Modal Electronics ARGON8M User manual

QUICK START
GUIDE
Modal Argon8M is an 8 voice polyphonic wavetable synthesiser. It features 120 crafted wavetables split
into 24 banks of 5 morphable waveform sets, 32 oscillators in total (4 per voice) and a huge range of
wavetable and oscillator modifiers.
Beyond the oscillators there is a multi-mode filter, 3 envelope generators, 2 audio-rate LFOs, 3 powerful
independent and user configurable stereo FX engines, a real-time sequencer, a programmable arpeggiator
and an extensive modulation matrix.
Shift functions - parameters in light blue can be accessed by entering ‘Shift’ mode using the button to the
right of the screen with a light blue ring. Shift can be momentary by holding the button and changing a
parameter or latched by pressing the shift button.
Alt functions - parameters in light grey can be accessed by holding the button with the light grey ring in
the same section (Velo). ‘Alt’ mode is always momentary and you will exit ‘Alt’ mode on release of the
button.
Connections
Headphones - 1/4” stereo jack socket
Right - Audio Out for right stereo channel. 1/4” unbalance TS jack socket
Left/Mono - Audio Out for left stereo channel. If there is no cable plugged into Right socket then summed
to Mono. 1/4” unbalance TS jack socket
Expression - user configurable pedal input, 1/4” TRS jack socket
Sustain - works with any standard, open momentary foot switch, 1/4” TS jack socket
Audio In - stereo audio input, to process your audio source with Argon FX engines, 3.5mm TRS jack
socket
Sync In - analogue clock in. 3.3v, rising edge, 1 pulse per 16th note signal, 3.5mm TS jack socket
Sync Out - analogue clock out, same configuration as clock in, 3.5mm TS jack socket
MIDI Out - used to control other MIDI hardware, 5-pin DIN MIDI socket
MIDI In - used to be controlled from other MIDI hardware, 5-pin DIN MIDI socket
USB MIDI - MIDI in/out to a USB MIDI host, connect Argon8M to a laptop/tablet/mobile device for the
optional software editor, ModalApp, full size USB-B socket
Power - 9.0V, 1.5A, centre-positive barrel power supply
Screen Navigation
The two switched-encoders either side of the screen are used for
screen navigation and control:
Page/Param - When this encoder is in ‘Page’ mode it cycles
through the parameter pages (e.g. Osc1, Osc2, Filter); when it’s
in ‘Param’ mode it cycles through the parameters on that page.
Use the switch to toggle between the two modes, the mode is
displayed on the screen with a line at top for ‘Page’ mode and at
the bottom for ‘Param’ mode.
Preset/Edit/Bank - This encoder/switch is used to adjust the value
or ‘trigger’ the currently displayed parameter. When on the ‘Load
Patch’ parameter when the panel is in ‘Shift’ mode this encoder is
used to select the patch bank number.
Presets
Patch/Seq - this button is primarily used to switch the screen to
either the ‘Load Patch’ or ‘Load Seq’ param for loading patches
or sequences, however this button also puts the panel into either
‘Patch’ mode or ‘Seq’ mode. This changes the ‘Save’ and ‘Init’
buttons to either effect Patch preset management in ‘Patch’ mode
or Sequencer preset management in ‘Seq’ mode.
‘Init / Rand’ - this button/function only responds on a button hold.
Argon8M can have a large dynamic range so there is a Patch
Gain control that can be used to equalise patch volumes. Hold
the ‘Patch’ button and turn the ‘Volume’ encoder to control the
‘Patch Gain’ parameter.

Preset Saving
Press the ’Save’ button to enter the ‘full’ save procedure or hold the
‘Save’ button to perform a ‘quick’ save (saving preset into current
slot with current name).
Once you are in the ‘full’ save procedure, presets are saved in the
following way:
Slot selection - Use the ‘Edit’ encoder to select the preset bank/
number to save into, and press the ‘Edit’ switch to select it
Naming - Use the ‘Page/Param’ encoder to select the character
position and use the ‘Edit’ encoder to select the character. Press the
‘Edit’ switch to finish editing the name.
