Qu-Bit Electronix Nebulae User manual

Nebulae
1

Description
Nebulae is a granular sampler and DSP platform. Its phase vocoder audio engine provides elastic audio, which
can be time stretched, granularized, and mangled to no end. With independent control over pitch and speed, and
granular controls such as overlap, window, and density, finding new sonic territory is only a knob turn away. Nebulae
can use live audio input, a recorded buffer, or audio files as the source material for its powerful audio manipulations.
The live input buffer can record up to five minutes of stereo audio at 48kHz, 24 bit. In addition, up to 75 MB of stereo
audio can be loaded simultaneously through the USB port. No naming convention or special formatting necessary;
just plug and play.
Nebulae lives a double life as an open source DSP platform with an extensive library of off the shelf alternate
instruments. You can turn the module into a lush reverb, spectral delay, or tape-style looper simply by loading a new
file onto the flash drive. Do you want to tweak one aspect of an existing instrument, even the default functionality?
No problem. No prior coding knowledge is necessary to tweak and refine existing firmware to your liking or start
with one of our templates. Alternate firmware files can be written with Pure Data, Csound, SuperCollider, and even
bare-bones C programs.
• Granular sampler with time stretching capabilities
• 5 minute stereo recording buffer at 48kHz, 24 bit (In addition to file playback buffer)
• No naming convention or special formatting necessary for file playback
• Supports Pure Data, Csound, and SuperCollider alternate instrument files
• Ships with loaded USB flash drive ready to use
• Black aluminum front panel
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Contents
Description 2
General 6
Specs.................................................. 6
Audio Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Depth ............................................... 6
Width ............................................... 6
Current Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Boot Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Marked Diagram 8
Granular Looper 9
Primary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.Speed.............................................. 9
2.Pitch .............................................. 10
3.Start .............................................. 10
4.Size............................................... 10
5.Density ............................................. 10
6.Overlap............................................. 11
7.Blend.............................................. 11
8.Window............................................. 11
9. Audio Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
10. Audio Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
11.Record............................................. 12
12.File .............................................. 12
13.Source............................................. 12
14.Reset ............................................. 13
15.Freeze............................................. 13
16.Pulse ............................................. 13
Edit Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Reload Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Buffer Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Secondary ............................................... 13
2.Pitch .............................................. 14
3.Start .............................................. 14
4.Size............................................... 14
5.Density ............................................. 14
6.Overlap............................................. 14
7.Blend.............................................. 14
8.Window............................................. 15
11.Record............................................. 15
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12.File .............................................. 16
13.Source............................................. 16
15.Freeze............................................. 16
Instr Selector 17
Factory Instr Files 18
One-Shot Polyphonic Sample Player 19
Primary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.Pitch .............................................. 19
3.Start .............................................. 19
4.Size............................................... 19
5.Density ............................................. 19
6.Overlap............................................. 19
7.Blend.............................................. 19
11.Record............................................. 20
12.File .............................................. 20
13.Source............................................. 20
14.Reset ............................................. 20
15.Freeze............................................. 20
Secondary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.Start .............................................. 20
4.Size............................................... 20
5.Density ............................................. 20
6.Overlap............................................. 20
8.Window............................................. 21
11.Record............................................. 21
12.File .............................................. 21
14.Reset ............................................. 21
15.Freeze............................................. 21
Synth Voice 22
Primary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.Pitch .............................................. 22
5.Density ............................................. 22
6.Overlap............................................. 22
7.Blend.............................................. 22
8.Window............................................. 22
10. Audio Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Secondary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
World of Echo 24
Primary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.Start .............................................. 24
4.Size............................................... 24
5.Density ............................................. 24
6.Overlap............................................. 24
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7.Blend.............................................. 24
8.Window............................................. 24
9. Audio Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
10. Audio Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
13.Source............................................. 25
Secondary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Test I/O 26
Secondary Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.Speed.............................................. 26
Formatting a New USB Drive 27
MacOSX................................................ 27
Windows ................................................ 27
Linux................................................... 27
Loading Files 27
FileTypes ............................................. 28
Sample Rate and Bit Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Persistence of Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Addditional Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Neb Log 29
Firmware Update 30
What You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Theprocess............................................... 30
Reverting to the Factory Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Release Notes 31
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General
Specs
Audio Quality
• 24-bit, 48kHz Stereo Audio Input/Output
Depth
• 34mm
Width
• 20hp
Current Consumption
Powered by +12V
• +12V: 318mA
• -12V: 7mA
Powered by +5V
• +12V: 47mA
• -12V: 7mA
• +5V: 271mA
Installation
To install, locate 20 HP of space in your Eurorack case and confirm the positive 12 volts and negative 12 volts sides
of the power distribution lines. Plug the connector into the power distribution board of your case, keeping in mind
that the red band corresponds to negative 12 volts. In most systems, the negative 12 volt supply line is at the bottom.
