Future Retro Mobius Owner's Manual

mobius

Operator's Manual

Copyright 2000 Future Retro Synthesizers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Welcome
Power
Care
Memory backup
Fuse
Warrant y
Support

Operations

2. Sequencer controls diagram

3. Using the sequencer
Playing patterns
Selecting patterns
Multiple pattern cueing

4. Editing patterns
Entering notes

5. Clearing notes
Changing a note’s pitch
Recording and clearing accents
Recording and clearing glides

6. Selecting a time signature
Setting and clearing the loop point
Setting the tempo
Transposing patterns

7. Shifting patterns
Copy and paste patterns
Blank pattern sheet

8. Selecting songs
Playing songs
Editing songs
Selecting patterns for a song step
Transposing a song step

9. Setting the loop point for a song
Setting a song’s tempo
Advanced song editing

10. Blank song sheet

Connections

11. Analog connections

12. Playin g control voltage synthesizers
Changing the glide time
How to use accent
Analog clock
Reset out

13. Connecting the Mobius to various analog devices

14. Playing an external midi module
Syncing the playback of an external midi module

15. Syncing to an external midi clock
Using din sync

16. Midi to control voltage converter
Midi thru

System Exclusive

17. Using sysex

18. Sysex information

Specifications

19. Specifications

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing the Mobius!

The Mobius is a programmable digital sequencer for recording and playing back musical patterns and songs. All
the information for a musical part can be recorded or changed while the sequencer is either running or stopped, and
the sequencer automatically saves all changes made to patterns and songs. This allows users to create and
manipulate patterns live in a very easy manner.

With the Mobius you can control both MIDI and CV/GATE type synthesizers and sound modules, but that’s not
all. The Mobius also acts as an interface allowing most of today’s and yesterday’s instruments to be used together
without the need for special converters. These additional features include the ability to convert MIDI messages to
CV/GATE, DIN SYNC, and analog clock.

Structure

There are 16 song locations, and each song is broken down into 1 measure parts called patterns. Each pattern is
then divided into 12 or 16 steps depending on it’s time signature. There are 256 programmable patterns in all that
can be combined in any fashion to create a song, or be selected and manipulated in real-time. Each pattern contains
the time signature, notes, pitches, accents, glides, and loop point. Once patterns have been created they can be
arranged and transposed in any way for each of the 16 song locations. Each song is then capable of arranging up to
3580 measures or patterns.

Power

Use only a 12 volt AC/AC 1Amp output power adapter, which is supplied with the Mobius.

Care

Avoid exposing the Mobius to smoke, damp, dusty, or extreme hot and cold environments.
To clean the unit use a soft damp cloth. Do not use any abrasive cleaners!

Memory Backup

The Mobius contains an internal 3 volt backup battery for the sequencer’s RAM. The battery should last for years.
If the memory begins to fail you will want to replace the battery. To replace the battery, remove the 4 screws on
the front panel. Remove the front panel and locate the battery and it’s holder on the main sequencer board. Remove
the old battery and replace with a 3 volt coin type lithium battery. Once finished, place the front panel on the
chassis and tighten the 4 screws.

Fuse

Should the fuse in the Mobius need replacing, use the following procedure to change the fuse. Remove the 2
screws on the right side of the front panel. Next remove the 4 screws on the right end panel. Remove the right end
panel, and locate the fuse which will be next to the power switch on the jack board. Remove the old fuse and
replace with a 1 Amp fast acting fuse. Once the new fuse is installed, replace the right end panel on the chassis and
tighten the screws.

Product warranty

The Mobius comes with a 1 year limited warranty covering any mechanical or electrical defects. This warranty
does not cover damage due to misuse or neglect of this product. To validate your warranty, fill out the warranty
card included with your unit and return it within one month of the original purchase date. Should you experience
problems with your machine please contact us by phone or email. You must have an authorization to return a unit
for repair.
Our office is open Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm central time.
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Product support

Product support can be found on the world wide web at www.future-retro.com.

