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OPERATIONMANUAl
By TomRhea
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MANUAL NO 1.. ooo
MICROMOOG
operationmanual
By TomRhea
created for the web using just a digit ial camera by:
www.fantasyjackpalance .com
MICROMOOG
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S ETTI NG UP THE MI CR OM OOG

A Befor e pluggin g i n th e Mlcromoog. check t he 115/ 230 switch on the rear panel Set t his for t he appro pria te
operannq volt age ( 1 15 for US A I
B Plug t he power cord Into any conve nt ion al A C ouue t
C Use an appr opnate pat chcord 10 connect either LO AUDIO or HI AUDIO on th e Ml cromoog to your mcn uonn q
syst em
If you are using a P.A. system or a port able gu itar t ype amplif ier. connect the LO AUDIO OUTPUT of the
Micromoog t o th e input of your amplif ier.
If you are usmq a high fidelity rnomto rinq system. connect t he HI AUDIO OUTPUT of the Mlcr omoog to th e
Input of the pow er ampli fier
In euber case. alwa ys advance t he VOLUME contr ol of the Micromoog slowly from " 0" 10 check sound level
For best stgnaHo- nolse -auo. choose gain seu inqs on your monit or thai allow you to use a hi gh VOLUME
set unq Iabout " S'"' on t he Mi cr omo og.
D. Turn on the POWER swi tch on t he rear panel of the Mlcromoog . The temperature -requlated OSCILLATOR atta ins
op eratin g temperat ure i n about five minute s: tune aft er t hat t ime and t he Ml cr omoog will remain completely
pi tch st able.
E Ref er to GEnl NG A SOUND sect-en of t his manual for first sound
introduction
Thanks to Jim Scott at Moog Mu sic. Inc . we now have the synthe sizer for
Everyman - the Micromoog. Scott 's design approach f or t he Microm oog wa s to
use a minimal number of func t ional building bloc ks and to con figu re the inst rument
f or the gre atest amo unt at perfo rmer control ove r these blocks . The Micro moog
con sist s of t he basic necessit ies: one voltag e contr olled oscill at or (VCO), one
modul at ion oscillator , one noise sour ce. one voltag e controlled fi lt er (VCFI . one
voltage cont roll ed amp lifier (VCA) . two cont our generator s, and one sampl e and
hold. The " open system" inpu t s and output s make the Micromoog a basic mu sical
bui lding block wh ich can be expanded to meet the performe r's growth .
From a viewpoint of electro nic engineer ing , Scott 's desig ns meet fou r
cri teri a: ( 1) super pit ch st abil ity. due to the advance of temperature regqlation
rat her than older compensation techniques; (2) rel iability. enhanced by use of a
dozen precision custom -made resistor networks ; (3) econo my. acco mplished by
taki ng advantage of recent advance s in elect ro nic component technology . and
t hrough sophi sticated produ ct ion techn iques such as si ngle P,C. board cons t ru e-
tion : (4) super sound -th e Micromo og def initely ret ains the " Moog'" Soun d:'
The Micromoog ' s musi cal engineering is exceptional . The new PITCH ribbon
and MOO AM OUNT whe el put the Micromoog in a class by itself . It is an excelient
" voice under con t ro l:' Jim obviously paid attent ion to his musical f riend s. The
Micromoog can be played with the subtl ety of modu lat ion and pit ch bend ing that
is required of any soloi st ic instr ument.
This manual serv es both as an int rod uction to the inst rument. and a resour ce
boo k to wh ich you may wa nt to ret urn. If yo u leaf through the manua l. you will see
that mate ria l is order ed beginning with t he simplest appr oaches . There is a heading
for each majo r sect ion which t ell s you what to expec t . Explore the manual , but
don't be sur pr ised if it requires more t han one read ing to fully apprec iat e the
Micromoog ' s featu res. Due to the d ever electron ic and musical engineering. th e
i nstrument is def initely greater than the sum of it s part s.
The electron ic music synt hesizer is an inst rument for ou r t i me. The
Microm oog is more portabl e. more open, mor e immediate. and more mus i cal
t han anyt hing that came bef or e. Share it with you r fr iends.
5
SETTING UP THEMICROMOOG
A. Bef ore plugging i n the Micromo og. check t he 115/ 230 swit ch on t he fear panel. Set this for th e appr opriate
operat ing voltaqe ( 115 f or U.S.A.).
B. Plug t he pow er cor d into any conven tiona l A.C. outlet.
C. Use an appro pr iate patchcord to connec t eit her LO AUDIO or HI AUD IO on the Microm oog to you r monitori ng
system.
If you are usi ng a P.A. system or a pon ab le guiter-t ype amplif ier. co nnect the LO AUDIO OUTPU T of the
Microm oog to the input of your ampl if ier.
If you are using a high fideliry mon itor ing system. conne ct the HI AUDIO OUTPUT of the Micr omooo 10the
input of the powe r amp lifier.
In either case. always advance th e VOLUME control of t he Mi crom oog Slowly from " 0" to check sound level .
For best signalto-noise rat io. choose gain sett ings on your mon itor that allow you to use a high VOLUME
setti ng (about " S") on the Micromoog .
getting a sound
The follow ing is a sound check ; a qu ick and
sure way to get a sound f r om the Micromoog .
FIRST ...
Do the foll ow ing to " prepare" t he Micr omoog ;
1. Foll ow instr ucti ons given in SETIING UP THE MICRO MOOG .
2 . Turn all rotary cont rols / selector s fUlly counterctock wise.
3 . Switch all sl ider swi t ches fully t o t he lett.
4 . Move t he MO D AMOUNT whe el comp let ely do wn.
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D. Turn on the POWER swit ch on the rear panel of the Micromoog . The temperature-regul ated OSCILLATOR att ains
oper at ing temperature i n about five minute s; t une after that time and the Micromoog will r emain completely
pitch stab le.
E. Refer to GEnI NG A SOUND section of thi s manual for first sound.

PREPARATORY PATTERN
The Preparat ory Patt ern produce s no sound; it is simply an easily
remembered st arti ng point.
TH EN .. .
5. Turn all three controls in the FILTER section pBsl 12 o'ctock .
6 . Hold a key on the keyboard .
7 . Advan ce the VOLUME control to a comforta ble listen ing level.

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QUICK START CHART

When you start fr om t he Prepar atory Patt er n it is easy t o get a
soun d by t urn ing only four cont rols. To do a sound che ck. just remember ;
Turn ell panel con t rols counter clo ckw i se. left . or do wn . Then . t urn
VOLUME and FILTER co nt rol s past 12 o' cl ock .
11
soundcharts
Sound charts are t he "paint by numbers" approach to t he
synthesizer. This section shows you how to create sounds
easily by duplicating sound chart settings on the control
panel of the Micromoog .
The Micromoog makes sounds that you have synthesized. or created from the basic elements of
sound such as pit ch. tone color. and loudness. The Micromoog can produ ce a lot of diff erent sounds
because it can manipul ate elements of sound. Unlike the traditi onal arra nger. who chooses from a
group of instrume nts wi th somewhat fixed char acteristics. the s ynthesist is confronted by a conti nuous
spectrum of instr ume ntal and other sound textu res. Because the sounds of t he Synthesizer are not as
fIXed and well-known as many other instr ume nts. it is necessary to have a notation system that
describes synthesized sound-s ound charts.
A sound chart is a "picture" of cont rol pane l settings that produce a cert ain sound. Micromoo g
sound chart s are line drawings of the fron t contr ol panel and lower perfo rmance panel. Rotary
potent iometers (pots) and selectors are represented by circles; slide switches are represented by
segmented rectangle s:
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MICROMOOO SOUND CHART

15
The setti ng fo r 8 rot ary cont rol or selector appears withi n the circle in numbers or characters
appropr iate to that control. The setti ng is also indicated by a mark on t he edge of t he circl e. Blank
ci rcles indicate that the cont rol should be turned completel y counterclockwise, or it may interf ere
w ith the sound char t. See below for example:
Use of the PITCH ribbon and MOD AMOUNT wheel in th e perform ance pane l are i ndi cated with
arrow s. The best posit ion for the MOD AMOUNT wheel f or the intended eHect is also marked with a
heavy black line. as shown:
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The positi on of slide swit ches is always indicated by blacking in the position in use. An asterisk
in another position of the same slide switch indicates an alternative position that may be tried. See below :
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like any musical notation . sound chart s are appro ximate . part icula rly wh en th ey repr esent
si mulat ions of acoust ic Vlstr uments . To get the most f rom the sou nd charts . several general ideas may
be helpf ul :
1, St art f rom th e Prepar atory Patt er n with all cont rol s and swi tches counterclockw ise or to the
tet t ; mov e t he MOD AM OUNT whe el fully down (t oward you ).
2. Set up the sound chart acc urately. but keep i n mind that some ' tw eaki ng"l adj ust ment) may
be requ ired to suit your taste .
3 . Chan ge the CUTOFF cont rol first to make tone color mod if ications. ATTACK and DECAY
sett ings can also infl uence th e sound gr eat ly.
4 . For simulat ion of trad it ional inst ruments. pl ace t he synth esized sound in con text by playing i n
th e approp riat e pi tch range and select typ ical musical li nes fo r th at i nst rument. Playi ng
xylophon e mu sic using a horn sound chart produ ces interesti ng results , but neither mstru -
rnent will be repr esented accurat ely.
5. Adjust t he VOLUME control to t he general loudness level of any instru ment si mul at ed. For
example. the t rombone is pl ayed at 8 higher dynam ic level than th e recorder .
6 . Don 't for get that you are pl aying a sotolstic instrument ; solo instr ument s play wi t h expression.
Use the PITCH ribbo n and MOD AMOUNT wh eel to do what soloist ic i nst ruments do best :
bend pitch and vibrato selectively.
The follow ing sound chart s repre sent some of lhe sounds th e Micromoog can ma ke. They don't
have to be used in any part icular order . Exper iment with them I

16
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BASS
SOUNDSOURCE: OSCILLATOR
Advance VOLUME t o comfo rtabl e listening level.
Play th e keyboard and bend pit ch with t he PITCH ribbon.
Vary CUTOFF to cont rol amou nt of " highs:'
Vary CONTOUR AMOUNT t o contro l amounl of " punch:' or contour,
Switch RELEASE t o right for i mmediate releaseof sound on releaseof key.
JET
SOUNDSOURCE: NOISE
Advance VOLUME to comforta ble listening level.
Depress and hold a key until cycle is completely f inished .
Vary ATIAC K and RELEASE on the FILTER CONTOUR to alt er the speed of contoured
sound.
Move CONTOUR AM OUNT to - 5 to reverse dir ection of contoured sound .
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ELECTRIC GUITAR
SOUNDSOURCE: OSCILLATOR
Advance VOLUME 10 comf ort able listening level.
Pley the keyboard and bend pit ch with the PITCH ribbon .
Intr oduce vi brato by mov ing MOD AMOUNT wh eel away f rom you.
Vary RATE 10 cont rol speed of vib rato.
Vary WAV ESHAPE to alter basic t one color.
Vary CUTOFF to control amo unt of " highs:'
16

MOOG ThI WHISTLE

SOUNDSOURCE: FILTERinTONE mode
Advance VOLUME t o comfort able listening level.
Play keybo ard .
Int roduce vibrato by moving MOD AMOUNT wheel away fr om you .
Vary RATE to cont rol speed of vib rato .
Vary ATI ACK and RELEASE on LOUDNESS CONTOUR t o control arti culat ion
characteristics.
Vary CUTOFF to tune (when FILTER MODE is in TONE position) .
19
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RING MOD EFFECTS

SOUND SOURCE: FILTERin TONE mode with FILTER
MOD BY OSC
Advance VOLUME to com fortable list ening tevel .
Depress and hold a key.
Swi tch LOUDNESS SUSTAIN to left to sustain sound indef ini tely.
Vary FREQUENCY and CUTOFF to produce a variet y of sounds.
Switch FILTER MOD BY OSC 10 OFF position
THE MOOG Thl "FAT" SOUND
SOUND SOURCE: OSCILLATOR with DOUBLING
Ad vance VOLUME to comf ort able listening level.
Play the keyboar d and bend pitch wi t h the PITCH ribbon.
Swit ch FILTER MOD BY OSC to STRONG for complex phasing effect.
Swit ch FILTER SUSTAIN t o left to sustain filter at maximum.
Vary EMPHASIS t o contr ol " nasality"
20

SAMPLE AND HOLD

SOUND SOURCE: OSCILLATOR
Advance VOLUME to comf orta ble listen ing level .
Switch SOURCE to S&H AUTO to init iat e refteratlon .
Move MOD AMOUNT wheel fully forward Iewa v fr om you) t o control depth of pattern .
Swi tch ROUTING fr om FILTER t o OSC to create patte r ns alterna tely in tone color or pitc h.
Vary RATE to cont rol speed of re itera tion .
Switch LOUDNESS SUSTAI N to right for short articula tions.
EXTERNAL AUDIO INPUT
SOUND SOURCE: Any external instrument th rough
AUDIO INPUT
Insert patchcor d f rom out put of exter nal instru ment i nto Audio Inp ut on r ear of
Micr omoog
N
.
Switch BYPASS 10 ON so exte r nal inst r ument can be hear d.
Play externa l insl r ument ; move MOD AM OUNT wheel forward.
Vary CUTOFF and EMPHASIS t o inf luence t one color.
Swit ch SOURCE t o S&H AUTO fo r random f ilt eri ng of exter nal inst r ument.
Vary RATE to con trol speed of effects .
Refer to OPEN SYSTEM section of t his manual for f urt her possi bilities .
2 1
do-it-yourself demo
This section shows you a way to explore the Micromoog
intelligently and learn by doing.
You can learn a lot about the Micr omoog by playing aroun d with each fr ont panel con trol while
list ening to its eff ect on sound . Th is is a time-hono red t eaching method in music! The sound chart
below helps save t ime and energy in learning by explo ration :
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EXPL ORER'S SOUN D CHAlf T
SOME HINTS FOR EXPLORING . . .
1. Start with th e upper row of contro ls f irst and move f ro m left t o right . Ditto for low er row
2 . Play wit h One control et 8 time to learn it s uni que cont r ibu t ion ; t hen return that control t o
its ori ginal posit ion show n above .
3 . Move the co nt ro l a small amount at f irst. Read t he fr ont panel and look at th e graphi cs ;
relate Ihese to w hat you hear.
4 . Hold one note as yo u vary a cont rol. Then play the keyboa rd using different sett ing s; use
both legato and st acca to f i l'\geri ng techniqu e.
5. If a control seems t o be inoperative, expl ore its relation ship t o contr ols next to it . For example,
the FREQUENCY contr ol wor ks onl y wh en th e OCTAVE selector is in the WI DE setti ng.
6 . A "modulation " lusually a repeati ng panern) is controlled in amount by the MOD AMOUNT
wheel. Use of the MODULATION sect ion depends largely on the sett ing of th e MO D AMOUN T
wheel. Start explor at ion of the bott om row of cont rols by moving this wh eel f orw ard (away
fr om you) .
7 . You can' t learn everyt hi ng by explora ti on! Read t he rest of th is manual fo r a bette r under -
standing of the Micr om oog .
25
guided synthesizer tour
This section has two parts . SOUND AND SYNTHESIS
deals with general features of the synthes izer and dis -
cusses how it creates and con trols sound . MICROTOUR
presents specific features of the Micromoog and presents
exercises that illustrate those features .
SOUND AND SYNTHESIS
Befor e we look at speci f ic feat ur es of the Micr omoo g. let 's talk abou t sou nd and how synthe -
sizers mak e it. The di ct ionary says t hat sound is " mec hanical rad iant energy that 1$ tra nsrmt ted by
longi t udinal pr essure waves In a mater ial medrum (as air ) and is t he obj ect ive cause of heari ng:' The
key wor k is mechan i cal. The body of a vi olin. the bell of a trump et or a l oudspeaker ~ serv e t he
same f unct ion : they are mechan i cal devices used to disturb air molecul es [r ad iate energy) Air
molec ules thai dist urb t he mechanism of your ear affe ct your brain and cause you t o perceive sou nd .
So und is sou nd. There is no such th in g as an " art ifici al" sound -on ly sound or silenc e. A svn -
thesized sound is not a rep laceme nt f or a " r eal" sou nd, aI/so unds ar e r eal .
Alth ough both acou st ic and elect ronic musica l i nst rument s ult imately make sound mech anically ,
in one sense the synt hesizer is ver y different from acou sti c Inst r uments . This differ ence lies i n th e
way the perfo rmer can deal with the proper ties of sou nd . A musical sound is tradit ionally de fined as
having the pr operti es of pi t ch, ti mbre (t one color ), loudness. and du ration . If we th ink of durat ion as
simply t he timing of loudn ess. it is simpler t o say t hat musical sou nd has pit ch. timbre, and loudne ss.
Perf or mer s have lr adit ionally given littl e th ough t to the individual prope rt ies of soun d . because
acousti c instr uments generally don 't all ow control of sound pr opert ies independent of each other .
The phy sical const r uct ion of acousti c instru men ts di cta tes that control of sojmd properti es is some -
what integrated. For exa mple. because of it s cons t r uc tion, the clarinet has a char act er ist ic timbre for
each pi tch regis te r. It would be diff icult to pl ay high note s with t he timb re nor mally assoc iated wi t h
the low register. The tr umpet has a buil l -in relat ions hip between t imbre and loud ness' soh sounds
tend to be mell ow and loud sou nds are brillia nt. For tho usands of year s mus ical i nst ruments have
had this c har acteri st ic inteqretion of co nt ro l of the pr opert ies of sound . You just can' t tear instru ments
made of met al and woo d apart easily to allow independent cont r ol Over sound properties . Maybe
that' s w hy most mu sicia ns hav e had litt le interest i n t he science of sound - so little coul d be done
about it. Electroni cs is changi ng th ai
The r ise of elect r onic tec hno logy has revolut ionized ou r conc epts about sound . Now , w ith
electro nic means we can overri de some of t he phys ical tendenci es o f acoustic inst r uments -e-hope-
fully, f or art tsnc purpose . For instance. screamin g-loud trumpet s can be record ed and r educ ed t o a
low level in the f inal mix . In thi s case. we have ac hi eved independent co nt rol of loudn ess and t im bre
to cr eate a brill iant. but ov iet trumpet sound . May be th is is what earl y com pose rs t r ied to ac hi eve
when th ey wrote " off stage" t rumpe t parts ?!
Th e synthesizer uses electro ni cs to maxi mize segrega tion of th e propert ies of sound . Th e whole
idea is t hai you can tear th e synt hesizer apart el ectro nically, recon f igure its f unct ions, and crea te
many sou nds thr ough t he independent cont r ol of sou nd prope rties . Th e very wo rd " synt hesize"
means t o create a w hole t hro ugh the Combinati on or composit ion of ind ividua l elements .
The modern syn t hesizer was deve loped i n t he earl y 196 0 's : the acknow ledged pioneer s are
Dona ld Buchla and Robert A. Moog . In parti cul ar. Mo og ' s designs and basic ideas have become
archetypal for t he synt hesi zer indus try . Early ver sion s we re mo duter: a modu lar sy nt hesi zer has
separ ate modu les, li ke components of a stere o system , that offe r inde penden t and variable conrr ot
over soun d prope rties , These modules han dle ele ctr ical signals; modules ma y be interc onnec ted in
di fferen t ways to create a vari ety of sounds . An i nexpensive and reliable way t o connect mod ules is
wi th cables called "p atchcord s" (Even th ough you don ' t use patch co rds wit h t he Microm oog t o
con nect its sectio ns , a given cont rol panel sett ing is still oft en referr ed t o as a " patc h:' )
29
Synth esizers desig ned specif ically for stage use- li ke t he Micromoog- tct you " patch" tog ether
sect ions (modules) of th e i nst rument usi ng swi tc hes and pot s (potentiome ter s) instead of patcncor ds.
BUI for purposes of learni ng basic pr inciples lei ' s cont inue to think of all synthe sizers as having
physicall y separate mod ules requ iring pat chcord connecti on. (The modu lar synthesizer st ill offer s
maxi mum f1e:llibility in con nection choice.]
Sinc e sound has the pro pert ies of pitc h. t imbre , and loudness, it foll ows that th e synt hesizer
should have modu les deali ng wi t h each pr open y.
The pat h f rom th e audio ou t put of th e sound source thr ough t he mod if iers to the speake r i s
called t he " audio signal path:' The audio signal pat h car ri es elect rica l Signals t hat are to be ma de
8udi ble by th e speaker. Not ice that the sound so urce has on ly an audio ou tp ut si nce it act ua ll y ge ner -
ates t he audi o signal. The mod if iers mus t have bo t h an audio i np ut as well as an audio outpu t sin ce
t he audio signal to be mod if ied flows t hr ough them .
At t his point. let's use appro priate synt hesizer terminology. The pnch -qeneraunq mod ul e ;s
called an " osci ll ator ;" t he t imbr e modifying mod ule is call ed a " f ilter ;" and the loudnes s mod ifi er is
called an " ampli f ier:' The diagram bel ow show s t he typ Ical synt hesi zer mod ules used in the audi o
signal path to establish a pi t ched musica l voice:
SYNTHESIZE R SOUND MODULES
TYP ICAL AUD IO SIGNAL PATH MODULES
Once th is ty pical set up is est ablis hed we have a musical voice. But how can we con trol th i s
voi ce- sound source and modif iers-t o make mu sic? The synt hesi zer is an el ectnca t inst ru ment ; it
responds t o elect ri cal signals. But hum ans can' t handle and manipu lat e electr ici ty di rect ly. So we use
a mechan ical/ electr ical device. li ke a pot enti omet er (pot) t hat will let t he t wo machines (huma n and
Micromoog} communicate . For the human . t he pot has a knob th at ca n be t ur ned by ha nd : for th e
Micromoog, a change rn th e pot setti ng changes an elect rical val ue t hat th e Micromoog un de rstan ds.
In fact. i mpor tant elements of sound on the mod ern synt hesizer are co nt rolled by vol t age levels.
The mod er n Synt hesizer is " voltage co ntro lled:' If we put a pot on each mod ule above w e co uld
cont rol its part icular fun c tion -p it ch gener at ion, timbre or loudness mod if icat ion-wi th a chan ge of
volt age by t ur ning the pot. W it h t he Mi cr om ooq. an i ncrease in vo ltag e t hat is con trolli ng th e
osci llator mak es the pit ch ri se: an increase in a voltage that is co nt ro lli ng t he fi lter causes t he t imbr e
to br ight en; and an increase in vol tage t hat is con t roll ing t he ampl if ier makes the soun d loude r.
So far, we have a voltage cont roll ed i nst rument that can be playe d by t ur ning kno bs. If you had
t hr ee hands, you could mak e some pre tt y good musicI Making mu sic by playin g knobs wo ul d be very
rest ri ctive . Fortun ately. w ith t he synt hesizer we are not restri ct ed t o th i s sort of manua l cont rol. The
synt hesizer's impo rt ant modu les can be cont r olled wit h voltage f rom any SOurce . So we cre at e a
control i np ut on appropria te modu les to accept con t rol volt ages f rom an y source. To avo id co nf usion
w ith t he audio (sound ) signals f lowin g fr om left to rig ht. let' s t hi nk of these con tr ol inputs as appear-
ing on t he bott om of each mod ule. as shown "
CONTROL INPUTS
EJ
MINIMUM AUDIO PATCH"
The synt hesizer is elect ri c; it deals With elect rica l signal s- sound is generated by the speaker .
To mak e sound. at least one of the mod ules must ge ner ate an electri cal signal t hat can drive t he
speaker t o make sound -an eudi o signal. Not surp risi ngl y. we call t his module an audio signal gen
eretor. Since this audio signa l eventu ally becomes a sound. an audio signal generat or is somet imes
called a " sound source :'
A sound source generate s t he " raw" l one or noise t hat can be shaped into musical sound. You
can t ake the mout hpiece off a tr umpet and " buzz" t unes wit h it. That wo uld be a very " raw" sound
source! Furt her parallels betwee n synt hesizer mod ules and acou stic instr uments can be made, The
t imb re module acts somew hat like a mute on a trum pet; neither acts (normally) as a sound source.
but each is a sound mod if ier. The loudness modu le is anot her modif ier. li ke the bell of the tr umpet
Neith er acts as t he sound source : each modif ies by ampl ify i ng sound. The pitch module of the
synt hesizer is a soun d sou rce. analog ous to the lips. mout hpiece and air colu mn that make the
t r umpet sound.
If we con nect a sound source on t he synt hesizer t o a monit or system (amp and speaker ). we
have the medical minimum f or produci ng sound Wit h t he synthesizer : a sound source whose audio
signal is tr anslated by a speaker.
MONI TOR
SOUND SOURCE
I
l SPEAI(ER /
mCH
The sound produc ed by t his minimal " patch" won 't be very interesti ng, since t he propert ies of
sound will be st atic. or rema in th e same. l et' s i nsert th e t imbre and loudness modifiers bet we en the
sound sour ce and the monit or :
OSCILUTOA
..

