Rossum Control Forge Operation Manual Download Page 5

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3. Overview

Control Forge’s core functionality is drawn
from the E-mu Morpheus’s insanely powerful
(but hard to program on a two-line display)
Function Generators. But now expanded
into a supremely flexible modulation source

encompassing elaborate one-shot contours,
evolving cyclical patterns and sequences of
arbitrary length and complexity.

Summary of Contents for Control Forge

Page 2: ...6 8 Preset Globals 18 9 Linear Contours 21 10 Randomness 27 11 Sequences 30 12 Conditional Jumps 33 13 AutoChain 38 14 Triggers 40 15 Real Time Control 42 16 Audio Rate Contours 44 17 Preset Sequencer 45 18 Utilities 49 19 Preset Templates 55 20 Demo Presets 58 21 Transition Shape Plots 64 22 Specifications 67 23 From Dave s Lab 68 24 Acknowledgements 69 ...

Page 3: ... good reference and tutorial resources available to get you up to speed One that we highly recommend is Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming 2nd Edition By Jim Aikin Published by Hal Leonard HL00131064 Support In the unlikely event that you have a problem with your Control Forge tell us about it here http www rossum electro com support support request form and we ll get you sorted out If you ha...

Page 4: ... part of the module While all Rossum Electro Music modules are protected against reverse polarity damage both to your module and your system care should still be taken to connect the power cable correctly For more detail on our unique protection method check out Dave s discussion of Circuit Protection in Chapter 23 Plug the included 16 pin connector into the header on the rear of the module such t...

Page 5: ...mu Morpheus s insanely powerful but hard to program on a two line display Function Generators But now expanded into a supremely flexible modulation source encompassing elaborate one shot contours evolving cyclical patterns and sequences of arbitrary length and complexity ...

Page 6: ...her selected segment or to a completely different preset if a particular condition is met E g a CV being above or below the selected conditional value the presence or lack of a gate or logic high at their respective inputs rising or falling edges at the inputs etc So in addition to one shot shapes extremely elaborate cyclical patterns can be programmed that evolve based on the various conditional ...

Page 7: ...uencer or driving the Logic or Gate Trig inputs or to provide triggers or gates to other modules in your system Chapter 15 Real Time Control 4 How to Use This Manual Control Forge is powerful There s almost nothing you d want to do with control voltages that you can t do with it But with that power comes a lot of capabilities to become familiar with In designing the Control Forge interface one of ...

Page 8: ...from external sources Chapter 18 Utilities This chapter describes various utility functions including sending program data to a Rossum Electro Music Satellite or another Control Forge loading updated firmware or boot software saving and reloading a backup of all your presets and sequences calibrating your Control Forge and more Chapter 19 Preset Templates To help get you up and running quickly we ...

Page 9: ...played back Presets can be manually loaded using the Load Preset function loaded as the result of a Conditional Jump as part of an AutoChain or loaded by the Preset Sequencer Inputs Gate Trigger This input as its name so ably suggests accepts triggers and or gates i e a digital signal that can be high or low Analog signals will be converted to high or low at a threshold of 1 65V In order to be det...

Page 10: ...et in the Assign Trigger 2 menu is met or the Assign Triggers Trigger 2 button is pressed while in Play Mode Controls Data Time Scale Encoder The Encoder is used in Program Mode to set the values of parameters selected via the parameter push buttons or knobs The Encoder includes an integrated pushbutton that is typically used to enter the currently selected value see individual parameters for deta...

Page 11: ...ode the buttons are used to light while a gate is active either as the result of a Gate Trigger input signal or the Manual Gate button being pressed Segment Buttons select segments for editing The LED of the segment being programmed will always be fully lit If Control Forge is running the LED of the active segment if it is not the segment being programmed will be more dimly lit If Control Forge is...

Page 12: ...ing them the changes will be lost Copying Segments and Parameters For ease of programming multiple segments that may share some or all of their parameters the following copying functions are available To copy a particular parameter value from one segment to another In Program Mode 1 Select the segment whose parameter value you want to copy and bring the parameter s value up for editing 2 Press and...

