Novation Circuit Mono Station User manual
English
Novation
A division of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.
Windsor House,
Turnpike Road,
Cressex Business Park,
High Wycombe,
Bucks,
HP12 3FX.
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 1494 462246
Fax: +44 1494 459920
e-mail: sales@novationmusic.com
Web: www.novationmusic.com
Trademarks
The Novation trade mark is owned by Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. All other brand, product
and company names and any other registered names or trade marks mentioned in this manual
belong to their respective owners.
Disclaimer
Novation has taken all possible steps to ensure that the information given here is both correct and
complete. In no event can Novation accept any liability or responsibility for any loss or damage to
the owner of the equipment, any third party, or any equipment which may result from use of this
manual or the equipment which it describes. The information provided in this document may be
modied at any time without prior warning. Specications and appearance may differ from those
listed and illustrated.
COPYRIGHT AND LEGAL NOTICES
Novation and Circuit are trade marks of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited.
Circuit Mono Station is a trade mark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited.
2017 © Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited. All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT AND LEGAL NOTICES .......................................... 2
INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 6
Key Features ........................................................... 7
About This Manual ...................................................... 7
What’s In The Box ....................................................... 8
Registering your Circuit Mono Station........................................ 9
Power Requirements ..................................................... 9
Glossary ..............................................................10
HARDWARE OVERVIEW....................................................13
Top View – controls ......................................................13
Rear View – connectors ..................................................18
Front and side views .....................................................19
BASICS ................................................................ 20
Powering the unit on .................................................... 20
Getting started..........................................................21
The demo Sessions ..................................................21
Loading and Saving Sessions ......................................... 22
Synth section - basics ................................................... 26
Paraphonic voicing.................................................. 26
Tracks ............................................................ 27
Note View ......................................................... 27
Dual View ......................................................... 28
Expanded Note View ................................................ 29
Scales ............................................................... 30
Scale selection......................................................31
Root note ......................................................... 32
Selecting Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Patch Preview ..................................................... 34
Initial Patch........................................................ 34
Programming a Pattern .................................................. 35
Step editing ........................................................... 35
Deleting notes ..................................................... 36
Inserting notes ......................................................37
Other note alterations.................................................37
Clear and Duplicate......................................................37
Clearing Steps ......................................................37
Duplicating Steps ................................................... 38
Velocity, Gate and Glide ................................................. 38
Velocity........................................................... 38
Gate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Glide............................................................. 42
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The Modulation Sequencer............................................... 44
Smooth ........................................................... 45
Recording a Pattern in real time ........................................... 45
Pattern Settings........................................................ 46
Pattern direction .....................................................47
Pattern length.......................................................47
Pattern Sync Rate .................................................. 48
STORING PATTERNS ..................................................... 50
Patterns View ......................................................... 50
Clearing Patterns........................................................51
Duplicating Patterns .................................................... 52
Pattern Chains......................................................... 52
Pattern Octave ........................................................ 53
Mutate ............................................................... 54
TEMPO AND SWING...................................................... 55
Tempo ............................................................... 55
External clock...................................................... 55
Swing................................................................ 56
Swing sync .........................................................57
Automation of Knobs and Sliders .......................................... 58
SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL.................................................... 59
CIRCUIT MONO STATION –
SYNTHESISER SECTION ...................................................71
Sound modication ......................................................71
LED parameter indicators .............................................71
The Filter knob ......................................................71
Pitch and Mod wheels ................................................71
External control .....................................................71
Synthesiser Block Diagram ............................................... 72
The Oscillator section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Waveform ......................................................... 73
Pitch ............................................................. 73
Pulse Width ....................................................... 73
Oscillator Sync ......................................................74
The Sub Oscillator ...................................................74
Noise .............................................................74
The Ring Modulator ..................................................74
The Mixer section .......................................................75
External Input.......................................................76
The Filter section........................................................76
Filter Shape ....................................................... 77
Frequency ........................................................ 77
Filter Key Tracking .................................................. 78
Overdrive ......................................................... 79
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The Envelope section ................................................... 79
The LFO section ........................................................81
LFO Waveforms .....................................................81
LFO Rate ..........................................................81
LFO Sync ..........................................................81
The Modulation Matrix................................................... 82
Matrix assignment .................................................. 83
The Distortion section ................................................... 85
SYSTEM SETTINGS ...................................................... 86
MIDI I/O .............................................................. 86
MIDI Tx/ R x ........................................................ 86
MIDI Channel .......................................................87
Analogue Clock Rates ................................................87
Pot Pickup ........................................................ 88
SESSION SWITCHING .................................................... 89
Clearing Sessions .................................................. 89
APPENDIX .............................................................. 90
Firmware Updates ...................................................... 90
Bootloader Mode ................................................... 90
Initial Patch Parameters ..................................................91
Session loading problems................................................ 92
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INTRODUCTION
Thank you for purchasing this Novation Circuit Mono Station, the next-generation sequenced
monosynth. Circuit Mono Station is a powerful, but extremely compact electronic musical
instrument combining two established Novation products: the original Circuit groovebox and the
Bass Station II analogue synth. Circuit Mono Station gives you classic analogue synth sounds,
two interacting step sequencers plus a modulation sequencer and full automation of almost all
synth functions.
