Moog SPECTRAVOX User Manual
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Moog SPECTRAVOX User Manual

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SPECTRAVOX

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  • Page 1 SPECTRAVOX...
  • Page 3 “ I see my job as being one that must provide the artist with the capability of imparting complexity and dynamics to [their] music ” - Dr. Robert Moog -...
  • Page 4 — Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. CAUTION: Please note that any changes or modifications made to this product not expressly approved by Moog Music could void the user’s authority granted by the FCC to operate the equipment.
  • Page 5 Thank you, Gene. Many of us at Moog were so lucky to get to work with Gene. He was a truly inquisitive soul who bettered our lives, and we will miss him dearly. With this instrument, his spirit and passion live on.

  • Page 6: Table Of Contents

    TABLE OF CONTENTS UNPACKING AND INSPECTION SETUP AND CONNECTIONS ABOUT SPECTRAVOX SPECTRAVOX: HISTORIC INSPIRATION HOMER DUDLEY AND THE VODER WENDY CARLOS AND BOB MOOG BEGIN TO EXPERIMENT A CLOCKWORK ORANGE VOCODER INFLUENCE SPECTRAVOX UNDERSTANDING FILTER BANKS AND VOCODERS FILTER BANKS...
  • Page 7 NOTE: There is no power switch on your Spectravox. Once connected to the power supply, the unit is on. Spectravox is an analog instrument and should be allowed a few minutes to warm up before use. In cases where it has been left in a cold car overnight, for example, it may take even longer for the oscillator tuning to stabilize.

  • Page 8: About Spectravox

    Spectravox is a semi-modular analog spectral processor based around a 10-band resonant filter bank that explores and expands the topology of the vocoder. Spectravox is both a standalone synthesizer voice with a sculptable frequency spectrum and a 10-band vocoder with integrated modulation, able to shift its filter bank across the audible spectrum.
  • Page 9 SPECTRAL SHIFT PATCH BAY PAGE 27 PAGE 29 Shift all 10 filters up or down the frequency 36-point modular patch bay with spectrum both manually and via LFO with rate 17 outputs and 19 inputs and amount of shifting controls. FILTER BANDS MODE &...

  • Page 10: Spectravox: Historic Inspiration

    1968 landmark LP Switched-On Bach, but she never forgot about the vocoder. Moog, too, had been fascinated by the vocoder and had tinkered with it in his spare time, and in the late 1960s the two began working on vocoders together.

  • Page 11: A Clockwork Orange

    WENDY CARLOS AND BOB MOOG BEGIN TO EXPERIMENT (Continued) As it happened, Moog already had a design for a 10-band filter bank: it was the Moog 907 Fixed Filter Bank, and it was one of the cornerstones of his modular synthesizer systems. A vocoder would need two of these 907 Fixed Filter Banks—modified such that they each had individual audio outputs for...

  • Page 12: Understanding Filter Banks And Vocoders

    The Moog 907 Fixed Filter Bank was the essential tool in the early Moog modular systems to shape the spectral signature of a tone and thus give an electronic sound a simulated resonant, acoustic body.

  • Page 13: Vocoders

    The Wendy Carlos/Bob Moog vocoder, which is at the heart of Spectravox, was constructed out of a core of a few elements: two 10-band fixed filter banks (with matching frequency bands), 10 envelope followers, and 10 voltage-controlled amplifiers.

  • Page 14: Exploring Spectravox

    Connect the rear AUDIO OUT / of Spectravox to some kind of monitoring system if you haven’t already (a mixer, an interface, or just some headphones). You won’t hear anything just yet.
  • Page 15 Whereas most previous analog filter banks have their filters fixed in place, all 10 filters of Spectravox can be shifted up and down the frequency spectrum! Additionally, its filters all have variable RESONANCE, which provides for colorful sound design possibilities.
  • Page 16 (Continued) Play again with RESONANCE and SPECTRAL SHIFT. You will notice that all five filters move as you turn SPECTRAL SHIFT! This is the unique power of Spectravox: its filters are not fixed, but moveable.  1200 2300 5400 FREQUENCY (HZ) Here you have something like a comb filter—a handful of filters evenly spaced...
  • Page 17 CARRIER input. Patch your external signal into the PROGRAM INPUT combo jack and add gain with GAIN LEVEL. Then, on Spectravox’s patch bay, take the PROGRAM output and patch it to the CARRIER input. This will send a stronger signal into the synthesis filter bank.

