Moog LABYRINTH User Manual
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Moog LABYRINTH User Manual

Parallel generative analog synthesizer
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LABYRINTH

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  • Page 1 LABYRINTH...
  • Page 3 “ What artists need is an endless resource, full of rough edges and dimly lit nooks and crannies that one can explore as one sees fit. ” - 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, Inc. could void the user’s authority granted by the FCC to operate the equipment.

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    TABLE OF CONTENTS UNPACKING AND INSPECTION SETUP AND CONNECTIONS LABYRINTH OVERVIEW ABOUT LABYRINTH PARALLEL VOICES DUAL GENERATIVE SEQUENCERS EXPLORING LABYRINTH PANEL CONTROLS & FUNCTIONS THE OSCILLATORS THE MIXER THE WAVEFOLDER THE FILTER THE BLEND/AMPLIFIERS ENVELOPE GENERATORS SEQUENCER TRANSPORT CONTROLS SEQUENCER BUTTON COMBOS...

  • Page 6: Unpacking And Inspection

    Labyrinth. NOTE: There is no power switch on your Labyrinth. Once connected to the power supply, the unit is on. Labyrinth 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 7: About Labyrinth

    Labyrinth. Taken together, Labyrinth can easily and quickly generate a wide range of mutating timbres like deep kick drums, electric bongos, alien bell tones, twisted FM sounds, or delicate sine wave melodies.
  • Page 8 DUAL SEQUENCER PAGE 12 Generates random patterns and melodies with two 8-step sequencers that have minds of their own— able to work LABYRINTH in parallel or series, quantized or unquantized, stable or constantly mutating...
  • Page 9 ENVELOPE/VCA CONTROLS PAGE 34 Voltage-Controlled BLEND between the VCW and VCF in parallel or series configurations, a Voltage-Controlled Amplifier (VCA) for each audio path, and two Envelope Generators (EGs) with variable DECAY FILTER PATCH BAY PAGE 30 PAGE 39 2-pole state-variable Voltage-Controlled Filter (VCF) 32-point modular patch bay with 12 allowing for blending between filter responses, outputs and 20 inputs...

  • Page 10: Parallel Voices

    PARALLEL VOICES Labyrinth’s voice begins with two analog Voltage-Controlled Oscillators (VCOs): a sine wave VCO, and a lower-frequency triangle-wave MOD VCO. These low-harmonic oscillators can frequency- modulate each other for complex analog FM tones and are ring-modulated for further broadband tone generation.

  • Page 11: Dual Generative Sequencers

    DUAL GENERATIVE SEQUENCERS The core of Labyrinth is its dual generative sequencer. Each sequencer (SEQ1, SEQ2) consists of eight bits—each of which can be either on (LED red) or off (LED off). They are clocked by the internal clock set by TEMPO by default. Each sequencer additionally has its own 3.5mm CLOCK input for external clocking, and each will respond to MIDI clock as well.