",I
g1
z
o
u
flLTEA
.--.

....
'" ..

-'
o
a:
....
Z
o
u
AMPUFIEil
.-..

ii
z
o
u
TO
MONITOR
30
31
CONTROLLER-C ONTROL INPUT CONNECTION
Now we can rout e cont rol signal s int o t ho contro l i nput of each module shown above to
dynam ically cont r ol ItSf unction Think of a cont rol signal fed into the control input as actmq like an
Invi sible hand thot tu r ns t he knob for you VoHage contr olled modules are someti mes ref err ed to With
lett er s. such as VCO (voltage cont rolled OSCill ator) . VCF tvottaqe cont rolled filt er ). and VCA (voltage
cont roll ed ampl if lorl . Alth ough any number of modules may be volt age contr oll ed. these are the most
common- VCO. VCF. VCA.
Anyth ing th at makes a contr ol signil l t hat is connected 10 a control mpv t is define d as a
contr oll er On a mod ular synt hesizer. the output of a controll er would be connected to t he control
Input of a mod ule wit h a patchcord as shown
veo VCF VCA

.--..
I I I
IEYSOAAO flLTU lOUO.US
COIrTOUR COIrTOUR
CONTROLLER
r
CONTROLLER
IEYIOAAO
SYNTHESIZER BLOCK DIAGRAM IBASIC,
o
SOUND MODIFIER SOUND MODIFIER
TRIGGER SOURCE
SOUND SOURCE
OR
VCO VCf VCA
---..
TO
MONIT
....----.
8
CONTR OllER V CONTRO llER
On the Micr omoog . control signal s may be connected to cont rol Input s using a variety of
swit ches and selectors Or a control signal fr om th e out side wo rld might be r out ed thro ugh the
FILTER or OSC INPUT on the rear panel. Each con tr ol input on the M1cromoog is capabl e of adding
all of th e volt ages th at are applied from several controller s; that is . control voltages are additiv'! .
A keyboard is a contro ller that makes discrete voltag e steps whIch Increase as you pl ay up the
keyboard. If this con tro ller is connected to t he control input of th e veo. the keyboard can be used t o
cont rol the pit ch of the veoand tunes can be played
A contour generator ISa contr oller that cr eat esa rising and falling voltag e patt ern .
a conto ur. If we connect this contr oller to the con tro l input of the VCA. the amoun t of ampli fication
(silence to ma:llimum) will be contr oll ed. This lets us articula te the sound.
The VCF can also be controll ed by a conto ur generator . W hen lhis occurs. the t one color will
typica lly become bright er as the contour voltage rises. and dull er as it fall s To get back t o our corn-
par ison wit h the tr umpet , suppose that you were using a Harmon mut e As you move your hand
away fr om the pl unger in the center of the mut e. you create t he familiar " wow" Or "wah-wah" ettect
Your hand is act ing as a contour generator. cont roll ing the fi lt er [mute]
Of course. we have to tell a contour generator when to st art and stop creating conto urs For
t his pur pose. the syntheSizer pr odu ces anot her type of signal called a " tri gger:' The keyboard gener -
ates a t rigger signal that tell s wh en a key is depr essed and released- usef ul information A tr igger
is a riming signal that " tr iggers" the contour generat or(s ). IOn some modul ar equipment. oth er
funct ions can be " t ri ggered:' )
In summary, the mod ern synth esizer con sists of sever al elements sound SOurces, modifI ers.
controller s. and t r igger sources Sound sources make aud io signals that can be heard. Modif iers alter
signals Ion the Micr omoog. only audio signals). Controller s make signals used t o contr ol sound
sources and/or modi fiers. Triggers are tim ing signals that usually init iate the act ion of a controller
such as a contour gener al or . See below for a bl ock diagr am of the basic volt age contr olled synthes izer.
32
33
EXERCISE 1: Frequency /P il ch Relal ionshi p
1. Hold th e lowest key on t he key board down . The fre quency of t he oscillator is so low
the sound IS heard not as a pitc h. but a seri es of clicks .
q [g[Q 01
10
0 0
-- ---
n
[0 0 ][0
- ..-
_.-
"=="
cq]
c:r::I;l9=Q g:;g g:;;)

--
w sw II ..... -
MICROTOUR
In this sub-section we will look at the sound sources,
modifiers. controllers. and tr iggering devices found on
t he Micromoog . Exercises are presented " by the numbers "
to help explain specif ic features . You might skim through
the fi rst t i me by doing just the exerci ses before reading
MICROTOUR t horoughly. (Set up the Sound Chart
preced ing each exerc ise.)
SOUND SOURCES
The OSCILLATOR . FILTER. or NOISE secti ons of the Micro moog generate an audio siqnal that
cr eates one of thr ee classes of sound : pi tched. clangor ous Ibet l-like}, or non -oit cbea
PITCHED SOUNDS
We hear pitch as th e highness or lowness of a sound. The piccolo pl ays high pitches. t he
t uba plays low pitch es. Our percept ion of pi1ch is complex. but depends mos tly on how frequen t ly
and reg ularl y pressure waves strike our ears . Wh en you were a kid. you pr obably made a fake
" motor" for your bicycle by attaching a piece of cardboa rd SOth e spokes st ruck it r egularl y. You
pr obably wer en't aware that you were ill ust r at i ng an interesting law of phy sicsl The f aster you
pedal. th e higher th e pit ch of the soun d caused by the spokes striki ng t he cardboard. That's because
the individual st r okes are heard mor e fr eQuently - li1erally. th eir frequency becomes greater .
Frequency is def ined as the number of t imes a patt ern repeats in a given unit of t ime. Frequency is
expressed in " Hert z" (abbreviated Hz}, or cycles per second. The symphony orchestra t unes to an
"A" that has 8 frequ ency of 440 Hz; standard tuning is ther ef ore A =440 Hz. Although the
correspo ndenc e betwe en f requency and what we perceive as "pit ch" is not perle ct . a higher
frequency is genera lly heard 3 5 a higher pit Ch.

2 . Slowly rot ate t he FREQUENC Y control of the QSCI LLATQR section clockwise tow ar d
" 0:' As you Increa se t he fr equency of the oscillator. th e pitc h of th e soun d beco mes
higher.
3 . Rel urn Ihe FREQUENCY con tr ol to "- 5:' Slow ly play up Ihe keyboard . Wher e do you
fi rst start hearing the sound as a note with def init e pit ch ?
The FREQUENCY. OCTAVE. and DOUBLING co nt ro ls, and FINE TUNE cont r ol (r ear pane l )
relat e 10 th e f reque ncy of Ih e OSCILLATOR sect ion; in mu sical ter ms Ih e pit ch of th e
sound produ ced. Continue the exercise :
4 . Select the 8 ' OCTAVE position .
OSCILLATOR Sect ion
The pr imary source of pitched sound on t he Micromoog is the voltage controlled OSCIL LATOR
secti on. The OSCILLATOR generates per iod ic-r egularly repeating- elect r ical pattern s which th e
speaker trans late s into pit ched sounds. The following exerci se ill ust r ates th e rel ationship betw een
the fre quency of th e OSCILLATOR section and the pitch of the sound it creates:
7. Sl ep t he OCTAVE setector t hr ough all of il Sposit ion s and rcta te the FREQUENCY
contr ol for each posit ion. Not ice t hat th e FREOUENCY cont rol Is oper able onl y w hen
the OCTAVE selector is in th e WI DE posit ion .
8. Retu rn t he OCTAVE selector to the 8 ' posit ion . Not ice that t he i nt erv eni ng mo vem ents
of the FRea UENCY contro l did not interf ere with t he ori ginal tuning .
5 . Tune the Micromo og using t he FINE TUNE cont rol on the r ear panel to match th e
pit ch level of a piano or organ (or anoth er tuning sour ce).
6 . Hold the lowest key on Ih e keyboard.
..... -......... -
--
[E2
[0
34
3S
9 Hold down any key on the keyboard .
3. Look at t he pane l gr aphics for t he WAV E5HAPE con trol. The wav eshape s are named
aft er their shapes.
4. Move t he WAVE SHAPE cont rol smoot hly and r egular ly above and below. say. posi ti on
" 5" When the waveshape changes like t his it is said to be " dynamic:' Lat er you 'll
learn how to con tro l oscilla tor waveshape wi th a voltag e to create dy namic wa veshapes
automaucanv
The diff er ences that you hear amon g the var ious waveshapes are due to t heir differe nt harmonic
structures. A waveshape pro duced by Ihe OSCILLATOR secti on may be t houg ht of as a collec ti on of
simple compone nts call ed "pa r uals" Mo st pitched sou nds consist of a fir-st part ial called the
" f undament al;' and other partia ls t hai are higher and ofte n nol as loud. W hen t he frequ encies
(pit ches) 0' the upper part iats are whole number mult ipl es of th e fr equency of t he f undament al. all
the partial s are call ed "ha rrnoru cs" (They are in a harmon ic r elationship 10 each oth er.) That is.
a tone with a 'u ndament al fre quency of 100 Hz may be co mpose d 0' simple sou nds (si ne waves)
having th e frequencies 100 Hz. 200 Hz. 300 Hz. 400 Hz. and so forth (Who le number multiple s of
the fundament al frequency 100 Hz.] Upper partial s t hat are har monic tend to r einf orce ou r
perception of the funda menta l f requency as the " pitch" we hear. The presence and relat ive s'treng ths
of har mo nics-the har monic spec tr um-a ccou nts i n pan f or our perception of the t imbre, or
disti ncti ve t one color of instr ume nts.
The WAVESHAPE cont rol pr ovides a conti nuous selec tion of waveshape s wi th a variety of
harmonic spe ctr a, or ar range men ts of part ials. These waveshapes are the basic timbra l bui lding
blocks . The herrnc mc spectrum of a waveshape is often depicted in bar gr aph fo rm as shown
below , The pos iti on of a bar along the hor izontal indicates the presence of a harmo nic ; t he height
of that bar represents the relative strength of th at harm on ic . ( Relative streng ths are also Indicated
with fr actions Or deci mals) The fo llowing grap hs depict the har moruc spectra f or some of t he
waveshapes available on the Micr omoog : the first ten parti als of a tone of t OOHz are depict ed:
10 . Move t he DOU BLING con tro l slowly clockwi se toward t he "+5" position . then counter-
cloc kwi se towa rd ..- 0" Note t hat th e pit ch sounded by the OSCILLATOR may be
doubl ed either one or tw o octaves lower as indicated by panel graph ics
The OCTAVE selector tune s the OSCILLATOR section In oct ave mcrement s ' r om 32 ' to 2' sto ps
[borro wed pipe organ terminolog y), with lowest " C" on t he keyboard as foot age reference The WIDE
posit ion of the OCTAVE selector activates th e FREOUENCY cont rol wh ich pro vides conti nuous tuning
of the OSCILLATOR sectio n over approx imately eight octaves. Fine t uning is done wi th the FINE
TUNE con tr ol on th e rear panel .
The FREQUENCY control may be used t o transpose, or make the OSCILLATOR sound In one
key while you play in another key on the keyboard, The use of a capo wit h an acoustic guitar is a
good analogy (CAPO A movable bar att ached t o the f ingerboard. especially of a gUitar to unifor ml y
r aise th e pitch of all t he str ing s.) Gener ally, it' s good practi ce to avcid uSing th e FINE TUNE control
t o help tune FREOUENCY setti ngs when transposing . because all OCTAVE sett ings will be aff ected
It' s best to tune the Micromoog to standard pit ch as indi cated In the pr evious exercise. and use
only the FREQUENCY control when tra nsposi ng.
The DOUBLI NG contr ol provi des a cont inuous milCof the pri mary pit ch of t he OSCILLATOR
with anoth er tone eit her one or two octaves lower The positron marked " 0" is a " dead band" wher e
no doubling occ urs . Doubl ing a melody in oct aves is a useful mustcal device, and tfus feature helps
give the Impre ssion of a synt hesizer wi th more tha n one tone oscillator
The FINE TUNE cont rol on the rear panel t unes all OCTAVEpositi ons simultaneously "Concert
pitch" per form ance. where th e keyboard of t he Micr omoog corr esponds to the keyboard of a piano
or organ requires th at you f ine tune the Micro moog while in one of the footage (32 ' -2 ') OCTAVE
posit ions The OCTAVE selector may then be used to extend Ihe span of the Mtcr cmooq's keyboard
to more than eight oct aves.
So far, we've ref err ed to the audio signa l generated by the OSCILLATOR section only as an
" elect ri cal patte rn:' This patt ern is called a "we veshape" A waveshaoe rs Simply a way of pict uring
a sound; t he waveshape of acoustic Instrum ent s or t he osci llator of a synthesi zer may be observed
on an oscilloscope. Mo st trad it ional inst rum ents have a distinct ive waves hape t hai helps us identi fy
that inst rumen t' s timb re, or tone color. The Micr omoog has an OSCILLATOR section that produces
electr ical waveshapes wh ich are tr anslated by t he speaker into a Wide variety of timbres If a Signal
gener ated by an oscillator has t he same wave shape as a sound creat ed by a t radrnonat mstrumen t
l at her f actors such as attack and release conside red). t heir sounds wi ll be similar Drtter ent wave-
shapes have differe nt ti mbres . set up the sound che rt and let's listen
WAVESHAPE RELATIVE HARMONIC CONTENT
lL'ti
" ' 1'J
' /1 " ' '' ' .. ....".....
J I I ! .' I
... 0 ' 00 100 XIO &GO WlO 1000 tOO IlOO 'IlOO ' 000
I
' 00 100 JICO ..:JO Il":lO c.oo' ;:)0 100 100 ' 000
UJ
", .:"
'1'1I
. I ,
0 '00 100 )00 . 00 \00 100 ' C(I 1>00 100 ' 000
-
...........
--
to QI
[Q ej[0OJ
EXERCISE 2 : Waveshape{T,mbre Relati onship
1. Hold any key on t he keyboard dow n. You are listening to th e sound of a "sawtoo th"
wave sbape. -01 .1)' 0
... 0 ' 00 101) JOO &00 tOO 100 '00 100 toOO1000
2. Slowly ro tate the WAVESHAPE con trol through It s posit ions. Between position s " 5-6"
you wil l hear t he sound of the " square" waveshape. As you move towa rd " 10:' you
hear vari ous " r ectangular" wav eshapes.
36 37
The OSCILLATOR sectio n of t he Mlcr omoog generates sawtooth and rectang ular wav eshapes
A square waveshape is a rec tangula r waveshape whose top and bottom are of equal wi dth. As the
gra phs show. the sawtoo t h ..-/1 waveshape has all har monics: it ISuseful In produc ing str ing
and bra ss-like sounds . The square wav eshape Lfl has only odd -numbere d ( 1.3.5,7. etc.)
har mon ics; it IS used to simulate " holl ow" sounding mstrurnen ts such as the cl annet As the
rect angu lar wave s becomes asymet nc al (Iopslded) - IL . L . L .- It s
harmoni c spect rum changes In a co mplex manne r. prod ucing " nasal" sounds useful for simulatin g
slOgle and doubl e-reed instr uments.
00 '00
O SC ILLATOR
The WAVESHAPE co ntr ol allows conti nuous selection and mi xtu re of the wavesha pes produced
by th e OSCILLATOR secnon . The posit ion mark ed "0" pr ovides lh e sawt oot h weveshap e. as th e
control is moved cl ockwise t his sawto ct n waveshape is mixed with a narr ow rectanqular waveshape
(about " 2'" As the WAVESHAPE cont ro l is moved toward " 5:' Ihe rectangular wave wid ens and
becomes a square waveshape. and th e sawto ot h disappear s from th e t op. Between posit ions " 56"
a square wave shape is produced. and as t he contr ol is moved on toward "' 0:'the square wave shape
narro ws to a very narrow rec t angu lar waveshape. The narr ow ness of th is rectangular wav eshape is
li mited so t he sound will never " disappear " at any WAVESHAPE po siti on. The Micr omoog pro vid es
a vanetv of wave shapes : sawtoo th . square . var iable rect angula r. and a mixtur e of sawt oot h and
var iabl e rec tangular we veshepes . An unders tanding of the harmo nic spect ra of waveshapes is very
useful in sound synt hesis. Also. experience evemuallv teaches you a lot about wh ich wav eshape is
best for an int ended sound.
FILTERSect ion As Sound Source
Although t he primary function of the FILTERsectio n is tone mod ifi cation . the FILTER will also act
as a sound sour ce. When t he FILTER MO DE swi tch is placed in the TONE posit ion. the FILTERsectio n
genera tes a sine waveshape Ia wh istle -like sound) that has no harmonics Set up the sound chart and
proceed '

QD
01 ..