  • Page 18: Vocoder

    Now, let’s explore Spectravox in VOCODER mode. Spectravox is not like contemporary vocoders—its lineage comes from the analog filter banks of Moog modular systems, and as such requires a bit more setup to get typical “vocoder” sounds. Even then, its sound is resonant and musical rather than precise and analytical.
  • Page 19 10 filter bands. Speak and sing into Spectravox and listen to how it responds to the different shapes your mouth makes. NOTE: Just like Homer Dudley in 1939 and Wendy Carlos in 1970 had to do, the only way to get speech with any...
  • Page 20 Eurorack systems may need attenuation to avoid distortion. PLAYING WITH THE PROGRAM You don’t have to use a microphone as your PROGRAM source. While Spectravox is a VOice enCODER, any source rich in harmonic movement will be analyzed by the analysis filter bank and mapped onto the carrier.
  • Page 21 (Continued) SUMMARY In this walkthrough we have covered many of the core features of Spectravox, both in its FILTER BANK and VOCODER modes. Exploring each feature of Spectravox on its own helps build familiarity with the instrument, but of course demonstrates only a very small terrain of its deep sound design capabilities.

  • Page 22: Panel Controls And Functions

    PANEL CONTROLS & FUNCTIONS FILTER BANDS The core of Spectravox is its filter bank: a lowpass filter (filter 1), highpass filter (filter 10), and eight bandpass filters spaced equally between (filters 2-9). In fact, Spectravox contains two filter banks: one which analyzes the PROGRAM signal (the analysis filter bank) and one which filters the CARRIER signal (the synthesis filter bank).
  • Page 23 9 VCA CV/10 VCA CV while in HISS mode to override the on/off behavior. TIP: BUZZ is best for when using Spectravox as a filter bank, as your CARRIER is sent to all 10 filters. HISS is best when using Spectravox as a vocoder since its changes increase speech intelligibility and capture sibiliant and...

  • Page 24: Carrier

    NOISE source, and CARRIER MIX. VCO FREQ VCO FREQ This sets the frequency of Spectravox’s VCO—from low sub-audio frequencies at a minimum to around 2 kHz at maximum. VCO WAVE This sets the waveshape of the VCO—either a sawtooth wave or a pulse wave.

  • Page 25: Program

    PROGRAM INPUT into the analysis filter bank—whose outputs are the 10 envelope followers (1 ENV F, 2 ENV F ... 10 ENV F). The PROGRAM signal thus animates the synthesis filter bank when Spectravox is in VOCODER mode.
  • Page 26 This sets the gain of the signal at PROGRAM INPUT (or the auxiliary PROGRAM input in Spectravox’s patch bay on the right). Adjust GAIN LEVEL so the LED shows a strong bright red light at the loudest parts of the PROGRAM signal and shows a dim red light during quieter parts.

  • Page 27: Spectral Shift

    SPECTRAL SHIFT SPECTRAL SHIFT is an innovative feature that sets Spectravox apart from all other analog vocoders. Throughout the initial vocoding work done by Homer Dudley in the 1920s, its refinements through the years by the Department of Defense, and its musical refinements by Wendy Carlos, Bob Moog, and many other electronics manufacturers, the filter bands of a vocoder were always fixed in place.
  • Page 28 (VCA) which is controlled by a decay-only envelope generator (EG). The result is finally sent to the output of Spectravox. The envelope generator may be triggered by the TRIGGER button, the TRIGGER CV input, or from the program signal via the PROG TRIG -> EG switch.

  • Page 29: Patch Bay

    19 inputs (white text on black) and 17 outputs (black text on white). As an extremely flexible semi-modular spectral processor and vocoder Spectravox is ready to make deep connections with all sorts of analog gear via control voltage and Eurorack-level audio over 3.5mm jacks. Nearly...
  • Page 30 CARRIER INPUT This is an input for external audio which replaces the VCO on the left of the CARRIER MIX knob. Use this to process external signals via Spectravox’s CARRIER synthesis filter bank. The CARRIER INPUT Accepts line level signals.
  • Page 31 THE PATCH BAY (Continued) ROW FOUR (Continued) NOISE OUTPUT This is the audio output for the white NOISE generator. NOISE AUDIO OUTPUT: -5V to +5V (10V peak to peak) ROW FIVE LFO RATE INPUT This CV input controls the rate of the SHIFT LFO. With this input, -5 volts to +5 volts covers 10 octaves.
  • Page 32 THE PATCH BAY (Continued) ROW SEVEN SHIFT INPUT This CV input for SPECTRAL SHIFT is used to jointly move the synthesis filters up and down the frequency spectrum. A positive signal input here increases SHIFT the center frequencies of the filters and is summed with panel setting of SPECTRAL SHIFT and SHIFT LFO settings.
  • Page 33 THE PATCH BAY (Continued) FILTER BANDS ROW FILTER BANDS 1 VCA CV (2 VCA CV, etc.) A control voltage patched to this input will control the level of the associated filter band in the synthesis filter bank. In VOCODER mode, the matched 1 VCA CV ENV F CV output from the analysis filter bank is internally patched to its paired synthesis filter.