  • Page 12: Exploring Labyrinth

    Labyrinth is a powerful generative synthesizer driven by random processes. The chance operations at its core mean that fully reproducing a sound or pattern from one Labyrinth to the next is not just difficult, but impossible. Therefore, parts of this section will only be able to gesture toward a family of sounds and patterns—not definite, precise ones.
  • Page 13 EXPLORING LABYRINTH (Continued) BUILDING A RHYTHM Labyrinth comes with its sequencers pre-populated with sequences, so if you feel like diving in and seeing what happens before getting deep into the world of patching, feel free to press RUN/STOP and explore on your own! But in this guide, we will clear out the sequencers and begin from scratch.
  • Page 14 FROM RHYTHM TO MELODY Now that we have a basic rhythm down, let’s unlock the CV sequencing power of Labyrinth. First, increase the SEQ1 AMT knob next to the sine wave VCO all the way up so that it points to QTZ.
  • Page 15 (Continued) NOTE: To tune Labyrinth to a specific key, turn the SEQ1 CV RANGE knob fully counterclockwise. You can now tune the VCO FREQUENCY to the root note of your scale. As you increase SEQ1 CV RANGE, the sequencer voltages will spread in a bipolar fashion with the root note you tuned in the center.
  • Page 16 16 LEDs for SEQ1 and SEQ2 light green, and a red LED will indicate the current quantization setting (see “Sequencer Quantization Modes” on page 38). If you purchased your Labyrinth brand new, your quantizer will be set to the scale of bit number 3 in SEQ1, which indicates a major scale setting.
  • Page 17 BUFFER saves the state of both SEQ1 and SEQ2. SECOND SEQUENCER, CHAINING, AND MORE Now that we have a handle on how SEQ1 works, it’s a good time to remember that Labyrinth has a second sequencer! SEQ2 functions identically to SEQ1, so a thorough rundown is not necessary. Let’s add MOD OSC as a second melodic line sequenced by SEQ2 to have two sequences playing together.
  • Page 18 NAVIGATING PARALLEL PATHS With a basic understanding of Labyrinth’s sequencers under our belts it is finally time to turn our attention to its sound engine. Labyrinth is, of course, far more than a sine wave synthesizer! Return your panel settings to the same initialized panel state we started with back in the beginning of the “Exploring Labyrinth”...
  • Page 19 (Continued) PLAYING WITH OSCILLATORS Labyrinth contains two oscillators: the audio-range sine wave VCO and the low-range triangle-wave MOD VCO. As we explored in the previous section, both can be sequenced via their SEQ1/SEQ2 AMT knobs, which provide quantized sequences when turned all the way up at QTZ.
  • Page 20 Moog instrument, so let’s take a moment to explore the wavefolder in depth. Return your panel settings back to the initialized state back at the beginning of the “Explore Labyrinth” section so that we only hear the sine wave VCO (set to 12 o’clock in the mixer so that it remains clean and undistorted).
  • Page 21 EXPLORING LABYRINTH (Continued) We also have two knobs for modulating the VCW FOLD parameter. EG1/ CV AMT is like the EG1 AMT knob found next to the oscillators, sending the envelope from EG1 to modulate the VCW FOLD parameter in either a positive EG1 / CV AMT (clockwise) or negative (counterclockwise) direction.
  • Page 22 Controlled Filter (VCF) which will subtract spectral components away. You are likely already much more familiar with the concept of a filter since filters have been a mainstay of Moog instruments since the 1960s, but the filter in Labyrinth creates a different tonal palette from previous Moog filters.
  • Page 23 EXPLORING LABYRINTH (Continued) LOW PASS BAND PASS Finally, play with FILTER MODE to morph the filter response between lowpass (LP) and bandpass (BP). A lowpass filter will attenuate all frequencies above the VCF CUTOFF frequency, while a bandpass filter will attenuate frequencies both above and below the VCF CUTOFF frequency.
  • Page 24 From here, we can begin to explore some of the unique features of Labyrinth with the patch bay. Try using the utility mixer (U MIX) to create a submix, sending a separate audio mix to the VCW path, or even separating the two oscillators into two separate signal paths for a duophonic instrument.

  • Page 25: Panel Controls & Functions

    RING MOD output, and complex analog FM tones are created through the MOD VCO FM AMT control. VCO FREQUENCY This sets the frequency of Labyrinth’s sine wave VCO—from ~20 Hz to ~5 kHz. VCO EG1 AMT This sets the amount that envelope EG1 modulates the VCO FREQUENCY. It has bipolar control, with positive modulation above 12 o’clock and negative...
  • Page 26 THE OSCILLATORS (Continued) MOD VCO FREQUENCY This sets the frequency of Labyrinth’s triangle wave MOD VCO—from low frequencies to audio rate (~1.3 kHz). MOD VCO EG1 AMT This sets the amount that EG1 modulates the MOD VCO FREQUENCY. It has bipolar control, with positive modulation above 12 o’clock and negative modulation below.

  • Page 27: The Mixer

    THE MIXER The two oscillators, as well as their RING MOD result, are summed in the MIXER. Each channel of the Labyrinth MIXER will begin to saturate and overdrive when increased above 12 o’clock. The MIXER also features a variable-tone NOISE generator.

  • Page 28: The Wavefolder

    While most diode-based wavefolders have several hard audible “breakpoints” where wavefolding begins, the Labyrinth wavefolder uses several novel techniques to smooth/eliminate those breakpoints and create more continuous wavefolding.
  • Page 29 (such as in the Labyrinth MIXER). A wavefolder, however, folds the sections of the signal exceeding the floor/ceiling back in on the signal itself, creating new harmonics in the process.

  • Page 30: The Filter

    12 o’clock or a negative DC offset below 12 o’clock. THE FILTER The output from the Labyrinth MIXER is sent both to the VCW and sent in parallel to the Voltage- Controlled Filter (VCF). Labyrinth features a 2-pole state-variable filter allowing for crossfading between lowpass (LP) and bandpass (BP) filter responses via the FILTER MODE control.
  • Page 31 VCF CUTOFF. RESONANCE This sets filter resonance—from no resonance to near self-oscillation. NOTE: Unlike the traditional Moog ladder lowpass filter, you will notice that with FILTER MODE set to lowpass, turning up RESONANCE will not attenuate lower frequencies. FILTER MODE This sets the filter response—from lowpass (LP) all the way to the left to...
  • Page 32 BLEND/AMPLIFIERS Both signal paths—the additive VCW path and the subtractive VCF path—are combined via the BLEND control, which crossfades between these two paths. Each signal path goes through its own Voltage-Controlled Amplifier (VCA), which are both controlled by EG2, before being sent to each side of the BLEND control.
  • Page 33 BLEND/AMPLIFIERS (Continued) ORDER This reroutes the internal signal routing to VCW and VCF paths: PARALLEL VCW VCF Both VCW and VCF get their VCW input is from MIXER; VCF input is from MIXER; input from the MIXER. VCF input is from VCW output. VCW input is from VCF output.

