Fairlight IIx - instructions for using the HxC SD reader

The  HxC SD card reader is an excellent addition to your old Fairlight.

The HxC is a Floppy drive emulator.

The Floppy disk drives are 40 years old and hard to maintain, repair & replace.

I highly recommend you email Jean-Bernard of MUSTUDIO for one.

https://mustudio.fr/fairlight-2/kit-flash-for-fairlight-cmi/

I purchased the kit from mustudio.fr

Many thanks also to Peter W for his help in it's installation.

The Flash player uses a SD card to emulate 2 virtual drives. (A & B).

Compatable cards are SDHC up to 32MB.

Formated in FAT 32.... use a PC (not a MAC) to format the card.

I found navigation of the file structure in the SD card a bit confusing at first.

The left and right black buttons allow you to scroll through the choices. 

The RED validation button is to confirm your choice. 

In order to enter the MENU (configuration mode), press and hold the RED validation button for a few seconds, till a  menu item (System, Sound or QDOS) appears on the LCD display.

This is how it seems to be set up:

You only need to use the "Systems" and the "sounds" sections.

The original CMI uses two floppy drives (Drive 0 & Drive 1)

One handled the operating system, and the other handled the sounds.

To install the SD card reader you need to remove one of the floppy drives.

The card reader has 2 toggle switches that let you choose how the CMI picks which drive to use.

The SD card can behave as two virtual drives, or act as just one virtual drive allowing you to

still use the remaining floppy drive.

So my CMI can now boot or load sounds from the SD card alone 

or a combo of the SD card & the single remaining floppy drive.

There are 3 possible switch combinations:

1. S2 up, S1 up

2. S2 up , S1 down

3. S2 down, S1 up.

The 2 toggle switches (S2 & S1) must be in the correct position.

I like to configure the system to use two virtual drives (setting number 2).
That is, I'll bypass the use of the Floppy Drives completely.
Left switch (QFC9 or S2) : up

Right switch (Flash or S1): Down

1. Turn on the Fairlight.

    The monitor will as is usual display "Load System disk in drive"

  

2. "Systems" should be shown on the display.

  

      If not, use the left/right buttons to rectify till you find "systems".

      (pressing the left/right buttons will move you between Systems, Sounds & QDOS)

3. Hit enter when you see "Systems" (the centre red button)

    You should see two dots "  ..  "
4. Using the right button, step through till the desired software is shown.

    (Revision 20).  V4 C5 R1 20

    Hit enter.

    The Fairlight will now load the operating system

    It bleeps as it steps through sectors. The monitor should eventually show Page 1

5. Hold down "Enter" (middle red button) for a few seconds.

    The LCD will change... You are entering the "Function Menu" Mode.

6. Toggle through options till "change drive" appears.

     Hit "Enter"

7. Toggle until "B" appears.

    Hit Enter

8.  The LCD display will show the software revision.

 

Toggle left until only dots appear.

Hit enter

9. Systems should reappear.   

10.  Toggle left till "sounds" shows.

       Hit enter

(You are now in the sounds folder)

You will see those two dots ".." reappear

 

8. Step through till the desired library is found. (I normally use 1.3)

    Hit enter

(You are now in the 1.3 folder)

You will see those two dots ".." reappear

 

8a. Now to load one of the folders within folder 1.3

     you need to press the right button.  Each press will take you to a new folder.

     The first folder is called 1. The next one is 10.

     I've set up folder 10 to start things off. Use this.

     Note: once you have found folder 10, press the red button on the card reader.

   

9.   Now use the native Fairlight alpha/numeric keyboard itself.

     On the Fairlight go to page 2.

     (Type P2)

      You should see displayed the contents of the virtual disk.

10. Toggling left & right  on the SD card reader should show the contents of each virtual disk.

This is library (or virtual disk) 15

Test by loading a file.

EG:

Type L,A,filename<return> to load a file.

eg to load a file named GONG1.VC
type L,A,GONG1 <return>
You don't need to add the .VC after the file name. 

Roland / Studio Electronics SE - 02 envelope

I'm revisiting my SE -02 synth .
The Studio Electronics / Roland Boutique synth has a rather unusual envelope, which is kinda borrowed from the Moog Mini D.
It's not a clone of the Moog, though I thought it would be useful to compare the two.

The most common type of envelope is the ADSR.

