Spread is also used to reset the position of the channels on the light ring. During normal usage of locking, unlocking, rotating
and spreading, the channels can be mixed up in any imaginable order. The easiest way to get them back to a known starting
place is to unlock them all and turn the Spread knob. The Spread CV jack can be used as “Reset position” jack: giving a
trigger into this jack will reset the unlocked channels' positions to the Spread pattern set by the Spread knob.
Morph
Morph is another central feature of the SMR. Anytime the channels are rotated or spread, the SMR performs a cross-fade
from the current spot to the new spot. Morph controls the duration of the cross-fade. At minimum, the cross-fade is almost
instant, a few microseconds. At maximum, the cross-fade is one second long. Thus rotating all the way around the light ring
would take 20 seconds.
Morph is real-time, so adjusting it in the middle of a cross-fade immediately changes the speed of the cross-fade. Thus, if you
have a slow Morph time and queued a dozen or so rotations, if you don't want to wait a dozen or so seconds for them to
happen, you can just turn Morph down and they'll happen much quicker. Another trick with Morph is to send a rapid stream of
triggers into the Rotate trig jack while adjusting Morph knob or CV. As more CV is applied, the rotation will slow down, and
with less CV it will speed up.
Morph also controls the cross-fade time when changing scales. This applies to changing scales with the Scale CV jack, or by
manually turning the ROTATE knob in scale mode. Morph controls the amount of slew when the CV Slew switch is thrown
(See CV Slew section).
Locking
Locking is a powerful way to keep one or more channels from changing, while allowing other channels to by dynamic.
To lock a channel, tap the Lock button above that channel's slider. When the channel is locked, the button will be lit.
Tap the button again and the channel will unlock. When locked, a channel will not change its center frequency. The channel
will be impervious to rotating, spreading, changing the scale or bank, or the Freq Nudge knob or Freq jack. The slider and the
Level CV jack will still control the channel's output level, and if the channel is not Q-locked then the RES (Q) knob and jack
will still change how the channel is filtering and resonating. See below regarding Q-lock.
Lock jack
You also can lock a channel using a gate or trigger signal. There are two Lock jacks located near the 135 | 1 and 246 | 2
switches. Like the Freq jack and Freq Nudge knob, the channels that are effected by the Lock jack can be selected using
these switches. The rising edge of a gate or trigger signal will cause the selected channels to invert their lock state. Thus,
locked channels will unlock and unlocked channels will lock.
Q-lock
Q-locking is an advanced feature that locks the channel's Q or resonance setting. To
Q-lock a channel, hold the Lock button down while you turn the RES (Q) knob. When
the RES (Q) knob is where you want the channel to be locked, release the Lock
button. The Lock button will now flicker to indicate it's Q-locked. If the channel is also
frequency locked (normal locking) then the Lock button will be mostly bright and will
flicker off periodically. If the channel is not frequency locked then it will be mostly off
and flicker on periodically.
To turn off Q-lock for a channel, tap the Lock button to frequency lock it, and then tap again to unlock frequency and Q. If the
channel is frequency locked and Q-locked, and you just want to clear the frequency lock, hold the Lock button down for two
seconds. To change the Q setting of a Q-locked channel, hold the Lock button down and turn the RES (Q) knob to a new
position and then release the Lock button.
Env Out jacks
Env Out jack signal, at the three positions of the Fast | Slow switch
Fast envelope
Trigger
Slow envelope
Each channel has an Env Out jack which outputs a CV that tracks the frequency content. This is useful for beat-syncing,
vocoding, spectral transfer, or controlling other modules with triggers or CV based on the frequency (spectral) content of an
audio signal.
Next to each Env Out jack is an LED that shows the signal present on the jack. A brighter light indicates more signal. The
color of the Env Out jack also matches the channel's color on the light ring.
Fast | Slow: Envelope modes and Trigger mode
The three-way Fast | Slow switch to the right of the Env Out jacks selects whether the jacks output CV envelopes (fast or slow
tracking) or triggers (center position).
In Envelope mode, the jacks output a CV whose level is proportional to the amount of that channel's frequency present on the
audio input. For example, if the channel is set to 440Hz, any time the input signal contains 440Hz, the Env Out jack will output
some CV: more voltage when the 440Hz is louder and less voltage when it's less present.
When the switch is set to Fast (left), the signal is tracked rapidly and small nuances are output. With it set to Slow (right), the
output is averaged such that small variations are smoothed out.
When the switch is in the center position, the Env Out jacks are in Trigger mode. Trigger mode also tracks the frequency
content of the audio input signal, but it outputs triggers instead of CV. Whenever the amount of frequency present exceeds a
certain threshold, the jack will send a trigger. The jack will remain high as long as the frequency content stays above the
threshold. This is very useful for beat-syncing or triggering external modules that track percussive content of an audio signal
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