4
Basic Operation
If you’re familiar with analog, subtractive synthesis there shouldn’t be anything
that looks terribly foreign or strange about Mopho x4’s front panel. All of the
basic building blocks are there. But one of the challenges of making a compact
synth is giving the user access to all the parameters within a limited amount of
panel area. Mopho x4 has most of the parameters of the Prophet ’08, plus a
couple more, with a front panel that is almost 40% smaller!
Fortunately, several of the synth components have similar control requirements.
For example, Mopho x4 has two oscillators and both oscillators have identical
control parameters. With a switch to select oscillator 1 or 2, one set of controls
can do double duty. Another set of controls handles most of the parameters for
all three envelope generators. And you can select both oscillators or all three
envelopes to edit a parameter simultaneously in all of them.
Other, less frequently used parameter names appear in light gray above the
corresponding knob or switch. Turn on S
HIFT
to access those parameters.
And finally, program-level parameters that are not typically performance
oriented are found in the Miscellaneous Parameters section.
The front panel is arranged so that the basic signal path components are in order
from left to right in the row closest to the keyboard: oscillators into mixer into
filter. The second row consists of various modulators, including envelopes,
LFOs, and the sequencer. The remaining programmable parameters are for
turning the arpeggiator and sequencer on and off, setting the tempo and note
value, and the aforementioned Miscellaneous Parameters.
Non-Programmable Controls
The front panel controls can be divided into two groups, programmable and non-
programmable. Everything contained within a black “module” is programmable.
The non-programmable controls are for things like selecting programs and
transposing the keyboard. Their state—on, off, transposed, whatever—is not
saved along with the program.
Transpose
—Allows the keyboard to be transposed in one octave increments
two octaves up or down. When transposed one octave, the corresponding LED
will be lighted, but dim. If the LED is brightly lit, Mopho x4 is transposed two
octaves.
Shift
—Used to access the shifted parameters.
Program
—Press to return Mopho x4 to program mode. Hold to select global
mode.