Circuit Mono Station has been designed to let you create music fast: you can create riffs,
patterns and longer sequences quickly and easily, with the fat and expansive sounds that
only true analogue sound generation can provide. It’s both a compositional tool and a live
performance instrument. You don’t need to connect Circuit Mono Station to a computer or other
device to make music – it’s completely standalone. If you’re working in the studio, Novation’s
superior sound quality means you can use Circuit Mono Station as the basis of your nished
track.
The playing grid is a set of 32 illuminated, velocity-sensitive rubber pads, which act as synth
keys, sequencer steps and have numerous other functions. The pads’ internal illumination is
intelligently RGB colour-coded*, so you can see at a glance what’s going on. You can assemble
patterns together into longer chains, and save your work in one of 32 session memories.
The synth section is reassuringly analogue: the controls - mostly a conventional and familiar
set of single-function rotaries and switches, are always available to tweak your sounds. A large
Filter control is positioned for easy access. There is a host of other quickly-accessible features:
a choice of musical scales, adjustable tempo, swing and velocity, a exible mod matrix and a
unique mixer section featuring internally-illuminated, colour-coded controls.
Circuit Mono Station also sends and receives standard MIDI data, so you can connect other
MIDI-compatible devices, synchronise with other drum machines or grooveboxes, or trigger
synths, for example. The USB connection also handles MIDI; this lets you connect Circuit Mono
Station to your computer so you can synchronise and record MIDI data to your DAW.
A Novation Circuit is the perfect accompaniment to Circuit Mono Station. Using the two units in
tandem gives you a complete solution to electronic music making either in the studio or in live
performance.
For additional information, up to date support articles and a form to contact our Technical
Support Team please visit the Novation Answerbase at:
www.novationmusic.com/answerbase
* RGB LED illumination means that each pad has internal red, blue and green LEDs, each of which can light at
different intensities. By combining the three colours at different brightness levels, almost any colour of illumination can
be achieved.
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Key Features
• Combines Bass Station II analogue synth with Circuit step sequencer
• 32-button multi-colour grid for playing and displaying information
• Split grid displays sequence steps and notes simultaneously
• 3-track sequencer: two oscillators plus modulation
• Velocity-sensitive pads
• Paraphonic operation allows the two oscillators to be independently sequenced
• 64 synth Patch memories, pre-loaded with factory sounds
• Tempo range from 40 to 240 BPM, plus tap-tempo mode
• 16 musical scales
• Adjustable Swing
• Patterns can be chained together
• Pattern Settings allow denition of rate, length and direction
• Two analogue oscillators with independent control of parameters
• Sub oscillator, noise generator and ring modulator
• Traditional multi-mode analogue lter section, with pre-lter overdrive control
• Analogue distortion with three modes
• Built-in mixer
• Selectable LFO sync rates including triplets
• 4 x 8 modulation matrix with Mod Depth control
• Clear and Duplicate functions
• Adjustable Note Velocity and Gate (Length)
• Line output (¼” jack)
• Separate headphone output
• USB port for MIDI data and rmware update
• MIDI In, Out and Thru
• CV and Gate outputs
• Assignable auxiliary CV Output
• External Audio Input
• External AC adaptor supplied
• Compatible with Novation Components: back up your sessions and patches on-line
About This Manual
We’ve tried to make this User Guide as helpful as possible for all types of user, both newcomers
to electronic music making and those with more experience, and this inevitably means some
users will want to skip over certain parts of it, while relative novices will want to avoid certain
parts of it until they’re condent they’ve mastered the basics.
Circuit Mono Station combines the technologies of two other Novation products – the Circuit
groovebox and the Bass Station II analogue synthesiser. For clarity, we have tried to keep
the descriptions of the sequencer and synthesiser parts of the unit separate, so after the
Introduction and Getting Started chapters, you’ll next nd a more detailed description of how to
use the sequencer aspects of Circuit Mono Station. As with other Novation synth User Guides,
we’ve then included a “Synthesis Tutorial” (see page 59) which explains the principles of
sound generation and treatment that are the foundation of all synthesisers. We think this will
be of help and interest to all users. Following this, we go into the synth section in full detail. We
hope this arrangement works for you.
There are a few general points that are useful to know about before you continue reading the
User Guide. We’ve adopted some graphical conventions within the text, which we hope all
types of user will nd helpful in navigating through the information to nd what they need to
know quickly:
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Abbreviations, conventions, etc.
Where top panel controls or rear panel connectors are referred to, we’ve used a number thus:
6
to cross-reference to the top panel diagram, and thus: 1 to cross-reference to the rear and
side panel diagrams. (See “Top View – controls” on page 13 and “Rear View – connectors”
on page 18).
We’ve used Bold text to name physical things – the top panel controls and rear panel
connectors, and smaller Bold italics to name the various Views that the grid can display.
Tips
These do what it says on the tin: we include bits of advice, relevant to the
topic being discussed that should simplify setting up Circuit Mono Station to
do what you want. It’s not mandatory that you follow them, but generally they
should make life easier.
Extra Info
These are additions to the text that will be of interest to the more advanced user
and can generally be avoided by the novice. They are intended to provide a
clarication or explanation of a particular area of operation.
What’s In The Box
Circuit Mono Station has been carefully packed in the factory and the packaging was designed
to withstand rough handling. Should the unit appear to have been damaged in transit, do not
discard any of the packing material and notify your music dealer.
If practical, save the packing materials for future use in case you ever need to ship the unit
again.