There are a number of panel shortcuts here:
Press ‘Velo‘ to jump to lowercase characters
Press ‘AftT’ to jump to uppercase characters
Press ‘Note’ to jump to numbers
Press ‘Expr’ to jump to symbols
Press the ‘Page/Param’ switch to add a space (increment all above
characters)
Press ‘Init’ to delete the current character (decrement all above
characters)
Hold ‘Init’ to delete the entire name
Press the ‘Edit’ switch to confirm the settings and save the preset.
At any point during the procedure hold the ‘Page/Param’ switch to
move back a step.
To exit/quit the procedure without saving the preset, press the
‘Patch/Seq’ button.
Global Settings
When the screen is displaying the ‘Reset’ option, hold the ‘Edit’
switch to trigger the ‘Reset’ function.
Quick Recalls
Argon8M has 4 Quick Recall slots for quickly loading patches. Quick
Recalls are controlled using the following button combos:
Hold ‘Patch’ + hold one of the four buttons on bottom left of the
panel to assign the currently loaded patch to a QR slot
Hold ‘Patch’ + press one of the four buttons on bottom left of the
panel to load the patch in the QR slot
Oscillators
Hold the ‘Patch’ button and turn the ‘Wave1’ or ’Wave2’ encoder to
control the WavMod parameters
Press the ‘Tune/Fine’ switch to toggle between Osc1 and Osc2 tune
and fine tune controls
Filter
Hold the ‘Patch’ button and turn the ‘Cutoff’ encoder to control the
Filter Type parameter
Envelopes
Hold any of the EG switches for one second and then turn the ADSR
encoders to adjust all envelopes simultaneously
Press the ‘MEG’ switch when MEG is already selected to latch MEG
assign
Sequencer
Hold the ‘Patch’ and ‘Play’ button to clear the sequencer notes
When the screen is displaying the ‘Linked Sequence’ parameter,
hold the ‘Edit’ switch to set the value to be the currently loaded
sequence.
Arp
Hold the ‘Arp’ switch and press keys on an external keyboard to add
pattern notes or press the ‘Play’ button to add a rest to the pattern
Hold the ‘Patch’ button and turn the ‘Division’ encoder to control
Arp Gate
Keyboard/Voice
Press ‘Mode’ repeatedly to cycle through the different voice modes
Mono, Poly, Unison (2,4 and 8) and Stack (2 and 4).
Press ‘Chord’ whilst holding a chord on an external keyboard to set
the chord mode chord.
Modulation
To assign a Mod Slot either hold (momentary) or latch the desired
Mod source button - then set a depth by turning desired modulation
destination parameter
When latched in a Mod Source assign mode pressing the flashing
Mod Source button again will exit assign mode
Mod source button + ‘Depth’ encoder - set global depth for that
mod source
Press ModSlot repeatedly to cycle through and view all mod slot
settings on the screen
When the screen is displaying a mod slot ‘Depth’ parameter (most
easily accessed via assigning modulation using the panel or via
the ModSlot button), hold the ‘Edit’ switch to clear the mod slot
assignment.
To assign a mod source to an osc’s global frequency destination, use
either of the fine tune controls. ‘Tune1’ will assign to Osc1 tune,
‘Tune2’ will assign to Osc2 tune.
FX
Press FX1 / FX2 / FX3 switch repeatedly to change the FX type of the
slot
Hold FX1 / FX2 / FX3 switch to reset the FX type of the slot to ‘None’
Turn the ‘B’ encoder into the negative range for the slot with a
Delay FX assigned to access synced delay times
Press FX1 + FX2 + FX3 to jump to the ‘FX Preset Load’ parameter
LFO
Turn the ‘Rate’ encoders into the negative range to access synced
rates
Press the ‘LFO1/LFO2’ switch when LFO is already selected to latch
LFO assign
UI
GUIDE