Moog Music SUB PHATTY User Manual
S U B P H AT T Y
3
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
WARNING - WHEN USING ELECTRIC PRODUCTS, THESE BASIC PRECAUTIONS SHOULD
ALWAYS BE FOLLOWED.
1. Read all the instructions before using the product.
2. Do not use this product near water - for example, near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink, in a wet
basement, or near a swimming pool or the like.
3. This product, in combination with an amplifier and headphones or speakers, may be capable of
producing sound levels that could cause permanent hearing loss. Do not operate for a long period of
time at a high volume level or at a level that is uncomfortable.
4. The product should be located so that its location does not interfere with its proper ventilation.
5. The product should be located away from heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, or other
products that produce heat.
6. The product should be connected to a power supply only of the type described in the operating
instructions or as marked on the product.
7. The power-supply cord of the product should be unplugged from the outlet when left unused for a
long period of time.
8. Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through
openings.
9. The product should be serviced by qualified personnel when:
a. The power supply cord or the plug has been damaged.
b. Objects have fallen, or liquid has been spilled onto the product.
c. The product has been exposed to rain.
d. The product does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in
performance.
e. The product has been dropped or the enclosure damaged.
INSTRUCTIONS PERTAINING TO RISK OF FIRE, ELECTRIC SHOCK, OR INJURY TO PERSONS.
Do not open the chassis. There are no user serviceable parts inside. Refer all servicing to qualified
personnel only.
GROUNDING INSTRUCTIONS: This product must be grounded. If it should malfunction or breakdown,
grounding provides a path of least resistance for electrical current to reduce the risk of electric shock.
This product is equipped with a cord having an equipment grounding connector and a grounding
plug. The plug must be plugged into an appropriate outlet that is properly installed and grounded in
accordance with all local codes and ordinances.
DANGER: Improper connection of the equipment-grounding connector can result in a risk of electric
shock. Check with a qualified electrician or serviceman if you are in doubt as to
is properly grounded. Do not modify the plug provided with this product – if it will not fit in the outlet,
have a proper outlet installed by a qualified electrician.
whether the product
TABLE OF CONTENTS
7 UNPACKING & INSPECTION
7 SETUP & CONNECTIONS
8 POWER
EXTERNAL AUDIO IN
USB
MIDI
CONTROL VOLTAGE IN
9 OVERVIEW & FEATURES
9 PRESET PANEL
BANK & PATCH BUTTONS
10 SAVING PRESETS
ACTIVATE PANEL
10 BASICS OF SOUND
12 SIGNAL FLOW
13 OSCILLATORS
OVERVIEW
CONTROLS
OCTAVE
WAVE
14 FREQUENCY
HARD SYNC OSC 2
TRY THIS
PATCH INITIALIZATION
EXPLORE THE OSCILLATORS
15 OSCILLATOR SYNC
15 MIXER
OVERVIEW
CONTROLS
OSC 1
OSC 2
SUB OSC
NOISE
16 FI LTE R
OVERVIEW
CONTROLS
CUTOFF
RESONANCE
MULTIDRIVE
EG AMOUNT
17 KEYBOARD AMOUNT
17 ENVELOPES
OVERVIEW
18 CONTROLS
FILTER ATTACK
FILTER DECAY
FILTER SUSTAIN
19 FILTER RELEASE
AMPLIFIER ATTACK
AMPLIFIER DECAY
AMPLIFIER SUSTAIN
AMPLIFIER RELEASE
TRY THIS
NOTE ARTICULATION
CLASSIC ELECTRONIC KICK DRUM
20 MODULATION
OVERVIEW
CONTROLS
LFO RATE
SOURCE
PITCH AMT
21 PITCH AMT OSC 2 ONLY
FILTER AMT
WAVE AMT
TRY THIS
LFO WAVEFORMS
PULSE WAVE MODULATION
22 GLOBAL PITCH CONTROLS
MIDI INDICATOR
FINE TUNE
GLIDE RATE
OCTAVE BUTTONS
KEYBOARD
WHEELS
23 SHIFT MODE
KNOB AND BUTTON REASSIGNMENTS
26 ADDITIONAL HIDDEN PARAMETERS
38 MIDI OPERATIONS & CHARTS
42 SERVICE & SUPPORT
43 SPECIFICATIONS
UNPACKING AND INSPECTION
Check the contents of the shipping carton
Be careful when unpacking the Sub Phatty so that nothing is lost or damaged. Moog recommends
saving the carton and all packing materials in case you ever need to ship the instrument for any reason.
