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The Mutant Brain
16 output MIDI to trigger, gate, polyphonic cv...and more
Thank you for your interest in/purchase of the Mutant Brain. We would like to thank you for considering a
place for the Mutant Brain in your modular synthesizer! Simple to use yet incredibly versatile and highly
accurate, the Mutant Brain can be the nerve center of your modular system. The Mutant Brain is a Eurorack
modular format product, available as a built module only.
BRIDGING THE GAP
Since the early 1980s MIDI has been how most synthesizers, sequencers, drum machines and keyboards
have talked to each other. Yet both old and new analogue synthesizers still use voltage for control, in the
form of continuous CV, gates and triggers. The analogue resurgence and the growth of Eurorack has meant
that CV-equipped synths have increased, rather than decreased, in popularity. At the same time the number
of devices capable of sequencing MIDI have proliferated - and many of these tend to be on the cheaper side.
Then, of course, there is the MIDI sequencer that exists in your computer: DAWs like Cubase and Ableton now
include incredibly sophisticated MIDI sequencers. If you're a Eurorack user who wishes to incorporate any
MIDI device in your setup, or if you wish to use your PC and DAW to control your modular, you need a MIDI to
CV converter.
With the Mutant Drums Hexinverter Électronique has long been focused on providing modular users with the
best, most exciting and versatile modular drums experience. With six drum modules and a mixer the only
thing missing from the Mutant Drums was a means of sequencing. We deliberated for years over the
question: should we make a sequencer for our Mutant Drums? But this didn't seem like the right idea, since
there has been such a resurgence of inexpensive, standalone MIDI drum machines and sequencing units!
Why re-invent the wheel? Eurorack already provides plenty of great sequencers, but for many users these
take up too much rack space, are too expensive, or are too fiddly to use for performanc. For users who do
invest in a modular sequencer, combining them with other sequencers in a live setting can be tricky without
the ability to sync transport controls.
What's needed is a reasonably priced, versatile, low-HP module that can effectively bridge the gap between
MIDI and CV.......enter, the Mutant Brain!
The Mutant Philosophy
This module brings the Mutant Drums line to full maturity. With seven drum modules, a mixer and now
the Mutant Brain as the link to your MIDI sequencer of choice, the Mutant Drums form a remarkably
capable and utterly unique modular drum system.
There are already some great clones of vintage gear out there. The Mutant Drums are different. Although
every Mutant drum module began life as a classic drum topology, each one has been meticulously
designed from the ground up. We aim to create fully-fledged instruments that can transcend the
limitations and exploit the capabilities of the modern modular system.
24.April.2018
Mutant Brain user manual v1.00
PG1
Hexinverter Électronique, 2018
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Table of Contents
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Summary of Contents for hexinverter Mutant Brain
- Page 1 16 output MIDI to trigger, gate, polyphonic cv…and more Thank you for your interest in/purchase of the Mutant Brain. We would like to thank you for considering a place for the Mutant Brain in your modular synthesizer! Simple to use yet incredibly versatile and highly accurate, the Mutant Brain can be the nerve center of your modular system.
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Page 2: Quick Start
Unlike MIDI to CV devices that use MIDI-learn technology to program their ports, the Mutant Brain loads a SysEx file that you create by filling out a simple web form. Once configured Mutant Brain will behave exactly as you have programmed it until you decide to change it. For most users we expect this to be a ‘set and forget’... -
Page 3: Midi Inputs
However, there are many ways to assign MIDI notes and events to these outputs, as shown in the diagram below: MIDI Inputs Mutant Brain Outputs Gate Note • • Clock • Velocity • Continuous CC • Transport • 24.April.2018 Mutant Brain user manual v1.00 Hexinverter Électronique, 2018... - Page 4 or trigger. Button Mutant Brain is highly configurable, but all changes must be made over MIDI. In fact, there is only one button on the module! Press and release the button to reset all the outputs. This will: Clear all held MIDI notes ...
- Page 5 (you can build up a library of SysEx files for different Mutant Brain configurations). Mutant Brain stores the last patch when power is off, so you don’t need to upload the SysEx file each time you power up.
- Page 6 4. Press Play. The two top LEDs on the Mutant Brain should flash quickly for a (very) short time. The whole process takes a fraction of a second - unless you are looking at the module as you press the button you’re likely to miss it.
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Page 7: Basic Setup
Mutant Brain must make the same decision, so it needs to “listen” for the MIDI notes and decide which note to send to the CV output. This is where “Note Inputs” come into play - they prioritise the notes and decide which one should be mapped to a CV out. - Page 8 You would set up the gates as shown (this is how Mutant Brain is setup by default): Multiple MIDI channels Mutant Brain allows you to control each of the four CV outputs (and associated gates) using different MIDI channels. This allows you to run four sequencers on their own channels, either from a single device that supports multiple MIDI channels or several devices daisy-chained with the Mutant Brain at the end.
- Page 9 To do this you’ll need to use a Note Input for each MIDI channel. The following image shows how this can be configured (this is how the Mutant Brain is configured by default): 24.April.2018 Mutant Brain user manual v1.00 Hexinverter Électronique, 2018...
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Page 10: Quick Reference Card
QUICK REFERENCE CARD These are included with every module, but if you have lost yours you might find it handy to print it out and have near your modular for reference. 24.April.2018 Mutant Brain user manual v1.00 PG10 Hexinverter Électronique, 2018... -
Page 11: Advanced Setup
ADVANCED SETUP The previous pages cover all you need to know for the most common setups. However, Mutant Brain has lots more to offer if you want to dig a little deeper. The following sections detail all the gate, trigger and CV options available and explains in more detail how MIDI to CV is implemented. -
Page 12: Pitch Bend
Keyboard splits Mutant Brain allows more than one Note Input to be assigned to the same MIDI input channel. This allows you to set up keyboard splits. In the example shown, notes below C3 play a bass line on one oscillator and notes above to play a lead synth line on a second oscillator, and both synths play with highest note priority. - Page 13 Note pitch CV When Mutant Brain is sending out a musical pitch CV, it uses a 1 Volt/Octave standard and has a range of 8 Octaves. Middle C (MIDI note 60) is set at 3 volts, so the output range is approximately MIDI note 24 (C1) to...
- Page 14 Notes which are pushed out of the playable range by pitch bend will “plateau” at the limit. Other CV sources Mutant Brain’s four analog CV outputs can output signals other than musical note pitches. You can also use them to output Velocity of the most recently played note (Specify note input) ...
- Page 15 However, each time the condition is signaled, Mutant Brain makes sure that the output is turned off for a very short period before going back on again. For example, this allows for keyboard playing styles where you want to control the sustain of a note by holding down a key, but also have an attack envelope which triggers each time a new key is pressed, even if you are playing “legato”...
- Page 16 MIDI clock divisions A very useful feature of Mutant Brain is the ability to output clock pulses when MIDI clock tick messages are received. A MIDI clock master defines the BPM by sending out 24 of these tick messages for every “beat”...
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Page 17: Firmware Updates
The two LEDs at the top should light solidly. Send the SysEx file to Mutant Brain using a MIDI SysEx program (such as MIDI-OX on Windows or SysEx Librarian on Mac). Make sure that there is no other MIDI traffic on the connection at the time of the upload and ...
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