  • Page 34: Envelope Generators

    ENVELOPE GENERATORS Labyrinth contains two envelope generators. EG1 can be routed to modulate VCO FREQUENCY, MOD VCO FREQUENCY, VCW FOLD, or VCF CUTOFF via the labeled bipolar attenuators next to their respective controls. EG2 is normalled to control the VCAs of both the VCW signal path and the VCF signal path.

  • Page 35: Sequencer Transport Controls

    SEQUENCER TRANSPORT CONTROLS TEMPO This sets the tempo of internal CLOCK used to clock both sequencers. BUFFER Hold this for one second, and all LEDs will flash green. BUFFER saves bit states, quantization mode, write head offsets, sequence lengths, and CHAIN SEQ mode status to memory.
  • Page 36 SEQUENCER TRANSPORT CONTROLS (Continued) RESET This resets play heads for SEQ1 and SEQ2 back to BIT 1 and preserves write head offset. ADVANCE This moves PLAY and write heads for SEQ1 and SEQ2 ahead one bit. ADVANCE is disabled when the sequencer is running. CORRUPT (1,2) From fully counterclockwise to 12 o’clock, CORRUPT will increasingly randomly CORRUPT...

  • Page 37: Sequencer Button Combos

    SEQUENCER BUTTON COMBOS LED E ect/ Combo Function Description Feedback LENGTH (1,2) Green LEDs flash to show Resets length of SEQ1 or SEQ Length Reset new sequence length. + RESET SEQ2 to 8. Rotates all bits of SEQ1 BIT SHIFT (1,2) Rotate Reset or SEQ2 back to None...

  • Page 38: Sequencer Quantization Modes

    SEQUENCER QUANTIZATION MODES Number Scale (SEQ, BIT) 1, 1 Unquantized 1, 2 Chromatic 1, 3 Major 1, 4 Pentatonic 1, 5 Melodic Minor 1, 6 Harmonic Minor 1, 7 Diminished 6th 1, 8 Whole Tone 2, 1 Hirajoshi Pentatonic 2, 2 7 Sus 4 Scale (1 4 5 b7) 2, 3 Major 7th Scale (1 3 5 7)
  • Page 39 THE PATCH BAY Labyrinth contains an extensive patch bay with 32 modular patch points: 20 inputs (white text on black) and 12 outputs (black text on white). As an extremely flexible semi-modular generative sequencer with two independent signal processing paths (VCW and VCF) and a utility...
  • Page 40 MOD VCO following the 1 Volt per Octave standard. It is summed with the M VCO 1V/OCT setting of the MOD VCO FREQUENCY panel control. CV INPUT: –5V to +5V Labyrinth’s audio output at Eurorack level (10 Vpp) AUDIO OUTPUT: –5V to +5V (10V peak to peak) ROW TWO BLEND This CV input is for the BLEND crossfader.
  • Page 41 PATCH BAY (Continued) MIXER Audio output from the MIXER MIXER AUDIO OUTPUT: –5V to +5V ROW THREE VCW IN Audio input to the VCW section VCW IN AUDIO INPUT: –5V to +5V VCW FOLD This is the CV input for VCW FOLD. A positive CV input increases the depth of wavefolding.
  • Page 42 PATCH BAY (Continued) ROW FOUR VCF IN Audio input to the VCF section VCF IN AUDIO INPUT: –5V to +5V CUTOFF This is the CV input for the filter CUTOFF. A positive CV input increases the cutoff frequency of the VCF. It is summed with VCF CUTOFF panel control. EG1 CUTOFF is normalled to the input of this jack;...
  • Page 43 PATCH BAY (Continued) U MIX 2 This is the input for channel 2 of the U MIX mixer. It is DC coupled so that it can accept either audio or control signals. U MIX 2 passes signal to the U MIX 1+2 U MIX 2 output at unity gain.
  • Page 44 PATCH BAY (Continued) SEQ1 CV This is the CV output for SEQ1. It outputs CV voltage stored at the current bit located at the play head—scaled by the SEQ 1 CV RANGE control and SEQ1 CV quantized by the internal quantizer. CV OUTPUT: –5V to +5V SEQ1 TRIG This is the trigger output from SEQ1.
  • Page 45 1. CV INPUT: 0V to +10V CLOCK This is the clock output for Labyrinth’s internal clock set by TEMPO. It outputs MIDI clock if present. CLOCK CV OUTPUT: 0V to +5V...

