Instruo harmonaig, User Manual

Page 1: ...harmonàig Diatonic Harmonic Quantiser User Manual ...

Page 2: ... 7 Global Modes 8 Pitch Control 9 Tranposition 1 1 Outputs 13 Harmony 15 Modal Scales 16 Programming Custom Chords 17 Patch Examples 23 Modal Music Theory and Implementation Chord Quality Inversion and Voicing Deriving Chords from a Scale Modal Scales Ionian Modes Harmonic Minor Modes ...

Page 3: ...used by the harmonàig to allow immediate exploration of musical tonalities whilst keeping everything diatonically relevant Built in modal harmonisations give extensive foundations for a wide spectrum of tonalities With additional capabilities for user defined chord voicings and note clusters the creative options are endless In practice users can experiment with chordal composition as quickly as th...

Page 4: ...cable is connected to 12V 4 Connect the 16 pin side of the IDC power cable to the 2x8 pin header on your Eurorack power supply confirming that the red stripe on the power cable is connected to 12V 5 Mount the Instruō harmonàig in your Eurorack synthesizer case 6 Power your Eurorack synthesizer system on Note This module has reverse polarity protection Inverted installation of the power cable will ...

Page 5: ...t Key 1 Keybord Buttons 2 CV Input 3 CV Attenuverter 4 Transpose Button 5 Transpose 6 R CV Output 7 3 CV Output 8 5 CV Ouput 9 7 CV Output 10 Calibration Trimmers 1 1 Slew 12 Gate Output 13 Chord Quality 14 Chord Quality CV Input 15 Diatonic Button 16 Inversion CV Input 17 Inversion 18 Voicing CV Input 19 Voicing 7 1 6 8 9 1 1 12 14 13 16 18 17 19 15 4 5 2 3 10 C C D F G A D E F G A B ...

Page 6: ...ress and hold both the Diatonic Button and the Transpose Button in that order then double tap the C Button The amber illumination of the C Button indicates that Unison Mode is active To exit Unison Mode press the illuminated C Button Calibration Trimmers The Calibration Trimmers are used to independently scale the voltage range of each output These are factory calibrated with precision test equipm...

Page 7: ...alibrated intervals and generated from the 3 CV Output 5 CV Output and 7 CV Output The offsets are dependent on the Chord Quality Inversion Voicing and Transpose parameters and vary on a per output basis Performance Mode The secondary behavior of the harmonàig is as a harmonising performance keyboard In Performance Mode the Keyboard Buttons become a playable interface Each button corresponds to a ...

Page 8: ...ages will be illuminated white Enabled voltages are illuminated amber Disabled voltages are unilluminated CV Input The CV Input is a bipolar control voltage input for the quantiser Control voltage present at the CV Input will be quantised and harmonised at the R CV Output 3 CV Output 5 CV Output and 7 CV Output Input Range 10V 20 octaves CV Attenuverter The CV Attenuverter scales and inverts the s...

Page 9: ...pose If the Transpose parameter is disabled the Transpose fader will not function Quantised Offset Mode When engaged the Transpose fader can shift through a quantised 2V range four octaves of the selected voltages The value set by the Transpose fader sums with the signal present at the CV Input Global Quantised Offset Mode When selected the Transpose fader will globally offset the quantised voltag...

Page 10: ...e allows for a global fine tune adjustment of the voltages Global Fine Tune Mode will automatically time out to avoid accidental detuning Transpose Settings The LED of the Transpose fader will illuminate when the parameter is set above or below the 0V point found at the centre dent of the Transpose fader All Transpose settings will be retained between power cycles To reset the two global Transpose...

Page 11: ...sing a Keyboard Button in Performance Mode R CV Output Root chord tone output Output Range 10V 3 CV Output Third chord tone output This output will generate a voltage with an interval offset defined by the Chord Quality parameter Output Range 10V 5 CV Output Fifth chord tone output This output will generate a voltage with an interval offset defined by the Chord Quality parameter Output Range 10V 7...

Page 12: ...wise control voltage will be stepped Turning the knob clockwise increases the amount of slew applied to the control voltage Gate Out The Gate Out generates a pulse signal with every new voltage Trigger signals are generated in Quantiser Mode Gate signals are generated in Performance Mode The gate signals in Performance Mode will be held high as long as a voltage is held The Gate Out behaviour can ...

