Future Retro Mobius Owner's Manual - Manual (Page 14)

CONNECTIONS
Playing control voltage synthesizers and modules
Before today’s Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) came out, music equipment relied on discrete voltages
and logic gates to allow one machine to control another. Companies that made these early analog modules used
different standards for controlling their equipment. Most used 1 Volt per Octave (V/OCT) to control the pitch their
machine would play, while others used Hertz per Volt (HZ/V) as their standard. The Mobius provides a dedicated
jack for each of these two types of control voltage. Just as the control voltage varied from company to company, so
did the method for triggering notes. There are two main types of gate signals these machines require, they are
positive and negative gates. The Mobius has one GATE output for the +12v gate signal, and a gate +TYPE- switch
that allows you to select whether the gate is to be positive (+) or negative (-). Some control voltage synthesizers
may also require a trigger along with the gate, in order for notes to play. This being the case, the Mobius also has a
TRIGGER output, which outputs a +12v trigger pulse.
Always turn the power off when connecting your equipment.
Use the chart to the right when connections are made
between the Mobius and other equipment. If you do not see
the make of the machine in the table, it more than likely will
use V/OCT for CV and POSITIVE for the gate type, but just
to be safe, check with that machines owner’s manual.
Connect the CV and GATE outputs of the Mobius to the
other devices’ respective inputs. If the other machine also
requires that a trigger be used, connect the TRIGGER out of
the Mobius to the other machines trigger input. Easy
enough, now you can start playback of the sequencer, and
listen as the Mobius plays the external control voltage
device.
Changing the glide time
When a pattern’s notes are set to glide, the CV GLIDE TIME control on the front panel can be used to adjust the
time it takes, for one note to glide to another note’s pitch. The ON/OFF switch, located just to the right of this
knob, is used to determine whether notes programmed to glide, will (ON) or will not (OFF) actually glide. When
notes are programmed to glide and this switch is off, it can make a sequence sound different than if you were just
to clear all the glides in the sequence. This is due to the fact that the gate for a 16th note is normally on for 50% of
that steps duration. Glided notes on the other hand are held for the entire duration of a step.
Hey, what’s this accent out for?
Glad you asked. When notes are set to be accented, a +5v positive gate signal will be produced at the ACCENT
output jack. This gate signal will remain at +5v for the entire duration of a note step. If two sequential notes are set
to accent, this gate signal would actually stay at +5v for the length of two note steps. If you have a modular type
synthesizer, you could use an AND gate to combine the Mobius’ ACCENT out with it’s CLOCK out and create a
programmable clock signal or second gate output. Or, as it was intended, to turn on an op-amp making that note
louder, being accented. However you use it, you will need to connect a 1/4” cable from the ACCENT out to the
input of the device you wish to control
Clock output
The CLOCK output on the front panel, outputs a +5v positive gate signal that can be used to clock analog
sequencers or arpeggiators. This gate signal will output a 16th note gate, whenever the sequencer is playing. It will
stay at +5v for 50% of the duration of a 16th note. Now you can sync up those old analog sequencers and
arpeggiators with the Mobius. Using a 1/4”cable, connect the CLOCK out to the clock in of the device you wish to
control.
Reset output
The RESET output, produces a very short +5v gate pulse whenever the sequencer reaches a loop point, or playback
is stopped and started. This reset pulse can be used to reset an analog sequencers’ playback, or any other clocking
MAKE CV TYPE GATE TYPE
ARP V/OCT POSITIVE
KORG HZ/V NEGATIVE
MOOG V/OCT NEGATIVE
ROLAND V/OCT POSITIVE
SEQUENTIAL V/OCT POSITIVE
YAMAHA HZ/V NEGATIVE
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