. Also

used to select parameters in Global mode.

Program Mode — Mopho has three modes of operation: program, edit, and

global. When in program mode, the display shows the name, number, and bank of the current program. Editing any of the parameters puts Mopho into edit

mode and displays the last parameter edited and its stored and edited values. See Program Parameters starting on page 15 for more information.

Global mode is accessed by briefly holding down the P The Global menu is displayed. Use P

ROGRAM to change global parameters and

ROGRAM MODE button.

the increment and decrement (+ and -) buttons to change the settings. See Global Parameters on page 13 for more information.

To return to program mode from edit or global mode, simply press P

ROGRAM

MODE.

Write — Use WRITE to save an edited program to any of Mopho’s 384 memory

locations. To execute the write operation, press the increment (+) button. To cancel a write, press W

RITE, decrement (-), or PROGRAM MODE. WRITE is also

used to execute certain operations in the Global menu.

Note: You can store a program in a different location. After hitting the

RITE button, you can change the destination using the PROGRAM knob,

W and you can change banks by holding the increment (+) and decrement (-) buttons. Be careful changing the banks! If you hit the increment button quickly, it saves the program wherever you are at that point. If you want to change banks, just be sure to hold the button for a couple seconds.

Volume — Controls the volume of the left and right audio outputs and the

headphone output.

Increment/Decrement — The increment and decrement (+ and -) controls are

used to step through programs in program mode, to change values in the Global menu, and to confirm or cancel various operations. In edit mode they increase/decrease the parameter value. They are also used to select Mopho’s three program banks. Hold increment briefly to switch to the next highest bank; hold decrement to switch to the next lowest bank.

Assignable Parameters 1-4 — Any of Mopho’s program parameters can be

edited from the front panel using the A

SSIGNABLE PARAMETERS controls and the

assignments for the controls are saved per program, to best suit that program. In other words, the assignments for the controls can be completely different from one program to another.

Assign Parameters — When the ASSIGN PARAMETERS LED is lit, turn any of

SSIGNABLE PARAMETERS controls to select from the list of program

the A parameters. Press A

SSIGNABLE PARAMETERS controls to edit the selected parameters. For a

SSIGN PARAMETERS again (turn the LED off) to use the

description of the parameters, see Program Parameters beginning on page 15. For a list of the parameters, see page 29.

Pitch — Controls the base frequency of the two oscillators. The relative interval

between the two oscillators is maintained, even when the extremes are reached.

Cutoff — Controls the filter cutoff.

Resonance — Controls filter resonance.

Note: The filter will only self oscillate when in 4-pole mode. See Lowpass Filter Parameters on page 17 for more information.

Attack — Simultaneously adjusts the attack portion of all envelope generators:

filter, amplifier, and Envelope 3.

Decay/Release — Simultaneously adjusts the decay and release portions of all

envelope generators: filter, amplifier, and Envelope 3.

Push It! — The PUSH IT button is a manual trigger to play Mopho. It can trigger

a specific note (at a specific velocity) or a gated sequence, latch notes or sequences on and off, and manually step through a sequence. For more information, see Program Parameters, beginning on page 15.

Basic Operation

In designing Mopho, the goal was to make a great sounding analog mono synth that was also affordable. Toward that end, we wanted to give players enough control over parameters to make it useful for performance, so we came up with a combination of “hard-wired” commonly used controls and user-assignable controls. Any of Mopho’s parameters can be edited in real time from the front panel controls. But we also recognize that may not be the quickest or easiest way to program sounds from scratch. A free editor is available for Mac OS and Windows that gives you access to all of Mopho’s program parameters simultaneously. Download it here: www.soundtower.com/mopho. Also, an advanced version of the editor with more features can be purchased from our Web site.

Note: Most of the Prophet ’08’s controls map directly to Mopho’s controls, so if you have a Prophet ’08, you can use it as a MIDI control surface for Mopho.

When Mopho first powers up, it is in Program mode. The top line of the LCD shows the Program (1…128) and Bank (1…3) number of the currently selected program, and the bottom line shows the 16-character name of the program. The

ROGRAM knob changes the program. The program can also be changed by

P pressing the increment (+) or decrement (-) switches, respectively. To increment to the next bank, hold the increment switch briefly; to decrement to the previous bank, hold the decrement switch.

To edit a program, simply turn any knob. The A

SSIGNABLE PARAMETERS knobs

have been preset to useful parameters for the factory programs. To change a knob’s assignment, press A

SSIGNABLE PARAMETERS knobs now will scroll through the list of available

the A parameters. Choose one or more parameters to edit and then press A

SSIGN PARAMETERS to light the LED. Turning any of

SSIGN

PARAMETERS again to exit the assignment mode (ASSIGN PARAMETERS LED should now be off). See Program Parameters on page 15 for a detailed list of all parameters and their functions. After editing parameters, press the P

ROGRAM

MODE switch to exit edit mode and return to program mode.

Feedback

As you can see from the illustration on the following page, the left Audio Output is normalled to the Audio In. (This connection is broken when a plug is inserted in the Audio In.) Turning up the external input volume (ExtIn Vol parameter) will cause varying amounts of the audio output to be mixed back in pre-filter. For most purposes, small amounts of feedback are most useful and the resulting effect is similar to an overdrive distortion. Higher levels of feedback can get very squirrelly and rude (which may be exactly the effect you’re looking for).

+ 36 hidden pages