Page 13: ...esponding LED will illuminate Chord Quality CV Input The Chord Quality CV Input is a bipolar control voltage input for Chord Quality Control voltage is summed with the knob position Input range 0V 5V Diatonic Button The Diatonic Button switches between the automatic harmonisation functionality and manual CV control of the Chord Quality parameter If the button is unilluminated the Chord Quality par...

Page 14: ...or the Inversion parameter Control voltage is summed with the knob position Input Range 0V 5V Voicing The Voicing parameter allows for selection between four available chord voicings Different voicings displace notes within the chord to other octaves The collection of chord tones remains the same but the interval spread between them alters changing the density of the sound Turning the knob from fu...

Page 15: ...ne of the Keyboard Buttons Exit the Modal Scale Menu by pressing the Transpose Button In Quantiser Mode a collection of chromatic scale tones can be enabled harmonàig will quantise the R CV Output to the closest enabled note The 3 CV Output 5 CV Output and 7 CV Output will quantise to interval offsets that outline the selected Chord Quality If the mode is changed while this occurs alternate modes ...

Page 16: ...and double tap the Diatonic Button The Transpose Button must remain held until the custom chord is programmed Pressing Keyboard Buttons will select the desired voltages for the custom chord The selected Keyboard Buttons will pulse indicating the selected notes in the custom chord To clear a note selection multi tap the lowest desired note until all defined notes are layered in unison This is indic...

Page 17: ...sends voltages to all oscillators while simultaneously triggering the envelope generator The CV output of the envelope generator opens the filter and VCA allowing the mixed oscillator signals to pass through More traditional East Coast patches would incorporate separate envelope generators for the filter and VCA Output CV Signal ...

Page 18: ...tion Control Path Connect a CV signal such as a sequence or random voltage to the CV Input of harmonàig and turn the CV Attenuverter to a desired position Connect all CV Outputs of harmonàig to the 1V Oct inputs of all four oscillators Connect the Gate Output of harmonàig to the trigger input of an envelope generator Connect the CV output of the envelope generator to a multiple Connect one copy of...

Page 19: ...tor opens the filter and VCA allowing the mixed oscillator signals to pass through More traditional East Coast patches would incorporate separate envelope generators for the filter and VCA If the random voltage generators are used pressing a Keyboard Button will seed new random voltages that modulate the Inversion and Voicing parameters Output Sample and hold Sample and hold ...

Page 20: ...spose Button and then pressing the Diatonic Button Pressing the Keyboard Buttons will change the root note and chord quality allowing for performance based control For added modulation multiply the Gate Output of the harmonàig and connect the gate signal to the clock input of two separate random voltage generators Connect the CV outputs of the random voltage generators to the Inversion CV Input an...

Page 21: ...t the Inversion CV Input and the Voicing CV Input Audio Path Connect the desired waveform outputs of four separate oscillators to a mixer Monitor the output of the mixer Set the individual levels of the mixer to desired positions Control Path Connect an audio rate signal from a separate oscillator to the CV Input of harmonàig and turn the CV Attenuverter fully clockwise Output Audio Rate Signal Au...

Page 22: ...onàig to the 1V Oct inputs of all four oscillators Enabling and disabling the Keyboard Buttons will change the timbre of the sound For further modulation send different audio rate signals to the Inversion CV Input and Voicing CV Input ...

Page 23: ...h chords are ordered in a way that progresses from most flattened chord tones to most sharpened approximately This order is arbitrary but makes some sense when arranged around a single control knob The chord tone makeup of each 7th chord is as follows Δ7 Minor major 7th Root Min 3rd Perfect 5th Maj 7th O Diminished 7th Root Min 3rd 5 Diminished 7th Ø Minor 7 5 Root Min 3rd 5 Min 7th 7 Minor 7th Ro...

Page 24: ... the notes are reordered Voicing Voicings determine how close or spread out the notes are within a chord The Close Position voicing is the most condensed voicing where all the notes in the current chord will be within the span of an octave The Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings may be most familiar to guitar and piano players The voicings themselves will be familiar although the terminology may differ Bot...

Page 25: ...inversion is shifted by a further octave to add more musically relevant distance between the notes of the chord This results in more distance between the chord tones allowing the total character of the chord to be less cluttered and dense Compositionally musical accompaniments will often make use of spread out voicings as they leave more space for a melody ...

Page 26: ...la which is determined by the pattern of note inter vals between each scale degree For the major scale Ionian mode and the Ionian mode series these consist of only whole tones T and semi tones ST C Ionian uses the following notes C D E F G A B C All white keys on a piano This gives the formula Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone Every scale degree has a chord quality to match The chord tone...