Page 13: ... copied to the destination segment and the destination segment will be selected 4 The destination segment will be selected but if you continue holding the original source segment button you can repeat the procedure and sequentially copy the same source parameter values to as many of the other segments as you wish ...

Page 14: ...is the Encoder multiplier and the second is the result of the Time Scale CV input The number and name of the currently loaded sequence A display of the current segment s Transition Shape NOTE The Transition Shape graphic will be inverted if the the segment s Target Voltage is lower than its starting voltage Graphical indicators of the real time values of CV 1 CV 2 CV 3 CV 4 and the Time Scale CV t...

Page 15: ...l jumps NOTE This display disappears when Control Forge is stopped It flashes while Control Forge is paused TIME The programmed time for the selected segment 0000 seconds to 9999 seconds The total time scale multiplier Encoder x Time Scale CV at the moment Program Mode was entered LEVEL The Target Level in Volts The Target Level Mode Abs Absolute AbsQ Absolute Quantized Rel Relative RelQ Relative ...

Page 16: ... display briefly displays Saving in 2 Seconds and then after 2 seconds displays Save Completed and exits the Save Preset screen If you release the button before 2 seconds have elapsed the display briefly shows Save canceled and exits the screen without executing the save operation Loading Presets Press the Load Preset button to bring up the Load Preset display Use the encoder to scroll through all...

Page 17: ... To save the renamed preset to the selected location either long press the encoder or long press the Save Preset button This can be done while either in the character location selection or character changing operation for the encoder The display briefly displays Saving in 2 Seconds and then after 2 seconds displays Save Completed and exits the Save Preset screen If you release the button before 2 ...

Page 18: ...ressing the Global button again Selecting another parameter to set Exiting Program Mode Here s what the Global parameters do Gate Rise This parameter defines what happens when a gate transition from low to high appears at the Gate Trig input or as the result of pressing the Manual Gate button If AutoChain is not turned on for this preset don t worry about AutoChain right now we ll get to it later ...

Page 19: ...ate transition from high to low causes an immediate jump to the selected segment unless the Gate Fall function has been programmed for a different conditional in the active segment in which case the segment function takes priority If AutoChain is on a gate transition from high to low forces an immediate jump to Segment 1 of the Release Preset in the chain again we ll get to AutoChain later NOTE Th...

Page 20: ... all of the preset s segments Time parameters by the selected multiplier Use it to adjust the overall duration of a contour while keeping the relative time relationships of all of the segments intact The range of multiplier is from 0 031x to 32 0x The initial value when the editor appears is the most recently captured Time Scale value set by the encoder from Play Mode if any Once completed the Enc...

Page 21: ... while that parameter is still displayed for editing we press the next Segment Button and program that parameter for that segment continuing until that parameter is programmed for all 8 or however many you re using segments Then return to Segment 1 select another parameter and continue the process until all segments are programmed We find it saves a lot of button pressing Give it a try At its most...

Page 22: ... Example As above use the encoder in Play Mode to ensure that Time Scale is set to 1 00 Then enter Program Mode If as suggested above you let 1 00 seconds represent an eighth note program the value of each segment in your contour using the following table NOTE SECOND S 32nd note 0 250 16th note triplet 0 334 Dotted 32nd 0 375 16th note 0 500 8th note triplet 0 667 Dotted 16th note 0 750 8th note 1...

Page 23: ...le Level Modes The current mode appears on the main display An associated LED lights to indicate whether the current mode is Absolute or Relative The four modes are Absolute Abs The Target Level for the segment is the level set by the Level Knob Absolute Quantized AbsQ The Target Level for the segment is the level set by the Level Knob quantized to the nearest 1 12th volt displayed as octaves and ...

Page 24: ... step sequences where you d typically like each segment s note to remain unchanged for the entire length of the segment With DC Delay the segment s CV jumps immediately to the Target Level and remains there for the entire length of the segment With Delay DC the segment s CV stays at the ending voltage of the previous segment for the entire length of the segment and then jumps to it s own Target Le...

Page 25: ...the knob and encoder to select your desired time for Segment 1 6 While the selected time is still displayed press the Segment 2 Button and set its time Continue until all 8 segments time parameters have been set 7 Return to Segment 1 and turn the Level Knob to bring up its editing display Again use the knob and encoder to select your desired level and continue as before to program levels for all 8...