-
[0.9_8][Q
..-
---
.:::."'::.
- '-

J:I::. -.::IJ 0:::-
- -- - -
-- - - -
--
--.s. ,. ........
EXERCISE 3 : Filt er As Sine Wavesh.p e Oscinator
1, Play the keyboa rd. You are listening to the sound of a sine waveshape that is prod uced
by the FILTER section .
2. Place t he FILTER MODE swi tch to the NORM position , Play the keybo. rd lno sound)
Ret urn the FILTER MOOE swi tch to the TONE positi on. The FILTER section become s a
sound source onl y whe n this swi tc h is in th e TONE positi on.
38
3. Hold any key on the keyboar d dow n. Rotate the CUTOFF co nt ro l over a wide span.
Whe n the FILTER sect ion IS In t he TONE mode . th e CUTOFF contro l acts as a
span t uning cont r ol
4 Play a sho rt melodic frag ment repeated ly. Try diff er ent sett ing s of th e CUTOFF cont ro l
Note that th e same melod y is pr odu ced at diffe rent prtch levels. The po sit ion of the
CUTOFF con tr ol adds t o the keybo ar d to estab lish the pit ch pr od uced .
5. Noti ce th at the OSCILLATOR section is not being used as a sound source si nce the
OSCILLATOR switch ISIn th e OFF position. You have heard onl y th e FILTER sect ion in
TONE mode
In the pr evious exercise . the OSCILL ATOR sectio n is actu ally not turned " off:' but is Sfmply
removed from the audio signal pat h so we don ' t hear it . The OSCILLATOR generate s aud io SIgnals
con t inuo usly-e ven wh en we choos e not 10 listen to them . The OSCILL ATOR switc h is placed In the
OFF positio n because we don' t want ( 0 hear the OSCIllator . but wi sh to hear th e sound produ ced by
the FILTER secuon alone
FILTER/OSCILLATOR Synchron ization
Some unusual sounds can be made if t he OSCILLAT OR and FILTER sectio ns are used as sound
source s simultaneously. When trns ISdone. the FILTER can be or lock ed tog et her at
har monic intervals (whole number multi ples of t he osci llato r f requency) to t he OSCILLATOR. If you
use the CUTOFF cont ro l to tune the FILTER section 10 sound t he same pil ch as the OSCILLATOR
section , t hey will be syn ched at t he fundamental. The OCTAVE selector will cause th e FfLTER
CUTOF F to move in oct aves as we ll 8Sthe pit ch of t he OSCIL LATOR sect ion . The folfowi ng exer cise
ill ustr ates synchron ization of the OSCILLATOR and FILTER secti ons '
[0
..
EXERCISE 4 : Oscillato r /Filter Synchr on izat ion
1. Note that bot h th e OSCILLATO R and FILTER sectio ns are being used as sou nd sources;
The OSCILLATOR switch i s to NORM. and the FILTER MO OE swi tc h is to TONE.
2. Hold down a key in the middle of t he keyboard .
3. Adj ust t he CUTOF F con tro l until grOWling and beat ing disappear (shou ld be around " 0:' )
4. Play the keybo ard . The OSCILL ATOR and FILTER sect ion s are "svnched ' at the
fundam ent al.
Wh en the pi tch of the FILTER section matches the pit ch of t he OSCILLATOR sect ion (CUTOFF
to about " 0" ), and bot h are used as sound sources as shown above . they are svnchronized at the
f un dament sl fr equency 0' th e osci llator . Contin ue t he exerc ise:
5. The FILTER sectio n may be synchron ized at a harmon ic of the OSCILLA TOR frequency.
Slow ly move th e CUTOFF con lro l cloc kwise. contro lli ng the f requency of the FILTER
section . When t he beats di sappear , th e FILTER secti on is synchronized 10 a har monic
of t he oscilla tor fre quency .
6. Try diffe rent CUTO FF setti ngs t hat "s vnch" with t he oscilla to r. Play t he keyboar d.
39
7. Moye th o DOUB LIN G conl rol clockwise away fr om " 0" This provides a tone tw o
octaves lower than th e pitch of t he OSCILLATOR You should now hear t hree tones
two fr om t he OSCI LLATOR sect ion and one fr om t he FILTER section .
When the FILTER secti on IS i n the TONE mode. It becomes anot her sound source . u may be
used In coruunc tio n With t he OSC ILLATOR secuon , when DOU BLING IS added. It IS possible 10 have
thr ee tones wtuch Will follow the keyboard in parall el The two lowest tones will come fr om the
OSCI LLATOR secuc n and anot her t on e above IS prod uced by the FILTER sect ion .
CLANGOROUS SOUNDS
So-call ed clangorous sound s are ofte n cnaracter uec as being met alnc or "bell-hke " A charac -
tensti c f eatur e 0 1 0 bell sound is th e pr esence of partia ls th at are not harmonic That IS. partia ls that
do no t st and In whole nu mber re lationsh ips to each other. On t he Mlcromoog , wh en the FI LTER
sect ion IS In t he TONE mode it is possibl e to use the FILTER MOD BY OSC swnch to create non-
harmomcs that give t he impression of metallic or bell-hke soun ds The follow ing exerc ise show s how
to produc e clang orou s soun ds

(0
01Qcs.!. ,][Q... Q,]
[0 8][0
- -".- -: -
..
_.-
- '-


-
--
............ ....
EXERCISE 5 : Fil ter Modul all on By The Oscillator
, . Hold th e lowest key on the keyboard down
2. Swi t ch FILTER MOD BY OSC to the WEA K posi tion . You should hear a repeat ing
pane rn The OSCILLATOR section is now modu tet mq (chang ing) t he cutoff frequency
of the FILTER sect ion . rapidly changing t he pitch produ ced by the FILTER.
3. Slow ly rotate the control to the OSCIL LATOR sect ion 10 Increase the
speed of the modu lation At some pomt yo ur ear no longe r hears the mdrvsdua t receu-
nons. but percervas th e r apid modu lation as a new nmbre .
4. Play the keyboar d. Try differen t FREOUENCY setli ngs
5 The sound prod uced depends on t he fr equency and waves hape produced by t he
OSCIL LATOR sectio n. and t he frequency th at the FILTER section is produc ing . Explo re
these clango rous sound s by trying vario us settin gs of FREQUENCY. WAVESHAPE .
OOUBlING . and CUT OFF control s
This is an example of use of t he OSCILLATOR sect ion as a con troller . Notice that we ar e not
lis1enlng 10 th e OSCILLATOR sect ion as a sound source . since t he OSCILLATOR SWItc h is to OFF
But OSCILLA TOR control sett ings still aff ect the sound. because the osci llator has been connected t o
th e co ntroli nput of the FILTER section . To make an analogy. you r fing er s don't make sound wh en you
play th e vi olin . but thev contr ol th e sound Wh en you create vi brato on t he viol in you are modulot ing
the fr equ ency of th e sound . A very wide and rapid vi brato on th e violin- if humanly possible- wo uld
create new sound textur es that are bell-like. On the Micromoog it is possibl e for the OSCILLATOR
to act like a fi nger on th e st ri ng to modulat e the pitc h pr od uced by the FILTER sect ion very
r apIdl y. WEA K and STRONG posit ion s on the FILTER MOD E SWitch repr esent t he retat ive amount of
fr equency modulat ion.
40
NON-PITCHED SOUNDS
NOISE Sect ion
In synt hesi zer language. " noise" is a random signal- a rus hing. stauc -Iike sound The sou nd you
hear betwe en channe ls on FM radio 15 an example of noise
The NOIS E section of th e Mr ceom ooq pr ovid es " pink noise" that has been balanced to have
equa l ene r gy In all octav es SO. II sounds neit her too high and hiSSY. nor l OOlow and ru mbling NOise
does not have harm onics like the wavesbanes pr od uced by the OSCI LLATOR section . no-se may be
thought of as all f r equencies occu rmq r and omly . or wttbcu t or der The f ollOWing exercise show s you
wha t un modif ied no ise sounds like on t he M lcr omoog
to
QQ
01 .. :?I

[0 ..8][0
-
--
--
_.-
0311 -=0 -=rJ -=:J

-- - -- --
--
us .... --

EXERCISE 6 : Listening To The NOISE Section

Hold dow n the highest key on th e keyboard You are listen ing to pink noise
2 Not e that the LEVEL con tro l of th e NOISE section must be t urn ed up (toward .. , 0 " )
In order 10 hear norse
3 . Since we wan t to hear the NOISE secti on as t he sole sound source . th e sound of th e
OSCILLATOR sect ion must be remo ved by placing the OSCI LLATOR SWItch to t he OFF
oosmon Also. Since th e FILTER IS not desi red as a soun d source . the fiLT ER M ODE
SWitch must not be in t he TONE po sit ion
Noi se is often fil tered and shape d to sugg est the sounds of wind. surf . jets. Cymbals and oth er
per cu ssion i nst r ume nts
4 1
MODIFIERS
A modi fier is an elect ronic device th at pr ocesses or alters a signal. The Micromoog's modi fiers
alter audio signals comi ng fr om the sound sources . cha nging the sound . A mod ifier has both an inpu t
and an out put since t he signal 10be mod if ied must fl ow th r ough It A simple tone contr ol on a stereo
set. a chaser, wah-wah pedal. are modifler s of sound since they change th e nat ure of the audro
signal t hai passes th ro ugh them ,
The Microm oog has t wo mod ifier s. a volt age co ntro lled amplifier (VCA I that is not depict ed on
th e fr ont panel ; and a voltag e controlled filt er (VCF) as repr esent ed by th e FILTER section
r.. .. ..
.......... ......... .....
.
[0
0 0
0llQ[O0 010 0][0 0]
. ... ._- -- -- - - -- -""- - __ ..... .....__, __ ....
...-.. ...TW. - - n l..". AC:CIi'of'I OU. I..OUD" . c a..,........ . o .c: .........,.a .
[0 Ql[O
- ---
_.-
-'-

ITIJ [II] ITIJ l;Q c:;;q
-- - - - - - --
--
-wsw I I
b
VCA, or Voltage Controlled Amplifier
The vol tage contr olle d amplifi er of t he Micromoog is responsibl e f or arti culating sound by
modifyin g its loudness. The VCA itself is not depicted on the fr ont panel . its associat ed LOUDNESS
CONTOUR section prov ides 8 con tro l voltage that opens and closes th e VCA. cre ati ng arti culati ons of
sou nd. The VCA may be held completely open (max imum gain. or loudness) by placi ng th e BYPASS
slide switch to ON. Wh en BYPASS is OFF. the LOUD NESS CONTOUR is connect ed to th e cont rol
input of the volt age controll ed ampl ifier and is used as a cont rolle r to ope n and clo se th e VCA Th is
allows control ov er rise t ime (attack ). or the beginn ing of a soun d; and f all t ime (release) . or the f i nal
port ion of a sound. The follow ing Exercise illust rates:
[0
..
EXERCISE 7: Modi fying Loudness By Controlling The VCA
1. Place BYPASS switch to ON posit ion . You should hear sound contin uously, since th e
voltag e controlled amplif ier (VCAI is being held complet ely open r bypassed " ).
2. Ret urn BYPASS swi t ch to OFF. Depress any k.ey. then release. The sound is arti culat ed
with nearly immediat e attack and release.
3. Not ice that t he ATIAC K and RELEASE contr ols of the LOUDNESS CONTOUR are set
fo r immediate attac k and release. Play keyboard and note that the sou nd is art iculated
with immedi ate attac k and release (beginn ing and end).
42
4 Vary t he ATIA CK contr ol in t he LOU DNESS CONTOUR sligh tl y. Play keyboard The
Init ial pan of the sound. or att ack nm e. ISIncreased as you move the contro l clockwi se
5 Vary th e RELEASE cont rol m the LOU DNES S CONTOU R Not,c e t hat the l,mlng of the
final portio n. or r elease of t he sound ISIncreased as you mov e t he contro l c1ock.wi se
Wh en t he BYPA SS swi tc h IS In us nor mal OFF posit ion, t he LOUDNESS CONTOUR secuo n is
connec ted to the co nt ro l input of t he volt age cont r oll ed ampli fier (VCA) . The LOUD NESS CONTOU R
cr eates a voltage " contour' (sometime s called "e nvelope" ) wh ich opens and close s t he VCA . shaping
the loudn ess of any sound paSSing t hrough t he VCA
Use of the LOUDN ESS CONTOUR secnon t o con tro l the VCA does n't " t urn on " any of the
sound sources - t hey are alway s potenti all y available for use. The soun d source in use is always
present at t he audi o Input of the VCA. th e VCA mo di fi es t he sound source by amplffyi ng rt The
amo unl of thIs amp lifi cation IScontr olled by t he LOUDNE SS CONTOUR sectio n when it genera t es a
Signa l that "cont our s:' or Increases and decr eases t he gain (amp lif ication ) of th e VCA .
FILTERSection
A filter modi fies sound th e way the name Impli es-i t remo ves a port ion of t he sou nd The
Mlcromoog featu res th e patented Moog
N
wi de r ange lowp ass resonant f ilt er. This unique filte r pl ays
a role in creating th e dtstmc tive and recoqruza ble " Moog Sound" t hat has become popul ar.
The Mrcrcm ooq's FILTER sect ion is a lowp ass fi lt er : t tus filter act s t o pass th e lows of a sound
and reject the high s The FILTER sect ion atte nuate s. or " cuts off" th e higher feequ encv compo nents -
t hose which lie above t he adj ust able " cutof f fr eque ncy: ' and passes t he lowe r f requ ency com pone nts
of th e SIgnal passing through The CUTOFF cont r ol sets t his cuto ff fr equency. The cut oH frequency is
lowere d as t he CUTOFF contro l is moved count er cl oc kwise: the lower the cut off freq uency. the few er
highs a signal will have after passing through t he f ilter .
A waves hape is round ed and smoot hed as the CUTOFF cont ro l is moved cou nter clock wi se.
When th e cutoff fr equency is so low it appr oaches the fund amental frequen cy of t he wav eshape .
almos t all of the upp er harm onics are cut off and th e signal appro xi mat es a sine wav eshape (pu re
to ne Wit h no harm omcs). If the CUTOFF cont r ol is set to cause a very low cutoff fr eque ncy. all soun d
may be .cut off and silence will result . The tonowmq Exerci se illu st rates FILTER secti on feat ures :
[0 Q1?,][gJJ
..
EXERCISE 8 : Modi fy, ng A Waveshope W ' th The FILTER Sect ion
Hold down any kev on t he keybo ard . You are listeni ng to th e sound of an unt inered
sawt oot h waveshape.
2. Wh ile listen i ng. slowly rotate th e CUTOFF co ntrol co unterclockwise Not ice that the
sound becomes less brigh t and buzzy. and eventu ally becomes mut ed. and fina lly
disapp ear s wh en all par tials are cut off .
43
The di agr ams below show w hat happens to a sawtooth wavesbape as you progress Ivel y cu t
off th e " highs" bv ro tati nq I he CUTOFF con tro l cou nter clcckw ise
EXERCISE 9 : Mod if yi ng No ise Wi th The FILTER Sect ion
1. Hold down any key on th e keyboa rd The sound sou rce ISthe NOISE sect ion
/\ /\
2 Sl owly r ot at e the CUTOFF cont rol counter cl ockwise. The hig hs are pr og r essively
"c ut off:'
3 . Set the EMP HA SIS co nt ro l t o " 10" Now move t he CUTOFF contro l t hr ough ou t its
pes.non s You shou ld hear " wind" sounds of varying pitch Noise doesn' t have
harmoni cs Ihat can be picked out as th e cu toH fr equency IS moved .
Now let ' s explore t he use of th e EMPHASI S contr ol
3 . Hold down a low key on t he keybo ard
4 Check to see that th e EMPHAS IS con t rol rs al " 0"
5. Move th e CUTOFF con l ro l l hro ughout i ts posinons. Even though you are passIng
thr ough harm on ics as you move t he CUTOFF co ntrol . you can' t di sti ngUIsh each
harm on ic as th e c ut off frequency passes throu gh it
6 . Move th e EM PHASIS con trol t o " 10: ' No w move lhe CUTOFF contro l. You can actuallv
hear each harmon ic i n t he sawt oot h wa veshap e as you move t he cutoff fr equency
th rough it . No w you can conf ir m th ai th e saw too t h waveshape has all harmonics of
t he harmon ic ser ies.
The EMPHASI S cont r ol is used to emphasize. or feed back energy rig ht at t he cutoff
f requency . This makes th e pre sen ce of harmoni cs more apparent when Ihe CUTOFF co nt rol is moved.
High er EM PHAS IS sett ings increase t he height of a resonant peak at t he CUl off frequ ency: look at
th e pa nel gr aphics by th e EMPHAS IS control for an ill ust r ation. MaXImum emphasis 15 reached at
po sit ion " 10:' Wh en t he EMPHASIS cont rol is set high. it is possible to hear the indiv idua l harmonics
pr esent in any wav eshap a. Contin ue the Exercise
7 Hold down a key on the keyboard.
8 . Check to see tha t th e EMPHAS IS cont rot is at " 10"
9. Select diff er ent WAVESHAP E setti ngs and move the CUTOFF co ntrol ; see if you
cafl' hear th e harm onics In the waveshape as the cutoff fr equency passes th rou gh t hem.
Noise may be filt ered to pr odu ce some un usual sou nd effect s. Try th e foll owing Exercise
0\Q2,J lQ.. .QJ
to
QQ

[0 0 ][0
- ..-
-_.
- ,-
- '-



.. _ we , ..
'"-
44
The FILTER secnon mod ifi es noise Just as It modif ies an y sig nal- by cutt ing oH t he high s
The pr eced ing Exer cise ill ustrates not onl y how t he FI LTER sect ion wor ks. but the " smoot h"
dts-tribu tion of f r equencies 10 noi se, Even wh en EMPHASIS is hi gh. no dist incti ve harmo nics ar e
heard i n no ise. But . at hIgh EM PHASIS co nt rol setti ngs no ise vti ll begin t o take on a " pit c h"
determ ined by th e cutoH f requen cy . Thrs IS because only t hat po rti on of norse ar ou nd t he cut oH
freq uancv is em phasized, makmg i t easier to hear.
CONTROLLERS
A contr oller gener ates a Signal th at ISused to cont rol mod if ier s and/o r sound sources On the
Micromoog , co nrrouers ma y be used to alter oscill ator t r ecu encv and ...... aveshaoe . ftlt er cu to f f
freq uency, and amplif ier gai n. Cont ro l signal s are not heard dire ctl y. but are used to contro l sect ions
th at genera te or modi fy sound. To r et ur n to ou r discu ssion of sou nd. t hiSmeans we can cont ro l
pitch . timbr e. and loudness wit h a vo ltage level.
When a ci rcuit is connect ed to the con tr ol Input of a sec tion of t he Microm oog . tha t ci rc uit
is def i ned as a cont roll er. Fr om expe ri ence. you know th at the keybo ard can con tro l th e pitch of
the OSCILLATOR section: her e is how it do es It The keyboa rd ci r cuurv prod uces a vol t age level
that inc reases as you play up th e keyboard . The keybo ar d is connected to t he frequency cont ro l
input of th e OSCIL LATOR sect ion by piaClOg lhe OSCILLA TOR swi tch 10 the NORM po sit ion Since
the OSCILLATOR secti on ISvol tage contr olled (VCO) . an i ncrease In vol t age fr om the keybo ard
causes an inc rease of OSCIL LATOR fr eq uency Wh en you pl ay up t he keybo ar d. OSCill ator pitc h
goe s hig her.
Ot her contro ll ers on t he Micro moog inclu de t he FILTER CONTOUR section . LOUDNESS
CONT OU R sect ion : modulat ion OSCillator and sampl e-and-ho ld ci rcurts selected by the
MODULATI ON sect ion . In some cases. th e OSCILLATOR and NOISE sectio ns may be used as
co ntr ollers . Contr ol signals fro m th e ou tside world may also be routed to t he OSCILLATOR and
FILTER secl ions via the OSC and FILTER INPUTS on t he Micr omoog 's rear panel (see OPEN
SYSTEM sect ion of rhe manual }.
The PITCH r ibbon is a perform ance controller because its vol1age output is dIrectl y und er t he
co nt r ol of t he performer
Keyboard
The keyboa rd of th e Micr om oog pr oduces a volt age leve l tha t may be used to contr ol t he
fr equ ency of t he OSCILLATOR sect ion end/ or the cut off fr eque ncy of t he FILTER sectio n. The
follow ing Exer CIse show s how th e key board may be used as it cont roll er :
01 .. .ql
QQ
O_C -..&..A TOQ

-
--
-..
-

-=:IJ .:;0
-=:J
.... II
4S
EXERCISE 10 : Keyboa rd Contro l of OSCILLATOR/ FILTER Sect ions 10 , Play the keyboar d, The pit ch of the OSCILLATOR sect ion gl ides wh en under keyboard
cont rol and GLI DE IS used . The keyboar d signal t hat is contro lling pitc h is gilding .
Set up th e sound chart and play up and down the keyboard The frequency of the
OSCILL ATOR secti on is being cont rolled by the keyboard, Nonc e that t he OSCILLATOR
swit ch is i n t he NORM (nor mal) posuion
1 t , Remove the OSCI LLATOR sect ion from keyboard contr ol by moving t he OSCILLAT OR
switc h to ORONE ,
2, Place t he OSCI LLATOR swi tch In the DRONE posurc n. Now play the keyboa rd ,
INo pitch change- pitch " dr ones :' )
The NORM position of the OSCILLATOR switch places t he OSCILLATOR section under keyboard
control That is. It connec ts the keyboa rd to the frequency control input of th e OSCI LLATOR section .
The DRONE posiuon of the OSCILLATOR swnch remov es the OSCILLATOR section fr om keyboard
contr ol , pl ayi ng t he keyboa rd will have no effect on OSCILLATOR frequenc y,
Not ice that. in the NORM pos ition . t he levels coming from the keyboa rd have been scaled 10
creete a diat onic ( 12 tone) scale . Ot her scales are possible wi t h " open system" manipulat ion of t he
keyboard output. (See OPEN SYSTEM sect ion)
Also, if you list en care full y you will hear a change in tone color when th e OSCILLA TOR swi tc h
is i n the DRONE po sition . even t hough the pitch is not changed . Let' s explo re th is by co ntinuing
the Exercise:
3, Leave th e OSCILLATOR switch in the DRONE positi on,
4 . Alt ern at ely play the lowest and highest keys on th e keyboar d. The pi tch doe sn't change ,
but th e t imbr e of the soun d does . Not ice that t he FILTER MODE swi tc h is presentl y
in th e NORM posit ion
5 . Place th e FI LTER MODe swi tch in the FULL posit ion . Now th e differe nce i n t imb re
betwee n th e lowest and high est keys is mor e pro nou nced.
12. Play- OSCILLA TOR pitch is no longer unde r key boar d con tro l. bu t the filter cutoH
freq uency is. as evidenced by t he glid ing tone color changes.
13 Retur n the GLI DE contr ol to " 0: ' Now play : t her e v.rill be no gliding of tone color .
or t imbre
The preceding con fi r ms that GLI DE affe ct s the keyboa rd SIgnal
The OFF position of t he OSCI LLATOR swncnand t he TONE pos;t ion of the FILTER MODE
swi tch r emain t o be exp lored
14. Place the OSCILLATOR swi tch to t he OFF posit ion , Play No sound -the OSCillator has
been removed from th e audio signal pa th-bu t (take ou r Vlor d) (he osc illator is st ill
under con t ro l of t he keyboard .
15, Place t he FILTER MOOE swi tch to t he TONE positron . Play, The FILTER sect ion IS
generat ing a sine wavesha pe whic h foll ows th e keyboa rd .
The r eason f or placi ng t he filter under fu ll keyboard cont r ol in the TONE mode shoul d be
app ar ent enou gh. We want to co nt ro l it f rom the keyboard when it's making a t one. The re ason
we want t he OSCILLATOR sec t ion to tcnc w the keybo ar d even t hou gh we are not hear ing It will be
expla ined whe n we discuss use of th e OSCILLATOR section as a cont rolle r. For now, let's Just no te
th at th e OFF posit ion of t he OSCI LLATOR swi tch rem oves th e sound of t he OSCILLATOR secti on but
places it under keyboard co nt rol.
LOUDNESS CONTOUR Section
TYPICAL CONTOUR SI GNAL
RELEASE
TI ME
KEY RELEAS ED
SUSTAI N
LEVEL
I
ATIA CK
TIME
ZERO ,
o........,......r ..
I 1 I
KEY DEPRESS ED
Ul
o

o
>
A basic aspect of music is t he con t rol ot not only when , but how a sound begin s and ends-
att ack and release charac teris tics Most organ l ike electro nic musical inst ruments off er con tr ol
over when . bu t not how th e loudn ess of a soun d is shap ed . The Micr omoog off ers exce llent cont rol
of art icul at ion , or t he shaping of lou dness .
The LOUDNESS CONT OU R section is a con tour (someti mes called "enve lope " genera tor ,
it s ATTACK and RELEASE co ntrol s may be set to pr oduce a dynami c control vollage that " co nt ours"
or opens and closes t he VCA wi t hin th e Micr omoog , The assoc iated LOUDNESS SUSTAI N swi tch
and RELEASE switch cha nge t he mode . or ways t hat t he LOUDNE SS CONTOUR section func ti ons .
The f ollo wing diagram shows th e genera l form of the signal prod uced by the LOUDNESS CONTOUR
section :
7, Place th e GLID E cont rol to " 5:'
8 . Again. play lowe st and highest keys alternate ly. Timbre "qhdes " betwe en keys now.
rtusIndica tes th at t he GLIDE control affec ts the Icerboor d signal. Judg ing fro m some gli ding
puch sounds that are heard fr om the synt hesi zer. one might t hink t hat the GLIDE co nt rol does
somet hing to th e OSCILLATOR sect ion-th is is not the case. The GLIDE co ntrol slows down the
ou tput at keybo ard changes ; t he keyboa rd output t hen glides betwee n volt age step s instead of
jum ping betwee n t hem. Since we have been using th e keyboard t o contro l only th e cuto ff fr equency
of th e FILTER, use at t he GLI DE contro l causes only the t imbre to glide between keys If we choose
to con t rol OSCILLAT OR f reQuency. the glidin g keybosr d co nt rol signal will cause th e pitch of the
OSCILLATOR sect ion to glid e. Let' s hear it :
9. Place the OSCILLATOR unde r keyboard cont rol by moving the OSCILLATOR switch
to the NORM posit ion,
6 Leave th e FILTER MODE swi tch in t he FULL posl non: Leave t he OSCILLATOR swi t ch
in the DRONE po sit ion.
The preced ing shows that the cuto ff fr equency of the FILTER section is under keyboa rd co nt rol
i n both t he NORM and FULL positions of the FILTER MODE switch In the NORM posit ion only half
of the keybo ard vol tage is allowe d to con tr ol the cutoff freque ncy ; in the FUL L posi tio n euof th e
control signal fro m the keybo ard cont rols t he cut off f req uency Continue the Exercise:
TIME----
IN
SECONDS
46
47
An indi vidual voltage cont ou r may have th ree part s: t he rise t ime r\ .set by the
ATIAC K cont rol : t he sustain level ;--'\ . at wh ich a sound may be hel d when t he LOUONESS
swi tc h is to th e left ; and a release t ime . or dymg away of th e sound whi ch
IS set by the RELEASE con trol. Contou rs with var ious shapes may be produce d uSing t he
LOUONESS CONTOUR con trols and assoc iated swi tc hes. Let 's explore t he use of the LOUONES S
CONTOUR contr ols and t he LOUONE SS SUSTAIN and RELEASE swi tches.
[0
0
Q 01 gg]