Please check the list below against the contents of the packaging. If any items are missing or
damaged, contact the Novation dealer or distributor where you purchased the unit.
• Novation Circuit Mono Station sequenced monosynth
• USB Type A to Type B cable (1.5 m)
• 3 x MIDI break-out cables: 3.5 mm 3-pole jack plug to 5-pin DIN socket
• Getting Started Guide, including Product/software Registration details
• Safety information sheet
• AC adaptor: 12 V DC, 1.25 A; includes interchangeable AC plug adaptors
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Registering your Circuit Mono Station
It is important to register your Circuit Mono Station on-line using the Product/software
Registration details at Step 4 of the Getting Started Guide. Apart from validating your
manufacturer’s warranty, you will also then be able to download the additional software that you
are entitled to as a Circuit Mono Station purchaser:
• Ableton Live Lite music making software
• 1 GB of Loopmasters sounds and samples
The registration details also contain codes you will need to enter in the online forms on our
website to download the software, but before you attempt to do this, warranty registration is
required.
Power Requirements
Circuit Mono Station should be powered from AC mains via the AC adaptor supplied. It cannot
be powered from a computer or other device via a USB connection.
The AC adaptor supplied with the unit is a 12 V DC, 1.25 A type, and can operate on mains
voltages from 100 V to 240 V, 50 or 60 Hz. The adaptor has interchangeable slide-in AC plug
heads; two alternative plug heads are supplied which make the adaptor compatible with AC
outlets in many different countries. Plug heads can be easily swapped if necessary by pressing
the spring-loaded semi-circular button in the centre of the adaptor and sliding the plug head
upwards to separate it from the adaptor body. Then slide in the correct plug head (as shown by
the arrows), ensuring that it locks rmly in place.
The cable from the AC adaptor connects to the coaxial DC input socket on the rear panel of
Circuit Mono Station ( 9 on “Rear View – connectors” on page 18).
The use of AC adaptors of a type other than that supplied is not recommended. Please contact
your Novation dealer for advice on alternative PSUs if necessary.
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Glossary
Some of the terms used in this manual have a specic meaning as applied to Circuit Mono
Station. Here is a short list:
Term Button Denition
When the sequencer is running, the “current” note is
Cursor
Dual View Osc 1 + Osc 2
Expand View Shift + Note
Fixed Shift + Velocity
Gate View Gate
Glide View Shift + Gate
Global View A View that allows editing of a whole Session.
Grid pad
Init Session
Key Tracking Shift + Osc 1
Live Record Record
Manual Step Entry
Modulation
Sequence
Mutate Mutate
Mod Seq
indicated by one pad illuminated white: this Step, the
current position in the pattern, is referred to as the
cursor.
Splits the playing grid so that you can access both
Oscillators simultaneously.
Doubles the number of performance pads from 16
to 32, increasing the pitch range from two to four
octaves.
Allows the velocity response of the grid pads to be
disabled.
The Gate value of a note is how many steps it
sounds for. Gate View allows the length of a step to
be edited.
A Glide time may be associated with the notes at
each Step: consecutive notes will glide in pitch
between each other, as dened by the Glide time.
One of the 32 pads making up the main
performance area.
The “empty” Session that will be loaded on power-
up if you hold down Shift + Clear while pressing the
Power button.
A View that allows you to link the Filter frequency to
the pitch of the note.
Lets you add synth notes in real time while a pattern
is playing. Also records any movements of the synth
knobs and sliders.
Assignment of synth notes to specic step in
a pattern. With a step pad pressed, press the
performance pad for the note to be added. Can be
done with the sequencer either running or stopped.
A virtual Track: instead of note data, it carries perstep control parameter data which is available to the
Modulation Matrix as a source.
A single press of Mutate will randomly re-sequence
the Notes making up a Pattern. Per-Note properties
such as Gate and Glide are retained.
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Term Button Denition
Note View Note
The View that is used to assign synth notes to
pattern steps.
Paraphonic Mode 1 Shift + Scales Normal mode (default): Only Osc 1 triggers the VCA.
Paraphonic Mode 2 Both Osc 1 and Osc 2 trigger the VCA.
A specic synth “sound”: dened by a set of values
Patch
for all synth parameters. There are 64 Patch
memories, pre-loaded with factory Patches.
Patch View Patches
A Global View which allows synth Patches to be
loaded or saved.
A repeating cycle of synth notes of up to 16 steps,
Pattern
associated with one of the three Tracks. Includes
data for velocity, gate, length and automation.
Pattern Chain
A cyclic set of Patterns played continuously one
after the other.
A View that allows editing of a Pattern. The Pattern's
Pattern Edit View
steps are always visible in these views. Note,
Velocity, Gate, Glide and Pattern Settings View are
all Pattern Edit Views.
Pattern memory Where a Pattern is stored.
Pattern Settings
View
Pattern
Settings
Patterns View Patterns
Performance Pad
A Pattern Edit View that allows the user to edit the
length of a pattern for any Track, set the playback
direction and sync rate.
A Global View which allows Patterns to be loaded or
saved.
The grid pads used to enter synth notes in Note
View or Expand View.
In playback, the white pad which moves through the
Playback Cursor
pattern display, indicating which step is currently
being played. Changes to red in Record Mode.
Playback Mode
Circuit’s operating mode with the sequencer
running; the Play button will be lit bright green.
An operating mode allowing synth notes to be added
Record Mode
to the Pattern. The Record button will be lit bright
red.