The Moog Sub Phatty ships with the following items:
1. Sub Phatty synthesizer
2. Power cord
3. Owner’s manual
4. Registration card
What you will need:
1. A stand or table sufficient to support the Sub Phatty
2. Either a 1/4 inch instrument cable and amplified speakers or headphones with a 1/4” inch plug
3. A properly wired AC outlet
SETUP AND CONNECTIONS
Place the Sub Phatty on a stable surface such as a table or keyboard stand at a height suitable for
playing comfortably.
External
Audio in
EXT IN
PITCH CV VOL CV
I
O
FILTER CV KB GATE
OUT
AUDIO
Control Voltage
INPUT
5 Pin DIN MIDI
OUT
IN
MIDI
USB
USB MIDI
7
POWER
Plug one end of the supplied AC cord into the standard IEC power connector on the Sub Phatty’s leftside panel. Plug the other end into an AC outlet. The Sub Phatty’s universal power supply will operate
with 50 or 60Hz AC power sources ranging from 100 to 240 volts. Flip on the power switch located
next to the power connector.
NOTE: It may take as long as 60 seconds for the Sub Phatty to warm up before oscillator tuning has
stabilized if you’ve left it outside on a cold night. (Although its oscillators are surprisingly stable, the Sub
Phatty is an analog synthesizer, after all.)
AUDIO OUT
With the MASTER VOLUME turned all the way down, plug one end of a 1/4 inch instrument cable into
the Sub Phatty’s unbalanced AUDIO OUT jack and the other end into an amplified speaker or mixing
console input. Adjust the level by slowly turning the MASTER VOLUME knob clockwise while playing
the keyboard.
If you’ll be using headphones, plug them into the headphones jack (on the front panel’s bottom-right
corner) with HEADPHONE VOLUME turned all the way down. Adjust the level by slowly turning the
HEADPHONE VOLUME knob clockwise while playing the keyboard. Note that MASTER VOLUME must
be turned up as well.
EXTERNAL AUDIO IN
Located just above the AUDIO OUT jack, the jack labeled EXT IN allows the Sub Phatty to shape and
filter external sounds. This is an unbalanced input that accepts a line-level signal. You can adjust the
audio level using Shift mode (see page. 25) or the plug-in editor.
NOTE: You must press a key to pass external audio through the Sub Phatty. You also can use a Moog
FS-1 footswitch, or any 1/4” cable to open the gate. Simply connect to the 1/4” Gate jack.
USB
To use the Sub Phatty with a computer, connect one end of a USB cable to the Sub Phatty’s USB port
and the other end to an available USB port on your computer. The Sub Phatty supports MIDI I/O over
USB, but not audio data.
MIDI
Using the Sub Phatty with an external MIDI device requires one or two MIDI cables. To use the Sub
Phatty as a MIDI controller, connect one end of a MIDI cable to the Sub Phatty’s MIDI OUT jack and the
other end to another device’s MIDI IN jack.
To control the Sub Phatty from an external MIDI controller, connect one end of a MIDI cable to the Sub
Phatty’s MIDI IN jack and the other end to an external controller’s MIDI OUT jack. By default, the Sub
Phatty is set to transmit and receive MIDI data on MIDI Channel 1.
CONTROL VOLTAGE IN
The PITCH CV, FILTER CV, and VOL CV inputs each accepts an expression pedal (such as the Moog
EP-2) or a control voltage signal from 0 to +5 volts. If you connect an expression pedal to VOL CV,
you can use your foot to control the Sub Phatty’s output level. If you connect an expression pedal to
FILTER CV, you can sweep the filter cutoff in the same manner. The PITCH CV and FILTER CV inputs
are calibrated so that a one-volt change in the control voltage will result in a one-octave change in
frequency.
The KB GATE input accepts a +5 volt signal, which causes the Sub Phatty’s envelopes to trigger.
