Intellijel µScale 1.0 User Manual
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µScale v1.0 MANUAL
The μScale is a 4hp CV quantizer module. 1V/Oct 0 1-10V range pitch CV signals are fed into the input marked “IN” and
0-10V unipolar or +/5V bipolar CV is fed into the “SHIFT” input to great interesting and complex melodic CV out of the two
outputs “OUT A” and “OUT B”. The buttons and tricolor LEDs allow users to easily program in scales and manipulate how
the shift values affect the generated CV voltages in a wide variety of useful combinations. With the μScale it is possible
to transform analog voltage sources from sequencers, LFO’s, controllers and CV generators into quantized musical val-
μScale I/O
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IN: This input accepts 0-10V. Connect the 1V/Oct (or equivalent) voltage source
here from things like a sequencer, keyboard/controller, offset generator etc.
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SHIFT: This input accepts either 0-10V or +/-5V signals depending on the jumper
setting on the main PCB. Connect modulation sources such as secondary sequencer outputs, LFO, offset generator, keyboard.
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OUT A: Pitch CV voltages in the range of 0-10V and tuned to 1V/Oct CV. This
outputs is the quantized version of the signal fed to the “IN” jack.
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OUT B: Pitch CV voltages in the range of 0-10V and tuned to 1V/Oct.
The B outputs voltages are intervals based on the “A” output. The amount of that
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interval and its harmonic relation to the root note on “A” depends on several
congurable settings.
Active Scale
The μScale is real-time programmable which means you can edit the scale while it is in
the process of quantizing CV. To do this simply click any of the 12 buttons which
represent the keys of a 12tet keyboard where the top most button is C and the bottom
most button is B. Adjacent to each button is a tricolor LED. In normal operation (i.e. while
not in a submenu display) the notes of the scale are denoted by red LEDs. The currently
quantized note (from the “IN” jack) is shown as a green LED. So if you have a variable
voltage source such as a sequencer output connected to “IN” and you have more than
one note selected to be part of your scale, you should see the green LED lighting up at
different positions of the scale to indicate the changing quantized values.
This scale you are editing is volatile and will not be saved unless you save it to a bank
and preset. Furthermore if you want to make sure the scale is saved ofine you must
make sure to store the banks+presets to EEPROM (see below)
µScale
SHIFT
IN
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C
C#
D
C#
E
F
F#
G
12 x buttons + tricolor leds
G#
A
A#
Settings
Pre
Scale
In
Scale
Post
Scale
A
B
A+B
Intrvl
Scale
Root
Root
Chromatic
Bank
In
Scale
Scale
Save
B
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OUT BOUT A
14
1
2
shift type shift destinationB Mode
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
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Menus (Short Hold)
There are seven menus accessible by pressing and holding the following buttons for approximately 1 second:
SETTINGS: This menu allows you to set three separate settings: Shift Type (Pre Scale, In Scale or Post Scale), Shift Destination
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(A, B. A+B or ROOT) and B Mode (Chromatic or In Scale). The current menu settings are denoted with three separate and different colored LEDs). To exit the menu make a selection or click the SETTINGS button again.
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INTRVL: Set the interval value used by output B. The LED position and color shows the current interval value. A green LED shows
a positive value in the range of 1-12 (where position ‘C’ is 1 and ‘B’ is 12). To set a negative value in the range of -1 to -12 simply
double click the equivalent positive value. (E.g. for an interval of -3 double click the ‘D’ key). Negative interval values are displayed
as a red LED. This interval is calculated in terms of xed semi tones (chromatic) or scale degrees (in-scale/diatonic) depending on
the option set in the SETTINGS menu (MODE: Chromatic OR In-Scale)
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ROOT: Here you can shift the scale forwards or backwards relative to it’s root note. The green LED indicates the current lowest
note of the programmed scale relative to ‘C’. So if I had a C# pentatonic scale programmed (all the black keys) the root note would
be the C#. If I then pressed the F key the entire scale would shift 2 semi tones upwards. This means the note A# (last note in the
scale) would be shifted off the scale but wrapped around to the bottom as C. Technically the new scale root should be F but since
the scale root is always calculated as the lowest note relative to C the new scale root will actually be indicated as C.
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BANK: Select one of 12 possible banks. Selected bank is indicated as a red LED. Available non-empty banks are indicated
as green LEDs. So if you select a bank from one of the currently available non-empty banks then the LED color will be yellow
(red+green = yellow). Unlit LEDS show the empty banks.
