1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Vermona Manuals
  4. Recording Equipment
  5. meloDICER
  6. User manual

Vermona meloDICER User Manual

Hide thumbs
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

Download this manual
meloDICER & MEX3
User Guide

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the meloDICER and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for Vermona meloDICER

Summary of Contents for Vermona meloDICER

  • Page 1 & MEX3 User Guide...
  • Page 2 manual version: 1.4 firmware version: R41...

  • Page 3: Foreword

    We conceived this manual as a tutorial. It’s best to follow it step by step. If you prefer exploring certain aspects of meloDICER, jump to the desired section. No matter how you like to use it, please do the one thing: Use it! If you still are hungry for more information about meloDICER, check out its product site on our homepage.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    Configuring the gate inputs ..........................20 MUTE-Mode (5-A and 5-B) ..........................21 INV GATE (5-C) ..............................21 POWER MUTE (5-D)............................21 NOTE VARIATION (6 and 7) ..........................22 PPQN – pulses per quarter note (8)........................22 MIDI CLK (8-D) ..............................22 Modes...................................23 A - Sequencer (meloDICER) ..........................23...
  • Page 5 C - Quantizer 1 ..............................24 D - Quantizer 2..............................24 Technical Specification meloDICER........................25 MEX3..................................26 Getting Started..............................27 Polyphonic Sequences............................28 Setting up MIDI channels ..........................31 MIDI Clock Synchronization ..........................32 MIDI Start/Stop/Continue..........................33 MIDI Implementation Chart ..........................34 Technical Specification MEX3..........................36 User Guide meloDICER & MEX3...

  • Page 6: Preparations

    Connect GATE OUT to your envelope generator’s input and 1V/OCT to the oscillators corresponding CV-input. Please set your meloDICER’s knobs and faders like on Figure 1: MeloDICER with basic settings on page 6.
  • Page 7 It is helpful to use some kind of metronome as rhythmical reference. Patch a percussive noise or use the click of your DAW and make sure to synchronize meloDICER to it. Figure 1: MeloDICER with basic settings User Guide meloDICER & MEX3...

  • Page 8: Internal And External Clocking

    MeloDICER can generate its own tempo or it can be synced to an external clock source. Use TAP to set the tempo. Hit the button at least twice, more taps will increase the accuracy. MeloDICER will measure the time between your taps and calculate the desired tempo.

  • Page 9: Basics

    Basics With your meloDICER set up as described above, you are ready to explore the control elements and the stochastic engine. Basically, music consists of two important parts: rhythm and melody. MeloDICER has a set of controls for each and although the one doesn’t work without the other, we will take a look at them separately. Let’s start with rhythm.
  • Page 10 7)" on page 22. LEGATO When you play legato on a keyboard, there is a smooth transition between two notes. On meloDICER it means that the pitch (1V/OCT) between two notes changes without generating a new gate signal at GATE OUT. With LEGATO you set the probability for this behavior.

  • Page 11: The Melody Section

    Our current pattern consists of only two different pitches, the same note in two octaves. The overall output range of meloDICER is up to five octaves (0…5 volts). You can set the lowest and highest note with the faders LO (2) and HI (8).

  • Page 12: To Dice Or Not To Dice

    There are two more essential control elements of the rhythm- and melody section: The DICE buttons. Did you already hit one or both of them? If not, just do it. With each press, meloDICER generates new random values for the rhythm respectively the melody section. We call that behavior dice-mode.

  • Page 13: Advanced Functions

    Returning to maximum length If you’d like to quickly return to base settings (step 1 and 16), hold FIRST STEP (4), LAST STEP (6) or both while pushing the rotary encoder. User Guide meloDICER & MEX3...

  • Page 14: Mute

    (see "Configuring the gate inputs" on page 20). Mute MeloDICER does not have a start, stop or continue button, it is always running. You can however mute GATE OUT. The sequencer is still running but doesn’t generate any gate event.

  • Page 15: Lock-Mode

    All adjustments of the rhythm- and melody sections are instantly applied. The stochastic engine reacts as soon as you turn a knob or move a fader. Thus, meloDICER can be treated as an instrument. You can and should play the module’s control elements.

  • Page 16: Saving And Loading Patterns

    Saving and Loading Patterns What is a pattern? In the context of meloDICER a pattern means the collection of all ingredients the leads to a certain rhythm and melody. It includes: • the settings of the rhythm and melody section’s faders and knobs •...

  • Page 17: Loading Patterns

    With loading the pattern meloDICER automatically activates lock-mode to ensure that the current settings of control elements do not have an impact on the resulting pattern. Remember, meloDICER does not save the sequence but the parameters that leads to certain rhythm-melody-combination.

  • Page 18: Edit-Parameters

    EDIT-Parameters MeloDICER comes with a simple menu structure to set up some parameters that you won’t have to change very often. We call these the edit-parameters. You find a list of the most important edit-parameters printed on the surface of the module.

  • Page 19: Configuring The Control Voltage Inputs

    4. Leave the edit menu by pressing E again. Configuring the control voltage inputs MeloDICER offers two inputs for controlling various parameters by an external control voltage. Both CV inputs work with positive voltages between 0 and 5 volts, negative voltages have no effect.
  • Page 20 ☞ When CV IN 1 is set to ADD SEQ (1-A), the input also accepts and processes negative voltages. LO (1-C) and HI (1-D) LO (1-C) and HI (1-D) double the faders LO (2) and HI (8). You can either modulate one of them, both or none. The incoming control voltage is added to the current fader setting.

