Mutable Instruments Marbles Quick Start

Marbles

Random sampler

About Marbles

Marbles is all about randomness – generation of random

events, or randomization of external CV/Gate signals. The
module is organized as three sections: the t section gen­erates and processes clocks and triggers, the X section
generates and processes voltages, and the DEJA VU section
imposes structure, in the form of repetition, upon all the
events generated by the two other sections.

Installation

Marbles requires a -12V/+12V power supply (2x5 pin con­nector). The red stripe of the ribbon cable (-12V side) must
be oriented on the same side as the “Red stripe” marking on
the module and on your power distribution board.

The module draws 80mA from the +12V rail, and 20mA from
the -12V rail.

Online manual and help

The full manual can be found online at

mutable-instruments.net/modules/marbles/manual

For help and discussions, head to

mutable-instruments.net/forum

Please refer to the online manual for detailed infor­mation regarding compliance with EMC directives

Marbles’ recipe for random music

1. Start with a clock – generated internally or divided/mul-

tiplied from an external clock signal.

2. If required, add some jitter to it, from slight humaniza-

tion to complete chaos.

3. Split this randomized clock into two streams of random

triggers to generate two contrasting rhythmic patterns
complementing the main clock.

4. Generate three random voltages in sync with the rhyth-

mic patterns obtained at the previous step.

5. Transform the random voltages to spread them further
apart, or concentrate them around a specific voltage.

6. Add a pinch of lag-processing to obtain smooth random
modulations... or quantization to get random tunes.

Steps 1 to 3 are handled by the left half of the module, the
random rhythms being generated on the outputs labelledt.
In your Eurorack system such duties might have been per­formed by modules like Grids and Branches.

Steps 4 to 6 are handled by the right half of the module, the
random voltages being generated on the outputs labelledX.
A large number of modules would be necessary to patch
this functionality: a triple noise source and sample&hold,
waveshapers, quantizers, and lag processors.

And now let’s take it further: what if everything the module
did could be controlled by a slowly evolving or lockable loop,
like with Music Thing’s Turing Machine? That’s what the
DEJA VU section is for.

Time to dive into the details!

E

D

B

1

2

3

A

C

t Generator

The t generator produces random gates by generating a
jittery master clock (which is output on t2) and deriving from
it two streams of random gates which are output on t1 and t3.

A. Clock rate. 120 BPM at 12 o’clock.
B. Clock range. Divides or multiplies the clock rate by 4.
C. Amount of randomness in the clock timing - perfect-

ly stable, then simulating an instrumentalist lagging and
catching up, then... complete chaos.

D. Controls whether gates are more likely to occur on t

t3. Several methods are available for splitting the master

clock into t1 and t3, selected by the button [E].

A coin is tossed at every pulse of t2, to decide whether

the pulse is passed to t1 or t3. BIAS controls the fairness of
the coin toss.

t1 and t are generated by respectively multiplying and

dividing t2 by a random ratio. Turn the BIAS knob fully clock­wise or counter-clockwise to reach more extreme ratios.

the triggers alternate between t1 and t3, following the

same kind of regularity as kick/snare drum patterns.

1. BIAS, RATE (with V/O scaling) and JITTER CV inputs.

2. External clock input. The clock signal patched in this

input replaces the internal clock. In this case, the RATE knob
and CV input are re-purposed as a division/multiplication
control, and the jitter setting is applied to the external clock.

3. Gate outputs. Hold the button [E] and turn BIAS to adjust

the gate length from 1% to 99%, or JITTER to adjust the
gate length randomization (from deterministic to completely
random).

1

or