Scale View Scales
Allows the user to select one of 16 musical scales.
Also allows transposition of the keyboard.
A set of all necessary data for full playback of
Session
all tracks, including Patches, Patterns, Chains,
automation data, etc. Up to 32 Sessions can be
saved in ash memory.
Sessions View Sessions The View used to save and load Sessions.
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Term Button Denition
Allows control of MIDI clock and TX / RX settings.
Setup Page Shift + Power
Normal operation is suspended while the Setup
Page is open.
Applies to the Modulation Sequence: interpolates
between successive assigned values to produce a
gradual transition.
Smooth
Shift + Mod
Seq
By default, each Pattern is subdivided into 16 Steps:
Step
the number of steps may be adjusted in Pattern
Settings View.
Step buttons
Stop Mode
Swing Shift + Tempo
Collective name for the button group comprising the
Note, Velocity, and Gate buttons.
Circuit’s operating mode when the sequencer is not
running.
Adds a subtle variation to the tempo: alternate notes
are shifted in time.
Swing Sync Shift + Tap Sets a range parameter for the Swing control.
The upper section of the top panel: a set of controls
Synth Controls
for the standard sections of an analogue synth, such
as Oscillator, Filter, Envelope, etc.
Tracks
Three Tracks are supported – Oscillator 1, Oscillator
2 and the Modulation Sequence.
Velocity View Velocity Allows editing of the velocity of a step.
View
One of various ways the 32 grid pads can be used to
display information and allow user interaction.
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HARDWARE OVERVIEW
Top View – controls
20 29 4021 22
2
1
39
18
19
16
3
23
25
17
27
5
8
6
7
24
26
30 31
28
131212
4
38
3334
32
35
37
36
5
15
9
10
11
Master controls:
1
Volume – controls the overall level at the audio outputs.
2
Tempo – lets you set the BPM (tempo) of the sequence. Hold down Shift to re-assign it as a
Swing control, which will alter the timing between steps to change the ‘feel’ of a pattern.
3
Tap – lets you set the tempo “manually”, by tapping the button. Hold Shift and press Tap to
open Swing Sync View.
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Grid controls:
4
32-pad playing grid – a 4 x 8 matrix of rubber pads; internally illuminated with RGB LEDs.
Many Views ‘split’ the grid horizontally into two 2 x 8 matrixes, but some divide it into logical
areas with different functions.
Most of the remaining buttons switch the 32-pad grid into a specic View. Each View provides
information about and control of a particular aspect of the Track, Pattern, timing, etc.
Most buttons have both a momentary (long press) and a latching (short press) mode. A long
press will temporarily display that button’s View, but only while the button is held down. When
released the View will revert to whatever it was before the button was pressed. A short press on
a button will switch the View to that programmed into the button.
Additionally, many of the buttons have a second “Shift” function: in all cases, the name of the
shifted function is silkscreened on the top panel immediately above the button.
5
Track buttons: Osc 1/Osc 2/Mod Seq – three buttons selecting which of the three Tracks
will have their attributes displayed. Osc 1 and Osc 2 may be pressed simultaneously to enter
Dual View, which allows the notes for both oscillators to be played from the same View.
6
STEP buttons: Note, Velocity & Gate – these switch the grid to Note, Velocity and Gate
View respectively, and allow the parameters of each step of the pattern to be individually
entered, deleted or modied.
Pattern Settings
7
: selects a View that allows adjustment of pattern length and sync rate,
play direction and start and end points.
8
Scales – this button allows the selection of one of sixteen different music scales for the
synth keyboard, and also lets you transpose the synth keyboard to a higher or lower key.
9
Patterns – opens a View where you can store multiple Patterns for each Track: sixteen for
Oscillator 1 and eight each for Oscillator 2 and the Modulation Sequence. You can then join
them together to make a Pattern Chain.
10
Patches – this View is where you store your Synth Patches. There are 64 Patch memories,
all of which come pre-loaded with factory sounds. Use the Oct J and Oct K buttons to select
two pages (each of 32 Patches).
11
Play and Record– these two buttons start and stop the sequence (Play) and enter
Record mode (Record). In Play mode anything you play on the grid will be heard; in Record
mode, anything you play will be heard and also added to the sequence.
12
Oct J and Oct K – these let you shift the playing pads’ pitch up by one to ve octaves
or down by one to six octaves. The pitch range of each of the two oscillators is adjustable
independently. Press both buttons together to restore the pads’ pitch to normal (i.e., based on
middle C).
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13
Clear – allows deletion of individual Pattern Steps, Patches, Patterns, Sessions or
automation data.
14
Save and Sessions – let you save your current Session, or open a previously-saved one.
You can also use Save to store Patches independently from Sessions.
15
Shift – several of the buttons (and two of the rotary controls) have a “second function”,
which is accessed by holding down the Shift button while pressing the button or knob in
question:
Button/knob Shifted action Shifted function
8 Scales
Note Expand
6
Velocity Fixed
Gate Glide
Pattern
7
Settings
13 Clear Duplicate
Osc 1 Key Tracking
5
Osc 2 Osc Sync Allows Osc 1’s waveform to retrigger Osc 2’s
Mod Seq Smooth
Paraphonic
mode
Switches between Paraphonic Modes 1 and 2
Opens Expand View; doubles the size of the
playing area
Assigns a xed velocity value to each note in a
Pattern
Opens Glide View: allows a glide value to be
assigned to each Step
Mutate Randomizes the Steps in the current Pattern
Operates like a copy-and-paste function for
Patterns or Steps.