Menus (Short Hold) Cont’d
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SCALE: Select one of 12 possible scales from the current bank. Selected scale is indicated with a red LED. Blank scales have
no LEDs lit while stored scales are indicated with green LEDs. So if you select a scale from one of the currently available nonempty banks then the LED color will be yellow (red+green = yellow).
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SAVE: Save scales to one of 12 possible locations in the current bank. Available locations are non-illuminated while used loca-
tions are indicated with a green LED.
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X: Clear the currently active scale steps by pressing button#12 (B, illuminated as yellow). All other buttons will exit while doing
nothing.
Special Functions (Long Hold)
There are three special modes accessible by pressing and holding the following buttons for approximately 2 seconds:
LOAD FROM EEPROM (BANK Button): Use this function to load all banks and settings that are stored in the EEPROM (non-
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volatile memory). Every time the µScale is powered on it automatically performs a load from EEPROM.
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SCALE SELECT MODE (SCALE Button): This is a special mode that allows users to select up to 12 different scales from the
current BANK via the SHIFT input (using CV). Scale editing becomes disabLED (in order to edit the scales you must exit this
mode by pressing and holding the SCALE Button again) and the main display will show the currently selected scale pattern in
real time. ROOT, SCALE and SAVE menus are all disabLED in this mode. You can still choose different banks, edit the interval
amount and make changes to SETTINGS (although no SETTINGS will have any current effect except for the MODE ).
Keep in mind that if you have set the SHIFT input jumper setting to bipolar then positive values in the range of 0-5V will select
scales 7-12 in the current Bank while -5V to 0V will select scales 1-6.
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SAVE TO EEPROM (SAVE Button): Use this function to permanently save all stored scales/banks and settings to EEPROM. If
you do not do this, all edits and changes to banks, scales and settings will be lost when you power down the module.
Shifting
The SETTINGS menu allows you to set Shift Type and Shift Destination.
Shift Type:
The incoming CV values at the “IN” jack are rst quantized to a chromatic scale value and then quantized to the current active scale.
All shifting is applied after the chromatic quantizing which means it starts with some note value in the 10 octave range. The CV values
at the “SHIFT” jack are quantized to a value in the range of +/-12.
Pre-Scale: This type of shifting occurs after the chromatic quantizing but before the scale quantizing. What this means is that the CV
value at “IN” is quantized then the “SHIFT” value is added to it, and then it is quantized to the current scale.
For example, if my incoming note was a C2 and my shift value was ‘3’ and the Shift Destination was A (in this case 3 means semitones)
then the resulting value is C2+3semi = D#. This new value is then quantized to the current scale. So if the active scale is CMajor (which
contains C,D,E,F,G,A,B) then the nal resulting note that will play out of OUTA is E2 (the nearest note in the scale to D#, scale quantizing always rounds up).
The interval value (generated at OUTB) uses the NoteA value as its root but it uses the value before the shifting is added to it.
So in the above example if the interval value was ‘5’ and its mode was ‘Chromatic’ then the note at OUTB would be C2+5=F2 (not
E2+5).
If the shift destination had been ‘B’ instead of ‘A’ then OUTA would have been C2 (no change), but OUTB would be the sum of the chromatically quantized root note at ‘IN” (in this case C2) plus the shift amount (3) which would then be quantized to the scale (resulting in a
value of E2) and then the interval value is added to it (5) so scaLED(C2+3)+5=G2#.
If the destination had been A+B then the result would have been OUTA = E2 and OUT B = G2# (both got shifted)
In-Scale: This type of shifting is Diatonic and occurs after both the chromatic and scale quantizing. This means that the shift amount
represents the amount of degrees within the currently active scale. So a note value of C2 with a shift value of 3, destination of A and
an active scale of CMajor would result in a shifted note of OUT A = F2 since this is three scale notes above C2 (remember the CMajor
scale C,D,E,F,G,A,B where the distance between C and F is 3 scale degrees).
If the destination had been B then the OUTA would be unchanged (C2) but OUTB would be the diatonically shifted value of C2 (F2) plus
the interval value (e.g. 5 semitones) which results in OUTB = F2+5 = A#2.
If the destination had been A+B then then OUTA = F2 and OUTB = A#2.
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