The power cable should be connected to the Nebulae with the red band facing the bottom of the module.
To power the the module from Eurorack +5V position the switch behind the Positive Speed LED to the +5V position.
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Boot Animations
The boot animation rotates the RGB LEDs in a circle during bootup, and when reloading files or instruments.
To give useful visual feedback there are a number of different colors used during this animation.
The white booting animation will start 10 seconds after powering the module.
Color Status
White Booting
Blue Loading Files
Aqua Loading Files from USB
Green Firmware Update
Red Error
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Marked Diagram
8

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Granular Looper
The granular looper plays back an audio file or a recorded buffer and loops it. It is run through a phase vocoder to
allow for the independent pitch and speed control. The output is then run in parallel with a granular processor that
the user can mix between.
Primary Controls
1. Speed
Turning the encoder will increase/decrease the playback speed of the audio sample, or recorded buffer independently
of pitch.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to current knob position.
Speed ranges from 4x playing backwards to 4x playing forwards .
The illuminated LED will correspond to the direction in which the file is playing back. (Left is backward, right is
forward).
The LED will illuminate twice as bright when you’re set to an even factor of speed.
Positions between speed factors are indicated by a blend of the colors of the surrounding factors.
Speed Color
1/8 White
1/4 Orange
1/2 Yellow
1 (original speed) Blue
2 Green
4 Purple
Holding this encoder for 2 seconds will enter the instrument selector menu.
When recording, the speed is used to determine the new maximum size of the buffer, and is locked.
During circular recording, this lock is disabled, and speed can move freely. The buffer will remain the same size
no matter what..
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2. Pitch
Turning the encoder will increase/decrease the pitch of the audio sample, or recorded buffer independently of play-
back speed.
CV input tracks 1V/Octave, accepts 0-5V unipolar, and is added to the knob position.
Pitch ranges from -3 octaves to +2 octaves.
When set to original pitch, both pitch LEDs will be blue.
The LEDs will illuminate twice as bright when set to any octave that is above or below original pitch.
Positions between octaves are indicated by a blend of the colors of the surrounding octaves.
Octave Color Side (left/right)
-3 White Left
-2 Orange Left
-1 Yellow Left
0 (original pitch) Blue Both
+1 Green Right
+2 Purple Right
3. Start
Controls the start position of either the loaded file or the recorded buffer.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the knob position.
4. Size
Controls the size of the currently selected loop.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the knob position.
5. Density
Controls the rate of grain generation.
Ranges from .120Hz(8.3s) to 2.5kHz(400us).
When the secondary Freeze control is enabled, turning the density knob all the way down disables internal grain
generation.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the knob position.
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6. Overlap
Controls the amount of overlap between successive grains as well as the size of individual grains.
Ranges from 1% to 600% of grain rate.
When the Secondary Freeze control is enabled, and the density control is all the way down, overlap will control the
grain size across a fixed range from 500us to 2 seconds.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the knob position.
7. Blend
File Source
When the knob is fully counter-clockwise only the phase vocoded loop will output.
When the knob is fully clockwise only the granular loop will output.
Live Source
When Source is illuminated this controls the blend of the phase vocoder, granular stream, and dry input signal.
When the knob is set to the middle, only the dry signal will output.
When the knob is set fully counter-clockwise, only the phase vocoded loop will output.
When the knob is set fully clockwise, only the granular loop will output.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the knob position.
8. Window
Changes the window shape of the grains being generated.
This control blends through each of the following hammer shapes in this order.
