Your first modulation: the matrix
Read the 5 by 7 grid and make your first connection: the LFO wobbling the filter.
Modulation is one control moving another for you. The MicroFreak's matrix is a grid of 35 points. Down the side are five sources (the cycling envelope, the envelope, the LFO, pressure and the keyboard or arp). Across the top are seven destinations (Pitch, Wave, Timbre, Cutoff and three that you can assign). A lit point is a connection, and the amount can be positive or negative.
- What the 5 by 7 grid is: sources down the side, destinations across the top
- How to find, select and edit a connection with the Matrix knob
- How to make the LFO move the filter
- How to remove a connection
The steps7 steps
- Look at the Matrix: 35 points. Rows are sources (CycEnv, Env, LFO, Press, Key/Arp, top to bottom). Columns are destinations (Pitch, Wave, Timbre, Cutoff, Assign 1, 2, 3). Turn the knob to move around.
Stuck?
Scroll or drag on the white Matrix knob. The screen names each point as you reach it.
- Go to the point where the LFO row meets the Cutoff column, third row, fourth column. The screen describes the connection (LFO to Cutoff).
Stuck?
The grid runs row by row, seven points per row. Counting along the rows, LFO to Cutoff is point 18.
- Press the Matrix knob to edit this point. The screen shows the amount, and the light blinks.
Stuck?
Click the Matrix knob once.
- Turn the knob to set the amount. Anything away from zero connects the LFO to the filter. Go past +25 or below -25.
Stuck?
Keep turning the Matrix knob while it is in edit mode.
- Hold a note and listen: the filter now moves by itself, following the LFO. Turn the LFO Rate knob to change how fast.
Stuck?
Hold a key and drag the LFO Rate knob in the bottom row.
- Press the Matrix knob once to leave edit mode. The point stays lit, which shows it is connected.
Stuck?
Click the Matrix knob once.
- To remove it, press the knob to edit again and turn the amount back to zero. The light goes out.
Stuck?
Press the Matrix knob, then turn it the other way until the amount is 0.
Pick a point with the Matrix knob, press it to edit, set an amount. That is the whole matrix. The intermediate lessons go further: all the sources, Assign, and recipes.
On the real MicroFreak
Turning the Matrix knob shows what each point is and how much modulation it has. Pressing the knob enters edit mode, where the amount is highlighted in inverted colors and every other light goes dark except the point you are editing, which blinks. To clear one point, hold the knob for half a second or set its amount to zero. Shift plus a long press clears every point. Several sources on one destination add together.
Where the model differs
The model does not have the half-second hold; set the amount to zero to clear a point.
Questions2
Why can I not see the connection in the matrix after I made it?
A lit point shows a connection with an amount other than zero. If it is dark, its amount is zero. Turn the Matrix knob until you reach the point and check the screen.
What does a negative amount do?
It flips the modulation, so the source pushes the destination down instead of up. Amounts run from fully negative to fully positive (-100% to +100%).