-
[0 8][0

..-
_...
_.-
-=rJ -=0 -=r:J -=:J

--

EXERCISE 11: Art icul ati on- Cont our i ng Loudness
1. Play t he keyboard. Notice that th e att ack and release of th e sound are pr act ically
imm ediate . The ATTACK and RELEASE contro ls are set f or Quick (1 msec =-one -
thousan dth of a second) attack and release t imes.
2. Play again. The sound will sust ain as long as you hold a key. Not ice that the
LOUDNESS SUSTAIN switch is in Ih e " sustain" mode to th e left . Look at t he gr aphics
l or the LOUDNESS SUSTAIN swit ch- it depict s what you are hear ing.
The LOUONESS CONTOUR section and LOUONESS SUSTAIN swit ch setti ngs shown typ ify
an organ 'like loudness contour. The keying is on-o tt . and sound is sustain ed as long as a key is held .
Let' s retain the sust ain fealure . but play with the atta ck and r elease of th e sound :
3 . Gradually increase t he AnACK contr ol senin q while plaYing th e keyboard. The rise
ti me. or atta ck of the sound i ncreases. Not ice th at. the longer the ATIA CK sertt nq.
the longer you mus t hold a key bef ore the sound reaches maximum loudness.
4 . Ret urn the ATIACK control to it s or iginal (1 msec) selli ng.
5 . Gra dually increase t he RELEASE contr ol selt ing whil e pl aying t he keybo ard. The fall
li me on rel ease of all keys inc reases; final r elease of the sound occurs mor e slowl y
when all keys are released .
6 . Ret urn t he RELEASE con tr ol t o its or iginal ( 1 msecl sett ing .
The sett ing of t he ATI ACK control dete rmin es t he time il takes the LOUONESS CONTOUR
secti on to open th e VCA Inside the Micromoog to maximum gain (loudness). The sett ing of the
RELEASE contr ol determ ines t he time it l akes the LOUDNESS CONTOUR sect ion t o close the VCA.
or allow t he sound t o fall to silence. Now let 's explore t he funct ion of th e LOUDNESS SUSTAIN
switch :
7 . Play the keyboar d. Sound wi ll be sust ained as long as a key is held.
8 . Place I he LOUONESS SUSTAIN swilch to Ihe "no n-sust ain" po sition to I he right.
Play t he keyboard ; only a short click will be heard. Cont inu e.
9. Increa se ei ther or bolh the ATIA CK and RELEASE contro l selli ngs slighll y. Play. The
sound wi ll not be sustained. but will lest only as long as th e co mbined t imes of th e
ATIACK and RELEASE control sett ings. Experiment wit h th em .
The non -susta in posit ion of t he LOUDNESS SUSTAIN swi tch lets you pr oduce very shor t
sounds . or sound s that wou ld not normally sust ain fore ver. such as the harp sichord. guit ar. bell , et c
48
So lar we've learned that th e ATIACK contr ol sets t he t iming of the begi nni ng of a sound.
the LOUDNESS SUSTAIN SWitc h selects a maximum or zero sustain level in lo udness. and the
RELEA SE contr ol t imes t he release. or end of a sound . Now ret ' s see how th e RELEASE swi t ch works .
10 Set ATIA CK 10 1 (msec) : RELEASE 10 700 ; LOUONESS SUSTAI N swit ch t o left .
11. Depr ess any key ; hol d. then release and listen. Notice that the release i s not
Immediate. but is det ermined by th e RELEASE co ntro l as you expect.
12. Place t he RELEA SE switch to the right . Now no ti ce what happens w hen you release
all keys. The release ISshort reg ardles s of RELEASE contr ol setl ing.
13 Try di fferen t RELEAS E control set unqs Wrt h each new sett ing try eac h posi tion of
lh e RELEASE swacn.
Wh en th e RELEASE SWIt ch is to t he fi ght. th e r elease of any sound will be abrupt on rel ease
of all keys regard less of Ih e RELEASE co ntr ol selt ing i n t he LOUO NESS CONTOUR sectio n. At f ir st
impressi on. it may seem that we are ri ght back where we began . wi th an org an-like sustai ned soun d
With on-off keying This IS not Quite so. as the following shows :
, 4 . Place Ih e RELEASE cont rol 10 " 700:'
15. Leave lh e RELEASE svatcb to t he ri ght . Check to see t hat the LOU ONESS SUSTAIN
swi tch is t o th e left
16. Play t he keyboar d Sound has or qan-like keyboard response.
17. Place th e LOUDNESS SUSTAIN switc h in the non -sustain pos it ion to the righ t. Now
play and hol d a key unti l th e sound die s out . Play a series of short . separa ted notes and
then hold a key unt il the sou nd dies out .
The preceding shows th ai wh en both the RELEASE swi t ch and I he LOUDNESS SUSTAIN
swi tch ar e to t he r ight t he totlowmq is tr ue (1) The sound can never tast lonqer th an th e combi ned
selt ings of t he LOUDNES S CONTOUR con trols . r egar dless of how long a key is held : (2) The
release of a sound will always be abr upt wh en all keys on t he keyboard are r eleased.
Since the LOU ONESS CONTOUR sections. LOU ONESS SUSTAIN swi tc h. and RELEASE
swi tc h can be set in many diff er ent combinati ons to cr eate a var iety of vol tage contour s. here is a
pict or ial rev iew of some of th e possibilities'
49
You might select a soun d SOurce and t ry the above settings to hear the shape of t he
contour produ ced .
It is Import ant to reme mber has priority ov er ot her aspects of sound . Aft er au.
if the LOUDNESS CONTOUR and it s related swi tches don't allow a sound to be h ear d. it hardly
matte rs what the other secti ons of the Mlcr omoog are doing .
RELEASE
TIME
KEY RELEASEO
L : ..
6 : } .
1 1 1
KEY DEPRESSED
ATIA CK
TIME
w
o

o
>
TYPICAL CONTOUR SI GNAL
T1ME --- -
IN
SECONDS
The voltage contour may have three parts the rise l ime r\ .set by the Arr ACK
cont rol: t he sustain level ;--\ . at w hich the cut oH f req uency may be held whe n th e
FI LTER SUSTAIN swi tch ISto t he left : and a release t ime . set by the RELEASE
contro l.
The FILTER CONTOUR is a cont roller that is connec ted to the cont rol i nput of the volt age
con t ro lled FILTER section , Unlike the LOUDNES S CONTOUR. how ever. a means lS pro vided to
con tr ol th e smo unt of signal t hat ISallo wed to reach th e control Input . This means is the
CONTOUR AMO UNT co ntrol. The CONTOU R AMO UNT contro l acts t o ettenue te. or lessen the
amo unt of signa l allowed Into th e co nt rol input of t he FI LTER section . Sett ing s closest 10 the center
" 0" poi nt pr ovide greatest attenuat ion (least signa l), Let' s exp lore it s use.
FILTER CONTOUR Sect ion
Most mus ical mst ru me nts have dynam ic nrnbr al char act enst ics -e-the lone col or cha nges in
tim e The Micr omoog pro vides fo r such dynamic t imbre co ntro l
The FILTER CONTOUR sect ion is a contour (sometimes called " envelope" ) generato r Its
ATI ACK and RELEASE contr ols may be set to produ ce a dy namic con t ro l signa l t hat "cont our s:'
or moves the cu to ff fr equen cy of th e VCF. The FILTER CONTOUR secti on may be t ho ug ht of as an
" lOvlslbl e hand " that moves the CUTOFF co nt ro l f or you . The assoc iated FILTER SUST AIN SWitch .
and t he RELEASE swit c h select t he wayS In which the FILTER CONTOUR secti on works
The FILTER CONTOUR secti on IS mdependeot fr om . but Iden t ical In Its oper auo n to the
LOUDNESS CONTOU R sect ion The diagr am below sho ws the genera l form of the signal prod uced
by Ihe FILTER CONTOUR secuon
..j j
.n" _. ,.....,. _.. .-. .........
LQ I",lICIoHe_ CONTO UR
Qg "'0
TIME - _ 0 1 I )
IN
SECONDS
...
_--:._- -
...

...

...

G
(;)
... ... - msec
..... .o..c.a /\..

_ , aaa. /\,
LO U OI'onl CO N'TOU A

...

...
... .......

.... .
..... .-
...
....... ..., .......
50
5 1
EXERCISE12 : Dynami c Timbre - FILTER Contour ing
1. Hold down any key on t he keyboar d. The tone sounding is static in timbre: the cutoff
frequency of filter is not being moved.
2 . Move the CONTOUR AMOUN T con tra l to " + 5:' Now hold a key down The umbre
is dynamic because the filter cutoff frequency is being contour ed by the FILTER
CONTOUR sect ion . You cou ld get the same eHecl by manually moving the CUTOFF
contr ol.
3. Play. Move the CONTOUR AMOUN T contro l back towards " 0" 10 progressively
attenua te, or lessen the amo unt of contour.
The CONTOU R AMO UNT con trol let s you determine the amount of the Signal from the
FILTER CONTOUR that is allowe d to co ntro l the f ill er cutoff frequency. As you pr obably realize f rom
looki"g at the gra phics, the CONTOUR AMO UNT control also attenuates an inverte d version of the
contour signal. (See drawing f or the " - 5" side of t he CONTOUR AMOUNT control .) For now. let ' s
look at the positive or "normal" side of t he CONTOUR AMOUNT contr ol to avoid cc nt us.on . Continue
t he exerc ise:
4 , Retu rn the CONTOUR AMOUNT con tr ol t o .. +5:'
The pr eced i ng exercise illustra tes th at th e LOUDNESS CONTOUR and FILTER CONTOUR
sections are identic al in opera tion . Each is a controll er. The LOUDNESS CONTOUR secnon IS used
to cont rol the gain of the VCA with in t he Micromoog . The FILTER CONTOUR is used to con tro l
the cutoff of t he VCF (FILTER sec tion] . .
On Ihe Micr omoog . the conn ecti on of th e LOUONESS CONTOUR secti on to the contr ol i nput
of the VCA is made at full streng th inte rnally to assure the best rat io. But the
conn ecti on of th e FILTER CONTOUR sect ion to t he cont rol input of t he FILTER has th e
AMO UNT cont rol wh ich allows us to determi ne the amount and directIon the cutoff frequency WI
be moved . W hen t he CONTOUR AMO UNT contr ol is in t he negative regio n (counterclockwIse fro m
" 0 "1. t he con tour gene raled by th e FILTER CONTOUR sect ion is invert ed (turne d upside down I.
The "- 5" posit ion then represents the maximum amount of this invert ed signal. l ook at the panel
graphics to get an Idea of this situation . The CONTOUR AMO UNT control is called a "reversible
at tenuato r :" it ane nuat es the amount of a signal as it is moved towar d "0 " for eit her normal or
inverted contours.
It will require some thought to understand what happens when you use a negat ive CONTOUR
AMOUNT set t ing. Everyth ing is rever sed fr om normal. The volt age f ro m the FILTER CONTOUR
doesn't start at "zero"- it starts fr om a maximum voltage. Instead of falling to "zero" when you
release. the voltage will rise to maximum. The follOWing diagram illustrates:
TYPICA L I NVERTED CONTOUR SI GNAL
5. Play. Contouring of FILTER section is heard.
6 . Place t he ATIAC K con trol i n the FILTER CONTOUR to " 100 " trnsec] . The rise time of
the contour is now faster.
KEY DEPRE SSED KEY RELEASED
I
7. Pl ace t he RELEASE control i n th e FILTER CONTOUR to " 100" (rnsec}, The release
time of the contour is now faster.
The sell ing on the ATIAC K cont rol det ermines t he l i me it takes the FILTER CONTOUR t o
raise the cuto fr equency of the filter to a maximum. The CONTOUR AMOUN T determines the
value of that max imum . The RELEASE co nt rol det ermines the l i me It t akes the FILTER CONTOUR t o
return the cutoH frequen cy to its starti ng point . Continue the exerc ise.
8 . Play and hold a note. Not ice that the cutoff frequency is sustained at a maximum as
long as you hol d a key. Only on release of the key does t he RELEASE control go
into effect .
9 . Mo ve the FILTER SUSTAIN sw itc h t o the r igh t. Now play and hold a key, The patt ern
generat ed by the FILTER CONTOUR section now has only t wo parts whose timing is
det er mined solely by the ATIAC K and RELEASE control s onth e FILTER CONTOUR
section.
10. Play and hold a key. Not e th at when all keys are released. the LOUDNESS CONTOUR
RELEASE cont rol is st ill opera bl e (note hang s on .) This shows that the FILTER
switch and LOUDNESS SUSTAIN swi tch work i ndependentl y.
11. Place t he RELEASE swi t ch t o the right. Now play and release a key. Not ice t hat t he
final release will now be abrupt. The RELEASE switch provides immediate release of
both the LOUDNESS CONT OUR and FILTER CONTOUR sect ions wh en placed to t he
right.
52
MAX
w
o

o
>
ZEAO .l. .l L I 1 1 ..
TIME - -
AlSO. as in th e case w ith posit ive CONTO UR AMOUNT serti nqs, when th e CONTOUR AMOUNT
control is mov ed toward "0 " the signal is att enuated. or lessened. To bett er under stand inverted
contour s. do the following:
EXERCISE13: Inverted Conto ur ing Of The FILTER
1. Simply repeat each step of exercise 12. but in each case a positive CONTOUR
AMOUNT setting is called for. use a nega tive setting.
53
MODULATION Section
The MODULATION section routes cont rol signals f rom several sour ces to several destinations.
It lets you hook up a con tro ller t o the cont rol inpu t ts) of Micro moog sections . The sou rc e selector
deter mines wh ich con t roller is selected . The selected signal fr om t hat controller passes t hr ough th e
MO O AM OUNT wheel where it is attenuated . The ROUTING r ot arv switch dictate s wh er e the control
signal will go. This " sour ce-dest ination" orien tat ion tor routing cont r ol signals i s a way to change
text ur es rapidly in perf or mance. It has been likened to a super t raHic cop who routes contro l signa l
traHic . The following diagram illus t rates :
Let ' s explore MOD ULATI ON section capabilit ies using th is exerc ise:
[0
..
54
EXERCISE 14: Exploring The MO OUL ATION Sect ion
1. Hold down t he lowest key on t he keyb oard SlOWly move the MOO AM OUNT wheel
fully away fr om you and r et urn . You shoul d hear a wide bend of the pitch .
2 . No t ice t hai th e SOURCE select or is the BENO posit ion. ROUTING is ,n t he OSC
I OSCILLATOR! oos-non
3 Place the ROUTING selec tor t o t he FILTER posill on Hold a key and repeat act ion wi th
MOD AMOUNT wheel. NoVi the filte r cutof f freque ncy is being " bent:'
4 . Place the ROUTING select or to t he Jl {waveshape) posit ion. Hold a
key and use MOD AMOUNT again . Now the WAVES HAPE of the OSCILLATOR
section ISbeing moved
SOURCE i s a rot ary SWitch wh ich determ ines t he source of mod ulation signal : It " selects"
whic h cont roll er ISto be used . The ROUTING rota ry switch determ i nes where that con t rol signal
will go . it " rout es" i t t o the approprta te co nt ro l i nputr s).
Let's exam ine what happened i n th e pr evious exercise steps mor e closel y. BEND 15 a D.C.
volta ge sourc e. like a batter y. In t he exerc ise. BEND was selected by th e SOURCE selecto r. The
BEND signal was r outed thr ough t he MOD AMOUNT wheel wher e it was con tro lled in amount. The
ROUTING rotary switch was set firs t to th e OSC position The BENO signal was then connected to
the (treuuen cvj co ntrol input of Ihe OSCIL LATOR section . As you moved th e MOD AMOUNT wheel
fo rward . the amount of volt age let through increased and caused oscillator pitch to r ise. Then the
BEND signal wa s routed to the cont r ol input of the FILTER section. and filt er cutoH I reouencv wa s
moved by mov ing t he MOD AMOUNT wheel Finally. when t he ROUTING rotary swi tch was in the
Jl (waveshape] posulc n. the BEND signal was connect ed to th e wavashape cont r ol
i nput of t he OSCILLATOR sect ion Then movemen t of the MOD AMOUNT wheel was analogous to
mov eme nt of t he WAVES HAPE cont r ol It 's j ust a matt er of deciding where you want to get a
cont r ol signal (SOURCE). how much of it you want to use (MO O AMOUN T) . and where you wan t it
to go (ROUTING) . Cont inue to explo re all po ssible MODULATION section co mbinatio ns:
5 Repeat steps 1-4 of th is exer cise for each setti ng of th e SOURCE rotary swi t ch.
Not i ce that S&H AUTO c reat es a sell -repear inq condi t ion.
6 . Vary the RATE contr ol t o control the speed of any repetitive rnod utauons
7. Look at the graph ics and word ing for each SOURCE sett inq . Relate th is wha t you hear.
Modula tion is usually defined as a change. often a repe ating change . In t he pr ecedi ng exerc ise
it becomes appa rent t hat much of t he MOOUl ATl ON sect ion deals with repeali ng patt erns. The rare
of any r epet it ive modulat ion is controlled by t he RATE cont rol . This RATE cont r ol controls the rate. or
fr equency of a low-speed " modul ation oscillator " t hat is the heart of the MODULAT ION section . Also
incl uded is sampl e-and-hold circui t ry whose samp ling rate is cont r olled by the mo dulat ion oscillator .
A modulation OSCillato r IS one wh ich is used as a controller . It is a sour ce of repeati ng voltage
pattern s-wavesha pes hke any oscillat or -w hich are often rest r icted to low f reque ncy. That 's because
the control signal s are genera lly used to ma ke slow -moving modulation s like vibr ato. trill s, "wah-wah .'
and tp like. Vibrato rate. fo r exampl e is around six to eight Hz. or beats per secon d. On the
Micromoog . t he modulat ion oscill ator has a frequency span of .3 to 30 Hz. Its out put is represented
by the symbols JL .and . (square and tri angle wave . respectiv ely) in
t he MODULATION section .
55
If you r ecall exercise 1, yo u began by listening to th e soun d of t he vo ltage con t rolled OSCll .
LATOR section at a very low fr equ ency. So low that onl y a ser ies of clicks wa s per ceived Instead of a
sound in nor mal heari ng rang e. That sound was bel ow th e fr eq uency of no rmal heari ng , or it was
su b-eoaio. The modulat ion oscillator produ ces waveshapes In th e subaudio range f or control
pur poses We ca n't use th e mod utancn oscillator as a sound sou rce. but Its effect will be drama tic
indeed when connected to a contro l i nput of the VCO or VCF You have heard so me of t he eHecl s
f rom precedmg exer ci se steps
The sample 'and' hold creates a ser ies of control voltage steps In a melro nom ic f ashion with a
rat e determined by the RATE cont rol. or fr equency of the modulation osci netor, To und erst and how
t he sampleandhol d wo r ks. let 's make an analogy to a camer a, A camera " samples" (phol ogr aphs )
motion and " holds" a fixed instant i n t ime (t he pnntl The sampl e-and-hotd " photographs" (sample s) a
mov ing vol taqe Signal and " pnnts" [hotds] a fi xed voltage level Wh en a sample of a moving voltage
signa l is taken . t he vona qe sensed at that instant 1$ hel d un t il the next sample is t aken The RATE
con trol det er min es how often samples are taken
When the voltage signal sampled is r andom- like noise-a senes of r and om vo lt age steps will
be prod uced. The sarnc te-and-ho td of the Mi cr omoog does sample the noise Signal intern ally. and
pr oduce a ser ies of r andom volt age steps. See ill ustra t ion .
[0 .. QI
[0Q

