Prior to 1970, it’s fair to say that synthesizers were mostly giant modular monsters, more suited to a luxury recording studio or
laboratory than being transported from stage to stage. The problems with lugging around a beast of this nature were many as
GMEDIA Music’s Chris Macleod remembers from his days as Keith Emerson’s ‘grunt’.
“Lugging the Moog around was a bloody nightmare, especially as it was only used for one or two sounds in the show. It was always
breaking down to the extent we took along a dedicated Moog technician, who we nicknamed ‘Mr Diode Head’. I know it was all
part of Keith’s performance but frankly, I couldn’t wait to see the ass-end of it. As a result my back still suffers today and at the
penultimate gig I put a big sign on it saying FOR SALE - OWNER LEAVING PLANET, much to everyones amusement”
Of course in 1970 there was already one portable synthesizer, the EMS VCS3, but this still largely clung to its academic apron
strings. Clearly, if the synthesizer were to become a mainstream instrument then a portable solution based around the needs of a
musician would have to be found.
The first hint of this was the pre-production Minimoog Model A, which largely consisted of a basic collection of modules plundered
from the modular instruments and which still needed basic patch-cords for routing. This was further refined, initially, to the single
panel and switch-routed Model B and then to the Model C, which introduced the hinged back. These prototypes ultimately lead to
the production Model D but to get that far was not as straightforward as you might believe.
Due to the success of the modular instruments, Bob Moog was an in-demand speaker and synth demonstrator, and before departing
for a few weeks on the road he authorized the production of ten more Model C’s. However, no doubt due to the expense involved,
he specifically stated that no printed circuit boards were to be used in this small production run.
According to one of the designers, Jim Scott, as soon as Bob left most of the staff got together and argued that unless they got
the instrument to a point where it could be manufactured, they’d probably be out of work in the not too distant future. So it was
agreed that they would disregard Bob’s orders and build the instruments using PCBs. On his return, Bob found several instruments
in assorted stages of completion and immediately called everyone into his office demanding to know who was responsible?
According to Jim, “No one said a word and we did a lot of observing our fingernails and such. He couldn’t very well fire his whole
staff, so the first ever run of D Models was completed.”
The Model D Minimoog was the version that saw release in 1970 and for musicians all over the world the synthesizer had truly
arrived. So too had many of the things that players would soon take for granted. For example, those vertical pitch and modulation
wheels became pretty much standard fare, as did everyone’s desire for a 24dB per octave lowpass filter. And that’s where the
Minimoog really shone - with both its playability and its sound.
Countless musicians quickly adopted it from early pioneers such as Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson & Chick Corea, through to latterday explorers like Gary Numan & Adrian Utley. And although the Mini ceased production in 1981 a quick glance at its user-base
reveals a Who’s Who of contemporary music.
Rick Wakeman reveals, “The Minimoog is my favorite synthesizer of all-time and at one point I had nine of them with each sounding
slightly different. The first one I owned cost me £35 from the actor Jack Wilde. It should have been about £1200 but Jack told me
he had bought it about two weeks previously, that it didn’t work properly and he wanted rid of it. I figured that it would cost less
than £1200 to get it fixed so I collected it, took it home, turned it on and couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I called him up and
told him it was fine but he said that it was definitely faulty because it wouldn’t play more than one note at a time. That was a fairly
common misunderstanding back then”
There were, however, more genuine problems with early models as Rick once again explains.
“The obvious nightmare was the tuning instability and I kid you not, sometimes when we used the Minimoog live, we were lucky to
be able to play it at all because, pitch-wise, it was literally all over the place. Also a less well-known fact was that the Mk 1 used to
suffer from radio interference. I remember playing one show at Alexandra Palace in front of twenty thousand people, and just as
we were about to start all you could hear through the PA was, ‘Arsenal 2 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 1’. It was hilarious.”
Teething troubles aside though, the portability, the sound and the immediacy of the controls made the instrument essential for
any touring keyboard player and it couldn’t fail to be anything but a huge commercial success. During its life approximately 13,000
were made and it remains one of the world’s most loved electronic instruments to this day.
3
The Minimonsta is based on our much-loved early Minimoog (serial number 1794), chosen because it represents all that was best
about the hallmark Mini sound, namely, a super-fat filter, snappy envelopes and those distinctive effervescent and rich tones.
In keeping with Rick Wakeman’s statement, all Minimoogs did indeed sound slightly different and this is evident in our Mini in
a couple of ways. Firstly, the oscillators were the less-stable earlier ones, liable to drift at the drop of a hat. Secondly, the filter
emphasis kicked in sooner than on later versions. However, while it was important to stabilize the oscillator tuning we felt it was
important to remain true to our instrument’s filter and not iron any of the personality out of it.