8
OVERVIEW AND FEATURES
The Sub Phatty is a monophonic analog synthesizer, very much in the tradition of other classic Moog
synthesizers. It is housed in a sturdy case containing a 25-note, velocity-sensitive keyboard, with a
front panel that delivers plenty of hands-on controls for designing, saving, and retrieving your own
sounds. Like many instruments, the Sub Phatty is monophonic, meaning that it plays one note at
a time. It offers a 100% analog audio signal path with two exceptionally stable voltage-controlled
oscillators, a square-wave suboscillator, a noise generator, two ADSR envelope generators, and a
voltage-controlled, ladder-type lowpass filter capable of self-oscillation. One feature that makes
the Sub Phatty unique is MultiDrive, a variable multistage drive circuit that delivers overdrive and
distortion. Virtually every function on the Sub Phatty has its own knob, and every knob sends MIDI
Control Change (CC) data.
Although the Sub Phatty’s straightforward signal path and traditional one-knob-per-function user
interface make it ideal for beginning synthesists, it is an excellent addition to any electronic musician’s
studio setup or live performer’s stage rig. Thanks to its MIDI capabilities, you can easily layer the Sub
Phatty with other sound sources or integrate it into a multitrack DAW-based studio. The external audio
input lets you use it to process sounds from other instruments or microphones.
The Sub Phatty’s internal patch memory stores 16 user-rewritable presets. The free editor/librarian/
controller plug-in allows your computer to store as many presets as you like and provides a graphical
user interface for programming your own sounds.
Like other synths in the Voyager and Little Phatty families, the Sub Phatty has syncable audio oscillators
with continuously variable waveforms, as well as a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) that syncs to MIDI
clock and offers a choice of modulation waveforms. In addition to a mono audio output with a dedicated
volume knob, the Sub Phatty has a front-panel headphone output with a separate volume knob.
PRESETS PANEL
BANK AND PATCH BUTTONS
The Sub Phatty ships with 16 presets, and you can replace any of
them with your own patches. (The word patch is a holdover from
modular synthesis, which requires patch cords to connect the
various modules.)
Patches are arranged in four banks, each containing four presets.
On the front panel’s left side, you’ll see two rows of buttons in the
PRESETS section. Use the row on the left to select banks and the
row on the right to select presets within those banks. For example,
to select preset 1 in bank 2, first press the second button on the
left and then press the first button on the right. You can tell at a
glance which preset is active because the corresponding BANK and
PATCH buttons will be illuminated. If you select a new bank, the
new BANK button will pulsate slowly until a new patch is selected.
Take your time, listen to all the presets, and turn some knobs to get
a feel for how you can use them to alter the sounds. Whenever you
want to go back to the original stored preset, just select it again
using the same BANK and PATCH buttons.
NOTE: The PRESETS section’s buttons also provide access to Shift
mode, which allows you to activate “under the hood” features from
the Sub Phatty’s front panel. (To learn more, see page 23.)
9
SAVING PRESETS
Saving presets is a two-finger maneuver. Just remember that whenever you save a preset to a
particular location, the preset previously stored in that location will be deleted.
To save your changes, press and hold the BANK button corresponding to the bank in which you want to
store your new preset. While holding the BANK button, press the PATCH button corresponding to the
location in which you want to store it, hold both buttons for at least one second, and then release them.
NOTE: Both buttons will flash and then go solid again to indicate that your new preset has been stored.
If you release both buttons before one second has elapsed, both buttons will continue flashing. By
pressing and holding the ACTIVATE PANEL button as they’re flashing, you can listen to the preset
currently stored in the selected location to make sure it’s the one you want to replace. Releasing
ACTIVATE PANEL returns to your unsaved patch. At this point, you can either finish saving your preset
by repeating the save procedure or cancel saving by pressing any of the BANK buttons.
ACTIVATE PANEL
Pressing the ACTIVATE PANEL button puts the Sub Phatty in Panel mode. Pressing it again returns the
Sub Phatty to Preset mode. In Panel mode, the front-panel settings determine the sound rather than a
stored preset. The current position of each knob and the status of four buttons determine the sound
coming out of the Sub Phatty. Dialing up sounds in Panel mode is exactly like dialing up sounds in a
classic synth without patch memory, but when you’re finished sculpting your sound, you can save your
work. Saving a preset stores all the settings that define your new sound.