RANDOM PAITERN
FROM SAMPLING
NOISE
EXERCISE 15: OSCILLATOR As Bot h Sound Sour ce And Contro ller
1. Hold down any key. Nonce that th e OSCILLATOR switch is rn the NORM posit ion (l he
OSCI LLATOR sect ion is Ih e sound source).
2. Move the FILTER MOO BY OSC swit ch 10 the STRONG posinon. Now play and not ice
change i n sound t extu re.
3 Return FILTERMOD BY OSC to the OFF posit ion . Place CONTOUR AMOUNT contr ol
to " + 5:' Play. FILTER secti on is conto ured. Con ti nue .
In the case of the S&H AUTO mode . the modulation osc illator also pr odu ces " tr iggers" at t he
same rate as it ge ner ates new samples. (Samp ling and tr igg eri ng are " synchronous:' )
Now that you've explor ed th e MODULATION secti on and have a feelin g for i ts capabilities, it
migh t be useful to read definit ions for each speci fic sett ing of th e RATE. SOURCE . and ROUTING
selecto rs (See appropri ate pages of the REVI EW OF FUNCTIONS sectio n in thi s manual )
The MOD ULATION sect ion creates many of th e texture s of whi ch the synt hesizer IS capable
The use of t he MOO AMO UNT wh eel and the sour ce-dest ination orien tati on of t he MODU LATION
section are i mport ant perf orm ance feat ures of t he Micr omoog
OSCILLATOR Sect ion As Controller
The OSCILLAT OR section may be used as a contr oller as well as a sound SOurce. You have
already used th e OSCILLATO R section as a cont roll er i n exer cise 5. to cre at e " clangorous" sound s.
In thai case. th e sound source Vias the FILTER sectio n (FILTER MODE swi tc h to TONE ). The following
sound chart shows thai th e OSCILL ATOR sect ion may be used as t he sound source, and a con tr oller
si rnultaneousfv :
56
4 . Place FILTER MOD BY OSC to the STRONG po sition once again . Now play and note
eff ect.
5. Place th e EMPHASIS contr alt o " 0:' Play. Not ice t hat usc of FILTER MOD BY OSC is
most dramat ic when the EMPHASIS cont rol is set high. and the fil ter c utoff fr equency
is being contoured .
The WEA K and STRONG pos it ions of the FILTER MOD BY OSC connect the ent ire
output of t he OSCILLATOR secti on (DOUBLING included I 10 th e cont rol input of the FILTER section.
The OSCI LLATOR secti on act s as a cont roll er. rapid ly modulat ing fi lter cut off frequency . When th e
OSCI LLATOR section is the sound source . its ow n signal is modulated by itself , creating a mor e
com plex sound . You might exper iment with use of the FILTER M OD BY OSC switch with any of the
sounds you cr eate.
Wh en you mak e clangorous sounds using t he FILTER i n TONE mode (see Exerc ise 51, the
OSCILLA TOR is used only as a contr oll er (OSCILLATOR swi tch to OFF position) . But to maintain
co nsistency of t imbr e over the ent ire keyboar d. t he OSCILLATOR must follow the key board to
mainta in the same fr equen cy rmto between OSCI LLATOR and FILTER secti ons. Even t hough t he
OSCILLATORswitch is placed OFF and the OSCILLATOR sect ion is not he.rd . i l is still unde r
keyboard contro l.
S7
PITCH Ribbon
The PITCH ribbon t o the left of th e keybo ard is an Import ant perf orman ce cont roller. II gener ates
a signal that is connected to the (frequency) contro l input of th e OSCILLATOR section. The PITCH
ri bbon bend s Ihe pitch of Ihe OSCILLATO R section ontv: It has no effe ct on the NOISE secti on.
or the FILTER section , even when in TONE mod e. The PITCH ribbon is a resist ance element protected
with pl astic-coated mesh. In the center of the r ibbon is a dead band. mar ked \'lit h a bump. Ttus causes
no bending of pit ch , and prov ides a way 10 feel t he " center " of t he pit ch. Pit ch is bent bVdepr essing
th e r ibbon and mov ing away fr om th e center bump. OSCILL ATOR pitch may be bent up or down
with a simi lar mov ement On the r ibbo n, On r elease of t he r ibbo n at any point, pit ch is ret urned t o
" cent er," or the origin al pitch instantl y. The PITCH ri bbon is a most importa nt development that
all ows th e perform er to achieve th e subtl et y of pit ch bending associated with all solo-line musical
inst r uments- don't ignore it s usel
Not ice that sound does not necessaril y cease when the trigger is " ott; ' or all keys are released . The
release depends on the selli ng of th e RELEASE con t rol in the LOUDNESS CONTOUR sect ion and the
setting of th e RELEASE SWIICh, Wh en th e t r igger ends (all keys released ) t hat signals t he co ntou r
generator s to beg;n their Imal r elease segments.
A most Import ant featur e of Micr omoog keyboard t rigger ing is th e so-called "smgle trig ger ing"
pr iority A new tr igger is prod uced by t he keybo ard onl y aher a pr evi ousl y held key 1$ completely
released. This make s t he keyboa rd of t he Micromoog sensitive to t he keyboard techni que used . lega to
keyboard technique may be used to pr od uce legato passages; sever al notes may share t he same
t rigger, and each note will not receive an mdlVldual art iculat ion. Conv ersely. If a detached keybo ard
techn ique IS used - "h ighstepping" fingers -e ach note will receive it s own tr igger. and the contour
generator s will be tri ggered anew for each note . This is most import ant when heavy filt er contouri ng
is bei ng done. The follOWing exercise illust r at es:
TRIGGER SOURCES
I
I
I
I
KEY RELEASED

. _. I
--
[0
1[0Q I
I
VOLTAGE + I
J'------------J
I
I
I
I
KEY DEPRESSED
A trigger is a stgnal t hat acts t o st an and end t he act ion of th e FILTER CONTOUR and LOUD-
NESS CONTOUR sect ions of t he Micr om oog . A t rigger Signal tr iggers sound . The part icutar type of
signal generat ed by th e Micromoog is r ef erred to as an " STngger;' short for "switch-tri gger" The
S-Trig act s li ke a swi tc h: whenever a key on th e keyboard IS depressed an STngger , or dro p to zero
volt s. is produ ced . An S-Trig begins wh en a key is depressed. and ends wh en all keys are released
See below for an illu stration :
SWITCH TRIGGER
A tr igger is used t o stan t he contour generator s to init iat e and term inat e musical sounds . The
diagram below dep ict s th e relationship between a tr igger and a possible contr ol signal produ ced by a
contour genera to r :
EXERCISE 16: Single-Trigger ing Keyboard Pri ori ty
TRIGGER/C ONT ROL VOLTAGE RELATION SHIP
CONTROL VOLTAGE FROM CONTOUR GENERATOR
I
I
I
I I
I I
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. _
I I
: I
I
I I
__ _ __ + I 1 _
J I
I I
I I
KEY DEPRESSED KEY RELEASED
1, Plav t he keyboa rd alterna telv with con nected (legato) and detached [staccato j
techni que. Not ice the diff erence i n sound response . AJt er nate techniques for phrasjng
and accent eff ect s.
2. Mo ve the CONTOUR AMOUNT cont rol back 10 " + 1:' Not ice tha t the diHerenee
betw een legat o and staccato techruque csjess exagg erated .
3. Mov e the FILTER CONTOUR RELEASE contr ol to the 100 msec position , The " head"
on t he note occu rs more Quickly now.
As t his exercise indicates, musical use of single trigge ring is most eHe(:tive when t he FILTER
sect ion is being con tou red . Making good use of single t rigger ing requi res some experimentat ion with
several controls . But the import ant th ing to remember rs that. unl ike organs and some synthe sizer s.
what you do on the keyboard of th e Micromoog can contri bute to the expr essivity of th e music.
58
59
The ot her source of tr iggers on th e Micr omoog is t he S&H AUTO mode of t he MODULA TION
section . In t his mod e. a series of tr igger s is generated t hat is controlled in rate by th e RATE cont rol.
Like any Irigger . th ese tr iggers activat e bo th contour gener ators on the Micromoog. It might be
usefu l 10 note that a S&H AUTO tr igger lasts only half of t he !l me taken by a given sample; see
exercise below '
[0 01QJ;(I g._g
110 ..

EXERCISE 17: S&H AUTO Trigge ring

1. Set up t he sound chart as shown
2. Pl ace t he SOURCE selector to th e S&H AUTO posiuon. Not ice th at at any RATE sett i ng
sound and silence will be equal tqiv en near -instant ATTACK and RELEASE l imes in t he
LOUDNESS CONTOUR secti on. The tr igger " on" t ime occup ies onl y half of the period
of t he sample and hold cl ock .
The S&H KBD po sit ion of t he SOURCE selector does not prod uce t riggers. In this mode . th e
conto ur genera t ors may be tr iggered by t he keyboard. independent of the rat e of sampli ng. Contin ue
exercise.
open system
An "open system " can communicate with other dev ices .
This section of the manual explains how the inputs and
outputs on the rear panel allow two-way communication
between the Micromoog and external devices such as
other synthesizers and Moog accessories . You will under-
stand "open system " communication wi th external
synthesizer gear better if you know how the audio, control ,
and tr igger signals produced by the Micromoog function
internally (see GUIDED SYNTHESIZER TOUR section).
An electron ic mus ical i nst r ument doe sn't make soun ds- it makes electr ical signa ls. We can't
hear electr ical signals . so we conne ct the i nst rument to an amplifier and speaker to trans late signals
into sounds . Signa ls that are trans lated i nto sounds are call ed " audio" signals- they become audible .
Elect ronIc inst ruments have an audio output which mu st be con nected to t he audio i np ut of a moni tor
(amp and speaker) . To use a bit of t echnical jargon, wh en you connect your Micromoog to an amp.
you are " interfacing syst ems:' That means connecti ng t wo or mor e devices so they wor k tog ether
prop erly. Wit h many i nst r uments, after t he audio connection is made. furth er possibilit ies of " i nter-
f acing systems" are very limit ed. Even if you put sou nd modifi ers (phaser. wah-wah pedal. f uzz]
between the i nstr ument and t he amp, you are still dealing wit h only t he audi o signal prod uced by the
i nst rument .
The synt hesizer's po tenti al for music-making thr ough interl aci ng syste ms is great er t han most
elect ronic inst rument s. lik e any electro nic Instrument. the svnt besizer generat es aud io signals in
order to make sound. But t he synthesi zer also produc es trigger signal s-t o turn sound s on and off ;
and con trol signals-to dynamically alter pitch. t imbr e. and oth er aspect s of sound. These t rigger and
control signals are created internall y by the synt hesi zer. If t he designer provides path s f or them to
leave (and enter ) the synthesizer . t he inst rumen t is an " open system:' Thai 'Swhat the output and input
sockets on the rear pane l of t he Micromoog are all about. The OUTPUTS make most of t he Micro
moog' s audio. cont rol. and tr igger Signals available t o t he out side wo rl d. The INPU TS allow t hese
signals to be fed into the Micromoog fr om the outsi de world .
MICROMOOG AEAR CONNECTOA PANEL
3. Place th e SOURCE selector to S&H KBD. Sound is not self -tr iggering .
4. Hold dow n any key. Release, hold again. The keyboard is t ri ggerin g th e con tour
generat ors. The MODULATION sect ion conti nues to create cont rol signals. You will
hear sound only when t he con tou r generato rs are tr iggered by the keyboard.
Externa l triggers may be route d t o the Micromoog via either the $-TRtG INPUT or $-TRI G
OUTPUT on the r ear panel (see OPEN SYSTEM secti on of this rnanuan ,
This conclude s our GUIDED SYNTHESIZER TOUR. For a review of each cont rol . slide-switch .
and rot ary swi tc h. on t he front panel. refer to th e appropriate pages of the REVIEW OF FUNCTIO NS
sect ion of th is manu al.
60
27 28 29
OUTPUTS
30 3 ' 32 33 ) C 35
INPUTS
63
36 37 38
OJ
0 "
""" ..
39
An ope n system synthes izer like the Micromoog can cont rol and be cont rolled: t ri gger and be
triggered : produce sound and mod ify sound from ot her instr uments . You migh t star t t hinki ng of th e
Micromoog as not only a self -contained musi cal Inst rument. but an expandable system of devices t hat
produc e. mo dify . t r igger. and cont rol soun d-a s t he growth of your mus ical ideas requir es.
Rear panel Jacks are X" mono . wi t h the exception of MODULATION. wh rch is a y,..' stereo j ack
Trigger signal connect ions requir e two-pr ong Cinch -Jones connectors. Many sockets are dual f unction
- t hey act as eit her an input and /o r an out put. The pr imary fun ction (as named on the rear panel ) of
such sockets will be discussed f irst.
The follow i ng pages descr ibe the input and output sockets f or audi o. tr igger. and contr ol signals
avail abl e at t he rear panel. wit h some sugges t ions for mus ical use. Aft er the i ndividual descr ipt ions.
there is a short " Gett ing It Togethe r" section th at shows how to " slave" one Micromoog to another
using all t hree Iyp es of signals.
The key t o creative f reedom using an open system syn thesizer lies i n know ing your i nst r ument
Once you und ers tand how audio. cont rol. and tr igger signals work wi thin t he Micromoog. t heir
exter nal uses will beco me apparent.
AUDIO INPUT
The AUDI O INPUT is a dual function jack . l ISprimary purpo se is to allow f eedi ng t he sound of
othe r inst ruments th rough t he Micromoog for modificat ion. You may Input any ext ernal audio
such as t he out put of electri c guitar s. organs. pianos. tape reco rders, and micropho nes i nto t his jack
on the Mi cromoog . The A UDI O INPUTis f ixed In sensitivity , it is adequate for t he out put level of many
electron ic inst rumen ts ( 100 mV RMS input required for f ull dnve ). In some cases. as with dy namic
microphones or guitars wi th low-level pickups . pr eampl if icat ion befo re Int roducti on to t he AUDI O
INPUTmay be necessary. Many quuar amps pro vi de a separate preamp outpu t th at can be used f or
t his pur pose.
When an exte rnal aud io signal ISfed i nt o the AUDI O INPUT,it appears at t he audio input of t he
FILTER sect ion and f ollows the normal audio signal path . It's import ant to remem ber t hat wh en you
conne ct an instrum ent like t he guitar to the AU DIO INPUT.only an audio signal is pr ovided to t he
Micromoog. The external instr ument -th e gu itar -doesn ' t produce control and tr igg er si gnals. A
simple AUDIO INPUT connect ion won 't control the OSCI LLATOR sect ion to make it " f ollow" the t une
played by th e quitar ist . And t he con tour gener ators i n t he Micr omoog will not be tr iggered by the
art iculations of the gu itar ist. So. for basic use of t he AUDI O INPUTremove t he OSCIL LATOR section
fr om the audio siqnal pat h (place OSCILLATOR switc h to OFF): and bypass t he inter nal volt age
cont rolled amp (place BYPASS switc h to ON) so t he guit ar may be heard:
As with any Micromoog sound chart . blank contr ols shoul d be placed fully cou nt ercJockvhse
(see SOUND CHARTS sect ion }, When you try t he above sound chart . exper iment wit h t he CUTOFF
and EMPHASIS con tr ols : vary RATE and MOD AMOUNT: select S&H KBD as the MODULATION
secti on SOURCE. These are means of con trolling the FILTER sect ion to modify the t imbr e of the
ext ernal i nst rument. In t his case. no internal sound sources or tr igger signals are being used.
The AUDIO INPU Tmay also be used as an ou tp ut of the audio sign.1 f rom the OSCILLATOR
sect ion. The signal obtained is unf iltered and cont inuous. since it does not pass t hrou gh th e FILTER or
LOUDNESS CONTOUR sections . This raw audio signal is low level and has a large bass boo st - below
320 Hz. It shou ld be rolled oH wit h. high pass fi lt er (Moog 923 ) or wi th t he follow ing ci rcu it ry :
EOUAUZ
AUOI O
SIGNAL
OUTP\IT
'OK
t 4 5$
DUAL
DP-...... P
- ' 5V
"'5V
EOUA1JZlNG AMP\.JAER
SIlK ' OK 0.0330F
o---1l-- w.--

FWN. LOlEVEl.
SIGNAL FROM
...UDIO INPVT
IN:X
Q] [g[Q q

1[0sLella
-
_..
-

e:e- -=0 -=0 -=:J
- - - "
--
u -v It ... -
37 38 39
rn rn
C) 0"
"""EO
, .,,( I V' . (

AUDIO SIGNALS
LO/H I AU DIO OUTPUTS
The AUDIO OUTPUTS are used to rou te t he audio (sound) out put of th e Micromoog to a
monito ring system to create sound. La AUDI O is a low level 1-10 dBm) out put suitable for con necti on
to a PA . or guitar amplifier t hat has it s own pre ampl ifier. HI A UDIO is high level outp ut t+ 12 dB m)
capable of direct connectio n to many power amplif iers .
like an elect ri c gu itar. the Micromoog' s audio out put may be modif ied using a phaser. wah -wah
pedal . f uzz. or ot her sound mod ifi er t o creaie speci al effe cts. In part icular. Moog 900 Ser i es mo du les
may be used to modify audio out put . For instance . audio out put cou ld be passed through a Moog 907
Fixed Filter t o cr eate " peaks" (like equalizat ion but much st ronger ) in t he harmo nic spect rum.
radic ally changi ng t imbr e. The 907 cr eat es conditi ons si milar to t he " f ormant s" pr esent in many
acoust ic inst r uments. For example. th e bassoon has a for mant. or resonant region, around 500 Hz
that is present th roug hout most of th e pl ayable range of th e instrum ent. Use of t he 90 7 Filter to
creat e a peek at 500 Hz would cause th e sou nd output t o have a for mant at that t requencv enhanci ng
the imi t at ion of th e bassoon. The Micro mo og is part icular ly suit able f or use wit h modular equipment.
since th e Micromoog also exte rnalizes tr igger and control signals used for effec ti ve communicat ion
betwe en i nst r uments.
MICROMOOG REAR CONNECTOR PANEL
64 65
The unm odif ied signal obtain ed from the A UDIO INPUTcould be modified externa lly. t he same signal
can, at co urse. also be modi fied usi ng the Micr omooq's intern al mod ifiers You coul d pl ay sever al
cont rasti ng voices simu ltaneo usly from t he keyboar d using t he si ngle OSCILLATOR sec tio n of the
M1cromoog
Wh en both extern al and internal t rigge rs are present si mul taneously , no special effect is creat ed . that
is. t riggers do not " add" l ike contr ol voltage s do. If an int.erna l tr igg er is al ready pr esent (e.g .. key
depressed). applicat ion of another tr igger ext ern allv will not be discern ible. and t he conver se.
The follow ing diagram ill ust rates t he dual input/ out put capacit y of t he STRIG OUTPU T pl ug
TRIGGER SIGNALS STRIGOUTPUT TO STRIG OUTPUT TRIGGERING
MICAaM OOG REAR CONNECTOR PAN El
NO"lSTANDARD
27 28 i9 30 3 . 32 33 34 36 J7
rn
3 8 39
MICROMOOG A
FEMALEFEMAlE CABLE ,I,cflNI 13T
MICROMDOG B
' OUTPi,H S INPUTS
STRI G OUTPUT
The S TRIG OUTPUT 1$ a dual fun ct ion jack It s pnmary purpose IS to externali ze a tr igger signal
wh en on e is pr oduced by t he keyboard or sample and hold (S&H AUTO) ,n the Micr omoog . This
output ro utes signa ls that can tr igger modu les such as t he Mo og 911 Envelope Generat or . 9 21
Oscillator. or the con tour (envelope ) gen erato rs of anot her synt hesizer that accept s Str igger s When
the S TRIG OUTPUT is used to rou te a t rigger to another synt hesizer, we can arti cul ate t he sound of
t hat synt hesizer by depress inq a key on the Micro moo9 _For example. Mlcromoog A might be
connected to Mlcr omoog B so t hat bo t h wi ll be tr iggered by t he keyboard of Micr omoo g A, as shown
STRIG OUTPUT TO STRIG INPUT TRIGGERING
CABLE
DETAIL
NARROWSOCKET
<, S302-eC T
> [---- - J
WIDE SOCKET (COVER NOTSHOWN!
Each Micr omo og wi ll tr igger itself norma lly. Micromoog A will t rigger Micromoog B. and
Mi cr omo og B will tr igger Microm oog A becau se each S -TRIG OUTPUT acts as both an input and an
output for tr igger signals.
Any Si mple switc h can be mod if ied t o t rigger the Mi cromoog using the S -TRIG OUTPUT as an
input . Add ition of a capacitor is requi red to " deboun ce" swi tch cont act closure as shown .
STANDARDCINCHJ ONES
FEMALEMALECABLE
CINCH JONES
S302<:cT
CABLESOCKET
The switc h wi ll t rigger the Micromoog when closed.
SWITCH TO APPlY TRI GGE R INPUT TO
s-rmc OUTPLUG
OPEN

SMALlSOQ(ET
SWITCH __

CAPACITOR
RIG
UT cfuV'r,
1
3T .L
ST
'NP
MICRDMOOG A MICROMOOG B
W hen Mlcromo og A is t riggere d Mlcromoog B will also be t riggered thr ough Its S -TRIG INPUT.
(Mlc romoog B will not trigger Micr omoog A as con nect ed. because the S -TRIG INPUT act s onl y as an
input - it cannot out put a tr igger.)
The pr imary fun cti on of the S -TRIG OUTPUT is to tell th e outside world import ant int ern al
timing Inf ormati on: when a key is depr essed and released . and/o r the rate of the sample and hol d
The S -TRIG OUTPUT is dual fun ction : it also act s as an inp ut for externally-pro duced tr igger
Signals. An ext eme l tr igger appl ied to the S-TRIG OUTPU Twill t rigger the LOUDNESS CONTOUR
and FILTERCONTOUR sect ions of the Micr omoog. as an i nt ernall y-produced tr igger WOUld. An
eXl ernallr igger route d to t he S TRI G OUTPUT has priority over bot h keyboard and S&H AUTO
internal tr iggerin g . That means. wh en an ext ern al t rigger is applied to the S TRtG OUTPUT. the
Microm oog wi ll be t ri ggered regard less of internal conditi ons- even wh en no internal tr iggers are
present. Natu rally. w hen no extern al tr igger is present. all internallv-produced tri ggers wo rk normallV
66
67
S-TRIG INPUT
V-TRIGTO STRIG CONNECTOR
V-TRIG TO S-TRIG CONve RSION CIRCUIT
I N U 4S
DIODE
CINCH JONES
P302-cCT
CABLE PLUG
5-TR' G ' OFF"