  • Page 46: Global Settings

    GLOBAL SETTINGS By holding BUFFER + RESET while Labyrinth is booting up, users can enter a Global Settings Mode. Only two Global Settings exist which are indicated by a corresponding LED in the BITS section. By pressing LENGTH (1) (-) and BIT FLIP (1) (+), users may select a setting. The currently selected setting will pulse at a slow rate.

  • Page 47: Midi Operations

    MIDI OPERATIONS When a MIDI clock pulse is received, Labyrinth’s master clock automatically switches over to MIDI clock with division based on the MIDI Clock Div setting. If a MIDI clock pulse is not received for five seconds, Labyrinth’s master clock reverts to the internal clock. External clocks patched into CLOCK1,2 will override the MIDI clock.

  • Page 48: Presets

    Use the following patch ideas as jumping-off points to explore the world of parallel voice processing, experiment with generative sequencing, and interface Labyrinth with external instruments. More presets, tips, and tricks for this synthesizer can be found at www.moogmusic.com/explore-labyrinth.
  • Page 49 DRY BRUSHES DRY BRUSHES NOTES: Set quantize mode to #13 Minor 7th Scale. Experiment with changing amount of steps in each row. Momentarily link sequences for dynamic “percussion fills.” Adjust MOD VCO FREQUENCY below 10 o’clock for harmonic content. CELESTIAL CONVERSATIONS CELESTIAL CONVERSATIONS NOTES: Set quantize mode to #15 Hang Drum tuning.
  • Page 50 Tip: Experiment with different sequence length for interesting animations. Tip: Patch a sequence or audio rate modulation from an external source to create haunting and interwoven “crosstalk” as Labyrinth cycles through its sequence. Patch into FOLD VCA CV. SWIRLING MAGENTA...
  • Page 51 NEW FRONTIERS NEW FRONTIERS NOTES: Set quantize mode to #4 Pentatonic. Adjust BLEND for timbre volumes. Adjust MOD VCO FREQUENCY for frequency modulation. Tip: Patch keyboard CV from an external source to VCO 1V/OCT to transpose sequence. SYNDRUMS SYNDRUMS NOTES: Adjust blend for drum mixing.
  • Page 52 TELEMECHANICAL BIRDS TELEMECHANICAL BIRDS NOTES: Play with EG1 DECAY for more or less artificial bird noise. WHERE YOU LEAD KICKS FOLLOW WHERE YOU LEAD KICKS FOLLOW NOTES: EG1 DECAY controls kick drum decay time. EG2 DECAY controls lead synth decay time.
  • Page 53 TWINKLE TOES TUNE MOD VCO AN OCTAVE ABOVE VCO TWINKLE TOES NOTES: Adjust SEQ1, SEQ2 CV RANGE knobs to scale each respective voice’s sequence. Adjust BLEND to emphasize one voice over the other. Tip: experiment with different quantizer scales. THE OOZE THE OOZE NOTES: UMIX LVL controls the depth of ooze.
  • Page 54 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 55 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 56 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...
  • Page 57 PRESET NAME: NOTES: PRESET NAME: NOTES:...

  • Page 58: Signal Flow

    ENVELOPE GENERATORS EG 1 TRIGGER EG 1 DECAY SEQ1 TRIG EG TRIG MIX EG 2 SEQ2 TRIG BIT SHIFT EG 2 DECAY RANDOM LENGTH NUMBER GENERATOR SEQ1 CV SEQ1 CV CORRUPT RANGE BIT FLIP SEQ1 AMT SEQUENCER (SINE) FREQUENCY SEQ1 TRIG EG1 AMT CHAIN SEQ...
  • Page 59 UTILITY ATTENUATOR RING MOD U MIX 1 LVL VCW BIAS SEQ1 CV SEQ1 AMT EG1/CV AMT VCW FOLD VCO LVL VCW>VCF / PARALLEL VC WAVE FOLDER VCF>VCW RING MOD ORDER MIXER BLEND VOLUME SWITCH U MIX 1 IN VCW>VCF STATE VARIABLE FILTER VCF>VCW /...

  • Page 60: Specifications

    CURRENT DRAW: 290 mA (maximum) from +12VDC (10-pin header) MOUNTING DIMS: 60HP (18mm 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 61 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 62 Devoted to the Development and Manufacture of Electronic Instruments for the Musician...

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