Moog MESSENGER User Manual page 9

CREATING AND SAVING SOUNDS
To create your own entirely new sounds, you can begin with one of a handful of different starting
points. Pressing the PANEL button on the right of Messenger will override any patch settings and revert
Messenger to the settings currently expressed by the knobs and switches on the front panel. This is a
great starting point for creating new sounds since all panel controls will visually align with their current
setting.
Alternatively, you may hold the PANEL button for one second to load an initialized patch – a basic
sound that serves as a great starting point for sound design. An initialized patch may also be loaded by
navigating to bank 16 and choosing any of the empty patch slots – all of which are set to the initialized
patch.
Finally, you can always use any of Messenger's factory presets as a starting point for creating your
own sounds! With any patch you load, synthesis settings will be those saved in the patch and will not
(necessarily) match the physical settings of the front panel. Moving a panel control (the filter CUTOFF
knob, for example) will immediately override the setting for that parameter in the patch and remain
overridden by the panel control until a patch is reloaded.
Pressing SAVE allows you to save your current patch to one of the 256 patch locations. The currently
selected patch location will begin flashing - pressing any other patch location with buttons 1-16 will select
a different patch location. Pressing the flashing SAVE button will execute the save command, storing your
patch at the currently selected location.
NOTE: During a SAVE operation you may switch BANK and PATCH locations as you normally would. The patch will be
saved to the currently selected location upon execution of the SAVE operation.
TIP: Holding a patch location while playing the keyboard will temporarily load the patch stored at that location into
memory so you can preview the patch you are overwriting.
SYNTHESIZING WITH MESSENGER
GETTING STARTED
Messenger is a synthesizer that brings the classic Moog sound into the future with innovative circuits
and powerful sound design possibilities in a portable and playable package. It is a monophonic
synthesizer in the vein of the Minimoog Model D which means that it plays only a single note at a time
– perfect for deep rumbling basslines, searing leads, or delicate ambient textures.
Messenger is designed first and foremost to be played, so press PATCH, select a patch with the PGM
1-16 buttons, and play around! Explore how a patch sounds as you play shorter staccato notes or hold
longer ones. Sometimes a patch will make use of velocity (how hard you press a key) or aftertouch
(applying extra pressure to a key after it has been pressed down). Move the MOD wheel to see what
modulation has been programmed or start moving some panel controls like the filter CUTOFF or the
oscillator WAVESHAPE knobs to explore some of the timbral range within a patch.
In this section we will build a basic sound from the ground up, so let's start with an initialized patch.
Press BANK and then press PGM button 16 to switch to bank 16 which is full of blank patches. The
PATCH button will now be lit, so press PGM button 1 to load up the first blank patch in this bank.
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