1. Gaussian .
2. Blackman-Harris .
3. Down.
4. Bartlett .
5. Up.
6. Hamming.
7. Square.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the knob position.
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9. Audio Inputs
Stereo Audio Inputs. When nothing is connected to the right input, the left input will normal to the right input.
When set to file source this is used as an FM Input for the grains being generated.
10. Audio Outputs
Stereo Audio Output.
10Vpp.
11. Record
Pressing record for the first time creates a new buffer that ends when record is disabled or 5 minutes have passed
(You can make this initial recording from a live input source or from a file). The input to the buffer is controlled by
the blend control, and will be filled with the audio that is heard at the time of recording. This includes all knob turns
and CV controls, excluding speed, start, and size.
Once the buffer is looping it’s possible to punch in at any moment and record the output back into the buffer, replacing
the existing material (Record your loop backwards with no additional input to have it play backward when set to
original speed).
Once an overdub has completed, original pitch and speed will reset, guaranteeing that you hear what you were just
recording.
Recording will automatically disable itself at the end of a full overdub pass.
To clear the buffer hold file and press reset.
To accurately calculate the anticipated size of a new buffer, the speed, start and size controls are locked during
normal recording.
12. File
This advances the currently selected audio file to the next audio file.
The order of succession is defined by the File Selection Mode in the secondary controls menu.
This control is inactive when set to Live Source.
13. Source
Switches between File Source and Live Source.
Holding this button provides temporary access to the Secondary Control Menu.
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14. Reset
Resets the playback position to the currently selected loop start point.
15. Freeze
Pauses the current playback position while retaining the frequency and spectral characteristics of the audio.
This is a latching control.
The Button LED will be illuminated when the buffer is frozen.
16. Pulse
A 5V gate emits from this output whenever the loop resets.
Edit Functions
These commands are executed when holding the File button and pressing another button.
Reload Files
Reload files by holding File and pressing Source. (Note: Source is a falling edge sensitive button) .
Reload files from a USB drive and restart the currently selected instrument file.
Buffer Erase
Erase the buffer by holding file and pressing reset.
Upon erasing the buffer the reset LED will blink five times to indicate that the buffer has been cleared.
Secondary
A secondary set of controls is accessible when holding down the source button.
Once the source button has been held for 250 ms, the LEDs will shift to display the state of the secondary settings.
With source pressed down, pressing any of the other buttons or turning the knobs will affect the secondary controls.
Releasing the source button returns the controls back to their primary functions.
CV and gate inputs will continue to affect the primary controls even while source is being held.
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2. Pitch
This control sets the amount of random pitch deviation. Range: +/- 2 octaves.
The purple LED indicators will blink when trying to turn the encoder past the minimum or maximum.
Clicking this encoder from the secondary control menu will restore all secondary controls to their default positions.
3. Start
Random Grain Position.
This will add random deviation to the playback position that new grains are generated from.
At its minimum value, all grains are generated from the current playback position.
At its maximum value, all grains are generated from a random position within the file or buffer.
4. Size
Controls the amount of random panning applied to the generated grains.
When fully counter-clockwise, there will be no random panning of grains.
When fully clockwise, each grain will be panned to a random location between both outputs.
5. Density
Controls the amount of random time displacement for grains.
The grains will still be created at the same rate as before, but they will be displaced up to a maximum of 10 seconds.
When the grain plays it will have the same pitch, window shape, and size that it had when it was generated.
These random displacements are calculated independently for the left and right channels.
6. Overlap
Sets the amount of random deviation in grain size. The control is +/- 100% at maximum, and the deviation is added
to the overlap setting.
These random grain sizes are calculated independently for the left and right channels.
7. Blend
Controls the modulation index of FM applied to each grain.
This is disabled when density is set fully counter-clockwise or when set to live source.
This applies FM directly to the grains, and has no effect on the phase vocoded sound.
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8. Window
Stochastic grain masking.
Increasing this control will mute random grains.
The stochastic masking is calculated for left and right channels separately.
When set fully counter-clockwise, no grains will be muted.
When set to the middle, half of all grains will be muted.
When set fully clockwise, 99% of all grains will be muted.
11. Record
This enables Circular Recording, continuously recording new content to the buffer.
Creating a buffer and overdub recording work the same way that the normal behavior does.
The key differences are that:
• recording is not disabled at the loop point.