V-TRIG
5- TRIG ' ON-
VOLTAGE
GROUNO
sw n CHCRAFT
1250
)(. MONO PHONE PLUG
The cir cuit Invert s a Vt rigger and makes it an St rigger. (This V-Trig t o S-Trig cable is available
f rom Moo g Mu sic; part #74 2 2 1)
The S. TRIG INP UT accepts tim;ng informat ion fro m exter nal source s such as anothe r keyboa rd .
a switch. and Moog Accessories such as th e 1130 Orum Contro ller. The S-TRIG INPUT expands the
musical pot ent ial of the instrument. For inst ance. use of the 1130 Dr um Cont roll er to tr igger the
Micromoog using t he S-TRIG INP UTallows the dr ummer t o art iculate soun d wi th st icking techniqu es
that would be impossible on the key board . Tri gger input /out put is a necessary part of any tot ally
" open system" svnt hesrzer.
w' Pl-tONE Pl UG
GROUNO
TIP
TIP
The above cable acts only as a con nector ; it does not t ransfor m Vtr iggers into S-trigger s. As
shown above . th e cable will pr ovide an S-trigger only wh en a V-tr igger is " oft:'
Many synt hesizers produce a V-trigger (voltage trigger ) wh en a key is depressed. .If you wish to
trigger the Micr omoog using the V-tr igger (someti mes called "gate" ) out put .of such an. .
Insert t he f ollowing circu it ry between t he pho ne plug and Cinch-Jones pl ug In t he previous diagram .
SMAll PRONG
TIP /'
dI n TO STRIG I NPUT
9 rfJY-- -- -- - - a . .......... OF MICROMOOG
GROUND LAAGE PRONG
FROM
V-TRIG
OUTPUT
JACK
Move the cent er wir e to the t hird (unused) lug and resol der.
The STRIG INP UT acts only as an input, but is very versatile. It IScompati ble with st andard
logic famil ies (RTL. TI L. CMOS . DTL). The t hreshold of t he S-TRIG INPU Tis + 2 volts ; signals less
than 2 volts cause the Micr omoog t o be tr iggered. The S-TRIG INPUT may also be used with modules
or synth esizers tha t prod uce V-tr iggers (voUage trigg ers). such as th e Moog 960 . 96 1. 962
Sequ encer Complement, 9 2 1 Osci ll at or. Moog Sonic Six synthesizer, and even ... non-Moog syn-
the sizer s! The foll owi ng graphic indicates wiring pr ocedure:
1121 FOOTSWITCH MOOIFICATl ON FOR USE
WITH MICROUOOG
The S-TRIG INP UT acts only as an input It accep t s an external tr igger signal that t rigg ers the
LOUD NESS CONTO UR and FILTER CONTOUR sections of the Micr omoog as an i nternal t rigger
would . An extern al tr igger fed into th e S TRI G INPUT has pr ior ity over keyboard t ri gger ing , but has
absolut ely no eHeet when the Micromoog is in the S&H AUTO mode. This means t hat when an
ext ernal t ri gger is applied t o th e S-TRIG INPUT. t he Micromoog will be tr iggered even if no key is
depr essed. But wh en t he Mrcr omooq is.i n th e S&H AUTO mode. t he S-TRIG INPU T is removed fr om
t he ci rc uit and exter nal tr iggers appli ed there are completely ignored. (Interna l keyboard t riggers are
8 /5 0 ignored i n th e S&H AUTO mode.) Natura lly. w hen no ext ernal t rigger is present. (and t he
Microm oog is not in t he S&H AUTO mode ) keyboard t riggers work nor mally. Wh en bo th external and
i nt er nal t r iggers ar e present . no special effec t is creat ed ; t hat is. tri ggers do not " add" like cont rol
volta ges do. For example. if a key is dep ressed (i nternal t rigge r ). appl ication of anoth er trigger to the
STRIG INPUT wi ll not be discerni bl e. In t he S&H AUTO mode. t ri ggers from t he S TRIG INPUT and
t he keyboard are ign ored enti rely.
Obviously t he S TRI G INPUT is compati bl e wi th an " S-t rigger:' or " swl tch t ri gger:' This is a very
useful type of trigger i nput. because t he perf orm er can devise any kind of Simple swit ch t hat will
cl ose t o t rigger the Mic ro moog _No power suppl y or ci rc ui t ry is required; when t he switc h is closed a
t r igg er is produ ced . To show how easily the Micromoo g can be tr iggered. (ouch a COin to bot h pron gs
of t he S-TRIG OUTPU T. You' re now using this plug as a tr igg er input and you' ve tri ggered t he
Micromoog by mak ing a swi tc h cl osure-wi t hout use of ci rcui try. The S-TRIG INPUT f unct ions the
same way. but require s insertio n of a Cinch-Jones pl ug. Wh en t he two wires atta ched to t he inserte d
Ci nch-Jone s plug ar e to uched together. a " switch cl osure:' or S-trigger is prod uced and t he Micro
moog speaks. Since t he S-TRIG INPUT is internall y " debo unced" to clean up dirt y switc h cl osures.
t he swi tc h used does not require t he additon of a capacitor.
The Moog 1 12 1 Foot switch can be modif ied to trigg er t he Micromo og. Fir st. the exist ing
outp ut pl ug on the 1 12 1 must be replaced wit h a Ci nch -Jon es plug to be compati ble wit h t he
S TRIG INPUT soc ket. Al so. as shipped. the 112 1 is a ncrme nv-ctcsee switch . use of t he 1 12 1
wo ul d cause conti nu ous tr iggering except wh en st epped upon - reverse of wha t you proba bly wa nt .
You wo ul d prob abl y w ant to tr igger only w hen the 1 12 1 Foot swit ch is depressed. To achi eve this.
open the 112 1 and make the follow ing mod ificat ion'
68
69
CONTROL SIGNALS
TIP
~ OP-AMP
DESIRED
CONTROL
SOURCE
The above schema tic illustr ates use of a unity gain buffer to allow input of a con trol signal into
th e KBD OUTPUT j ack. (For use only with models haVing no KBD OUT PUT ATIE NUATO R.)
W hen the KBD OUTPUTis used as an input. you can easily switch from normal Micromoog
keyboar d control to an overriding externa l contro l source-such as t he highest note played on the
keyb oard of the Polymoog. Of course . the OSCILLATOR sect ion and FILTER sect ion could be con -
t roll ed using th e OSCINPUT and FILTER INPUT; but these cont rol inputs add t o the i nter nal keyboard
control signal. That means you wo uld constantly have to worry about wh ich key you last struck on
the Micromoog ( It adds) when switching from Micromoog to Pol ymoog keyboard cont rol. The cont rol
signal from the keyboard of the Polymoog will simply replace the keyboa rd signal in the Micromoo g
when the KBD OUTPUT is used as t he inpu t. The pitch of the OSCILLAT OR sect ion of the Micromoog
will alwa ys agree with the top note of the Polymoog keyboard in this case.
BUFFER FOR USING KBD OUTPUT AS INPUT
+1$
But . if lhe keyboard is rnonoph ornc. all the oscillat ors may follow the single keyboard cont rol signa l
and produ ce parallel cho rds. but not pol yphon y (several independenl voices) . So the KBD OUTPUT
might be used to control several ext erna l oscillators . but no externa l man ipulat ion of the KBD OUTPUT
signal will ma ke the kevboer of the Micr omoog become polyphonic like an org an
The KBD OUTPUT helps ma ke the Microm oog fully compati ble WJ\h other synthes izers and t he
largest modu lar systems. It conveys rmport ant mtcrrn anon to the outs ide worl d -w hich key on the
Microm oog is being depressed.
The KBD OUTPUTISa dual f uncti on jac k. Under cert ain condit ions th e KBD OUTPUT can be
used as a con trol Signal snout. (On models with atte nua to r, pot mus t be turn ed completely co unter -
cl ockw ise In th e " click" posuron.l A cont rol signal f ed i nto KBD OUTPUT replaces t he i nt er nal
keybo ard cont r ol signa l In this case. th e external Signal controls bo th the pit ch of the OSCILLATOR
sect ion and th e CUTOFF of t he FILTER secnon. and the keybo ard of the Micr omoog con tr ols noth ing
(The keyboar d can still trigger the Mlcromv og.1The input signal must be a low Impedance signal such
as that of an op -amp OUl PUt. See example bel ow :
39 38 31 36
MICROMOOG REAR CONNECTORPANEL
32 33 34 3S 3' 30
KBD OUTPUT
The KBD OUTPUT (keyboard out put) is a dual f uncti on lack . The Mlc, omoog' s keyboard
gen erate s a control signal that normally controls the pitch of the oscillator and t he cutoff frequency
of the filter This keyboard cont rol signal is avauable for ext er nsl use at the KBD OUTPU Tlack . Use
of KBD OUTPUT allow s contro l of ext erna l voltage con t rone d dev ices fr om t he keyboa rd of the
M icromo og Its use doe s not int erfere with normal internal key boar d controt. The KBD OUTPUT
pr ovides the cont rol signal from onl y the keyboard . OCTAVE. FREOUEN CY. OOUBLING . FINE TUNE
setting s and lhe PITCH r ibbon have no eflect on the KBD OUTPUT signal Howev er. since Ihe GLIDE
cont rol affe ct s keyboa rd respon se. GLI DE settings will aff ect th e KBD OUTPUT signa l
When th e lowest key is dep ressed . a signal of zero vo lt s is produ ced; each ascending natt-step
on the keybo ard adds an incre ment of + 1/1 2 volt t o t he siqnal level tnorninallv one volt per octave) ,
Int ernal calibration yields preci se diaton ic (tw elve tones to the octave) keyboard contr ol of the
OSCI LLATOR sectio n. On some mode ls. KBD OUTPUT pr ovide s only a jack whi ch ou tput s an uncah-
bra ted ver sion of t he keyboard control signal. Other mode ls pro vide an attenuator wh ich may be
used to calibrate the output. ( If you have such a model. her e IS how the att enuator wo rks In the
click position fully counterclockwise. KBD OUTPUT will act as an input or an output (see uses as
i nput below ) When nor i n the cl ick pos it ion . th is attenuator act s t o scale t he KBD OUTPUT volta ge 10
fit the sensitivity of a nominal 1 vo lt per octav e control input. Att enuator provide s approximately
:!: 10 % span .) Also. whe n not in t he click po sit ion. the KBD OUTPU T Jack cannot act as an i npul
When there is no attenuator . it may be necessary to amplify (boost) or att enuate (lessen) the
level of the KBD OUTPUT signal . depend ing on the sensiti vit y and ot her charact eristi cs of the device
to be contr olled. Thi s will be discussed fu rth er In " Getti ng It Together " at t he end of thi s sect ion of
the manu al
Once the keybo ard cont ro l Signal is brought " out side" using the KBD OUTPUT you can prod uce
some inte resting mu sical results For instance. t he KBD OUTPUT can be connected to the control
i nput of a Moog 921 Voltage Controlled Oscillat or to make th e 9 2t " t rack" the keybo ard of the
M icromoog and play in unison with the OSCI LLATOR section. If the exter nal oscillator is tuned at an
i nt erval to the OSCILLATO R section . par allel inter vals will be pr od uced when you play the keyboard
Suppose we invert , or electrica lly turn the KBD OUTPUT signal upside down . An ex ter nal oscillator
contro lled With t his inverted signal wou ld play higher as you play lower on the Mi cromoog 's ksvboa rd!
If you attenua te (lessen) the signal by half. an externatlv cont rolled oscillator would play quarter tones
whe n half steps are played on t he keyboard.
Alt hough any number of volta ge cont rolled modu les may be contro lled from t he Micromoog ' S
key boa rd using t he KBD OUTPUT an important concept should be understood . The keyboard of any
monophoni c (single voice I synthesi zer like the Mi cromoog produ ces only one cont rol signal. regard
less of how many keys are depr essed. W hen several keys are depressed on t he Micromoog. the lowest
key de termines the single keyboard control signal. A monophonic instrument may have more than one
t one osci llator (the Mi ni moog has th ree). and (he osc illato rs mig ht be tuned to produce a chord.
21 28 29
70
71
FILTER INPUT
The FILTER INPUT act s onl y as an inp ut for signals capable of co ntrolli ng the cutoff fr equency
0 1t he FILTER sectio n. A contr ol signal led Into th e FILTER INPUT acts as an " unseen hand" th at
elec trically manipulat es i nt er nal cont rol elemen ts as one mIgh t do manuall y on t he fr ont panel The
following depict s th e an alogy betwe en FILTER INP UT cont rol and cont rol by hand
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXTERNAL ANO MANUAL FILTERCONTROL
CONTROLSIGNAL
"\ FILTERCONTROL INPUT
/ REAR
1
0
~ I
10 3/
I
CONNECTOR
0
PANEL
0 (l) 0
OUTPUTS INPUTS MOOULATI ON
o e o
, 7
~ I IlJ' 0 I
o
REAR
CONNECTOR
PANEL
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXTERNAL ANO MANUAL OSCILLATOR CONTROL
CONTROLSIGNAL
"'\ OSCINP UT
e J o o ~ ___ ....... _ _ _ '0 _._-..- __ .....
O.c: fL..ATOA "' 0 '
FRONT
PANEL
OUTPUTS INPUTS MODULATION
rn n nlf n r
FRONT
PANEl
If zero volts is fed i nt o the FILTER INPUT. no change of the cut off f requ ency is caused. A
posi ti ve volt age appl ied to the FILTER INPUT raises t he cutoff frequency . like cl ockwi se movement of
the CUTOFF knob . A negal i ve voltage appl ied to the FI LTER INPUT lower s th e cutoft fr equency. like
covnterctackwtse movement of the CUTOFF knob Nominally. a change of one volt at the FILTER
INPUT will cause a change of one oct ave in the cutoff freque ncy of the FILTER sect ion In pra ct ice.
onl y about .9 5 volts is requ i red to create th is change because the i nput is designed to be Slightl y
over-sensitive . This prevents you r having to amp lify incoming signals; t he sensi tiv e input will mor e
likely requ ire attenua tion (lessening) of the signal with a simple pot requ iring no pow er suppl y.
Signals fed into the FILTER INPUT add to i nter nal control signals t o cont ro l the FILTERsecti on
Because externa l and internal cont rol signal s are addit i ve. you could use a Moog Accessory like the
1120 Pedal Cont rol Sour ce in conjuncti on w ith t he FILTER CONTOUR.
OSCINPUT
The OSC INPU T (oscillator Input) act s only as an inp ut for signals capabl e of controll ing t he
Irequency (pit ch) 0 1 t he OSCI LLATOR sect ion. A control signalled into t he OSC INPUT acts as an
" unseen hand" tha t electrically manipulates l ntemst contr ol elements as one might do manuall y on
the con tro l panel. The best analogy to manual cont rol is movement of t he FREOUENCY knob when
the OCTAVE select or i s in the WIDE posit ion . The following ill ust rates:
72
II zero vol ts is l ed into t he OSC INPUT. no change 01 oscill ator pit ch is caused . A posi tiv e
volt age applied to the OSC INPUT raises pitc h. like clockwis e movement 0 1 t he FREQUENC Y knob .
A negative voltage appl ied to the OSC INPUT lower s pitch , li ke counterctockwise movemen t of t he
FREOUEN CY knob . Nominally. a change of one volt at the OSC INP UT will cause a change of one
oc tave in the fr equency of the OSCILLATOR section . In pract ice. only about .95 volts is requ ired
to create this change because t he input is designed t o be slightly over-sensit ive. This prevent s
havin g to ampl ify incoming signals; t he sensi tive input will more likely require ettenueti on (lesseni ng)
of the signal wi th a simple pot requir ing no power supply.
Signals fed into the OSC INPU T add to internal contro l signals to control the OSCILLATOR
sect ion . Because external and i nternal control signals are addi tnre. you could use a Moog Accessory
like t he 1130 Drum Contro ller in conjun ct ion with t he keyboard .
MODULATION
MO DULATION is a dual fun ctio n ~ e stereo j ack. It acts as bo th an input and an output for
MODU LATION sect ion (control ) signal s. As an output. it can externa lize whate ver signal is pro vided
bV the SOURCE selector. As an i nput. it routes contro l signals from any source directly to the
ROUTI NG selector . Several simple switching or att enuation tasks may be accomp lished using the
MO DULA TION j ack We'll review these simp ler uses f irst before tak ing up the subj ect of
MODULATION sect ion (cantra ll signal rout ing .
The Moog 1121 Fool.s\Vitch may be used to turn modul at ion on or off by insert ing its plug into
th e M OD ULATION j ack. (The amount 01 modula tion remains under cont rol 01 t he MOD AMO UNT
wheel. ) As shipped. t he 1121 Foo tswitch w ill t urn modulat ion off wh en depressed . If you would
like to reverse t his action. open the 112 1 and modify it accordingl y.
1121 FOOTSWITCHMODIFICATIONFOR USE
W1TliMICROMOOG
73
Mov e the center wir e to the t hird (unu sed) lug and resolder. Th e 1121 can be very handy wh en
you don't have a spare hand to turn vi bra to . shakes. sample and hol d patt ern s, etc on and off
You can rewire any volum e pedal l or ju st a pot) to control th e amount of modul at ion using th e
MODULATION jack , Rememb er to use a stereo plug as shown:
SWITCHE D EXT. MOO, AMOUNT ATTE NUATOR
)( STEREO PlUG SWITCH
ElCTERNALMODULATION Cm lTROl
Whe n the peda l is inserted into the MODULATION jack. it will act to tandem with the MOD
AMOUN T wh eel to con t rol the amount of modulat ion . When th e MOO AMOU NT whe el is fully
forw ard (towa rd t he fro nt panel}, the pedal can be used over t he widest span of modul ation eff ects .
If the MOD AM OUNT whee l is only slightly f orw ard, the pedal will cov er a rest rict ed span of
modu lati on effects . Obviously , if the MOD AMO UNT wheel is comp let ely back [no rnodut anon).
then the pedal will have a span of " zero" and allow no modula t ion eff ects. Similarly, you could
set the pedal and play th e whee l. A pr actical mus ical appli cati on would be to set the pedal to restri ct
the span of t he MO O AMOUNT wheel. so vibra to could be contro ll ed wit h lar ger mov ements of the
MOD AMOU NT whee l. Larger movem ents are easier to cont rol for subtle ty of mod ul at ions
In the previous example the pot in th e pedal act s as a veriebte resistor used t o att enuat e
(reduce) the sensiti vity of the MOO AMOUNT whe el when pr od ucing vib rato. A fixed resistor coul d
be used instead. as shown '
SWITCH
MICROMOOG B
IMooovn
n p
TIP
SIMPlE MODULATION JACK TO MODULATION JACK CONN ECTION
Now let' s look at t he actual cont rol signal input /o utput capabiliti es of the MODULATION jack.
Fir st let' s rev iew the out put rules : ( 1) The ou t put signal is selected by the SOURCE selecto r ,
(2) This signal is available ext ern ally at t he tip co ntac t of the stereo MODULATI ON jack: (3 ) The level
of th e ou tput signal is con t ro lled by the MOO AMOUNT wh eel : (4 ) The rat e (when appro pria te) is set
by t he RATE knob.
Now let 's look at th e input rules for th e MODULATION Jack : 11) The input signal goes direc1ly
t o t he ROUTIN G selector : (21 Theref or e its level is not . Hecfed by the MOD AMOUNT whe el ;
(3 ) The r ;ng is t he appro pria te cont act for feeding sign als into the MODULATION lack ; 14) Thi s nng
inpu t can be fed from any externa l source (Moo g 911. 921, another Micr omoog. etc .).
The diagr am below ind icat es wir ing pr oced ur e th at allows Mi crom oog A to modulate
Micromoog B. Connect ion is made betw een respec tiv e MODULA TION j acks (Micro moog A shows
out put wi ri ng , Microm oog 8 shows input w ir ing) :
SWITCH