Page 27: ...h interval 7 semitones Simple major triad so far No augmented or diminished modifications C to B is a major 7th interval 1 1semitones This means the first scale degree of C Ionian is a major 7 chord Moving to D we follow the same process except D is now our Root note The Root 3rd 5th and 7th notes are D F A C D to F is a minor 3rd interval 3 semitones minor chord this time D to A is a perfect 5th ...

Page 28: ... chord type G B D F G to B is a major 3rd interval G to D is a perfect 5th So far nothing new Standard major triad so far G to F results in a minor 7th interval Major 3rd with a flattened 7th degree is called a dominant 7th chord minor 3rd perfect 5th minor 7th E 7 major 3rd perfect 5th major 7th F Δ7 major 3rd perfect 5th minor 7th G 7 ...

Page 29: ...half diminished chord In jazz and popular music the more common term is minor 7 flat 5 A bit more of a mouthful than half diminished but much more descriptive It is a minor 7th chord with its 5th degree flattened to the tritone interval We now have a chord quality for every degree of our scale CΔ7 D 7 E 7 FΔ7 G7 A 7 B 7 5 This is the foundation for a lot of western music Many songs use only these ...

Page 30: ... can get a little confusing when the same word refers to both the first degree of the system and also the system itself For consistency we will refer to the system of modes as simply the modes When talking about a specific mode we will specify the root note and the name of the mode For example C Ionian F Mixolydian A Lydian etc The C major scale C Ionian has seven degrees C D E F G A B Each of the...

Page 31: ...sharps F and C These are contained in our newly defined D Ionian scale The modes are derived from the degrees of the original mode C Ionian over one octave is played C D E F G A B C consisting of all white keys If we keep this scale in mind but simply start on the D and play all white notes D to D we get D E F G A B C D If we consider the D as our Root harmonic centre we hear it as a very differen...

Page 32: ...ptively simple in many ways Considering the modes in relation to their Ionian degree or major key and you can easily get your bearings and relative context in relation to a particular specific major scale Where the modes become much more musically interesting is when they are harmonically considered for their own unique merits Let s look again at our new C Dorian scale There are two flattened note...

Page 33: ...inor scale There is the difference of a sharpened 6th degree A from the Natural Minor scale Dorian therefore sits closer to a minor scale but with a raised 6th degree This light note in a dark scale is the characteristic tone of the mode It has a distinctive tonality Dorian Chord Scale The chord pattern for the Dorian mode can be constructed in the exact same fashion as that of the Ionian mode Cho...

Page 34: ...perfect 5th minor 7th Chord 3 E G B D Root major 3rd perfect 5th major 7th Chord 4 F A C E Root major 3rd perfect 5th minor 7th minor 3rd perfect 5th minor 7th D 7 major 3rd perfect 5th major 7th E Δ7 major 3rd perfect 5th minor 7th F 7 ...

Page 35: ...fect 5th minor 7th Chord 6 A C E G Root minor 3rd diminished 5th minor 7th Chord 7 B D F A Root major 3rd perfect 5th major 7th minor 3rd perfect 5th minor 7th G 7 minor 3rd diminished 5th minor 7th A Ø major 3rd perfect 5th major 7th B Δ7 ...

Page 36: ...odal interchange is a term used to describe the use of scale degrees that are not necessarily part of the home key mode Considering the modes in parallel to one another there will be some notes that don t overlap but fill in some of the gaps left in the home key Ionian I 7 II 7 III 7 IV 7 V7 VI 7 VII 7 5 Dorian I 7 II 7 III 7 IV7 V 7 VI 7 5 VII 7 Phrygian I 7 II 7 III7 IV 7 V 7 5 VI 7 VII 7 Lydian...

Page 37: ...rough less scientific means A combination of choices between most harmonically relevant i e choosing chord qualities that contained the most chord tones diatonic to the mode and more simply what sounded best The full breakdown of what chord tones are included chromatically for each mode are as follows Ionian Modes Ionian Dorian Phrygian ...

Page 38: ...38 Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian Locrian ...

Page 39: ...39 Harmonic Minor Modes Aeolian 7 Locrian 6 Ionian 5 Dorian 4 Phrygian 3 ...

Page 40: ...This device meets the requirements of the following standards EN55032 EN55103 2 EN61000 3 2 EN61000 3 3 EN6231 1 Manual Author Jason Lim Collin Russell Manual Design Dominic D Sylva Lydian 2 Super Locrian ...