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SONG

enters the song

mode

BANK

used to select a

pattern’s bank

CLEAR

used to clear and

reset parameters

also activates

pattern shifting

UP/DOWN

used to change

values shown in

the display

DISPLAY

shows various information

XPOSE

sets the

transposition

for a pattern

PASTE

used to paste

patterns

TIME

used to select a

time signature

COPY

used to copy

patterns

GLIDE

used to place

glides on notes

SYSEX
used for

dumping

patterns and

ACCENT

used to place

accents on notes

MIDI

accesses the
MIDI pages

TEMPO

sets the tempo

for patterns

and songs

LOOP

sets the loop

point for

patterns and

songs

STEP KEYS 1-16

2

RUN/STOP
CUE SYNC

used to start/

stop sequencer

playback, and

set cue for midi

SEQUENCER CONTROLS

OPERATIONS

Using the sequencer

When using the sequencer there are two main modes for selecting, editing, and playing. The SONG key’s
indicator determines which of two modes are selected. When the SONG key’s indicator is on, you are in the song
mode. When the SONG key’s indicator is off, you are in the pattern mode. To change from one mode to the other,
the sequencer must first be stopped, then by pressing the SONG key you will change modes.

In the song mode you can do the following:

-Select a song

-Edit a song

-Play a song

-Change a song’s tempo

-Change the midi parameters

In the pattern mode you can do the following:

-Select a pattern

-Edit a pattern

-Play a pattern

-Adjust the global tempo setting for patterns

-Set the global transposition amount to affect all patterns.

Playing patterns

The RUN/STOP key is used to start and stop the playback of patterns and songs. To start the sequencer press the
RUN/STOP key. This key’s indicator will come on and be flashi ng at the tempo the sequencer is playing at. To
stop the sequencer press the RUN/STOP key again. The key’s indicator will now be off showing that the sequencer
is stopped.

Selecting patterns

Patterns are arranged in 16 banks of 16 patterns for a total of 256 patterns in all.
Before selecting a pattern, you must first make sure you are in the pattern mode. This is shown by the SONG key’s
indicator being off. To enter pattern select mode, press the BANK key so that it’s indicator is on. The display will
now show the bank number (1-16) and one of the 16 selector key indicators will be on to show which pattern in
that bank is currently selected. If none of the 16 selector key indicators are on, the current pattern selected is in
another bank. If this is the case, use the UP/DOWN keys to go through the other banks and see what pattern is
currently selected. To select a different pattern, use the UP/DOWN keys to select the bank and then press one of
the 16 pattern locations for that bank.

Selecting a pattern can be done while the sequencer is playing. If one pattern is currently playing and you select
another, the new pattern’s key indicator be on at half the brightness as when usually selected. This shows that the
pattern is waiting until the previous pattern has reached it’s loop point before it is to begin playing. You can
change the pattern that is to play next at any time until the previous pattern reaches it’s loop point, at that time the
new pattern will begin playing. Each pattern will continuously play until either a new pattern is selected or the
sequencer is stopped.

Multiple pattern cueing

It is possible to chain up to 16 patterns in a bank to create longer looping arrangements while playing patterns in
pattern mode. Enter the pattern select mode as you normally do when selecting patterns. Press and hold the first
pattern you wish to play and then press the last pattern that is to be included in the loop. All the patterns between
these two will then sequentially play from left to right. Once multiple patterns have been cued and are playing, you
can select another group of patterns to play when the first group reaches it’s last step. When cueing up a second
group you can select patterns in any bank and even partially overlapping those currently playing.

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OPERATIONS

Editing patterns

Pattern edit mode is where 1 measure of music can be recorded or edited for each pattern, to later be arranged into
a song. Each pattern records the notes and their pitches, accents, glides, the time signature, and loop point for that
pattern. Every time a pattern is edited, the changes are automatically saved by the sequencer. You must make sure

not to change a pattern you wish to keep, by doing so you will overwrite the old pattern with new data. This can be
avoided by using the copy/paste functions described later in the manual.

To edit patterns you must first be in the pattern mode (SONG key indicator is off). To edit a pattern, select the
desired pattern then press the BANK key until it’s indicator is off, indicating you are now in pattern edit mode.
All pattern editing can be done while the sequencer is stopped or playing, which allows you to actually hear the
changes you are making, while you make them. In this way you can select a pattern, edit it, and then select another
pattern to play or edit while the sequencer continues to play. Instant live improv! Since the sequencer automatically
saves all changes made there is no need to stop the music.

When multiple patterns have been cued and are playing you can enter the pattern edit mode to edit individual
patterns. To edit a cued pattern, wait until the desired pattern is playing and then enter the pattern edit mode. The
current pattern will loop by itself so you can hear all the changes you are making. Once the pattern has been
changed as desired, you may exit the pattern edit mode. Now the cued patterns will continue playing sequentiall y
as before.

When the sequencer is playing and a pattern is being edited, you will notice that the 16 step key indicators will
blink to show the current step being played. You can use this as a quick way to pin point steps you wish to edit. It
can also be useful to serve as a visual indication of where the loop point is set for that pattern.