MICROMOOGA
POT PEDALI
10K TO 1001<
AUOIO TAPER
SHI el DED
STEREO
CABLE
.
SWi TCHCRAn 115-260
STEREO PHONE PLUG
FiXED EXT. MOO. AMOUNT ATTENUATOR
22'OKRESI STOR
In t he example abov e, neither Micro moog will modulate i tself. because the self -feedin g switche s
on bot h MODULATION jack s are open ed when a plug IS mserted . If you want Micromo og A to
modu late i tself -as well as Mi cromoog B-ad d t he foll owi ng j umper wi re to th e previou s wir ing setup:
MICROMOOG SELF-MODULATION JUI.4PER
The value of the resisto r may be selected to suit your t aste .
The abov e arrangemen t co uld be made so that it could be switched in or out :
STEREO PLu G
\
JUMPER FRO'" TIP TO RING TERMINAL
74
75
It is possible to rou te modu latio n signals both to and from t he Micromoog simultaneously
and indepandent lv from a modula r system or another synt hesi zer:
The f oll owi ng diagram show s the basic connection for a Master-Slave Interl ace f or two Micro moogs :
010
TPUT
rOA MP
0 S,TAIGOUTPUT STRIG INPUT
.-

o
<>5
=-

"" AU
AUDJO o !
ou
OUTPU T
TO AMP
I
FRONT
I I
FRONT
PANEL
PANEl
Dr 01
I(n olJto
I
l1'.....
I
SLAv t
MICRO MQOG MODULATION
OUTPUT TO ANOTHER
$ YNl HESIZER
921OSCILLAl OA)
1
MONO Pl.UGS
\
SIMU L.TANEOUS INPUT aOUTPUT OF MOOULATION
.. STEREO Pl.UG
TO MOO JACK
MICROMOOG MODULATION
INPUT FROM ANOT HER
SYNTHES IZER
IEXAMPl E 911 ENYEL.OPEGEN,I
The MODULATI ON jack is part icularly powerfu l, since it provide s simult aneous two -way
ccmmu nicatlon wi th the outside wo rl d; its presence is an impor tant advance in the open system
svnt hestzer concept .
The Master Micromoog t riggers and controls both itself and the Slave Micr omoog .
Even though you have made the baSI C connec tions, f urt her thought is required for a successful
interface . First . from readi ng t he OPEN SYSTEM sectio n you know t hat the KBO OUTPUT provides
an unsealed version of the Master Micromoog keyboar d signaL It will have to be scaled to cause t he
Slave Micromoog t o follo w the Master keyboard accura t ely. Let' s I hink in terms of the soun d charts
below for a t uning/ scali ng procedure:
OPEN SYSTEM-GETIING ITTOGETHER
The open system INPUTS and OUTPUTS can prov ide powerf ul ways of expanding your
music-making once you realize wh at audio, control . and tr igger signals can do for you.
It' s i mport ant to understand t hat synt hesizers are very dumb -from a point of view of
" systems i nterfacing :' They must be told explicitly what you want t o happen. You may begin wi th a
general idea l ike " I wan t to slave a second Micromoog 10 mine and play both f rom my keyboard :'
But at some point . yo u have 10 go from the general to t he speci fic i nterf acing requirement s for each
class of signal involved . Example given :
AUDIO REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL: 00' wa nt to hear the sound of both Micromo ogs:'
SPECIFIC: Audi o signal from each Micromoog must be transdu ced
ACTION; Connect t he AUDIO OUTPU T of each Micromoog to amp.
TRIGGER REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL: " I want t o hear the sound of both when I he keyboard of the Master Micromoog is
played:'
SPECIFIC: Trigger signals must be supplied from the Master to (he Slave Micromoog to provid e
art iculati on of both .
ACTION; Connect the STRIG OUTPUT of the Master Mi cromoog to the STRIG INPUT of the
Slave Micromoog.
MA STER
CONTROL REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL: " I want the pilc h of bo th i nstrum ents to follow t he keyboard of the Master Micromooq "
SPECIFIC: The OSCILLATOR section of bot h Micromoogs must be cont rolled by t he keyboa rd
signal of the Master Micromoog.
ACTION; Connect KBD OUTPUT of the Master Mic romoog to the OSC INPUT of the Slave
Mic romoog .
SLAVE
[ tor tun ing. leave MOD AMOUN T full y towar d you)
76 77
Fir st of all. let 's tune one Micr om oog's pit ch level to t he ot her , just as we would t une all the
i nst ruments of a band togeth er. We sho uld tu ne at t he pitch rep resented by a kevboard signa l
voltage of "zero' Wh y? W hen t he Mast er keyboard sjgnal ls zero volts . Ihe output at Its KBD
OUTPUT will be Zero vo lts and wi ll not inf luence the pitc h of the Slave Ml crom oog Ttus is ra th er
like r esorti ng to t uning the open strings of tw o gUItar s when you 'r e not sure wh ere t he fret s (scaling)
are on each . To accompl ish t uning:
1. Depr ess t he lowest key on t he keyboa rd of each Mlcr omoog to set each to " zer o vo lt "
keyboar d signal
2. Place BYPASS of each Mlcromoog ON to hear the sou nd of each conhn uously for
tuni ng.
3. Use the FINE TUNE con tro l on th e rear panel of each Micr omoog to matc h th eir pitc h
Now Master and Slave are tun ed to the same pitch level. At t hrs oo. nt you rruqht want to
pl ace th e OSCILLATOR swi tch of the Slave to DRONE so Its keyboard won't aHect its pit ch
Othe rw ise. any acciden tal touching of t he Slave keyboard might t ranspose its pitch . (Useful In some
applicatio ns. like produ crng parallel interva ls at the to uch of t he Slave keyboar d). If you play t he
Mester keyboa rd . you may not ice that th e Slave will follow pit ch gene rally . but increasi ng ly diver ges
as you go up th e keybo ard . This is becau se th e Slave is being contr olled by an unsealed version of
the Mast er keyboard signal. available from th e Mast er' s KBD OUTPUT l et' s scale it
4 . Check tun ing by playing lowest key on Master keybo ard , if O!( go on
5 . Play highest key on Master keybo ard and adj ust att enuat or (on rear panel of some
mod els) on Master until Mast er and Slave agr ee in pitch .
reviewof function s
This secti on of the manual tells how each knob selector ,
switch , jack , plug , and socket on the Micromoog funct ions
- what it does . Knowledge of terminology is assumed ;
don 't start here if you can 't speak "synt hesi zer ese!"
Mr cr ornooq fun ct ion s are numb ered and descri bed In the or der indicated by the diagram s below ,
A descr ipti on of how any ind ividual cont rol or Jack f unct ions can be go tten by t ur ning to th e
approp riate number alon g the borders of t he foll owing pages.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
"
12
[0 0 0 o)g lO0 0 10 0 ][0 0 )
13
"
"
' 6 17
' a .. 20 21 22 2J 2'
[0 0 0 ][0 OJ[cocmcmcm
~ co]
MICROMOOG '" CONTROL PANEL
When yo u scale. you stret ch or shrin k the KBD OUTPU T SIgnal from the Master to fi t th e
sensitivi ty of th e OSC INPUT of the Slave. to create the familiar di ato nic scale
Play l Not ice that sett ings for t he Master and Slave can be qui te diffe rent. You have t wo
complet e voice s. wi t h separat e modifi er pat hs fFILTER. VCA . conto ur generators . etc .) Once you 'r e
int o th e open syst em you may discover t hat two Mtcromoogs can make more mUSICthan one
" mult i-oscill ator " synt hesi zer that costs more t han two Micr os.
If you would like to revi ew what each j ack. plug , and soc ket on th e rear panel does . refer t o
the appro pri ate po rtio n o f the REVIEW OF FUNCTIONS sec t ion of th is manual.
On mac hines withou t atte nuato r kno bs for Ke D ou tput . an external 10K linear pot must be
placed i n series wi th t he cable feeding th e keybo ard cont rol signa l f rom t he Master to t he
Slave Mi cr omoog.
~ 26
~

MICROMOOG '" PERFORMANCE PANEL

17 28 29 30 31 32 33 3.1 ~ 36 37 J9
CD CD
C1'.
"""'.
OUTPUTS INPUTS
78
MICROMOOG
N
REAR CONNECTOR PANEL
81
1
MICROMOOG TMCONTROL PANEL
OSCILLA TOR
The OSCI LLATOR section is t he primary source of pit ched audio signals.
0000
C SC I L-LA TQ R
OCTAVE
WAV ESHAPE
Provides con ti nuou s waveshape contr ol ; calibrat ed in ar bitrary unit s. The pos rticn mar ked " 0"
prov ides the sawt oot h wav eform ; as t he cont rol is moved cloc kwise. this sawtooth is mixed wi t h a
narrow rect angular wavefor m. As t he WAVESHAPE contro l is moved towar d the posit ion mar ked " 5: '
the rectangular wav efo rm widens and t he sawtoot h tr uncates. Bet ween " 5" and " 6" a square wave -
form is prod uced ; as t he co ntrol is moved on toward " l D:' the square wavef orm nar rows to a narrow
rect angular wave. The narr owness of t his rect angular wavefor m is limited. making it impossi ble t o
" lose" the sound at any WAVESHAPE seul ng. Sawt ooth, square. variable recta ngu lar. and a mixtu re
of sawtoot h and varia ble rect angular wavef orms are available. Th rs cont inuous ly vari able WAVE-
SHAPE con tr ol allow s a change of t he harm onic spectrum of t he output of t he instru ment th at i s
i ndependent of t he FILTER control set unqs ,
DOUBLING
Provides a conti nuo us mix of a square wavef orm eit her one or two oct aves lower t han t he
pr imary OSCILLATOR pit ch for doubling effec t s. The " 0" cente r posi l ion pro vides a dead band with
no doubl ing ; from that poi nt clockwise t o ..+5" pr ovides doubling at t he two-octav e i nt erv al ; from " 0"
10"- 5" prov ides doubling all he oc tave. The DOUBLING cont rol helps give a " mult i-oscillat or" sound
to th e Micromoog .
3
4
Select s to t une the osci llat or i n octave increment s f rom 32 ' t o 2' stops, with IOWE::st C on t he
keyboa rd as fool age reference. The WIDE poshion activat es t he adjacent FREQUENCY control so it
may pr ovide cont i nuous-sweep t uning over an eight octave span . Fine tunmg in all positi ons is done
using t he Fin e Tune cont ro l on t he rear panel. The CUTOFF cont rol of l he FILTER is internally arran ged
to tr ack th e OCTAVE cont rol t o maint ain consistenlto ne color in all pitch register s. When the FILTER
MODE switch is in t he FULL posit ion, a pit ch change of one octave is accompanied by a concomi tant
change of one octave in t he cutoff frequency of t he filt er. In t he NORM (normal) posit ion. the cutoff
fr equency is changed by a half -octave per each pitch chang e of a full octave. The OCTAVE selector is
a perf orma nce control which expands the playable span of the keyboard t o a full eight octa ves.
FREQUENCY
Provides conti nuou s-sweep tuning over approximatelv eight octaves. operable only when the
OCTAVE select or is placed in t he WI DE posit ion. The FREQUENCY control is calibrated in oct aves; t he
center point marked " 0" places t he Micromoog
N
in approx imat ely the 8' range. Setti ngs on the
FREQUEN CY control do not int eri ere with any of the foola ge (32 '2 ') sell ings on the OCTAVE
control ; the FREQUENCY cont rol is operable only when Ihe OCTAVE selector is set t o WIDE . The
FREQUEN CY control is f ine-tun ed using t he Fine Tune control on t he rear panel. The FREQUENCY
contr ol may be preset t o any pi tch level to allow an inst ant aneous t ransposit ion (when t he OCTAVE
contro l is t urned to the WIDE position).
82
2
NOISE
The NOISE sect ion prov ides a pink noise (pseudor andom) signal used for both audio and cont rot
purpo ses.
o
ND I S E
Introd uces noise 8 S 8n audio sour ce as t he control is tu rned clockwise t o a maximum of 10 ;
canbr auon is arbitr ary. The noise gener ator is 8 pseudo-random generator wh ich outputs essent ially
pink noise; this is also filte red i nternally and made available for modu lat ion and sample and hold
purp oses. The lEVEL cont rol has no eff ect on the noise source wh en noise is used as a modu lat ion
signal. The LEVEL contr ol mixes noise as an audio signal retetive to th e fl)(ed audio output of the
OSCILLATOR sect ion. The OSCILLATOR may be removed f rom the sound chain by selecti ng " OFF" on
the OSCILLATOR swi tch .
83
FILTER
The FILTER secti on is a lowpa ss filter wit h vari able-hei gh t resonant peak at the cutoff fr equency.
with a 24 dB /o ctave att en uati on slope above t he cuto ff f requ ency.
FILTER CONTOUR
The FILTER CONTOUR is an envelope. or cont our gener ator t hat produces a cont ro l signal
which rises and t hen fall s. and whi ch is used to cont rol t he cu toff frequency of the filte r. Controls
in this secti on are used i n conj unction with the FILTER SUSTAIN switch . conse quentl y th is switch
will also be discussed.
FI LTE R CO NTOUR
CUTOFF 6
" Emphasizes" the area around the cutoff freq uency of t he filter by increasing the height of a
resonant peak at that fr eque ncy. Maximum emphasi s is reached at posit ion " 10"; calibrati on IS ar
arbi tra ry. The EMPHAS IS contr ol is restr icted so tha t the f ilt er will not be placed into OSCill ation
accidentall y dur ing perf orman ce Max imum empha sis CO" ) at t he " 10" positi on may be adjusted by
the user through a port on the rear of the inst rument. The Micromoog
lV
has a separate FILTER MODE
sw itc h wh ich may be swi tc hed to the TONE posit ion t o unequivocally place the fil ter into the oscil
latory mode regardless of th e EMPHAS IS setting .
A rever sible attenuator t hat contr ols the amount and polar ity of a cont rol volta ge rout ed fro m
the FILTER CONTOUR to the cont rol input of th e FILTER secti on; calibration is in oct aves, Each tick
mark :::::: one octave of sweep of the cutoff frequen cy of the filt er. The "0" center posit ion provides a
dead band whe re no con touri ng can occ ur. As CONTOUR AMOUN T is moved cl ockwise t oward "+5:'
a " positive" contour is all ow ed 10 control the cut off f reque ncy of t he fi lter. prod ucing a rising-and-
falling excursion. Wh en th e CONTOUR AMOUNT contr ol is moved mto the neqat ive region. the
conto ur is invert ed: th is inv erte d cont our t hen causes a reve rse contour. or a fall ing-andrising
exc urs ion of the cut off f requen cy. The CONTOUR AMO UNT control IS internally arr anged wi th the
CUTOFF control to mini mi ze the need for adjusti ng the CUTOFF cont rol when going from norma l to
rever se contours . As th e CONTOUR AMOUNT cont ro l is mov ed progressively negs/ ;ve. the CUTOFF
con t ro l is moved (interna lly and elect rically) pr ogre ssively po sitive. and conversely. In this way. sound
will not be completel y " cut off " by the filt er as a result of a deep reverse cont our Here' s anoth er way
to look at this-the panel gr aphi cs indicate. normal contours start below the nominal filter cutoff
fr eQuency as set by t he CUTOFF con t rol , and rev erse con tour s start ebove. This makes the use of
vari ous contours without con stant readj ust ment of the CUTOFF control possible.
Provides manu al con t rol of the nominal sett ing of the cutoff freque ncy of the lowpass f ilter.
Wh en the FILTER is placed in the osc illatory mode by swi tc hing t he FILTER MODE switch to TONE.
t he CUTOFF cont rol becomes a wide-range frequenc y con t rol The calibrat ion i ndicates octave mere-
ments of the cutoff frequ ency. wi t h " 0" a point very near t he f undamental fr equency set by t he
OSCILLATOR i n the OCTAVE selector . The FILTER in the osci llatory mode may by synch ronized wi th
t he OSCILLATOR at th e osci llators fundamen tal fr equen cy or at a harmonic.
EMPHASIS
CONTOUR AMOUNT
7
8
ATIACK 9
Control s timing of th e ini ti al (ri sing) pan I\. of t he fi lter contou r from 1 rnsec. to
10 seconds.
FILTER SUSTAIN
A level swi tc h rather t han a t iming contr ol. This swi t ch deter mines whether or not the FILTER
CONTOUR voltage level will be sust ai ned at a maxi mum wh en a key is held. This swi tc h determ ines
whe th er the con tou r pr odu ced will have t wo or thre e part s. In the non-sustain mode to the r ight.
the FILTER CONTOUR will genera te a tw o-part con t ou r wh ich can last no longer th an
the sett i ngs of its ATIA CK and DECAY ti mi ng contro ls all ow, regard less of how long a key is
depressed . In the maximum sust ain mode to t he left. the FILTER CONTOUR generates a three-part
con tou r . whose rmddle portio n wi ll be sustained as long as a key is depressed.
In t hiScase. Ihe DECAY part of the con t our becomes operabl e only when all keys are released .
RELEASE 10
Controls t iming of t he l ast (f all ing) part of the fil ter contour f rom 1 msec. to 10
seconds. The RELEASE co nt rol is operable over i ts full r ange only when th e RELEASE svvitch in
the ro w of switc hes is switc hed 10 the l eft .
LOUDNESS CONTOUR
The LOUDNESS CONTO UR is a second. Independent con tour generator wh ich is connected
intern all y t o the con tro l i nput of t he volt age contr oll ed amplifi er to cr eate art iculat ions . or lou dness
contours . Contro ls in this section are used in conj unc ti on wi th the LOUDNES S SUSTAIN swit ch :
consequentl y this swi tch will also be discussed.
00
ATT AC;:1Il r-.. " c,-_ c c l"'..
LDUDN . .. .. CDNTDUR
84 85
ATIACK 11
Controls timing of the inilia/l rising) r-\ part of the loudness contour from 1 msec.
t o 10 seconds.
/V
_ Triangular waveform output of the modulation oscillator ; controlled i ~ frequ.ency by the
RATE control . Use of this sett i ng with t he OSC setting of ROUTING YIelds vibrato .
var iable i n depth by the MOD AMOUNT wheel.
S&H KBD- Provides a ser ies of random voltag e steps cont roll ed in speed by t he RATE contr ol.
The keyboard. or an external source of triggers. may be used to tri gger t he contou r
generators independent of the frequ ency of voltage step changes as set by the RATE
con tro l. All mod ul ations are at ten uated wi t h the MOD AMOUNT wheel .
S&H AUTO -Tr iggers sample and hold ci rcuit and both cont our genera tors at a speed set by the
RATE cont rol . Generates synchronous string of random voltage steps der ived internally
fr om the noise source. like all modulations. the voltage steps are attenuated using
the MOD AMO UNT wheel .
ROUTING
Deter mines t he dest inat ion of t he modul ation signall hat has been selected by t ne SOURCE
selector as follows:
LOUDNESS SUSTAIN
A level swi tch rather than a timing control. Ttus switch determines wh ether or not the
LOUDNESS CONTOUR voltage level will be sustained at a rnaxrrnurn when a key IS held. This switch
determ ines whether t he contour produced will have two or three parts In the non-sustain mode to
the right . the LOUDNESS CONTOUR will generate a two-part contou r /"\... which can last
no longer than the sett ings of its ATIACKand DECAY timing controls allow. regar dless of how long
a key is e p ~ e In I he sust ain mode to t he tett , t he LOUDNESS CONTOUR generates a t hr ee-part
contour ( ..., ~ who se rmddle por tion will be sustained as long as a key is depressed. In this
case. the DECAY part of the contour becomes operable only when all keys are released
RELEASE 12
Contro ls timing of the last (falling) part ~ of the loudness contour from 1 msec. to
10 seconds. The RELEASE control is operable over us f ull r ange only when the RELEASE swncn in
the row of swi tches is switched to the left .
OSC-
Routes the select ed modulat ion signal t o t he OSCILL ATOR section for vol lage
control of oscillator frequency.
15
OSC & FILTER- Routes the select ed modulat ion signal to both the OSCILLATOR and FILTER secti ons.
for voltage cont rol of oscillator frequency and filter cutoH frequency.
ROUTI NG sell ings are i nert unless t he MOD AMOUNT attenuat or whee l is placed forward .
allowing modul ation signals to flow from their source. as deter mined by the SOURCE selector. to
their desti nat ion as determined by the ROUTI NG selector.
MODULATION
The MODULA TION section is responsible for routing control voltages from several sources
to several destination s. As indicated in the diagram, the SOURCE selector determines the source of
the modulation signal; the ROUTIN G selector determi nes the destination of the modulation signal ,
All modula t ions are attenua ted. or lessened by the MOD AMOUNT wheel on t he Perf ormance Panel.
Progressive atten uation occurs as the MOD AMO UNT whe el is rotated toward you.
000
MODULAT IDN
RATE
Controls the rat e of the modulation oscillator and sample and hold clock. calibrated from
,3 Hz to 30 Hz. Normal vibrato rate is found between posit ions "4" and " 6:'
13
OFF-
FILTER-
Jl
Defeats any modulation. Useful for switching mod ulat ion effects off insta nta neously.
The ROUT ING control is never more than one position away from an OFF position .
Does not defeat tr iggers in S&H AUTO mode.
Routes t he selected modulat ion signal to the FILTER sect ion for voltage cont rol
of I he cut ot t fr equency.
Routes the selected modulat ion signal 10 I he OSCILLATOR sect ion for volt age
contro l of WAVESHAPE.
SOURCE
Determines the source of the modulation signal as follows:
BEND- Provides a DC volt age as a modu lat ion signal. Use of this SOURCE sell ing i n con-
junction wit h the OSC setti ng on the ROUTING control makes a wi de-range pilch
bender out of t he MOD AMOUNT wheel.
NOISE- Provides fillered (rect) noise as a modulation signal. This use of noise is independent
of t he NOISE LEVEL contr ol.
14 GLiDE/VOLUME
00
-.rL - Square wa veform output of the modulation oscillator ; controlled in frequency by the
RATE co nt rol. Whe n used in conj uncti on wit h the OSC sett ing of ROUTING. a t r ill is
produced. whose interval is set wi th the MOD AMOUNT whe el.
86 87
RELEASE SWITCH
. . Switches to achieve immedi ate release of soun d on release of all keys . As panel graph ics
Indicate. when RELEASE is swi tched to the right. all r eleases will be abru pt. Whe n swuched left. the
RELEASE controls in t he FILTER CONTOUR and LOUDNE SS CONTOUR sect ions are operable over
thelf enti re r ange, and Ihe r elease of any sound will depend on their setti ngs ,
Determines whether or not t he LOUDNESS CONTOUR volt age level will be sustai ned at a
mal<imum when a key is hel d. This swit ch deter mi nes whet her the con tour pr od uced by the LOUD-
NESS SUSTAIN will have two or thr ee part s. In t he non -sustain mode to the rig ht. t he LOUDNESS
SUSTAI N will gener2le a tw o-p ar i con tou r whic h can last no lon ger than t he sett ings of
its ATIA CK and OECAY l iming con trols allow. regardl ess of how long a key is depressed . Sound s of
extre mely short dur ation can be crea ted when t he LOUDNESS SUSTAIN swi tch is i n the non -sustain
posi tion (r ight) and the LOUDNESS SUSTAIN ATIA CK snd DECAY times are sho rt . In th e sustain
mode '0Ihe left the LOUDNESS CONTOUR generales a t hr ee-part contour whose
mi ddle port ion will be sust ained as long as a key is depr essed. In this case, th e OECAY part of the
conto ur becomes operable onl v wh en all keys are released.
23
22
21
LOUDNESS SUSTAIN SWITCH
FILTER MODE SWITCH
SWitches '0 conlrol track ing by fil l er cutoff frequency of keyboard and OSCILLATOR OCTAVE
contro l. Also places Ihe FILTER i nto t he OSCIll atory n ONE) mode . NORM (ncrma l l del ivers one -nst!
volt to the con t rol input of th e filter for each volt change ( 1 volt per octave) on the keyboa rd or
OCTAVE selector . (A change of one octave i n pi t ch causes a change of one-half octave in FILTER
cuto t t freque ncy.I The FULL posit ion deliver s one volt per each oct ave 01pi tch change . (A change of
one octave in pi tch causes a chang e of one octave in FILTER cuto ff f requency.) The TONE positio n
also delivers one volt per oc tave t o the filt er cont rol input . and places the FILTER i nto t he oscill atory
mode . genera ting a sine wave fo rm . The FILTER will oscillate in th e TONE mode reg ardless of th e
EMPHASIS setti ng i n 'he FILTER secti on.
Deter mi nes wheth er or not the FILTER CONTOUR voltaqe level winbe sustamed at it maximum
when a key is held. This swi t ch determ ines whe ther the con to ur produced by t he FILTER CONTOUR
will have two or three part s. In t he non-sustaln mode 10 t he right t he FILTER CONTOUR willgenera le
a two-par t contou r which can last no longer than the settings of its AnA CK and
DECAY timing cont rols allow. rega rdless of how long a key is In t he sust ai n mode to the
tett. th e FILTER CONTOUR gene r ates a thr ee-part con to ur whose mid dle port ion will
be sustained as long as a key is depr essed. In this case. th e DECAY part of t he contour becomes
operab le only wh en all keys are released.
FILTERSUSTAIN SWITCH
18
17
16
A fi nal gain con trol (auenua tor] which is Indepen dent of t he vollag e contr olled ampl if ier associated
wilh the LOUDNE SS CONTOU R. Cenbrat tcn ISar bitrary Irom " 0" ' 0 a maximum of " ' 0"
STATUS SLIDE SWITCHES
The STATUS SWITC HES [not named on panel) indi cate the condit ions for operat ion of many
sections on the Micromoog N . or pro vide mter conne ction of sect ions
VOLUME
Smooths or slows down output of the keyboard to create glide or glissando betw een keys on
the keybo ard. Speed of glide is variabl e from 1 msec 10 f ive seconds. calibrated in arb ilrary units
wi th 9 maximu m of "10 :' This is a logar it hmic gli de whiCh stops when all keys are released and
remains at t hat pit ch unt il anot her key is depressed .
GLIDE
OSCILLATOR SWITCH 19
. (nor mal ) posit ion places th e OSCILLATOR under keyboa rd cont rol and into the sound
cham, so It Will be heard and will follow t he keybo ard in pitch. The DRONE posit ion removes the
OSCILLATOR from keyboar d con trol : the oscill ator is heard. but " drones" (at low and does not
foll ow the keyboard . The OFF position removes th e OSCILLATOR from the soun d chain. so It is not
heard. however t he osci llato r remains under keybo ard cont rol.
BYPASS SWITCH 24
Select s to " bypass:' or hold i nter nal voltage cont rolled amplif ier on con stan tl y. The ON posit ion
hol ds the VCA f ull y on. resul ting in cons tant sound out put . The OFF posulon 10 the l eft pro vides for
nor mal use of t he LOUDNESS CONT OUR 10art iculate soun d.
FILTERMOD BY OSC SWITCH 20
FILTER MODULATION BY OSCILLATOR connects t he ourou: of Ihe OSCI LLATOR section
(incl uding DOUBLING) to t he cont rol input of the FILTER section . This creates ri ng mod and such
timbr al eHects withou t changi ng t he appar ent pit ch center, The OFF posi ti on pr ov ides no connection .
W EAK and STRONG posit ions repres ent degree of mod ulation i ndex.
LO AUDIO
A low level audro output 1- 10 dBM max level at 1K output impedance) sui table for conn ection
to a guit ar amplif ier. t uzz. wah -wah . etc .] .
PERFORMANCE PANEL
The unique feature s on the PERFORMANCE PANEL tor th e leh hand allow tor subtlety and
nuance .
OUTPUTS 27
A resistance element pr ote cted with plastic-coated mesh used to bend the pitch of the
In center of the ribbon is a dead band. marked with a bump ; this causes no bendin g
of pitch. and provides a way to feel th e " center " 01the pitch. Pit ch is bent by depressing the ribbon
and mov ing away from the center bump , def lectin g OSCILLATOR pilCh up or down wit h a like move-
ment on th e ribb on . On release of th e nbbo n at any point . the pitch is returne d to " zero" or the
origi nal pit ch instantly
MOD AMOUNT 26
The MOO AMOUNT (modu lat ion amount ) wheel is connect ed to a pot ent iometer wh ich atten u-
ates (lessens) all modu lation signals . Progre ssive att enuation occu rs as the MOD AMOUNT wheel ts
r otat ed toward you . Modulat ion signals selected by the SOURCE selector pass thr ough the MOO
AMOUNT wheel wh ere t.hev may be attemuateo . and are routed to several destrnat tcns using the
ROUTING selec tor . The first hal f of th e mec hani cal excurs ion of the MOD AM OUNT wheel accoun ts
for only a small per centage of t he tot al electri cal span of the poten tiometer . This allows the perf ormer
to make less cri ti cal . larger movements of the wheel to create " perf ormance" effects such as vi brato
32
31
30
29
28
INPUTS
ACCESS PWR
Suppl ies 15 valls regu lated D.C. power for all standard Moog accesso ries . Absolute maximu m
curr ent =100 mAo
FILTER
Allows externa l voltage control of the cutoff frequency of the filter . Scaling is 0 .95 volts/ oct ave.
Input impedance is lOOK .
Provides the keyboard voltag e (wi th glide) f ully compa tible with Moog
N
synth esizers and
accessor ies. Nomi nal scali ng is one volt /o ctave with low " F" on th e keyboar d =0 volts . Some models
have an associ ated attenuator pot for th is output (See OPEN SYSTEM section of th is manua l. )
KBD
An output tr igger ," swi tch tfl gger " to gr ound) appear s at ttus output whenever the contour
generator Sare tfl ggered by any means. Compati ble with all Moog
N
synthesizer s and accessorie s. and
many other pr oduct s This outp ut can also f unct ion as an input for STriggers. tr igger i ng th e contour
generat ors wh enever SWitch clos ure occu rs
S-TRIG
A high level audio out put (+ 12 dBM max level at 1.5K outpu t Impedance] sui t able for connec-
t ion to a power ampli fier Wi ll also dnve headpho nes
HI AUDIO
25