Nonetheless, we feel it’s good to take risks and after the successes of the faithful Oddity and more daring impOSCar, we began to
look at how we could do justice to such an icon, while at the same time adding features that could take it into very different sonic
territory. Several ideas were discussed but nothing sat in harmony with the ethos of the original instrument until a meeting with
Oddity co-conspirators, Ohm Force. This proved to be the pivotal moment and after witnessing their Symptohm Melohman synth,
a joint venture was agreed. Soon after, the Melohman functionality was witnessed in all its glory on an early alpha version of the
Minimonsta and we all began to salivate at the potential of this expressive intricacy sitting in tandem with the simple operation
of the original instrument.
MELOHMAN - THE CONCEPT
Ohm Force’s Melohman feature set is based around an interactive set of tools that transform the playing experience of a software
instrument via unique and inspirational concepts. In essence it offers a user-defined octave that can be used to trigger timed or
instantaneous morphs between up to twelve Patches. The morph modes are Morphing, Morph Back & Forth, Morph Sequence,
Mutate and Partial Mutate. In terms of playability, this goes a considerable way to countering the argument that software
synthesizers are not expressive enough in performance due to the inherent lack of a dedicated tactile interface.
Then there’s the famous Ohm Force feature of applying an additional LFO or ADSR to almost every parameter. This gives nigh-on
unlimited sound design capabilities ranging from the sublime to the downright disturbed, as well as helping to circumnavigate
limitations of the original instrument, such as having to lose the third oscillator to the LFO.
During development, the Minimonsta, in much the same way as the original instrument, underwent several revisions and even
invoked a couple of near mutinies. But as the instrument progressed, we all began to realize that we’d created far more than a
simple emulation - we’d created a Monster and from that moment the name of the synth was born.
The name Minimonsta also encapsulates the instrument because it operates on two distinct levels. Firstly, it can operate as a
straightforward but highly accurate emulation of the original Mini by way of the familiar and intuitive user interface. In this mode
you could largely ignore the upper section of the GUI containing the LFO, XADSR and MIDI sections and instead focus on the
familiar controls and the creation of all manner of authentic Mini tones with the minimum of effort.
At its second level though, the Mini becomes a true Monster by way of the additional LFO, ADSR and dynamic MIDI controllability
for every main GUI parameter. Unparalleled real-time sound mangling via the Melohman Patch Morphing options, and a plethora
of triggering options including Monophonic, Polyphonic, Legato and Unison modes.
An enormous amount of care and work has gone into making sure all these elements have collided to ensure an authentic Mini
tone meets a weapons-grade monster, and we sincerely hope you enjoy this instrument and make serious creative use of its unique
functionality and sublime tones. The two years of development has left no stone unturned in the pursuit of sonic excellence and
rest assured that no one has spent any time looking at their fingernails or gazing at their navels.
The GForce Team
2
An Appeal - Please support developers, not copyright theft.
If you’re reading this from the printed manual, the chances are you paid for this software and as such we’d like to say a heartfelt
thanks. The money that we receive from sales of the Minimonsta will be put back into further development projects and used to
create other interesting and valid musical products. However, if you did not pay for this instrument please try and understand the
implications of piracy for small companies such as ours. Piracy is seriously damaging to small software companies and with the
abundance of free instruments available there is no excuse for this kind of theft. As musicians ourselves, we respect anyone who
creates good music using limited tools, far more than those who make average music using every tool in existence. Pick your tools
wisely and learn them well - this is far more creative and rewarding.
4
From our perspective, this product took almost two years to produce and has involved the small development team in many
personal and financial sacrifices. Nonetheless we have tried to keep the cost of the instrument at an affordable level and make the
copy protection as unobtrusive as possible. We will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who infringes our copyright but we would
prefer to kindly ask you not to post the Minimonsta on any newsgroup or P2P group and to respect our work. Many thanks.
A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers (Part One. A - M) - Pete Forrest
Vintage Synthesisers - Mark Vail.
Analog Days - Frank Trocco & Trevor Pinch
Developed by:
Ohm Force and GMEDIA Music as GForce.
Laurent de Soras, Jerome Noel, Raphael Dinge, Grégory Makles, Dave Spiers, Chris Macleod, Ian Legge and a supporting cast of
many more.
Thanks to:
Flemming Bloch, Lee Groves, Matt Hooper, Jay Ahern, Ellis Breen, Bruce Satinover, Phil Hartnol, Dave Goodwin, Robin Rimbaud,
Darren Price, Marius DeVries, James Towler, Steve Winwood, Pascal Gabriel, Geoff Downes, Frank Hoffmann, Nick Batt, Meffy
Ellis, Putte, Malcolm Corbett, Mr Smith & Mr Hyde, Orren Merton. Uwe Bauer, Rick Wakeman
Sound Design.