To learn how to create your own patches in Panel mode, continue reading this manual.
BASICS OF SOUND
If you’re new to the world of music synthesis, it helps to have at least a rudimentary understanding of
music and acoustics. Even if you know this stuff like the back of your hand, it never hurts to approach it
from a fresh perspective.
Several qualities distinguish one musical sound from another, including pitch, loudness, duration, and
timbre. Being able to manipulate those qualities allows you to turn raw sound into music.
Simply put, sound occurs when a vibrating object causes the air around it to vibrate. That object could
be a guitar string, a loudspeaker, or anything capable of rapid movement. An individual vibration is
called a wave or cycle, and the rate of vibration is called frequency. Frequency determines the sound’s
pitch, and pitch determines how high or how low you perceive the sound on a musical scale. Frequency
is measured in Hertz (abbreviated Hz), which describes the actual number of times that something
vibrates every second. One thousand cycles per second is called a kilohertz (kHz).
wavelength
amplitude
low frequency high frequency
10
BASICS OF SOUND CONT.
Amplitude—the intensity of vibration—determines a sound’s loudness. A high-amplitude sound is
loud, and a low-amplitude sound is soft. A vibrating source’s loudness depends on the amount of air it
displaces, and that depends on how hard it vibrates.
It’s difficult for anyone to identify a musical instrument simply by the pitch or loudness of the sounds
it makes. Every musical sound also has a characteristic tone color or timbre (pronounced tam’–br, as
in tamborine, not tim’–br, as in a tree falling). Differences in timbre make it possible to distinguish one
instrument from another.
If you analyze a single cycle of a musical sound, you can perceive it as a complex combination of
simple sine waves, each wave different in frequency and amplitude. When their frequencies are wholenumber multiples of each other (and in musical sounds, they usually are), those simple waves are called
harmonics. A sound’s timbre depends on its harmonic content. The first harmonic—the one with the
lowest frequency and usually the greatest amplitude—determines its pitch. Higher harmonics are often
called overtones. Normally, the higher the overtone’s frequency, then the weaker its amplitude.
When those harmonics are combined in a musical sound, a single cycle of that sound has a specific
shape, which synthesists call a waveform. Just as the frequencies and relative amplitudes of the
sound’s harmonics determine its waveform, the waveform determines the sound’s timbre.
Instead of producing sounds acoustically the way vibrating objects do, synthesizers generate electrical
signals that are amplified and converted to sound. Just as sound has frequency and amplitude, so
does the kind of alternating current produced by a synthesizer. An analog synthesizer’s primary sound
source is called an oscillator.
The oscillator’s waveform, of course, determines the sound’s harmonic content. Some waveforms
are rich in harmonics, while others have relatively few. Depending on the waveform, some overtones
may be absent altogether. Waveforms with lots of overtones, such as sawtooth and square waves, are
harmonically the most complex. Waveforms with fewer overtones, such as triangle and narrow pulse
waves, are harmonically less complex.
Rather than building up waveforms one harmonic at a time, the way a Hammond organ does, analog
synthesizers like the Sub Phatty provide the means to shape and filter complex, harmonically rich
waveforms to selectively remove, reduce, or emphasize specific harmonics—a technique called
subtractive synthesis.
KB: Keyboard (Pitch Voltage)
VCO: Voltage Controlled Oscillator
VCF: Voltage Controlled Filter
EG: Envelope Generator
LFO: Low Frequency Oscillator
VCA: Voltage Controlled Amplifier
The Subractive Synthesis Model
11
The oscillators, filter, modulators, and other parts are connected in the most useful ways for producing
and modifying electronic signals that result in sounds. Unlike on a modular synthesizer, many connections between the Sub Phatty’s various parts are hardwired, meaning that it is not possible to change
the routing of the pathways that connect them.
The electrical signals within a synthesizer are either audio signals or control signals, depending on the
pathway they follow. Typically, an audio signal begins with an oscillator and passes through the filter
on its way to the audio output. Control signals are used to change things, like the pitch, timbre, waveshape, or loudness of an audio signal.