Page 26: ... LFO Style Contours For this next one we ll make a simple repeating contour that starts as soon as it s loaded and retriggers from the start whenever it receives a subsequent trigger or gate at the Gate Trig input 1 Press the Global button to access the Preset Globals screen and set the Global parameters to the following values they re the same as the last example except for turning Free Run on Th...

Page 27: ...e Initial Level Randomization parameters described above Segment Randomization Each segment can optionally have a programmed amount of random variation applied to its programmed Target Level The randomness parameters are programmed via the Randomness Button and interact with the Level Mode as follows Randomness Button Random variations in CV levels can bring a subtlety organic feeling to a repeati...

Page 28: ...d any preset Immediately use the Save Preset function to save the preset to an empty location Name it 1 SEG S H or whatever else you prefer 2 Enter Program Mode and program Segment 1 as follows Time 1 000 sec Level 0 000V Absolute Randomness 3 00V Linear Transition Shape 29 DC Delay Jump Mode Always at End Jump Target Segment 1 Assign Trigger 1 Begin Segment 1 3 Patch the Control Forge s Output to...

Page 29: ... Time 1 000 sec Level 0 350V Relative Randomness 0 19V Linear Transition Shape 1 Linear Jump Mode Always at End Jump Target Segment 1 4 Switch to Play Mode and press Control Forge s Manual Gate button to start your contour running and listen to the result 5 Use the encoder to control the rate Here s what s happening Starting at 0V Segment 1 heads up to somewhere between 0 160V and 0 540V 0 350V 0 ...

Page 30: ...mmediately jumps to the Target Level at the beginning of the segment and remains there for the segment s entire length In practice that means that each segment will output its programmed note in sequence A TIP You can alternate DC Delay segments with other transition shapes to create sequences that intersperse sustained notes with dynamic transitions Programming Rhythm and Tempo There are two basi...

Page 31: ...h one you use depends on how you intend to organize your sequence Here are some options Linear If you are creating one long sequence that s intended to play straight through or repeat in its entirety it s probably easiest to simply program a Jump Always at End in the last segment of each preset in your sequence and set its Jump Target to the next preset in the sequence Just keep on repeating the p...

Page 32: ...jumps to another preset if a gate is high at the Logic input while if it is low the sequence would continue to the next segment where if the Logic remains low it would jump to a yet different preset As should be obvious the options here are almost limitless Use AutoChain Although not the primary intended purpose of AutoChain you can certainly create an AutoChain that serves as an extended sequence...

Page 33: ... Jump Target and Conditional Value parameters Jump Mode The Jump Mode parameter selects which of the available conditions will be tested to decide if a jump will be executed In Program Mode pressing the Jump Mode button brings the parameter to the fore on the display Select an available mode with the encoder Available Jump Modes are Never Never jumps the segment always proceeds to the next segment...

Page 34: ... if end CV 1 4 Jumps to the Jump Target if CV is below the specified voltage at the end of the segment The display is dismissed by Pressing the Jump Mode Inc button again Pressing the encoder Selecting another parameter to edit NOTE The two wait modes are designed to let you program contours that are clocked from segment to segment by a clock patched to the Gate Trig or Logic inputs independent of...

Page 35: ...sing the Conditional Value button again Pressing the encoder Selecting another parameter to edit Some Examples of Conditional Jumps If we tried to document all of the possibilities opened up by Conditional Jumps this already frighteningly long manual would grow to truly epic proportions Instead here are just some of the basic structures Conditional Jumps make possible Cyclical LFO style Contour Pr...

Page 36: ...nput the contour starts at the beginning and assuming the Gate remains high continues through Segments 2 and 3 At the end of Segment 3 the Gate Trig input is checked to see if the Gate is still high If it is the contour immediately jumps back to the beginning of Segment 3 and runs through it again It will keep looping through Segment 3 as long as the gate is high think of this as the Sustain porti...

Page 37: ...e are using the first 6 segments and at the end of Segment 6 we want to jump to Preset 045 if CV 1 is greater than 3 40v and to Preset 179 if CV 1 is less than or equal to w3 40v For Segment 6 program Jump Mode if end CV1 Conditional Value 3 40v Jump Target to Preset 045 For Segment 7 program Jump Mode when CV1 Conditional Value 3 41v Jump Target to Preset 176 At the end of Segment 6 if CV 1 is gr...