  • Page 34: Using Spectravox As A Eurorack Module

    USING SPECTRAVOX AS A EURORACK MODULE Your Spectravox can be removed from its case and easily installed into a Eurorack system as a 60HP module. Before doing this, it is important to note that Spectravox draws a maximum of 450 mA from a +12V supply.

  • Page 35: Presets

    PRESETS Spectravox is a semi-modular analog instrument and therefore does not contain any presets—the settings on the panel and patch connections made all determine how it functions at any given time. Use the following patch ideas as jumping off points to explore the world of spectral processing, filter banks, and vocoding, and to interface Spectravox with external instruments.
  • Page 36 Adjust SPECTRAL SHIFT for a variety of harmonics and colors. Adjust DECAY for longer tones if playing from a keyboard. Adjust SHIFT LFO RATE for speed of sweeps or ring modulation. MOOG MAGMA MOOG MAGMA NOTES: Use an external source such as a synthesizer, guitar, cassette, or phone.
  • Page 37 LOST PLANET LOST PLANET NOTES: This is a self-generated patch. No external devices are needed. Adjust 7 VCA CV for “snare drum.” Adjust SHIFT LFO RATE for different patterns. Adjust 10 VCA CV for “hi-hat.” AUTO-VIBRATO OLDBOT AUTO-VIBRATO OLDBOT NOTES: Speak or sing louder in the microphone for a faster robot vibrato.
  • Page 38 SPIRAL PHASING EXT CV EXT GATE SPIRAL PHASING NOTES: Connect CV/GATE outputs from an external source into 1V/OCT (CV) and TRIGGER (GATE). Adjust SPECTRAL SHIFT various harmonics/peaks. Adjust SHIFT LFO RATE for phaser speed. TAPE-BASED COMPUTER TAPE-BASED COMPUTER NOTES: Adjust PULSE WIDTH for wild modulation. Adjust VCO FREQ for shapes.
  • Page 39 STORMWATCHER STORMWATCHER NOTES: Explore this self-generative patch for soundscapes. Adjust 7 VCA CV for “helicopter” volume/distance. Adjust SHIFT LFO RATE for sweep speed. Stereo echo and reverb recommended. Switch VCO WAVE from PULSE to SAW. Then adjust VCO FREQ for various patterns/speed. VACTROL VOYAGES EXT CV EXT GATE...
  • Page 40 Additional presets and blank patch sheets can be downloaded when you register your instrument at www.moogmusic.com. PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 41 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 42 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 43 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 44 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 45 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...

  • Page 46: Signal Flow

    SHIFT LFO SPECTRAL RESONANCE RATE SHIFT HISS SHIFT LFO AMOUNT BUZZ BAND 9&10 WHITE BUZZ/HISS NOISE CARRIER FILTER LVL X 10 VCO FREQ CORE MODE FILTER BANK PULSE WIDTH VOCODE VCO WAVE PULSE ENVELOPE TRIG FOLLOWER GAIN LEVEL PREAMP FIXED ENVELOPE ANALYSIS FOLLOWER...
  • Page 47 SYNTHESIS FILTER BANDS HIGH PASS FILTER OUTPUT VOLUME BAND VCA MODE FILTER BANDS TRIGGER PASS HISS PROG TRIG BUZZ BANDS 9&10 BANDS 1-8 EG DECAY SAMPLE & HOLD X 10...

  • Page 48: Specifications

    CURRENT DRAW: 450mA (maximum) from +12VDC (10-pin header) MOUNTING DIMS: 60HP (1.5” Module Depth) ACCESSORIES The following accessories are available for purchase at authorized Moog dealers and select offerings at www.moogmusic.com: KNOB KIT FOR KNURLED POTS (QTY 25) 2-TIER VERTICAL RACK KIT...
  • Page 49 Moog warrants its products to be free of defects in materials or workmanship and conforming to specifications at the time of shipment. The Warranty Period is one year from the date of purchase. If, in Moog’s determination, it has been more than five years since the product shipped from our factory, it will be at Moog’s discretion whether or not to...
  • Page 50 Devoted to the Design and Manufacture of Electronic Instruments for the Musician...

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