Causes the lter frequency to track the pitch of
the note being played
Modies the action of the Modulation Sequence
Track
2 Tempo Swing Time-shifts alternate notes in the Pattern
3 Tap Swing Sync Applies a range parameter to Swing
19 Fine Pulse Width Alters waveform duty cycle for Pulse waveforms
12
Oct J, Oct K
Pattern Octave
Allows the octave of a Pattern to be shifted after
recording
27 Audio In Audio In Gain Adjusts the gain of the external audio input
10 Patches* Init Patch
Pattern (within
Pattern View)
Instant Pattern
Switching
Loads Init Patch: resets all synth parameters to a
default state
A new Pattern will begin playing immediately
instead of waiting for the current Pattern to nish.
* available on software versions 1.1 or later.
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Synth controls:
Apart from the MASTER section, the upper half of Circuit Mono Station’s control surface has
the controls for the mono synth engine.
OSCILLATORS section:
Range
16
– steps through the base pitch ranges of the oscillator selected by Osc 1 or
Osc 2 5 in octaves. For standard concert pitch (A3 = 440 Hz), set to 8’.
Waveform
17
– steps through the range of available oscillator waveforms – sine, triangular,
sawtooth and pulse.
Coarse
18
19
Fine – adjusts the oscillator pitch over a range of ±100 cents (±1 semitone).
– adjusts the pitch of the selected oscillator over a range of ±1 octave.
LFO section:
20
Rate – adjusts the frequency of the LFO.
Wave
21
– this button steps through the available LFO waveforms: triangle, sawtooth,
square, sample and hold. The associated LED gives a visual indication of the LFO speed and
waveform.
Sync
22
– press to synchronise the LFO rate to the current tempo clock (internal or external).
35 different sync rate divisions are available: use the Rate control 20 to select one.
MIXER section:
23
Osc 1 – controls level of Oscillator 1’s waveform.
24
Osc 2 – controls level of Oscillator 2’s waveform.
Sub – controls level of the Sub Oscillator signal.
25
Noise – controls the level of white noise added to the sound.
26
Audio In – level control of the signal applied at the rear panel AUDIO IN connector 2.
27
Ring 1*2 – sets the output level of the Ring Modulator circuit: the inputs to the Ring
28
Modulator are Osc 1 and Osc 2.
ENVELOPE section:
A set of four faders adjusting the usual ADSR Envelope parameters (Attack, Decay,
29
Sustain and Release).
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FILTER section:
30
Shape – this button steps through three lter characteristics: low-pass (LP), band-pass (BP)
or high-pass (HP).
31
Slope – toggles between two lter slopes: sets the slope of lter outside the passband to
12dB or 24dB per octave.
Frequency – large rotary knob controlling the lter’s cut-off frequency (LP or HP), or its
32
centre frequency (BP).
Resonance – adds resonance (an increased response at the lter frequency) to the lter
33
characteristic.
Overdrive – adds a degree of pre-lter distortion to the mixer output.
34
Bypass – By default, the lter affects all components of the synth’s sound, but its effect on
35
the Osc 2 and Noise signals may be overridden with the Bypass button, which steps through
the two sources both individually and together.
DISTORTION section:
36
Type – distortion is applied after the lter section. This button steps through three distortion
types (I, II and III). Type I produces the distortion used in Bass Station II, Type II is a fuzz type
distortion. Type III is a combination of the two.
37
Level –adjusts the amount of distortion.
MODU L ATI O N M ATRI X:
38
Source – this button steps through the four modulation sources available to the matrix: the
Envelope generator (Env), the LFO (LFO), the Modulation Sequencer (Seq) and velocity (Vel).
39
Destination – six buttons selecting the eight modulation destinations: Pitch and PWM
(Pulse Width Modulation) refer to the two main oscillators, the colour of the internal LED
indicating which oscillator is currently selected by the Track buttons 5. Other destinations are
VCA Level (Amp), Filter frequency (Filter), distortion amount (Dist) and the level of the Aux CV
output (Aux CV).
Depth – adjusts the degree of modulation applied to the selected destination by the
40
selected source. Note that matrix settings are additive: you can apply any combination of
sources to any combination of destinations, with different Depth settings.
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Rear View – connectors
1236 47 58910
1
LINE OUT – the main (mono) audio output on a ¼” TRS jack socket. Max. output level is
+10.5 dBu. The output is pseudo-balanced (ground compensated) and may be connected to
equipment with either balanced or unbalanced inputs.
2
AUDIO IN – a line level input allowing an external audio signal to be added to Circuit Mono
Station’s output (via Mixer level control 27).
3
MIDI IN, OUT and THRU – MIDI connectors on three 3.5 mm TRS jack sockets. Use the
break-out cables supplied to convert these to the industry-standard 5-pin DIN sockets.
4
CLOCK OUT – a 3.5 mm TRS jack socket supplying a clock signal of 5 V amplitude, at a
rate proportional to the tempo clock: the actual ratio can be set in Settings View. The default
rate is one pulse per quarter note.
5
CLOCK IN – a 3.5 mm TRS jack socket for an external clock source. Each pulse applied
advances the sequence by a quarter note. Voltage range: -0.5 V to +5.5 V. Logic ‘low’: <1 V,
Logic ‘High’: >2.3 V.