PITCH RIBBON
REAR CONNECTOR PANEL
The Input /Output feature s on t he rear panel make the Micromoog
N
an expandable " open
system:'
OUTPUTS
34
33
All ows external sound source to be pr oc essed throu gh th e synthesizer . Any audio signal rou ted
to t his input appears at the audio input of th e FILTER sect ion. l00mV RMS input requi red for full
dri ve. Input impedance =4 .7K.
AUDIO 35
S-TRIG
Swit ch closure triggers contour generators . Internal circ uit remo ves swi t ch bounce. Inpu t
impedance =l OOK.
AllowSexternal vol tage control of the fr equency of the audio oscillator . Scaling is 0 .95 volts/
octave . Input impedance is lOOK.
OSC
36 37 3. 3.
... ()OI.I ......

OJ OJ
C) o
..,.,.
' lo,;l

INPUTS
32 33 14 35 31 30 27 28 29
90
9 1
MODU LATION
MODULATION INPUT/ OUTPUT
36
field tuning technical data
This jack allows an external sw itch to lurn modula tion on and off . or an external pedal to control
amount of modulation . When a ~ stereo plug is i nsert ed. all internal connect ions are interru pted :
the j ack will then f unct ion both f or out put and input of modula ti on signals. The modulat ion signal
produ ced by the MODULATION section of the MicromoogN appears at the " tip" connection and will
be attenua ted bV the MOD AMO UNT wheel: this is the output function . External modulat ion signals
mav be fed directl y to the ROUTING co nt rol lM OD WHEEL non funct ionall through the " ri ng" connec -
t ion of the plug ; this is the inp ut fu nct ion.
OTHER FEATURES
LINE VOLTAGESELECTOR 37
This switc h selects l or oper ati on at 1t 5 or 230 volt li ne curren t for worldwi de use of the
Micr omoog.
POWER SWITCH 38
Selects t o t urn power ON and OFF.
FINE TUNE 39
Parallels OCTAVE and FREQUENCY comrots on fro nt panel to pr ovide li ne t uning. Provides
great er t han one who le step above or below center pi tch .
92
I INTRODUCT ION
MICROMOOG
FIELD TUNING PROCEDURE
by Jim Scot t
Thi s pr ocedur e allows you. t he perf orm er. to keep yo ur own Mi cromoog t uned up perfect ly.
The Micro is fact ory t uned and adj usted before shipment . Norma lly re-tuning will be required very
inf requentl y. 3S t he synthe sizer is excepti on ally stable. AUof t he adj ustmen ts are made through hol es
at t he rear of t he inst rument ldisassembly not required). The onl y tools required are a medium size
flat bladed screwd river . an F reference t one (l uning fork . org an. another synt hesizer or lab osci ll at or )
and your ears.
Balance th e MJcromoog on its nose so that t he rear panel is up in t he air wi th the keys and
controls faci ng you . Not e that t he upper lip of t he rear panel has labels to ident ify the t rim pots .
Connect t he Micro moog to an ampl ifier / speaker. t urn on Micr omoog and allow to wa rm up for 10
minutes. This gives t he thermostatt ed oscillator ci rcui t time to stabilize at its 55 C oper at ing
tempera ture .
You may t un e the Fil ter without f irst t uni ng the Osci ll ator ILe.- no int eract ion). Howe ver. t he
Oscillator or Filt er tun ing steps shoul d be done In t he orde r indi cated Ifir st RANGE. second SCALE .
Ihird HI END. fourth OCTAVE). The procedure recomme nds a 700Hz referen ce tone for Oscillator
luning and a 350 Hz reference tone for Filter tu ning. These are t he best frequenc ies t o use if you are
using a sine wa ve gen erat or for a referen ce tone However. any F will do .
95
II OSCILLATOR TUNING
Set up the controls 8 S shown in the Oscillator Tuning Sound Chart These setti ngs Vil li remain
unchanged throughou t the oscillator tuning procedu re.
MICROMOOO I8 'LOF =F , =175Hz )
BI Oepress and hold HI F on the keyboard , Turn OSC SCALE tr imPO' $0 t hai a perfect
unison with the reference results (zero beats] ,
3, OSCILLATOR HI GH FREOUENCY COMPENSATION
OSCIL LATOR =NORM
OCTAVE=2 '
A) Oepr ess and hold LO F Zer o beal w ith F5 (700 Hz) reference uSIng FINE TUN E
contro l
BI Oepr ess and hold HI F Adj us. OSC Hl tr irn pot for zero beats.
OSC SCALE and OSC HI int er act slightly Go back and repeat steps 2 and 3 once
each
4 OSCILLA TOR OCTAVE STEP
OCTAVE = 2 '
OSCILLATOR =DRONE
AI Zero beat wi th F5 1700 Hz) r eference using FINE TUNE control.
8 1Set octave to 16' and adjust CS C OCT tr im pot for zero beats .
Note that CSC RANGE and OSC OCT adjustments to not interact w' th each other. nor
do th ey interact wi t h OSC SCALE OSC HI does aHect OSC OCT and shoul d be
checked befor e adj usting OSC OCT.
III FILTERTUNING
Set up controls as shown in the Filter Tuning Sound Chart .

OSCILLATOR RANGE
OSCILLATOR =ORONE
OCTAVE = 2 '
FINE TUNE (REAR PANEL ) =VERTICAL ( 12 o'clock)
Compar e Micromoog pitch 10 a refer ence tone of F above high C (700 Hz if you are
uSing a lab oscillator = F5 1

0 -8

Adjustment is requi red if the Micromoog FINE TUNE must be moved a significant
amount from ver ucat to achieve unison with the reference tone. To adjust, set FINE
TUNE 10 vertical and turn CSC RANGE trim POl with the screwdri ver so thai the
Micromoog sounds a perfec t unison wi th the reference tone (no beating with refere nce
tone) .
.-
__ _ II
-
[0
o [001
REF TONE I F, = 700 Hzl
Hz =CYCLES PER SECOND
t=r======
REF TONE = F517 00 HzI
2. OSCILLA TOR SCALE
OSCILLATOR = NORM
OCTAVE =B'
A) Depr ess and hold LO F on the keyboard. Zero beat Mlcromoog with reference tone
using FINE TUNE coruror so that Micromoog sounds a perfect 2 oc tave Interval
below the reference,

1. EMPHASIS
The EMPHASIS Irimpot calibrates the EMP HASIS front panel control as follows. W hen
FILTER MODE =TONE, the Filler is supposed to act as a wide range 150Hz -5KHz)
sinewave oscillator tone source (irre spect ive of sett ing of EMPHA SI S contr ol). W hen
FILTER MODE =NORM or FULL th e Fill er is no' supp osed to oscdlste (howl) even
when the EMPHASIS controt 10 (no matter what the cutoff frequency happens to
be .) If the EMPHASIS trimpot is too far CW {clockwise} the filter may either refuse
to oscillate altogethe r in the TONE mod e. or it may not produce 8 tone over the full
50 Hz-5KHz range. If the EMPHASIS trimo ot is too far CCW Icoun ter-ctcc kwis et th a
filter may break into oscillation in the NORM or FULL mode. We set the EMP HASIS
trimpot to satisfy bot h conditions (no oscillation in NORM and FUll , sure-fire oscilla-
tion in TONE).
96
97
OSCILLATOR =OFF
OCTAVE = 4 '
FILTERMOD E = FULL
EMPHASIS con tr ol = 10
STRIKE LO F
A) Tur n EMPHASIS trimpot f ully CCW. Sweep CUTOFF contr ol back and fort h fr om
- 5 to +5. Alt er each sweep tur n the EMPHA SIS trtmoc t CW a little until no
oscillation occurs at any setting of the CUTOFF control. Listen especially carefully
to t he low bass region since low frequency sine waves (below 30 Hz) are pretty hard
to hear. The objective is to set the Filter jus t below the threshold of oscillation This
makes the filter resonance as pronounced as possible when the EMPHASIS control
= 10 .
FILTER MODE =TONE
MICROMOOG12' LO F= F, = 700Hz)
REF (F. = 350Hz)
B) Still hol ding LO F.click oscillato r OCTAVE swi tch '0 16: Adj ust FILTER OCT tri m pal
for zero beats.
Do not expect the Filter to be as precisely in tune as the Tone Oscillator Alt er all. It'S
primarilya filter and secondarily a tone source. Beat rates of a few cycles per second
are completely normal.
IV OTHER ADJ USTMENTS
[00 8
01
_ _ .i.._
O _ C I>o..Ulo'l"OllO
[0 0][0
--

-_.
CDCii [TIl
- - -
.-.... .... -
-
..... .... ..... -
8 ) Sweep CUTOFF from - 5 to + 5 to insure that the Filter oscillates over the full musrcal
range ILe. make sure EMPHASIS trimpot isn't 10 0 far CW )
2 FILTER SCAL E
Reset controls as shown on the Filter Tuning Sound Chart
OCTAVE = B'
REF TONE =F4 =350 Hz
Al Depr ess and hold LO F.Zero beat by l urni ng CUTOFF slightly.
REF TONE IF. = 350HzI
MICROMOOG(8' LO F=F , =17 5Hz)
BI Depr ess and hold MID F IF41and zer o beat wi th FILTER SCALE tr im POl.
3. FILTER HI GH FREQUENCY COMPENSATION
OCTAVE =2 '
Al Depr ess and hold LO F. Zero beat using CUTOFF control.

1. VCA BALAN CE
Set up control s accord ing to VCA Bal ance and Trill Trim Sound Chart .
MODULATION RATE = 30
MODULATION SOURCE (SELECTOR) =S & H AUTO
MODULATION ROUTING =OFF
OSCILLATOR = OFF
BYPASS =OFF (ARTICULATOR =NORMI
VOLUME =10
Turn up your amp to very high volume. Adjust VCA BAl trim pot for quietest possible
sound. (Wh en done don't forget to turn your amp back down).
MICROMOOG12' LO F= F.= 700Hz)
REF(F. = 350Hz)
BI Depress and hold MID F.Zero beat using FILTER HI trim pol.
FILTER SCALE and FILTERHI inter act a littl e. Repeat steps 2 and 3 once each
4. FILTER OCTAVE STEP
OCTAVE =2'
A) Depr ess and hold LO F.Zero beat using CUTOFF control.
9B
2. TRILL TRIM
RATE =3 IAOJUST TO SUIT)
SOURCE (SELECTOR) = SL
ROUTE =OSCILLATOR
OSCILLATOR = DRONE
BYPASS =ON (ARTICULATOR =BYPASS)
Wilh MOD AMOUNT wheel fully down, note pitch. Now roll wheel fully forward .
You will hear an upward-going trill. The lower note of the trill should remain unchanged.
If the lower not e moves up or down, adjust the TRILL TRIM trim pot so t hai the pitch
remains unchanged. After a few tries you should be able to get the adjustment right
on the nose.
V RIBBON CENTERING
This adjustment aligns the PITCH ribbon so that when you put your finger on the bump
on the center of the ribbon the Micromoog pitch will not change, l isten to the
Oscillator (you may use the Oscillator Tuning Sound Chart) . Locate the hole in the
bottom of the Micromoog under the left hand controller section. Alternately press
and release center bump of ribbon, Insert screwdri ver and adjust trim pot so that the
centering feels right for you. 99
TONE OSCILLA TOR
FREQUENCY RANGE: 30 t o 5.000 Hz (cvcles per second)
using panel controls alone. 2 Hz to 20 KHz using external
volt age cont rol.
RANGE SWI TCH: Transposes oscillat or to 32 : 16: 8:4: 2:
and W IDE r anges.Step accur acy bett er than 99 .75%. WID E
range acti vat es 8 octave Freq uency cont rol.
OSCILLATOR STABILITY: Short t erm rangedrift aft er 5 mi n-
ut es warmup less than 0 .1%(1 Hz at 2 ' Iow C= 1.000 Hz).
Long term scale drift less tha n 0 .05 %. Totally temperature
insensitive,
SCALE ACCURACY: Bett er th an 99 .95%.
PRIMARY OSCILLATOR WAVE FORM: Voltage contro lled
and cont inuously var iable f rom sawtoo th t hrough square
to narr ow rectan gular .
OSCILLATOR DOUBLING : Cont inuously vari able mix with
pr imary waveform of square wav e one oct ave or two
octaves below pri mary pitch.
NOISE SOURCE
Pink noise random waveform as "h iss" audio source.
FILT ER
CHARACTER ISTIC: Extreme ly stable lowpass f ilter with
var iable- height resonant peak at cutoff frequency and
24 dB/ octav e slope.
RANGE OF CUTOFF: 1 Hz t o 40 KHz. voltage controlle d.
TRACKING: Half-t racking or full trac king of oscillator .
OSCILLATION: In "tone" mode f ilter becomes a pure sine'
wav e generator with at least a 50 Hz to 5 KHz range.
ACCURACY OF OSCILLATION : Bett er than 99 % 16 ' Lo F
to 4 ' Hi C. Synchr onizabl e with tone oscillator to achieve
same accu racy and sta bi l i ty characte r ist ic s as ton e
oscillator .
CONTOU R: Filter cont our gene rato r feeds through reversi-
ble attenuator for posit ive or negat ive sweeps up to
5 octave s.
FREQ. MOD_BY OSC: Inj ect s tone oscillator int o contro l
input of f ilter to yield tone col or and ring modulat ion
eHects .
LOUDNESS CONTOUR
DYNAMIC RANGE: BO dB Voltage Contro lled Amplifier
(VCAI .
CONTOUR GENERATORS
NUM BER: 2 l one for f ilter VCF and for art iculator VCAl .
RANGE OF ATTACK AND RELEASE TIMES: 1 mill isecond
to 10 seconds.
SUSTAIN LEVEL : Filt er and l oudness i ndependentl y
selectab le fo r full or zero sust ain.
BYPASS: Holds VCA f ully on all the time.
CONTROLLERS .
KEYBOARD FUNCTION: Contro ls oscillator pitch and f Ilt er
cutoff f requency. Also t r iggers the contour generato rs
when single key is depressed .
KEYBOARD DESCRIPTION: 32 note F to C organ key'
board . Lowest C in B' range sounds middle C-26 1 Hz.
Low not e pri ority.
GLID E TIME : Keyboard portamento adjustable from 1 milli-
second to 5 seconds.
RIBBON: Sweeps t one oscillator pit ch up or dOl
center deadband.Aut omaticr eturn to center when I
MODULATION
RATE: Sets speed of modulation oscillator fr om C
30 Hz.
MODULATION OSCILLATOR: Produces a squa
150% duty cycle) or a tr iangular wave. Also tr igg.
pie and hol d. May t rigger. contour generators .
SOURCE SWI TCH: Determines source of me
signal.
ROUTING SWITCH : Determines desti nation of
t ion signal.
MOD. AMOUNT WHEE L: A playing co nt rol that v
amount of modulat ion i nject ed into the dest inat ior
SAMPL E & HOLD
FUNCTlON: Samples noise source at rate set by
t ion osci llator to yield randomly changing contr
that occur at a regular temp o.
S & HAUTO: Modu lat ion oscillator tr iggers conto i,
cont rol step occurs . Trigger dut y cycle = 50%.
S & H KBD: Sampling rate still set by mod . osc.
board t riggers contou rs.
REAR PANEL
LO AUDIO OUTPUT: - 10 dBM max level at 1t
impedance.
HI AUDIO OUTPUT: +12 dBM max level at 1.51
impedance . Wi ll drive headphon es.
S-TRIGOUTPUT: Out put tr igger occurs whenever
generato rs are t rigge red. Compat ible with all Ml
thesizers and accessories.
KBD. OUTPUT: Keyboard voltage (wi t h glide) fu
pat iblewith all Moog synthesizers and accessories .
scaling is one volt /oct ave with Lo F= Ovol ts.
FILTER INPUT: Allows ext ernal voltage cont rol
Scaling is 0 .95 volts/o ctave . Input impedance= 1
OSCILLATORINPUT: Allows external voltage cont
ter . Scaling is 0 .95 volt s/oc t ave. Input impedance
S-TRIGINPUT: Switch closure t riggers contou r ger
Internal circuit fully removes switch " bounce" Inpu
ance= 1OOK.
ACCESSORY POWER: Supplies :!: 15 volt s regula
powe r for all standard Moog accessor ies.
AUDIO INPUT: Allows external sound SOurce to
essed through synt hesizer. 100 mV RMS input
for f ull drive. Input impedance= 4 .7K.
MODULATION: This input / out put jack allows an
swi tc h to turn modu lati on on and off . or an exterr
to control amount of modulat ion. May also be
route modulation signal t o external equipm ent 0 1
modulat ion signal from external equipment .
POWER REQUIREMENTS
90 - 130 VAC or 1BO-260 VAC. 50/ 60 Hz. 5 w
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGH T
OVERALL SIZE: 24 " wide x 15" deep x 5y," high .
NET WEIGHT: 201bs .