• original pitch/speed are not reset by the end of a recording.
• the locks on speed, start, and size are disabled.
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12. File
This changes the order in which the file button progresses through the files.
Pressing the button will advance through the following options, wrapping at the end of the list.
Option Number Playback Order Indicator
1 (default) Forward LED fades from dark to light
2 Backward LED fades from light to dark
3 Random LED blinks between random brightness
13. Source
Holding this button provides temporary access to all of the secondary controls while it is held.
15. Freeze
Configures a grain trigger out of the source gate input.
When active, the source gate input no longer switches between live and file sources.
When this setting is enabled, turning the density knob all the way down will disable the internal generation of grains,
deferring all grain generation to the source gate input.
When the density control is at it’s minimum, the overlap control operates on a fixed range of grain sizes from 500us
to 2 seconds.
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Instr Selector
The Nebulae can be an infinite number of different instruments, thanks to the .instr file. This allows an independent
chunk of Csound or Pure Data code to run with access to all files, and controls that our main granular looper uses.
The granular looper is actually a .instr file itself.
For more information on .instr files see the instrument reference document.
The selector can be entered when the module is running by pressing and holding the speed encoder. After two
seconds, the pitch and speed LEDs will illuminate green, and one of the five button LEDs will illuminate as well.
A fully illuminated button LED indicates the selected instruments.
A dimly illuminated button LED indicates that there is an instrument present in that position.
A unilluminated button LED indicates that there is no file present.
Clicking the Speed encoder from this menu will load the selected instrument, and check for a USB drive/reload files.
Clicking the Pitch encoder from this menu will return to the primary control menu without changing instruments.
The Speed LEDs will indicate whether you’re selecting from the factory bank of instrument files or the user bank.
You can change the bank by rotating the speed encoder.
If the Negative Speed LED is illuminated, the user bank of .instr files is selected.
If both Speed LEDs are illuminated, the factory bank of .instr files is selected.
If the Positive Speed LED is illuminated, the user bank of Pure Data files selected.
The five LEDs at the bottom signify the selection of an instrument file. Selecting one of the five, and then pressing
the speed encoder, will restart the Nebulae with the new instrument loaded.
If there are more than 5 instrument files in the bank:.
• The far left and/or far right buttons will blink between dim and off to indicate that there are more files in that
direction.
• The far left or far right button will blink between dim and fully illuminated to indicate that the selected instrument
file is in that direction.
• The pitch encoder can be rotated to scroll through the visible instrument files.
17

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Factory Instr Files
Currently the following factory instruments are loaded in the following positions from left to right:.
1. a_granularlooper.instr - Granular looper with phase vocoder audio engine.
2. b_oneshot.instr - A 4-channel one shot sampler with varispeed.
3. c_synth.instr - Synth voice, Morphable Waveform, Sub, and an LPF.
4. d_effects.instr - Multi-Effects processor - Delay, and Reverb.
5. e_testio.instr - A simple instrument that passes the audio input to the audio output. A good template.
Each instrument file has an overview of it’s controls below.
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One-Shot Polyphonic Sample Player
The one shot sampler allows for simultaneous playback of four samples at a time.. Each with their own pitch control,
and trigger input. . This instr is accessed from the file button in the instr selector in the factory instrument bank. .
Primary Controls
2. Pitch
Global Varispeed offset.
3. Start
Varispeed control of Sample 1.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the pot position..
4. Size
Varispeed control for Sample 3.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the pot position..
5. Density
Varispeed control for Sample 2.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the pot position..
6. Overlap
Varispeed control for Sample 4.
CV input responds to +/- 5V, and is added to the pot position..
7. Blend
Offset for file selection..
When fully counter-clockwise, the first four samples loaded on the Nebulae will be played.
When fully clockwise, the last four sample loaded on the Nebulae will be played.
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11. Record
Trigger for sample one.
12. File
Trigger for sample two.
13. Source
Kill All Trigger/Button.
Chokes all the inputs.
Holding this accesses the secondary control menu..
14. Reset
Trigger for sample three.
15. Freeze
Trigger for sample four.
Secondary Controls
3. Start
Length control of sample one.
4. Size
Length control of sample three.
5. Density
Length control of sample two.
6. Overlap
Length control of sample four.
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