Page 38: ...er specific segment programming each preset in an AutoChain will automatically proceed to the next preset without the need to expressly program any jumps 3 All member presets of an AutoChain must be set to one of the member functions Start Continue or Release in their Preset Globals menus 4 Typically the first preset in the chain will be set to Start Subsequent presets will be set to Continue If t...

Page 39: ...ger subject to the effects of the AutoChain If a segment that is in a preset that is not a part of an AutoChain causes a jump to a preset that is a part of an AutoChain the contour continues subject to the effects of that AutoChain 013 Continue 014 Continue 015 Continue 016 Continue 017 Release 018 Continue 019 empty 012 Start PRESET PRESET PRESET PRESET PRESET PRESET PRESET PRESET AutoChain FIGUR...

Page 40: ...is generated when the Logic Input rises Logic Fall A trigger only is generated when the Logic Input falls On Stop A trigger only is generated when the contour stops Begin Any Segment A gate or trigger is generated when any segment begins End Any Segment A gate or trigger is generated when any segment ends A segment that stops the contour creates a trigger only Any Jump A gate or trigger is generat...

Page 41: ... reaches the specified percentage completion then go low 99 When the associated segment begins the trigger will be low for 48 microseconds then go high for 48 microseconds and remain high until the segment reaches its end then go low 100 When the associated segment begins unless the previous segment had a 100 width trigger the trigger will be low for 48 microseconds then go high for 48 microsecond...

Page 42: ...trol Forge s output during that segment Time Scale CV Input The CV at this input will scale the entire contour while preserving the segment s time relationships This CV is multiplied by the encoder time scale value see below to arrive at the final Time Scale value Time Scale Data Encoder In Play Mode the encoder serves as a real time control over time scale Its value is multiplied by the value of ...

Page 43: ...ment Buttons while Control Forge is stopped causes it to immediately jump to that segment and begin playing from 0 Volts If the Segment 1 button is pressed while stopped this treated the same as a Manual Gate including activating the Global Start Reset parameters If a contour is running at the time that a segment button is pressed it is treated as a Jump Immediate from the active segment to the pr...

Page 44: ...ce Simply patch one of its CV outputs to a filter or other audio path module and listen to the result The best way to start experimenting with Control Forge as a wavetable oscillator is to start by programming a variety of shapes to a preset s eight segments setting their Time parameters to a few milliseconds and setting alternating Target Levels of 5V and 5V Use the encoder in Play Mode to vary t...

Page 45: ...uence Loading sequences functions exactly like loading presets as described in Chapter 7 Rather than duplicate all that here refer to that chapter and in your mind replace Preset with Sequence Sequence 000 Off turns off the sequencer When Sequence 000 is loaded triggers at the sequence control jacks and presses of the manual sequence control buttons are ignored When loaded a sequence other than Se...

Page 46: ... Inc or Dec rising edge will cause the sequence to move circularly to the next or previous step If that step is a preset it will be immediately loaded if that step is a command it will take effect per the below descriptions Halt When a Halt Command is loaded the sequencer enters the Sequence Halt state In this state subsequent Inc or Dec rising edges or button presses are ignored Only a Reset risi...

Page 47: ...eset are followed If that step is an Empty Preset the step is jumped and it attempts to decrement to yet another step iteratively If the Sequence is in the Pause or Halt state the sequencer will take no action While it is not possible to program an empty preset into a sequence it would be possible to program an existing preset into a sequence and subsequently erase that preset In that case the seq...

Page 48: ... preset sections that you want to use in multiple places in your sequence you can use the Preset Sequencer to sequence them in whatever order you need An advantage of this method is that you can use the same section in multiple locations in your performance without having to duplicate their programming Depending on how you want to play back your contour you can Program one of Control Forge s trigg...

Page 49: ... in your Control Forge to a Satellite module or another Control Forge To send the data 1 Connect the Trigger 2 output from your Control Forge to the Logic input of the receiving module 2 Select Utilities Send to Module on your Control Forge 3 Select Utilities Receive From Module on the receiving module then click the receiving module s encoder 4 Click the encoder on your Control Forge The display ...