Any time a signal controls something, no matter whether it’s controlling an audio signal or another
control signal, we say that it modulates it. In synth-speak, you could say that a steering wheel modulates a car’s direction and the accelerator pedal modulates its speed. When you play the Sub Phatty’s
keyboard, the key you press modulates the instrument’s pitch. You can modulate filter cutoff by turning a knob manually, or you can apply a control signal from a low-frequency oscillator or envelope to
modulate it electronically. It’s worth noting that a control destination can be modulated by more than
one control source.
The diagram below illustrates how the Sub Phatty generates sound. It shows the flow of audio signals,
represented by solid lines, and control signals, represented by dotted lines.
VCO 1
SUB LVL
VCO 1
LVL
VCO 1 MOD
& CNTRL
PITCH 1 CV
& MOD
NOTE
SYNC
PITCH 2 CV
& MOD
OSC 1-2
SYNC
VCO 1
CORE
VCO 2
CORE
VCO 1
SUB
VCO 1
WAVE
VCO 2
WAVE
SUB 1
VCO 1
MIXER
VCO 2
FILT POLE
SELECT
LADDER
FILTER
MULTIDRIVE
MULTI-
DRIVE
VCA
H. PHONE
AUDIO
AUDIO
OUT
VCO 2 MOD
& CNTRL
VCO 2
LVL
NOISE
LVL
FILTER EG
CV & MOD
RESO-
NANCE
VCA EG
& CV
EXT AUDIO
LVL
NOISE
CORE
NOISE
EXT. AUDIO
EXT
AUD
You can control the Sub Phatty using control voltages and MIDI commands. When the Sub Phatty
receives either a control signal from the onboard keyboard or a Note On command from an external
MIDI source, it responds by sending a gate signal to trigger the envelopes and a control voltage (CV)
to control oscillator pitch. The envelopes respond by sending control signals to the amplifier and filter.
Every knob and button on the Sub Phatty transmits MIDI data. This functionality is useful for recording your knob turns and button presses into a computer-based DAW, as well as for controlling external
devices using the Sub Phatty’s front-panel controls. All the settings that make up a patch are called its
parameters, which is simply another name for settings.
12
OSCILLATORS
OVERVIEW
Oscillator 1 and oscillator 2 are the Sub Phatty’s primary
sound sources. They generate four basic waveforms:
triangle, sawtooth, square, and pulse.
The triangle wave consists of odd-numbered harmonics
only. Its fundamental is very strong, and its overtones are
very weak, making it less harmonically complex than other
waveforms. By mixing a triangle from one oscillator with
a more complex wave from the other, you can emphasize
one particular harmonic without mucking things up with
unwanted overtones.
An unfiltered sawtooth wave is much brighter, because
it contains all the natural harmonics. As the harmonics
ascend in frequency, they grow weaker in amplitude.
Sawtooth waves are useful for synthesizing bass,
simulating brass instruments, and more.
Although a pulse wave contains only odd-numbered
harmonics, it offers the most flexibility because you can
change the balance of those odd-numbered harmonics by
changing its shape. Think of a pulse-wave oscillator as a
switch you can turn off and on hundreds or thousands of
times per second. In a single pulse wave, the “switch” is
either on or off. Its pulse width is the proportion of the wave that’s on, usually expressed as a
percentage. A square wave is simply a pulse wave with 50% pulse width, meaning that in a single cycle,
it is on half the time and off half the time. If its frequency is 440Hz, that means it goes on and off 440
times every second, and the result you hear is the pitch A above middle C. Every pulse width has its
own characteristic sound, because each has a unique harmonic structure, making a variety of basic
timbres possible.
Unlike most synths, which simply switch between basic waveforms, the Sub Phatty allows you
to gradually change the oscillator’s output from one waveform to another, so it can generate
something partway between a sawtooth and a square wave, for example. We refer to such controls as
continuously variable because there are no discrete steps between settings.
In normal operation, either the keyboard or external MIDI data controls oscillator pitch. You can also
apply the LFO or the filter envelope to modulate oscillator pitch and waveform.