It has 4 stages. The stages are:
Attack : is the time taken from nil to peak, beginning when the key is pressed.
Decay : is the time taken from peak to the sustain level.
Sustain : is the level during the main sequence of the sound's duration
Release : is the time taken from the sustain level to zero after the key is released

The Mini Moog D was unusual in that there were just 3 knobs to control a 4 stage envelope.
Most synths have 4 knobs.
Attack, Decay & Release are all time based.

Sustain is a voltage level. It is usually "flat" and does not change during it's phase.

Usually the envelope starts with a signal from a keyboard or other source. It goes through the attack & release stages. When it reaches the sustain phase, it pauses and remains there until the gate goes low (e.g., from the keyboard key being released).

There were two identical envelopes ...  one for the filter, and one for the amplifier

The decay knob doubles as the release knob.
So the envelope can be seen as a ADSD envelope.

It's interesting though not surprising that Studio Electronics decided to use a similar envelope configuration.
My SE-MidiMoog (which is a rack mounted Model D) started this all off.

The SE-01 & SE-1X saw the return of that release knob, but the SE02 saw it's demise once again.

 SE-01

Maybe the decision to drop this pot, was based on practical considerations like the lack of space on the Roland Boutique synths.

SE-02

So looking at the front panel of the SE 02 one can see we have 2 envelopes:

A Filter and a Amp envelope.

Neither envelope has a release knob. They both however share a release switch

which is in the the lower right corner.

It's settings are: 2, 1&2, OFF
2 = The release stage is applied to the Amp
1&2 = The release stage is applied to both the filter & AMP
OFF = No release stage

Remember that the decay value = release value.

----------------

About the other knobs & switches in the Filter/Envelope section:

Key Track

1/3  = The filter frequency changes by 1/3 of the pitch change.

2/3  = The filter cutoff frequency changes by 2/3 of the pitch change.

          If both switches are on, the filter cutoff frequency changes by the same amount as

          the change in keyboard pitch.

Contour

Adjusts the amount the filter envelope effects the filter frequency.

Normal / Invert switch

Specifies the polarity of the filter envelope that is controlled by the [CONTOUR] knob. If this is set to “INVERT,” the polarity is inverted.

Mtrig switch

If this is on, the filter envelope restarts each time you press a key.

LFO/GATE

Specifies the signal that controls the amp envelope.

LFO: The LFO controls the amp envelope.

GATE: The Note or Gate controls the amp envelope

Links

+ Moog 911 - Envelope Generator

Studio Electronics SE -02 / Roland - Transposing sequences with the keyboard

The manual is a little confusing.

When I first attached a keyboard to the SE-02, it appeared thAT i couldn't transpose
any stored sequences.

To do this you need to enter SETUP.

While in sequencer mode
1. Press NOTE & GATE simultaneously
2. Press the 3rd STEP button
3. Rotate the VALUE knob till the display shows trn (The default is OFF)
   trn = transpose
4. Press the VALUE button (3 times)
    You will be prompted with the message "sure",...

Pressing this "value" knob is also how I save patterns.
The presets occupy memories 0-87.
88 is clear for your first patch.

The problem with this method is that the sequence will only sound while you are pressing a key.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

A second method for transposing the sequence is

1. start playing your sequence while in SEQ mode.

2. Switch to PATCH mode while the sequence is still running.

3. press the TRANSPOSE button

4. Press OCT- or OCT+ to transpose up and down an octave

Saigon War Remnants Museum -Vietnam

This was first opened just after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
It was originally called the ‘Museum of American War Crimes’.

Quite a confronting place.

The effect of war on both the combatants and civilians is brutally displayed.
I left with a feeling of intense sadness.

For war memorabilia enthuasists there is lots to see ... helicopters, tanks, fighter aircraft.. etc

But the photos upstairs in the building tell another story... the human cost

For more travel postcards click here:

http://djjondent.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/travel-postcards-index-my-travel.html

 

Julia Bondar - Live rig

 One of my favourite Electronic Music artists is Julia Bondar.

I have never seen her live. Hopefully one day I will.

 

In addition to producing very danceable  electronic music, she is the co-founder of

Endorphin.es.

 I bought one of their early eurorack modules I think 10 years or more ago,

A FuthRRRR generator

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent)

 

 It had the label: Vienna/Austria, though I think the company is now based in Barcelona, Spain.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent)

It's inspired by the Buchla 259

Anyway, getting back to her live Euro setup:

It mainly consists of Endorphins.es modules.