Page 50: ...ted during reception or on completion of reception an error message will be displayed and you can click the encoder to try again or press the Global Pause Utilities button to exit Once transfer is complete click the encoder to return to the Utility menu Save User Data This function lets you save all your presets and sequences to an audio wav file for backup or transfer purposes To save your data t...

Page 51: ...gain try playing back at a hotter level or press the Global Pause Utilities button to exit 6 If you don t receive an error you can proceed to load the data into your Control Forge using the Load User Data function described below Once the process is complete click the encoder to return to the Utility menu Merge User Data This allows you to read in a data file presets and sequences and copy any pre...

Page 52: ...ed to recalibrate it However should abnormal circumstances present themselves this function allows you to recalibrate your Control Forge NOTE This calibration procedure assumes you have access to an accurate voltmeter The result will only be as accurate as your meter Select Utilities Calibrate on your Control Forge The procedure is self guiding Simply follow the instructions on each screen The fir...

Page 53: ...urse that you select Utilities Load Boot Software on your Control Forge and load an appropriate Boot Software file Manufacturing Test This function provides a suite of tests to be used during manufac turing to ensure that everything on your Control Forge is working correctly Unless something goes horribly wrong there shouldn t be a reason that you ever need to worry about it However like Calibrate...

Page 54: ...yback If you are playing the file from a computer or phone quit Facebook your email client and any other software that produces audio Any other audio injected into the stream will cause the transfer to fail If you re using a smartphone temporarily placing it in Airplane Mode will prevent any incoming call or message notifications from interfering with playback We have found that Safari on the Mac ...

Page 55: ...me Scale CV input preferably through an attenuator 300 One Shot This is a simple 8 segment one shot contour A rising edge at the Gate Trig input or press of the Manual Gate button starts it and resets it to the beginning if it s already running It automatically stops at the end of Segment 8 Trigger 1 fires at the beginning of Segment 1 Trigger 2 fires at the beginning of every segment Customize th...

Page 56: ...o Segment 7 It and Segment 8 define the release portion of the envelope 304 Shape Keys This is one of our favorites for real time fun The template defines a keyboard made up of the 8 Segment Buttons Simply press a key to play its shape Each segment stops at the end of its shape The template is arranged as 4 pairs of shapes In each pair the first segment rises to 5V and the next segment is the same...

Page 57: ...icate rhythmic and tonal variation Trigger 1 fires at the start of every segment 313 4 Tri LFOs This preset provides triangle LFOs in Segments 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7 8 each twice as fast as the one before it By tapping the buttons in Play mode you can double or halve the speed of the LFO on the fly Try changing the curve shapes for a wide variety of modulation effects 314 LoopEnv This is a basic ADSR e...

Page 58: ...nd CV 4 conditional tests with CV 1 and or CV 2 from other modules in your system In many of Kurt s presets adjusting CV 4 controls the number of segments in the pattern Doing this while the preset is running can result in intricate rhythmic and tonal variation Be sure to try it It s clever and addicting For quick access to the various preset categories you can load Preset Sequences 1 4 that each ...

Page 59: ...ber of Segments in the Pattern 409 BUCHLA CV Fixed Note Sequencer Preset with 1 2 volt octave values that drives Buchla 200 200e oscillators CV4 Controls the Number of Segments in the Pattern Presets 410 419 Random CV contours In each preset Trigger 1 fires at the beginning of every segment Trigger 2 fires at the beginning of Segment 1 410 Random Group marker of Random CV Contours CV3 Sets Segment...

Page 60: ...ours CV3 sets various segment voltages CV4 Controls the Number of Segments in the Pattern 421 Filter Rn 1 CV3 sets various segment voltages CV4 Controls the Number of Segments in the Pattern 422 Filter Rn 2 CV3 sets various segment voltages CV4 Controls the Number of Segments in the Pattern 423 Filter Rn 3 CV3 sets various segment voltages CV4 Controls the Number of Segments in the Pattern 424 Fil...