Entering notes

When in the pattern edit mode the 16 step key indicators will be used to display where notes are placed in that
pattern. The brightness of the indicators will determine where notes start, their duration, and rests.

1. A note on (or where a note begins) will be shown by the key’s indicator being on.

2. The sustained portion for a note will be shown by the key’s indicator being on, but only half as bright as a note
on.

3. A rest is shown by the key’s indicator being off.

To enter notes you must be in pattern edit mode. Pl acing 16th or 12th notes (depending on which time signature is
selected) is done in the same way. By using the 16 step keys, simply press the keys one at a time where you wish
notes to be. The indicators for the notes you enter will now be on in their brightest state.

To place sustained notes, press and hold the step key where the note is to start and while doing so press the step
key (to the right of the one you are holding) that represents the last step you want that note to sustain to. The first
step indicator of a sustained note will be on and brightest, while the sustained p ortion of the notes indicators will
be on at half brightness. For example, place and hold a 16th note and press the first step key to the right of the one
being held. Doing this you just wrote an 8th note. Use this method to cre ate notes of var ious durations.

Placing rests is actually done by just leaving notes off, or clearing notes that appear in the position you want a rest.
Rests will be visually seen as a steps indicator being off.

There is a way to write new notes without having to clear previous notes. For instance, if you place a new note in
the sustained portion of a note, the new note will now be in the position you selected. This now shortens the
previous sustained note, and it will sustain until the step the new note was written. The step key indicators for these
positions will also change to show how the previous sustained note was shortened. By writin g a sustained note
over previous notes, the previous notes will no longer be heard. You can use this method to change a sustained
note’s duration. Any new notes written over a sustained note’s note-on will override the entire sustained note, with
the exception that you can’t write a 16th note over a sustained note’s note-on. T o do this, you must first cle ar the
sustained note and then write the 16th note.

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OPERATIONS

Clearing notes

There are two ways to clear previous note data that may exist from a previous pattern. You can either clear all the
notes at once or individual notes one at a time.

To clear all the notes for a pattern, press the BANK key and select the pattern you want to clear all the notes from.
While holding that pattern’s step key, press the CLEAR key. Now by pressing the BANK key and entering pattern
edit mode, you will see all the step key indicators are off, showing no notes exist in that pattern.

To clear individual notes, press and hold the CLEAR key, then press the step key that represents the note-on for the
note you want t o clear. you can clear as many notes as you want whi le holding the CLEAR key. Once clea ring is
done you may release the CLEAR key. All the notes step key indicators you cleared should now be off.

Changing a note’s pitch

Once notes exist in a pattern, you can change the pitch each one is to play. Select a pattern you would like to edit,
and enter the pattern edit mode. When in the pattern edit mode, one of the 16 step key indicators will be on or
flashing showing it is the current note being edited. You can change which note is to be edited by pressing the step
key where that note starts. Notice that by pressing any keys other than where a note starts will write a new note as
described in the previous section. Once a note is selected, the display will show the pitch of that note, ranging from
C1 to D#6. Notice that the display will show an = sign for sharp notes. Using the UP/DOWN keys select the
desired pitch that the note is to play at.
When the sequencer is playing and you change a notes pitch in this way, each time the pattern reaches this step the
new notes pi t ch will be p l ayed. If you hold a note’s st ep key while you change the note’s pitch the new pitch will
not take affect until you release that notes step key. You can use this method to ensure that only the desired pitches
will be heard while the sequencer is running.

Recording accents

To record or place accents for notes, first select the pattern you want to edit and enter the pattern edit mode. One of
the step key indicators will be flashing to show the current note to be edited. Select any note by pressing the step
key where that note starts. When a note is selected the ACCENT key will be on when a note is to be accented, and
off when no accent is to occure. By pressing the ACCENT key you can turn accents on or off for that step.
Placing accents can be done while the sequencer is playing or stopped.

Clearing accents

To clear all the accents in a pattern, press and hold the CLEAR key and press the ACCENT key.

Recording glides

To record or place glides for notes, first select the pattern you want to edit and enter the pattern edit mode. One of
the step key indicators will be flashing to show the current note to be edited. Select any note by pressing the step
key where that note starts. When a note is selected the GLIDE key will be on when a note is to glide, and off when
no glide occurs for that note. By pressing the GLIDE key you can turn glides on or off for that step.
Placing glides can be done while the sequencer is playing or stopped.

Clearing glides

To clear all the glides in a pattern, press and hold the CLEAR key and press the GLIDE key.

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