  • Page 21: Configuring The Gate Inputs

    Some of the functions can be assigned to GATE IN 1 as well as GATE IN 2. We describe these functions only once. Toggle DICE You can toggle between dice-mode and realtime-mode using the gate inputs. MeloDICER switches to the opposite mode for the rhythm respectively melody section with each incoming positive edge.

  • Page 22: Mute-Mode (5-A And 5-B)

    POWER MUTE (5-D) When you power up your meloDICER, it is instantly running and sending CVs and gate signals. If you want the module to be quiet when switching on your modular system you can do that with parameter PWR MUTE (5-D). If...

  • Page 23: Note Variation (6 And 7)

    NOTE VARIATION parameters 6 and 7 are stored with a pattern. PPQN – pulses per quarter note (8) This parameter sets the number of pulses that meloDICER expects per quarter note at the CLK IN input. There are three options: •...

  • Page 24: Modes

    3. The new mode is instantly applied. The yellow LED next to the buttons A, B, C and D shows the current mode. Read on to find a short explanation of the four modes. A - Sequencer (meloDICER) This is the standard meloDICER mode. All functions that you learned about in the manual so far work in this mode. ☞...

  • Page 25: C - Quantizer 1

    C - Quantizer 1 In this mode meloDICER works as quantizer for external CV signals. It works with voltages between 0 and 5 volts at CV IN 2. The faders of the melody section define your scale. The higher a fader is raised, the wider its quantization range.

  • Page 26: Technical Specification Melodicer

    Technical Specification meloDICER In- and Outputs CLOCK input ....................... max. +12 volts, threshold +2 volts GATE inputs ......................max. +12 volts, threshold +2 volts GATE output .............................. +10 volts CV inputs ......................... 0…5 volts (max. 12 volts) 1V/OCT output ............................

  • Page 27: Mex3

    DAW or send controller snapshots for chord changes, probability alterations, etc. • Send MIDI Control Change Messages All buttons, faders and knobs of meloDICER can send MIDI control change messages. This allows you to record movements with any MIDI sequencer or control a second meloDICER for parallel chord progressions.

  • Page 28: Getting Started

    2. Connect the five-pin JST cable that comes with your MEX3 to the white connector on the rear of MEX3. It will only fit in the correct position. 3. Connect the other end of the five-pin JST cable to the white connector on the rear of meloDICER. 4. Install meloDICER and MEX3 into your modular system.

  • Page 29: Polyphonic Sequences

    • If you raise only one semitone probability fader and the pitch range is just one octave or lower, meloDICER cannot generate a second or third voice. • Voices 2 and 3 could generate the same pitch as voice one. In this case, meloDICER sends only one MIDI note. RHYTHM All three voices share the RHYTHM section’s NOTE VALUE, VARIATION and LEGATO parameters.
  • Page 30 REST2 (for voice 2) and REST3 (for voice 3) are accessible via MIDI Control Change messages or edit-parameter 10-A and 10-B. They work like the REST control on meloDICER with one specific characteristic: Whenever voice 1 is generating a musical rest, voice 2 is generating a musical rest as well. In other words, REST2 set to 0% probability creates a second note event for each note event of voice 1 (assuming that the probability faders for semitones and range allow this to happen).
  • Page 31 Setting REST2 and REST3 You can set the REST probability for voice 2 and voice 3 on your meloDICER with edit-parameters 10-A (REST2) and 10-B (REST3): 1. Enter the edit menu by pressing E 2. Select edit-parameter 10 by turning the rotary encoder until the LED labeled with 10 lights up.

  • Page 32: Setting Up Midi Channels

    In order for two MIDI devices to understand each other, you will have to set their MIDI channels equally. There are three MIDI channels that can be set up on the meloDICER. The procedure is the same for all of them: 1.

  • Page 33: Midi Clock Synchronization

    Please be aware that the MIDI Clock synchronization works in parallel to the analog CLK IN input. If this jack receives an analog clock signal and MEX3’s MIDI IN receives MIDI Clock messages at the same time, meloDICER will mix both clock sources, which may lead to unwanted behavior. So please ensure that you feed your meloDICER with only one clock signal.

  • Page 34: Midi Start/Stop/Continue

    We recommend setting your clock source (DAW) to even send the MIDI clock when the DAW stops. MeloDICER has an internal clock source that continuously synchronizes to the external clock. Once the external clock disappears, it runs with the last received tempo, but needs to resynchronize when the external clock starts again.

  • Page 35: Midi Implementation Chart

    Changed 1-16 1-16 Control Change messages can be switched off) Mode Note Number 36 … 96 + transpose via CV1 Note On ACCENT (see CC 87/88) Velocity Note Off Key’s After Touch Channel’s Pitch Bend User Guide meloDICER & MEX3...
  • Page 36 12 O NOTE VALUE (0…127) 13 O VARIATION (0…127) 14 O LEGATO (0…127) 15 O REST (0…127) 16 O REST voice 2 (0…127) 17 O REST voice 3 (0…127) 18 O LO (0…127) 19 O HI (0…127) 20-31 O note propabilities C...B (0…127) DICE RHYTHM ON/OFF Control Change 73 O...

  • Page 37: Technical Specification Mex3

    3,5 mm TRS, type A Maximum Power Consumption +12 volts ................................ 10 mA -12 volts ................................+5 volts ................................Dimensions and Weight Width/Height .............................. 4 HP, 3U Depth ..............................about 25 mm Weight ................................35,0 g User Guide meloDICER & MEX3...
  • Page 38 HDB electronic GmbH Badesteig 20 08258 Markneukirchen GERMANY Phone +49 (0) 37422 4027 - 0 Email info@vermona.com www.vermona.com...

This manual is also suitable for:

Mex3

Table of Contents