Make Noise QMMG User manual

QMMG

2
Limited Warranty
Make Noise warrants this product to be free of defects in materials or construction for a period of one year
from the date of purchase (proof of purchase/invoice required).
Malfunction resulting from wrong power supply voltages, backwards or reversed eurorack bus board cable
connection, abuse of the product, removing knobs, changing face plates, or any other causes determined by
Make Noise to be the fault of the user are not covered by this warranty, and normal service rates will apply.
During the warranty period, any defective products will be repaired or replaced, at the option of Make Noise,
on a return-to-Make Noise basis with the customer paying the transit cost to Make Noise.
Make Noise implies and accepts no responsibility for harm to person or apparatus caused through operation
of this product.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions, Return To Manufacturer Authorization,
or any needs & comments.
http://www.makenoisemusic.com
About This Manual: Written by Tony Rolando
2018 update edit by Walker Farrell
Hardware Design: Tony Rolando
Special Thanks to Shawn Cleary, Kelly Kelbel, Josh Kay, Aaron A., & Devin Booze.

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Electrocution hazard!
Always turn the Eurorack case o and unplug the power cord before plugging or unplugging any Eurorack
bus board connection cable. Do not touch any electrical terminals when attaching any Eurorack bus
board cable.
The Make Noise QMMG is an electronic music module requiring 65mA of +/12V regulated voltage and a
properly formatted distribution receptacle to operate. It is designed to be used within the Eurorack format
modular synthesizer system.
Go to http://www.makenoisemusic.com/ for examples of Eurorack Systems and Cases.
To install, nd necessary space in your Eurorack synthesizer case, conrm proper installation of included
eurorack bus board connector cable on backside of module (see picture below), plug the bus board
connector cable into the Eurorack style bus board, minding the polarity so that the RED stripe on the cable is
oriented to the NEGATIVE 12 Volt line on both the module and the bus board. On the Make Noise 6U or 3U
Busboard, the NEGATIVE 12 Volt line is indicated by the white stripe.
Please refer to your case manufacturers’ specications for location of the Negative supply.
Installation

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QMMG Overview
The Quad Multi-Mode Gate is a huge riff on the original Buchla 292 Quad Lo-Pass Gate, including a Mix Out
and all of the original feature set. The QMMG offers additionally: HiPass mode, Voltage Controlled
Feedback, Direct Coupling and Normalizations
so that multiple channels may easily be used together to create Bandpass Gates, steeper HP, BP or LP Filters
or even something like a traditional Synthesizer Voice Architecture.
The QMMG contains no fewer than 8 Vactrols!
The 2018 black and gold reissue of the QMMG is functionally identical to the original. The Top board was
re-engineered to use analog pots for mode selection instead of analog switches. The only change to the
bottom board is the addition of reverse power protection. The signal path and circuit have not changed.

Signal IN
Control
IN
Control
Offset
Manual
Feedback
Control
Feedback Control
IN
Mode
selection
Signal
OUT
CH.
CH.
2
CH. 3 CH.
4
MIX
OUT
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Panel Diagram

The QMMG is comprised of 4 identical channels each having the following:
Signal IN
Direct Coupled signal input capable of accepting audio or control signals. CH. 2 Signal IN is
normalized to CH. 1 Signal OUT. CH. 3 Signal IN is normalized to CH. 4 Signal OUT.
Control IN
Direct coupled, highly sensitive control signal input for the corresponding channel's gate.
Responds to positive signals by adding to the Control Offset, and to negative signals by
subtracting from the Offset. CH. 2 Control IN is normalized to CH. 1 Control IN. CH. 3 Control IN is
Normalized to CH. 4 Control IN.
Control Offset
Applies an offset voltage to the Gate control. Manually set, ranging From 0 at full CCW to 8V at full
CW. Together, Control IN and Control Offset are a sort of combination of the Voltage and manual
controls for GAIN on a VCA and CUTOFF on the typical VCF.
Feedback Manual Control
Applies feedback to the gate. Ranging from amplitude 0% at full CCW
to amplitude 100% at full CW.
Feedback Control IN
Direct coupled control signal input for the amplitude of the feedback applied to the
corresponding gate. This signal is added to the Feedback Manual Control, and thus allows One to
achieve higher feedback amounts than possible with the Manual Control alone.
Mode Selection
Operation of the GATE is set by this rotary switch. There are 4 possible settings. The top-most
being VCA, followed by BOTH, LP and finally HP.
Signal OUT
Output of the signal applied to the input, as processed by the GATE.
=======================================================
In addition to the 4 GATE channels, a single MIX OUT is provided
The sum of all signals processed by the QMMG is output at this socket. A signal is removed from
the MIX when a plug is inserted at the corresponding channel Signal OUT.
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Panel Controls

