Marf 248r - Rev one - external clocking

 I love my Marf(s) 248r.

They are sadly not originals but I find them still so very useful.

I've always found external clocking a bit fiddly. Esp the early rev1.

The rev2 has had firmware updates which I believe has improved this issue.

The rev 1 (as far as I know) hasn't had any software updates so the issue persists.

This is how I used to clock it.

You can use any clock source such as the 259 in the video.

The base patch is that you must plug your clock into the start jack.

The stop jack is plugged into the all pulses out jack.

So every time a clock pulse is sent to the 248, it advances. The AllPulses jack then sends out a pulse

which stops it. The cycle continues.

 

The only issue is that the marf misses a step.

It seems that the pulse from the "All Pulses" isnt quick enough.

 

 The solution was really staring me in the face.

Use two clocks.

One must be twice the speed of the other.

You can use a clock divider/ multiplier. Something like a 281, 0r 284 should do nicely.

The slower clock is your master.

The faster one takes the place of the "Allpulses" jack.

The clock isn't perfect, and its still quite fiddly trying to work out the correct divisions.

 

Sometimes, the marf will jump a step, but it doesn't happen too often.

I kinda like that odd bit of uncertainity.

You need to make an envelope with a rise time slower than the clock

 The quad function generator really is a very useful module. Don was a genius.

The 281, 280, 284 etc are all great.

They can be set to behave as 4 synced clocks each with a division or multiplication of the others.

Or you can let them run at different unrelated speeds for some crazy patterns.