Mini Button Names and Locations
Besides the two big glowing buttons in the Deja Vu section of the module, there are 5 small but important buttons on Marbles, they are, from left to right:
BIAS TYPE: sets the BIAS type, or hold to adjust GATE LENGTH and GATE LENGTH RANDOMIZATION
CLOCK RANGE: sets the range of the CLOCK RATE knob, in multiples of 4
EXTERNAL PROCESSING MODE: used to sample new scales into the quantizer
OUTPUT VOLTAGE RANGE: sets the voltage range used in the “x” outputs
“x” BEHAVIOR BUTTON: sets how each of the “x” outputs individually react to the settings of the SPREAD, BIAS, AND STEPS knob settings, or hold this button and adjust knobs to make changes to the “y” Generator
BIAS TYPE BUTTON
Modes:
- Green – Coin toss
- Yellow – t1 and t2 are generated by respitevly multiplying and dividing t2 by a random ratio. There are some extreme ratios at either end of this mode.
- Red – triggers alternate between t1 and t3 in kick/snare drum patterns.
Gate time can be set by holding the BIAS TYPE BUTTON and turning the BIAS KNOB to set the gate duration (from 1 to 99%) and the JITTER KNOB to adjust gate length randomization.
OUTPUT VOLTAGE RANGE BUTTON
Modes:
- Green: 0 to +2V range
- Yellow: 0 to +5V range
- Red: -5 to +5V range
“x” BEHAVIOR BUTTON
The “x” BEHAVIOR BUTTON controls how the X outputs react to settings on the SPREAD, BIAS and STEP knobs.
- Green: All channels follow the settings on the control panel
- Yellow: X2 follows the control panel, while X1 and X3 take opposite values. Ex: If STEPS is fully CW, X1 and X3 will be smooth while X2 is quantized to the highest possible value (octaves).
- Red: X3 follows the control panel, X1 reacts in the opposite direction, and X2 always stays in the middle
Hold this button and and adjust the RATE knob to change the rate of the “y” GENERATOR (by default it is 1/16 the rate of X2). SPREAD, BIAS, and STEPS can also be set for the Y generator while this button is held down. The “y” generator is never affected by Deja Vu.
To set the quantizer scale
Hold the VOLTAGE RANGE button for 2 seconds, then press it repeatedly to select the scale:
- Slow Blink Green: Major
- Slow Blink Yellow: Minor
- Slow Blink Red: Pentatonic
- Fast Bling Green: Gamelan (Pelog)
- Fast Blink Yellow: Raag Bhairavn
- Fast Blink Red: Raag Shree
Programming a Scale
- Connect the CV and Gate outputs of a keyboard or MIDI interface to the SPREAD (5) and CLOCK (6) inputs respectively.
- Hold the external processing mode button [O] for 2 seconds. The LED above the scale selection button [J] blinks and indicates the active scale. This scale is going to be reprogrammed!
- Play a little jam in the scale you want to program. Fifty notes, or more, is the recommended length.
- Press the button [O] when done.
The module analyzes your jam to measure how frequently each note occurs. The least frequently played notes will be the first to be eliminated when STEPS is turned clockwise from 12 o’clock. The most frequently played
note will be the last one to remain when STEPS is at 5 o’clock.
Note: it is also possible, at step 3, to play the scale in ascending order, instead of a long melody. In this case, the module will not know the relative importance of each note of the scale, and the gradual scale “carving” will
not be performed: turning the STEPS button from 12 o’clock to 5’clock will not modify the scale.
One can take advantage of the way the module counts notes to program several subsets of the same scale along the course of the STEPS knob. For example if we play :
C D E F G A B C D F G A C F G C G C
We’ll get, right after 12 o’clock, C D E F G A B ; then C D F G A (least frequent notes E and B are eliminated) ;
then C F G (less frequent notes D and A eliminated) ; then C G (F is the next to be eliminated) ; then C (which is the most frequent note in the fragment).
Resetting a scale to a factory default
- Hold the EXTERNAL PROCESSING MODE BUTTON for 2 seconds to enter the scale recording mode. The LED above the scale selection button [J] blinks and indicates the active scale. This scale is going to be reprogrammed!
- Hold the EXTERNAL PROCESSING MODE BUTTON for 2 seconds (again). The currently active scale is reprogrammed to its factory data.
Tips and Tricks
If Deja Vu is past 12 o’clock and loop length is set to 1, the output remains frozen in the same state.
Double tap the Deja Vu buttons to reseed the current loop.