Dave Spiers, Rick Wakeman, Chris Macleod, Davy Blakely, Huston Singletary,
Howard Scarr, Hans-Jorg Schleffler, Matt Hooper, Brian Desmond,
Markus Hastreiter, Brice Duncan, Andreas Ehrhardt, Rory Dow, Geoff Downes,
Phil Hartnol, Steve Winwood, Marius DeVries, Pascal Gabriel & Lee Groves.
3
Installing the Minimonsta
Included on the Master CD are multiple versions of the Minimonsta. The Minimonsta installer allows you to install any or all
versions via a single installer, one for Mac and one for PC.
PC -
Insert the Minimonsta Master CD into your CD-ROM drive.
From the Setup window, select the “Install” option and follow
the onscreen instructions carefully, entering your unique User
Name and Registration codes EXACTLY as you find them printed
within this Getting Started guide.
Mac -
Insert the Minimonsta Master CD into your CD-ROM
drive. Double-click on the GForce Minimonsta disc icon to open
the disc. Double-click on the Minimonsta.dmg file and then run
the Minimonsta Installer, following the onscreen instructions
carefully, and entering your unique User Name and Registration
codes EXACTLY as you find them printed within this Getting
Started guide. During installation, be sure to click on the “Next”
button until the installation routine is complete.
Macintosh Logic 7 and Ableton Live
Once installation is complete launch Logic 7 or Ableton Live and load the Minimonsta into an instrument channel AS AN EFFECT.
Mac installer shown.
5
Registration
A Meta-Patch is group of up to 12 Patches (sounds)
Patch 1
Patch 2
Patch 3
Patch 4
Patch 5
Patch 6
Patch 7
Patch 8
Patch 9
Patch 10
Patch 11
Patch 12
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
BoomBass
META-PATCH
A Meta-Patch
consisting of
12 identical Patches
BoomBass
Default
Default
Default
Default
Default
Default
Default
Default
Default
Default
Default
META-PATCH
A Meta-Patch
containing
a single Patch
BoomBass
Filtered
MoreRez
Panning
SlowAttack
LongDelay
LevelMod
FilterWah
SnapDecay
Sweeping
MultiMods
Madness
META-PATCH
A Meta-Patch consisting
of 12 Patches, each
being a variant
of Patch 1
META-PATCH
4
Please take the time to register your Minimonsta on-line at: www.gforcesoftware.com
Registration is required to receive free technical support.
Quick Start
5
Let’s face it, reading a manual from cover to cover isn’t much fun. Most of the time when you buy a synth you just want to
get started immediately and discover things as you progress. Because the Minimonsta works on two levels, provided you have a
fundamental grasp of subtractive synthesis, it’s quick and easy to get going before delving in to the more complex functions of the
instrument. However, there are a few things that are useful to learn from the start.
Patch Structure - What is a Meta-Patch?
The Meta-Patch is a group of up to 12 Patches (sounds) that you load from your hard drive. At its simplest, it contains only a
single Patch and at its most complex 12 different Patches. All Meta-Patches supplied with the Minimonsta contain 12 different
Patches except the ones within the OriginalMiniPatches folder which contain a single sound across all Patches. These sounds were
transcribed from original Minimoog patch charts.
6
Loading a Meta-Patch
The first time you open the Minimonsta, after installing it, open the
Meta-Patch Select Window to it’s maximum size via the dedicated rocker
switch.
From here click in the small top window marked Root Directory Navigate
it to the MinimonstaPatches folder. Once you’ve done this you simply
select a sound from the list and play.
Your selected Root Directory will be remembered by the Minimonsta
when you open it subsequently.
Meta-Patch Select Window
Meta-Patch Select Window shown at
maximum size
Flying Knobs
With this feature you can grab and throw the knob of most main GUI parameters and make it move
automatically, through its range, to its highest or lowest setting. To make this work simply click and hold
on the highest or lowest text marking around the base of the knob and throw to the right to increase that
parameter’s value, or throw to the left to decrease the value. The faster you throw, the quicker the knob
moves.
Note: This does not work with the Oscillator Range and Waveform Knobs.
Melohman Octave
The Melohman Octave is used for real-time performance functions
and can be assigned to any octave of the Minimonsta’s keyboard
range. It is also directly associated with the control knobs to the
right-hand side of the keyboard. For further details see the Morphing
Section on page 17.
6
Minimonsta - Patch Management (See also page 15)
Meta-Patch
As mentioned before, a Meta-Patch is a group of up to 12 Patches
that you load from your hard drive.