6
NOTE OUT – two 3.5 mm TRS jack sockets carrying Control Voltage (CV) and GATE
signals derived from Osc 1’s sequence for driving compatible external equipment. The CV
output is scaled at 1 V per octave and the GATE output 5 V amplitude.
7
AUX CV – a secondary CV output (+5 V to -5 V on a 3.5 mm TRS jack socket) whose
source may be assigned in the Modulation Matrix.
8
– Type B USB 2.0 port. A Type B-to-Type A cable is supplied with the unit. The port
is MIDI class compliant; connect to computers and other devices supporting MIDI via USB to
transmit and receive MIDI data. Also used for rmware updates. Note – Circuit Mono Station’s
USB port does not carry either DC power or audio.
9
– power input socket. Circuit Mono Station requires 12 V DC at 1 A. Connect the AC
adaptor supplied to this coaxial socket.
10
POWER – “soft” on/off switch; to prevent inadvertent power up/down, a press of approx. half
a second is needed to turn the unit on or off.
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Front and side views
12
11
11
(Headphones) – connect a pair of stereo headphones to this 3.5 mm TRS jack socket.
The headphone amplier can drive +10.5 dBu into 150 ohms.
12
Kensington security slot – secure your Circuit Mono Station to a suitable structure if desired.
Please see http://www.kensington.com/kensington/us/us/s/1704/kensington-security-slot.aspx
for further information on how to use this feature.
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BASICS
Powering the unit on
Circuit Mono Station must be powered from the supplied AC adaptor. Connect the adaptor to
the DC input socket 10 and plug the adaptor into the AC mains.
Connect the main output to a monitoring system (powered speaker or a separate amplier and
passive monitor) or, if your prefer, plug in a pair of headphones at the front of the unit.
Long-press the Power button 10 to turn Circuit Mono Station on: this will re-load the Session
that was in use last time the unit was on. The rst time you power the unit “out of the box”, this
will be Session 1, which is the rst of the 16 demo Sessions that were loaded at the factory (see
“Getting started” on page 21).
Circuit Mono Station always starts up in Note View, with Osc 1 selected as the displayed Track.
The grid display will look something like this:
Blinking Cyan/White
Pad
You can override the automatic re-loading of the previous Session at power-
up by holding down the Shift and Clear buttons while pressing the Power
button*. This will load the Init Patch instead.
* on software versions 1.1 or later
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Getting started
We’ve pre-loaded 16 demo Sessions into the Session memories to give you an idea of how
Circuit Mono Station works. Press the Play button 11; you should hear the rst demo
Session.
If it’s not already lit, press the Osc 1 button 5; Circuit Mono Station is now displaying
Note View for Oscillator 1. The two upper rows – the synth pads - show the notes that Osc 1
is contributing to the sequence, while the two lower rows – the sequencer steps - show the
progression through the Pattern. You can see the contributions made by Osc 2 by pressing
the Osc 2 button. Note that the notes of Osc 1 are coded purple and those of Osc 2 green;
when the Pattern includes a synth note, the pad corresponding to the note changes to white.
Similarly, the sequencer pads are pale blue, but turn white as the “play cursor” moves through
the sequence. Note that the demo Sessions are Pattern Chains – several 16-step Patterns
sequenced together. You can change the tempo with the Tempo control 2.
If you press the Mod Seq button, the Modulation Sequencer View opens, and you will be able to
see how this “virtual” track has been programmed to produce the sonic effects you are hearing.
Press the Play button to stop.
You can listen to other demo Sessions by pressing Sessions 14 and selecting any other pad
on the upper two rows of the grid (each pad in Sessions View represents a Sessions Memory
location).
The demo Sessions
We recommend that you work through the factory demo Sessions, which have been designed
specically to illustrate the various features available in Circuit Mono Station for sound and
Pattern creation. Select different Sessions and spend some time listening to them: we are sure
you will be both impressed by the range of sonic possibilities and curious as to how Circuit
Mono Station was programmed to create them.
First, while playing a Session, select Patterns View (press Patterns 9) to see how multiple
Patterns are chained together for each Track. You can select individual Patterns and listen to
them in isolation, and also turn down the level controls in the Mixer Section to get an idea of
what each Track (and other sources) is contributing to the overall sound. Use the Osc 1, Osc 2
and Mod Seq buttons as described above to see the contributions of individual Tracks.
Note that auditioning just one Pattern of a Pattern Chain effectively cancels the selection of its
“parent” Session, but you can reselect the Session by returning to Sessions View and pressing
its pad again.
By pressing Velocity, Gate 6, Scales 8 or Pattern Settings 7, you can see further Views
which will allow you to see how each of these settings has been programmed or congured
to create what you are hearing. You can also see which Patch was used as the basis for the
Session by pressing Patches 10.
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You should also observe the LEDs associated with the various synth controls: with most of the
demo Sessions, you will see these changing in brightness as the Session plays, indicating that
the controls were adjusted in real time as the Patterns were programmed. This is Circuit Mono
Station’s Automation at work - a very powerful feature.
Later in the manual, we explain in detail how each of these Pattern and synth features can be
programmed or congured.
Loading and Saving Sessions
When you power Circuit Mono Station on, the Session played will be the last one used when it
was powered off. The rst time you power it on out of the box, it will play Session 1, which will
contain one of the demos described above.