OSCILLATOR CONTROLS
OCTAVE : Use this knob to control either oscillator’s pitch range. Pitch range is expressed in feet, a
throwback to the age of pipe organs, when a pipe’s physical length determined its pitch. The Sub
Phatty’s O C TAVE knobs cover four pitch ranges corresponding to four octaves. The lowest setting is
16’, and the highest setting is 2’.
WAVE : Use this knob to vary either oscillator’s waveform from triangle to sawtooth to square to narrow
pulse wave. Turning the knob clockwise from the triangle to sawtooth position increases the oscillator’s
harmonic content. Continuing to turn it to the square-wave position weakens and then eliminates evennumbered harmonics while strengthening odd-numbered harmonics. Turning it from the square to
narrow-pulse position changes its harmonic content further by weakening the overtones relative to the
fundamental frequency.
13
OSCILLATOR CONTROLS CONT.
FREQUENCY: This knob is used to fine-tune oscillator 2’s pitch within its selected range. The knob’s
range is seven semitones higher or lower than its center position. At its center position, oscillator 2 is
tuned to oscillator 1. Turning it just slightly out of tune with oscillator 1 can yield interesting detuned
or phasing effects.
HARD SYNC OSC 2: This button locks oscillator 2’s phase to oscillator 1, eliminating any phase
differences between them. The HARD SYNC OSC 2 button illuminates when it’s engaged.
When both oscillators are in sync, every time that oscillator 1 begins a new cycle, it forces oscillator
2 to begin its cycle at the same instant, regardless of whether its previous cycle is complete. As a
result, hard sync forces oscillator 2’s waveform to take on a different shape—typically one with greater
harmonic complexity. Because oscillator 2 is in sync with oscillator 1, their combined harmonic content
depends on their pitch relationship, so that changing oscillator 2’s frequency will have an immediate
effect on timbre. For that reason, modulating oscillator 2’s frequency opens up some outstanding
waveshaping opportunities when HARD SYNC OSC 2 is engaged.
NOTE: If oscillator 1’s frequency is higher than oscillator 2’s, oscillator 2 will be unable to complete its
cycle, resulting in little or no output from oscillator 2.
TRY THIS
PATCH INITIALIZATION
1. Press the ACTIVATE PANEL button.
2. In the FI LTE R section, turn the CUTOFF knob all the way up, the EG AMOUNT knob to
center position, and the remaining knobs all the way down.
3. In the ENVELOPES section, turn the S U S TA I N knobs all the way up and the remaining
knobs all the way down.
4. Set the OCTAVE knobs for both oscillators to 16’ and center the OSCILLATOR section’s
remaining knobs. The HARD SYNC OSC 2 and PITCH AMT OSC 2 ONLY buttons should be
turned off.
5. In the MODULATION section, turn the LFO RATE to 8 and the remaining knobs all the way
down. Make sure the MOD wheel is turned all the way down, too.
6. Next to the PRESETS section, FINE TUNE and O C TAVE should be centered and GLIDE
RATE should be all the way down.
7. Finally, turn all the MIXER knobs fully counterclockwise.
When you play the keyboard with these settings, you shouldn’t hear anything. This procedure
initializes the front panel and gives you a starting place for creating your own patches and
exploring the Sub Phatty’s capabilities.
EXPLORE THE OSCILLATORS
After patch initialization, turn up the OSC 1 knob in the MIXER section. Listen carefully as you play
the keys while slowly turning oscillator 1’s WAVE knob to the triangle, sawtooth, square, and pulse
positions. Listen to what happens when you turn the WAVE knob quickly while playing.
Now turn up oscillator 2 in the mixer. While holding a key, turn oscillator 2’s FREQUENCY
knob to adjust its tuning relative to oscillator 1. Notice the varied effects of adjusting them
slightly out of tune, ranging from obvious beating between the pitches to mild phasing
between the slightly detuned oscillators.
If you turn the FREQUENCY knob all the way up, you’ll hear oscillator 2 tuned seven
semitones (an interval of a perfect 5th) higher than oscillator 1. If you turn it all the way down,
it will be seven semitones lower than oscillator 1. (For extra credit, try to tune them a major 3rd
and a perfect 4th apart, too.) Now tune the oscillators as close to unison as you can by turning
the knob to its center position again.
14
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