The Minimonsta works as following: having loaded a Meta-Patch
you can select or morph between its Patches in a variety of ways.
Let’s start by looking at how to create a Meta-Patch with the same
sound across all its Patches.
Meta-Patch Select Window
7
1) Create a sound on the Minimonsta that you would like to keep.
2) Click on the Patch window and name your sound.
3) Click the MEM button - it will be illuminated red.
4) Click the ALL button - this assigns your sound to all Patch
memories. A window asking if you are sure you want to
overwrite all your patches will appear. Click OK. (Mac window
shown).
5) Click on the SAVE button to the left of the Meta-Patch
Window, navigate to your Root Directory, then name and save
the Meta-Patch to disc.
IMPORTANT: YOU MUST SAVE TO DISK before selecting another Meta-Patch or YOUR NEW SOUND will be lost.
Having saved your Meta-Patch you will now be able to see and select it from within the
Meta-Patch Select Window.
(For a more in-depth explanation of Patch Managment see Tutorial 5, page 27)
BLUE HIGHLIGHTS
Whenever a parameter name and position indicators are lit in BLUE this indicates that the parameter is being
modulated by the additional Minimonsta LFO and/or XADSR.
RED HIGHLIGHTS
Whenever parameter positional indicators are lit in RED this indicates that the parameter is being controlled
(modulated) by MIDI. This is also applicable wherever you see an LED.
8
BLUE AND RED HIGHLIGHTS
Whenever a parameter is lit in BLUE AND RED this indicates that the parameter is being modulated
(controlled) by both the LFO/XADSR and MIDI.
GREYED-OUT LFO AND XADSR
Certain parameters cannot be modulated by the Minimonsta’s additional LFO and
XADSR, for example the Oscillator Wave Form Select Knobs. When this is the case the LFO/XADSR section is greyed-out. and “No
Modulation” appers in the displays.
7
Mini Controls
THE CONTROLLERS PANEL
1. Tune Knob
This sets the global tuning for the Minimonsta oscillators from anywhere between
-12 and +12 semitones. To return to the default setting at any time, simply
double-click on the knob.
2. Glide Knob
When used in conjunction with the Glide On/Off Switch this sets
the glide time. Like the original instrument, the Minimonsta’s portamento is Time
Constant, which means that glides are faster over larger intervals.
3. Mod Mix Knob
When Oscillator 3 is used as an LFO this knob determines the mix between the
oscillator tone and noise. Noise can be either Pink or White and is selected by a
switch in the Mixer Section.
Note: To hear any modulation mix settings the modulation wheel on the left of
the keyboard should be pushed forward.
4. Oscillator Modulation Switch
Sets the Oscillator 3 Modulation to On or Off. (wondering what the LED is? See page 8, Red Highlights)
9
THE OSCILLATOR BANK
As per the original instrument there are three oscillators on the Minimonsta and the flow of each one is laid out horizontally. The
only real differences between them is that Oscillator 1 does not have control over its fine tune and Oscillator 3 can be used as an
LFO. Oscillator 3 also substitutes the sawtooth-triangular waveform for a reverse-sawtooth waveform.
1. Oscillator 1 Range Selector
This selects the octave for the Oscillator 1 tone. Octaves
are selected in feet (as in the length of an organ pipe)
2’ is the highest and 32’ is the lowest. The Lo setting
is effectively 64’ but this is so low that you’ll probably
only hear a series of clicks when selected.
2. Oscillator 1 Waveform Selector
The Minimonsta has six basic waveforms. Broadly
speaking, the triangle waveform has the least
harmonic content and the narrow rectangular
waveform has the most.
1. Triangle 2. Saw-Triangle 3. Sawtooth
4. Square 5. Wide Pulse 6. Narrow Pulse
3. Oscillator 2 Range Selector
As per Oscillator 1 this selects the octave for the
Oscillator 2 tone. This ranges from 2’ to 32’ and Lo.
4. Oscillator 2 Fine Tune Knob
This sets the fine tune value of this oscillator between - 8 and + 8 semitones.
5. Oscillator 2 Waveform Selector
Allows Oscillator 2 the choice of the six waveforms as per Oscillator 1.
6. Osc 3 Ctrl Switch.
This determines whether the keyboard controls the pitch of Oscillator 3 or whether it plays a fixed pitch across the whole keyboard.
This switch is likely to be in the Off position when Osc 3 is used as an LFO (for uniform modulation across the entire keyboard) and
On when used as a third oscillator. (See Tutorial 3, page 26).
7. Oscillator 3 Range Selector
As per Oscillator 1 & 2 this selects the octave for the Oscillator 3 tone. This ranges from 2’ to 32’ and Lo.
10
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