To load a different Session, you use Sessions View. Press Sessions 14 to open this:
Each pad corresponds to one of the memory slots. The pad’s colour indicates the slot’s status:
• Dim blue – slot is empty
• Bright blue – slot contains either a Session saved by the user or a factory demo Session.
(Note that bright blue is the default – you can change the colour to help identify saved
sessions – see the following page.)
• White – the currently selected Session (only one pad will be white)
If you’re still experimenting, you can select a different factory demo to listen to and play around
with. You can jump between saved Sessions while in Play mode.
Sessions loaded when the sequencer is not running will play at the tempo
that was in force when the Session was saved.
Sessions loaded while the sequencer is running will play at the tempo that is
currently set. This means that you can recall different Sessions sequentially
with the condence that the tempo will remain constant.
There’s nothing special about the slots containing factory demo Sessions: you can overwrite
these if you wish.
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IMPORTANT – ENABLING SAVE
By now you will probably have read the Getting Starting Guide shipped with your
Circuit Mono Station, so will be aware that Session Saving is disabled, but in case you
haven’t, we’re repeating it here:
The Save function is deliberately disabled before shipping from the factory to prevent
accidental erasure of the demo Sessions. The Save button 14 will initially be unlit,
and before you can save any Sessions of your own, you will need to unlock the Save
function. To do this, hold down the Shift 15 and Save buttons together while powering
Circuit Mono Station on. Save will now be illuminated blue.
You can choose to disable Save in the same way – hold down Shift and Save while
powering Circuit Mono Station on, and the Save button will no longer be illuminated,
indicating that the Save function is now disabled.
Note also that the Clear Session function is also disabled when Save is disabled.
You don’t need to be in Sessions View to save a Session you’ve been working on. If you press
Save 14, the button ashes white; if you press it a second time, it blinks green rapidly for a
second or so to conrm the save process. However, in this case, your work will be saved in the
last selected Session memory, which will most likely be the one that held an earlier version; the
earlier version will be overwritten.
To save your work in a different Session memory (leaving the original version unchanged),
enter Sessions View. Press Save; both Save and the pad for the currently selected Session will
ash white. Press a different memory pad: all the other pads will go dark, and the selected pad
will blink green rapidly for a second or so to conrm the save process.
You can also assign a different colour to any of the pads in Session View – this can be a great
help in live performance. You choose the colour as part of the Save procedure described
above. After pressing Save for the rst time, the Oct J and Oct K buttons 12 will light in the
current colour of the pad for the currently selected Session: if you’ve not already changed the
colour, they will be blue. You can now scroll through a palette of 14 colours by pressing the
Oct J and Oct K buttons. When you see the colour you want, press Save for the second time
to complete the Save process, with green ashes as described above. Note that because you
always save to the currently selected Session memory, and the pad for that is always white,
you won’t immediately see the new colour, but you will do so as soon as you select a different
Session.
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Starting from Scratch
Once you’ve experimented with the factory demos for a while, you will probably want to create a
Pattern from scratch.
Select Sessions and select an empty memory slot. Now select Note View and Osc 1. When
you press Play you’ll see the white pad (the play cursor) progressing across the 16 steps of
the Pattern display. Now you can add synth notes. The upper two rows of the grid represent a
music keyboard, the lower two show you where you are in the sequence. When Play is pressed,
you can see the white pad progressing through the steps.
With all scales except Chromatic (see “Scales” on page 30), the grid display looks like this:
Synth keyboard
PLAY
Pattern display
The “keyboard” is two octaves, with the purple pads representing the lowest and highest notes
in each. You can add synth notes in real time by just playing them, or you can add them to
the pattern by pressing Record 11. While the Record button is lit, anything you play will
become part of the pattern.The synth sound you’ll hear when you’ve selected an empty Session
will always be Patch 1.
The Oct K and Oct J buttons alter the pitch range of the currently selected synth keyboard, by
one octave each time they are pressed, up to a maximum of ve octaves above or six octaves
below the default octave. The lowest note in the default octave corresponds to ‘middle C’ on a
standard piano keyboard (providing that different root note for the scale has not been dened –
see “Root note” on page 32).
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For a conventional piano keyboard, press and hold Scales 8 and then press
Pad 32 (the bottom right one), which will turn red. This gives the keyboard
Chromatic scaling, and the layout differs from that in the other scales:
C# D# F# G# A#
Synth keyboard
C D
PLAY
E F G A B C
Pattern display
Chromatic scaling offers all twelve notes in the octave; to accommodate them, the
keyboard “size” is reduced to one octave.
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Synth section - basics
The two synth oscillators – Osc 1 and Osc 2 - have distinctive RGB colour coding for the
pads, which is reected in other Views and in LEDs elsewhere on the control panel, so you
always know which oscillator is being adjusted. Osc 1 uses purple and Osc 2 uses green. On
the playing pads, the high and low C notes in each octave show a different shade than the
intermediate keys.
Paraphonic voicing
A fundamental feature of Circuit Mono Station’s operation is its paraphonic voicing. This means
that the two Oscillators share the synth’s VCA, envelope generator and lter, and can play at
different pitches, but can only be heard together when the envelope is “open”.
SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM
SHOWING PARAPHONIC MODE SWITCH.