Page 61: ...it s out of hearing range if you re not a dog 453 Phi MajrrAN An arpeggiating quantized major pattern Trigger and retrigger with Gate Rises The clock at the Logic Input sets the tempo Unlike 452 the pattern will automatically repeat without the need for additional Gate Rises 454 Phi Minorl An arpeggiating quantized minor pattern Trigger and retrigger with Gate Rises The clock at the Logic Input se...

Page 62: ...n Segment 8 Slow the Time Scale down and twiddle those knobs 473 Rhyt 5 Another variation based on Rhyt 2 but with the CV 4 Passthrough shape on Segment 5 this preset uses more Chaos Transition waves making it better to use on Envelopes or Filter Use the a fast rate CV source LFO Random Envelope into the Time Scale input to get more glitchy results 474 Rhyt 6 Based on patch Rhyt 5 this preset uses...

Page 63: ...shape for most of the segments for a very different sonic effect 481 Quanta 1 Best used as a modulation source if CV 3 is greater than 5V i e not turned all the way counterclockwise the contour will not move past Segment 4 When CV 3 is above 5V the contour will proceed to successive segments The interaction between the clock frequency into the Gate input the position of CV 3 and the time scale of ...

Page 64: ...4 6 EXPONENTIAL 5 7 EXPONENTIAL 6 8 EXPONENTIAL 7 9 CIRCLE 1 4 10 CIRCLE 1 6 11 CIRCLE 1 8 12 CIRCLE 1 16 13 SQUEEZE 14 FAST LINE 1 15 FAST LINE 2 16 FAST LINE 3 17 MEDIUM LINE 1 18 MEDIUM LINE 2 19 SLOW RAMP 1 20 SLOW RAMP 2 The following are plots of the Transition Shapes available in Control Forge ...

Page 65: ... CIRCLE 1 6 REVERSE 26 CIRCLE 1 4 REVERSE 27 SLOW CURVE 1 28 SLOW CURVE 2 29 DELAY DC 30 DC DELAY 31 CURVE 2X 32 CURVE 2X B 33 CURVE 2X C 34 ZIG ZAG 1 35 ZIG ZAG 2 36 ZIG ZAG 3 37 CHAOS 03 38 CHAOS 06 39 CHAOS 12 40 CHAOS 16 41 CHAOS 25 42 CHAOS 33 43 CHAOS 37 44 CHAOS 50 ...

Page 66: ...OS 75 47 CHAOS 95 48 CHAOS 99 49 LINEAR SHUFFLE 50 LINEAR SHUFFLE 2 51 RANDOM A 52 RANDOM B 53 RANDOM C 54 RANDOM D 55 RANDOM E 56 RANDOM F 57 RANDOM G 58 RANDOM H 59 RANDOM I 60 RANDOM J 61 RANDOM K 62 RANDOM L 63 RANDOM Z ...

Page 67: ...ER INC 1x 3 5mm mono socket 100kΩ Input Impedance 1 6V threshold PRESET SEQUENCER RESET 1x 3 5mm mono socket 100kΩ Input Impedance 1 6V threshold OUTPUTS OUTPUT 1x 3 5mm mono socket 1Ω Output Impedance 5V to 5V INVERTED OUTPUT 1x 3 5mm mono socket 1Ω Output Impedance 5V to 5V TRIGGER 1 1x 3 5mm mono socket 1kΩ Output Impedance 10V Selectable Width TRIGGER 2 1x 3 5mm mono socket 1kΩ Output Impedanc...

Page 68: ... the system s 5V and 12V supplies potentially damaging the power supply and any modules that use 5V To prevent this Rossum Electro Music modules deviate from the standard Eurorack power connector by leaving power connector pins 9 and 10 open rather than connecting them to ground When plugged in backwards this leaves the system 12V supply disconnected Since ground is still supplied by four pins as ...

Page 69: ...in Bob Bliss Patrick Brede Janis Chafin Richard Devine Nancy Enge Mihai Ionescu Kurt Kurasaki William Mathewson Gur Milstein David Phipps Bill Putnum Allan Shaffer Kirk Southwell Tyler Thompson Tony Wride Andy Zenczak and the crew at Gadgetbox Studios And it goes without saying but we ll say it anyway our families for understanding all the late nights and weekends spent not having fun or doing cho...

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