THE GATE MODES:
VCA
The GATE operates as a voltage controlled amplifier. The Control Offset and Control Signal
Input Provide control of The Amplitude domain. The response to Incoming control signals is
non-linear. In this mode the Feedback acts to produce an additional, not-so-linear GAIN of
50%, allowing the user to alleviate the amplitude loss commonly associated with LoPass Gate
VCA operation. With Feedback Manual control set at NOON, the signal will appear
unattenuated. Gain or Attenuation is achieved by adjusting the Feedback Manual Control.
BOTH
The Gate will operate simultaneously in the amplitude and frequency domains. As the control
signal & control offset Levels become more positive, the Amplitude of the processed signal
increases AND the high frequency content of the signal is revealed.
As the control & offset signals become less positive, the Amplitude decreases, the High
frequencies are attenuated, and low frequencies become more pronounced. Manipulation of
the manual control will not display the greatest attributes of this mode. Instead a fast envelope
or pulse of greater than +8V will provide Beautiful examples of this mode's ability to produce
acoustic like attack & Decay transients.
The applied signal will seem to RING & Resonate, not unlike a drum or plucked string. In this
mode, The FEEDBACK is routed so as to DAMP the RINGING.
It is not unlike applying your hand to the skin of a drum while striking the head or Muting a
guitar string with your palm;
Increasing the FEEDBACK could be likened to applying greater pressure, further muting, until
finally, there is almost no ringing.
In the past it has been common practice to follow the LoPass Gate with a VCA in order To
control the RINGING and reduce or eliminate the signal bleed associated with this Mode. The
Feedback circuit in the QMMG allows for this control without the use of an Additional VCA. To
control the ringing adjust the Feedback Manual Control or apply a control signal to the
Feedback Control IN. To stop the signal leakage (when the Gate
is closed), add a touch of feedback with the Feedback Manual Control. If further reduction of
signal bleed is needed (during quiet passages for example) use 2 gates in series, set to BOTH
mode. Normalizations make this possible without additional patching. Applying the signal to
Signal IN channel 1 (or 4). Apply the envelope or pulse to Control Signal IN channel 1. Take the
output from Signal OUT channel 2 (or 4).
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Gate Modes

CH. 2 Signal IN is normalized to CH. 1 Signal OUT.
CH. 2 Control IN is normalized to CH. 1 Control IN.
CH. 3 Signal IN is normalized to CH. 4 Signal OUT.
CH. 3 Control IN is Normalized to CH. 4 Control IN.
Additionally, all Signal OUTs are normalized to the MIX OUT.
Inserting a plug at any Signal OUT, will remove the Corresponding signal from the mix.
LP
The GATE operates mostly on the Frequency Domain, becoming a LoPass Filter.
The Control Offset, in tandem with the Control Signal IN, acting as “Cutoff” Control. As the Control signal
becomes less positive, the High Frequency content becomes further Attenuated. at lower control signal
levels the Amplitude Domain is also affected; this, combined with the response of the Vactrols involved,
gives this mode a different feel from the typical VCF. Feedback is routed so as to cause a highly unstable,
non-linear resonance. The amplitude of Output signal increases greatly with the addition of this
resonance, beware the volume.
HP
The GATE operates mostly on the Frequency Domain, becoming a HiPass Filter.
The Control Offset, in tandem with the Control Signal IN, acting as “Cutoff” Control. As the Control signal
becomes more positive, the Low Frequency content becomes further attenuated. at the highest control
signal levels the Amplitude Domain is also affected; this, combined with the response of the Vactrols
involved, gives this mode a different feel then the typical VCF.
Feedback is routed so as to cause a highly unstable, non-linear resonance. The amplitude of Output
signal increases greatly with the addition of this resonance, beware the volume.
Normalizations:
Throughout the QMMG normalizations have been installed to allow for ease in patching Combinations
that result in BANDPASS Gates, Steeper LP and/ or HP Gates or even Something like a traditional
Subtractive Synthesis Voice.
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Gate Modes (cont.)

-Use one half of the QMMG to process CV (attenuate, amplify, mix, smooth) to be applied to
the other half for processing of Audio signals.
-VCA mode is useful for utilizing the QMMG as a Voltage Controlled Mixer, or processing
Control signals.
-To facilitate the creation of certain sounds, the control inputs are very sensitive.
to achieve subtle modulations, attenuate the incoming control signal before applying to the
QMMG. Because it is Direct Coupled, a channel of the QMMG could be used for attenuation.
-BOTH mode responds best to very fast envelopes, pulses or really short Gates signals.
-To create a Bandpass Gate, apply the audio signal to CH. 1 Signal IN, control signal to CH.1
Control IN. Set CH. 1 to HP and CH. 2 to BOTH. Take your output from Signal OUT CH. 2.
Adjust The Control OFFSET for CH. 2 to full CCW, set CH. 2 Feedback Manual Control
for the desired amount of ringing. Adjust the Control OFFSET and Feedback Manual Control
for CH.1 to taste. A Bandpass Filter is created by setting CH. 2 to LP mode, feedback will then
add further resonance to the signal.
-In VCA or BOTH mode, the VC Feedback may act as an ACCENT control if utilizing the
QMMG in A sequencing patch. Applying an Accent GATE/ signal to the FEEDBACK Control IN
will cause That step to become LOUDER and in the case of BOTH Mode, to have lees ringing as
well.
-the QMMG presents the possibility of very creative Filters to be patched by combining 2 or
more channels. The normalizations allow for this to be done with ease. Control of the
Individual Cutoff and Resonances per channel make multiple Resonant Peaks, each modulated
By a different control signal and with different amplitudes, also under individual voltage
Control, a possibility! Try creating a Bandpass filter, with the HP and LP elements modulated
by DIFFERENT LFOs.
-When combining multiple channels for creating complex filters, try taking your audio out
from The MIX OUT as opposed to the individual channel out. This will present you with
multiple taps from the Filter network you have created. For example, in a BandPass filter
patch, the sum of the HiPassed and the BandPassed signal would appear at the MIX OUT.
-Mult your Audio Signal, and apply it to 2 or more channels of the QMMG, with different
modes Selected. Take the MIX OUT. Manipulate each channel with different Control sources
and amounts for Offset & Feedback. This will create a very
complex sound from a SINGLE
sound source.
9
Tips and Tricks