Osc 1
Osc 2
Pitch
Pitch
Trig
Trig
Mixer
Pre-Filter
Distortion
PARAPHONIC MODE SWITCH
VCF
Mode 2
Mode 1
Post-Filter
Distortion
VCA
Trig
In normal (default) operation only Oscillator 1 triggers the VCA. We call this mode Paraphonic
Mode 1, and it is the mode you will use when playing Circuit Mono Station in live performance
or for recording. This mode is conrmed by the Scales button 8 being lit dimly white when
Shift 15 is pressed. In Paraphonic Mode 1, every note played on the keys triggers both
Oscillators, but the VCA is triggered only by Oscillator 1. The contribution that each oscillator
makes to the overall sound can be heard provided the Osc 1 and Osc 2 level controls (23 and
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) are turned up in the Mixer Section, and the pitch and waveform of each oscillator can be
adjusted independently.
The important point about Paraphonic Mode 1 is that because it is Oscillator 1 that triggers the
VCA, Oscillator 2 will only be heard when a note in Oscillator 1’s Pattern is of sufcient duration
to trigger the VCA. This point is illustrated below:
Osc 1
Osc 2
This note will be heard fully
because Osc 1 has triggered
the VCA
This note will not be heard as the
VCA is not being triggered
PARAPHONIC MODE 1
TIME
Only the start of this note will be
heard because the release phase
of Osc 1’s note will close the envelope
before Osc 2’s note has completed
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When creating Patterns, it is obviously helpful to be able to hear each Oscillator’s contribution
while programming. For this reason, Circuit Mono Station has a secondary mode, Paraphonic
Mode 2. This is selected by pressing Shift 15 and Scales 8 together: the Scales button will
now illuminate bright white. In this mode, Oscillator 2 triggers the VCA as well as Oscillator 1, so
you can turn the Osc 1 Mixer level control down and hear all the notes in Oscillator 2’s Pattern.
Tracks
Each of Circuit Mono Station’s two Oscillators constitutes a Track. As described above, the
notes recorded on each Oscillator Track will be interdependent to a degree.
There is also a third “virtual” Track, the Modulation Sequencer. You can use this “data”
Track to record a parameter value for every Step in the Pattern. This can then be selected
in the synth’s Modulation Matrix to control any of the matrix’s controllable parameters, such
as oscillator pitch, pulse width, lter frequency and so on. More details can be found at “The
Modulation Sequencer” on page 44.
Programming the Modulation Sequencer Track (referred to elsewhere in this Guide as
Mod Seq) is a very similar process to programming other per-Step attributes, such as Gate
length, Velocity and Glide. A really powerful feature of Circuit Mono Station though, is that you
can make the Mod Seq data available to other compatible equipment (e.g. Eurorack modules)
with the Aux CV output. These topics are all covered in greater detail further on in this Guide.
Note View
To play a synth in real time, press the Osc 1 Part button 5 and then Note 6. This places the
grid in Note View for Osc 1. Note will illuminate purple. The upper two rows of the grid constitute
the synth keyboard, while the two lower rows show steps the 16-note pattern. Note these are
always illuminated pale blue, apart from the “current” step, which ashes white.
Osc 1 selected
Osc 1
Osc 1
Mod SeqOsc 2
Mod SeqOsc 2
Oct J
Oct J
Oct K
Oct K
Clear
Clear
Save Sessions
Save Sessions
Osc 1 keyboard
PLAY
Pattern display
In order to hear the notes from Oscillator 1, ensure that the Osc 1 level control in the Mixer
section 23 is turned up.
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The corresponding Note View for Oscillator 2 can be obtained by pressing the Osc 2 Part
button 5:
Osc 2 selected
Osc 1
Osc 1
PLAY
Mod SeqOsc 2
Mod SeqOsc 2
Oct J
Oct J
Oct K
Oct K
Osc 2 keyboard
Pattern display
Clear
Clear
Save Sessions
Save Sessions
The Osc 2 level control in the Mixer section 24 must be turned up and Paraphonic mode 2
selected (by pressing Shift + Scales) in order for Oscillator 2’s notes to be audible. Note that
the Scales button is illuminated bright white when Mode 2 is active.
With the exception of the Chromatic scale (see Scales, page 30), the top row of playing pads
contains notes one octave above those in the second row. The highest note of the lower octave
(Pad 16) is the always the same as the lowest note of the upper octave (Pad 1). Thus to play
the notes over two octaves in ascending order, start with Pads 9 to 16, then 1 to 8.
When Circuit Mono Station is powered up and an empty or new Session selected, Middle C
will normally be the lowest note of the two octave keyboard (Pad 9). It is possible to alter the
keyboard ‘layout’ so that the bottom note is something other than C – see page 30. The
oscillators have a total range of 12 octaves; you can access higher or lower pairs of octaves by
using the Oct J and Oct K buttons 12. Note that at the highest and lowest octave settings,
the ‘size’ of the keyboard is limited.
Dual View
If you press both Osc 1 and Osc 2 together, Circuit Mono Station enters Dual View. This lets
you access a two-octave keyboard for both Oscillators simultaneously, which is great for
getting to grips with the unit’s paraphonic potential in real time.
Osc 1
Osc 1
Dual
Mod SeqOsc 2
Mod SeqOsc 2
Osc 1 keyboard
Osc 2 keyboard
Pressing Note returns the grid to Note View.
Oct J
Oct J
Oct K
Oct K
Clear
Clear
Save Sessions
Save Sessions
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