She does use a Arturia Beatstep Pro as her main sequencer and a Roland system 1M.

The compressor she uses when performing live is a TC Electronics Finalizer Express.

The Modules as of 2020/21 are:

Milky Way x 2 --- stereo effects/VCA

Cockpit x 2 -- 4 channel performance mixer with send/return & compressor

Squark Dirty - filter

Airstreamer - envelope generator - AD or Looping ASR

Godspeed - VCO

Autopilot - vco tuner           

Sample Drum - Erica Synths

Magneto - Strymon - delay

Shuttle Control x 2 - MIDI/USB & PSU

FurthRRRRRRRRRR Gen - VCO

Running Order - two track trigger sequencer/euclidean/clock divider/

Queen of Pentacles -- 909 drums

Grand Terminal - two multifunctional dual function generators

                            (they can loop and become oscillators), 

                            2 filters -Transistor Ladder/ resonant LPG/diode ladder/

                            vactrol LPG/State Variable LP/HP/BP/Comb

                            FX processor/generator.

                            You can use this module as a full synth voice. 

The Main Audio seems to come from the Furthrrrr Generator & Grand Terminal.

The bass lines come from the Roland System-1M (SH - 101 plug out) & Godspeed.

 

A good "Bass voice" is the 

Godspeed VCO>Squawk Dirty VCF>Airstreamer EG>Milky Way FX/VCA

 

Her Modular Grid link is here:

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1002304

--------------------------------------------------------------------

28/06/21

Since the last post her rack has changed slightly.

(Spring 2021)

Julia is has swapped one of her shuttle controls for a Ground Control.

She is now using this instead of the Beatstep ??

https://youtu.be/41vzg35fdRg

Looks like the Roland System 1-M is still there.

There is also a "Golden master" -- EQ, Compressor, side processor etc 

There is a mutable instruments clouds, a total recall (CV preset manager) & a two cups (sample player)

The case has also dropped the Strymon Magneto & the Auto Pilot.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1437810

The new case is an Intellijel Stealth.

Moog 911 - Envelope Generator

Moog 911 Envelope Generators need S-triggers to start their cycle.

Moog's designers wanted people to be able to plug in a simple foot switch to trigger sounds, 

The original design of this module is from around 1968. 

The Moog 953, 952 or 962 Keyboard will produce S-triggers.

"So will Moog Ribbon Controllers, Percussion controllers , Sequential Controller Complements and Envelope Followers" (Moog Manual)

In comparison,  V-triggers start at zero volts and rise to a standard level .. usually 3V.

Specs

Trigger Input : Switch Trigger

Output Impedance 10K ohms

Time range on T1, T2, T3: 2 milliseconds to 10 secs.

Peak DC output on Esus : 5.5V (+/-10%)

The 911 plugs into the Moog modular using a 22 pin PCB/edge card connector.

It's a ADSR envelope generator.

The pin out is as follows:

1. +12V at30mA

2. GND

3. -6V at 15mA

14. Trigger out

15. Shield

21. S-trigger in ........to Trigger switch (Jones S-302)

22. Shield

The Moog manual suggests a regulated AC supply, such as a Moog Model 901 or dry batteries.

Max current is 50 milliamperes.

Range of T1: 10 ms to 10 secs (attack)

Range of T2: 10 ms to 10 secs (delay)

Range of T3: 10 ms to 10 secs (Release)

Range of  Esus:  0 to Emax

Esus = sustain.

Emax = voltage at which T2 begins. = 5.5V +/- 10%

You trigger the 911 by closing a switch. So unlike most EG's you will encounter today, no voltage is supplied to trigger the module ... its quite the opposite.

You need a 916 interface to convert CVs to S-triggers

" the 911 Envelope Generator produces a single voltage contour whose time/voltage variation
 is determined by potentiometers T1, T2, T3, and a time constant sustaining level potentiometer (Esus).
Closure of the input trigger switch directs the voltage contour to T3 (final decay) regardless of
what stage (T1, T2 or E) was in current operation."

                                                                                                              (Moog Manual)

"The 911 Envelope Generator completes one of the most important musical functions:
That of producing a variable one-shot control voltage contour in time.
This output is thus capable of controlling any voltage controlled module – most notably
a Voltage Controlled Amplifier – resulting in the articulation of a single sound."
                                                                                                                 (Moog Manual)

A common module to pair with the 911 is the 911A - The Dual Trigger Delay.

This can create multiple or combined DC voltage contour outputs.