Tubbutec mTune User manual

Tubbutec µ Tune user manual
http://tubbutec.de
March 11, 2020
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Contents
1 Introduction 4
1.1 Introduction to microtonality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Aboutthismanual................................ 4
1.3 µ Tuneuserinterface............................... 5
1.4 Connectingexpanders .............................. 6
1.5 Blockdiagram .................................. 7
2 Menu 8
2.1 Mainmenu.................................... 8
2.2 INFO....................................... 9
2.3 CONF ...................................... 10
2.3.1 Channel conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.2 Midiconguration............................ 14
2.3.3 MISCmenu ............................... 16
2.3.4 Firmwarereset.............................. 16
2.4 TUN ....................................... 17
2.4.1 Loadascale ............................... 17
2.4.2 Saveascale ............................... 17
2.4.3 Scaleeditor ............................... 18
2.4.4 Navigation in scale editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.4.5 Editscales................................ 18
2.4.6 Scalemapping.............................. 20
2.5 TOOLS...................................... 21
2.5.1 Midimonitor............................... 21
2.5.2 VCOcalibration ............................. 21
2.5.3 Clockgenerator ............................. 21
2.5.4 Autotuning ............................... 22
3 How to's 23
3.1 Quantizing.................................... 23
3.2 MiditoCV.................................... 23
3.3 CVtoMidi.................................... 25
3.4 Miditomidituning ............................... 26
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3.5 Scalemapping.................................. 27
3.6 VCOcalibration ................................. 29
3.7 Auto-tuning ................................... 30
3.8 Hz/V....................................... 32
3.8.1 How to nd the correct V/Hz setting for a synths or linear VCO . . . . 33
4 Midi controller CC numbers 34
5 Terms used in this manual 35
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1 Introduction
Tubbutec µ Tune is a powerful quantizer, midi to CV interface, CV to midi interface, midi router
and general multitool with a lot of features. The two channels of the main module can be
expanded to up to 8 channels using µ Tune expanders. µ Tune has many features dealing with
microtonal music or generally precise pitch: you can load, edit and save scales and tunings,
and it includes a tuner, VCO calibration and even real-time automatic tuning.
µ Tune is not limited to one function at a time. You can route midi midi between DIN and
USB, create midi and merge it with existing notes, quantize using a microtonal scale and
measure a VCO's frequency all at the same time.
1.1 Introduction to microtonality
Microtonality and alternative tuning systems is a vast and complex topic that can not be
covered in this manual.
As a rst introduction we recommend the video Lecture on microtonality with the Tubbutec
µ Tune, a presentation by Phineas De Thornley Head and Matt Ward.
It can be found in our Youtube channel or via the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf_zMCUrqBA
A more in depth introduction can be found here:
https://www.britannica.com/art/tuning-and-temperament
We also warmly recommend to check out Sevish, whose albums are a great example of ap-
proachable microtonal music and whose scale packs can be found on the µ Tune SD card.
https://sevish.com
Sevish is also the creator of Scale Workshop, a browser based scale creator completely
compatible with µ Tune:
https://sevish.com/scaleworkshop/
Speaking of scale creation: The mother of all tools is of course Scala by Manuel Op de
Coul.:
http://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/
Its .scl format can directly be read and modied by µ Tune. Manuel also generously provided
the interval name list used in µ Tune's own scale editor.
1.2 About this manual
This user manual rst describes all features and settings that can be found in the µ Tune menu.
It then shows typical use cases with examples in the HOW-TO section. This includes examples
for quantizing, midi handling, microtonal work and auto-tuning.
This manual describes the features of µ Tune rmware version 2.00. Manual version 2.00
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1.3 µ Tune user interface
Figure 1: µ Tune interface overview, the main module is 8HP wide, the expander is 2HP
1. DIN-midi input
2. DIN-midi output
3. Mini-USB provides USB midi. µ Tune acts as a USB device.
4. Slot for a micro SD card. The card is inserted with its 'tooth' pointing to the left
5. OLED display
6. Knob and ENTER button for menu navigation.
7. Back button. Will always bring you back to the previous menu page.
8. CV-in channels 1 and 2 and expander channels
9. GATE-in channels 1 and 2 and expander channels
10. CV-out channels 1 and 2 and expander channels
11. GATE-out channels 1 and 2 and expander channels
12. Expander status LED. Shows expander power (green) and GATE-out states (red and blue)
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1.4 Connecting expanders
Up to three expanders can be connected to the µ Tune main module. Each expander adds two
complete µ Tune-channels with CV-in, GATE-in, CV-out and GATE-out. The expanders are
connected to the main module using ribbon cables and are fully powered by the main unit.
WARNING! DO NOT CONNECT THE EXPANDERS WHILE THE MAIN MOD-
ULE IS POWERED.
This might damage the main module or the expander.
The expanders are connected as shown in Image 2. The connector on top of the expanders is
connected to the main module or bottom connector of the previous expander.
Figure 2: Connecting several expanders.
On startup µ Tune will automatically detect the number of connected expanders and shows the
correct number of channels in the main menu.
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1.5 Block diagram
Below is a block diagram which shows the most important parts of µ Tune's signal ow. Only
one channel is shown.
Figure 3: Simplied µ Tune functional ow chart
The input voltage at CV-in is converted to a note number in the quantizer. It uses hysteresis
at its input in order to lter noisy signals. The quantizer can work in free-running mode, or be
triggered or gated by the signal at the GATE input. GATE-in can also provide other functions
such as measuring frequency for the tuner, or trigger a random transpose.
A second possible source of note numbers is midi. Midi note events coming from either USB-
midi or DIN-midi are routed in the midi router and passed to the voice assigner. Here note
and gate signals are created depending on the voice assign mode and output conguration.
Dual mono, or several dierent duo phonic voice assign modes are available.
The note numbers are then passed to the scale mapper. Here, they are converted to a pitch
value via the currently loaded scale. Parameters such as Transpose or Scale Shift are included
as well as the VCO correction factors. An optional exponential converter can also be activated,
converting between v/Hz and v/oct standards. At the end of this signal chain sits a 16 bit
DAC, which turns the value into a high precision voltage between 0V and 10V.
The GATE-out can output Midi Start/Stop signals, Midi clock with adjustable divider or midi
gate from the voice assigner.
The conguration of input and output functions is dynamic and reacts to whether CV-in and
GATE-in are plugged in. Functions can be dened freely for each possible combination of
these. This way µ Tune can change its function based on what you intend to do, without
having to change a lot of settings rst.
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2 Menu
2.1 Main menu
Figure 4: Main menu with 2 channels (no expander)
The main menu shows an overview of µ Tune's status and also contains four sub-menus. Simply
enter these menus by navigating to them with the navigation knob and press enter.
On the left side you can see the status of channels 1 and 2. The right pointing arrow shows
the GATE-in status. It becomes thicker if the gate is active. Next to it, the 'input note' is
displayed. This is the note recognized by the quantizer. The left pointing arrow shows the
status of the output gate. Next to it the 'output note' is shown. This is the note that is
mapped via the scale mapper and put out to CV-out as a voltage. There are dierent ways
input and output notes can be displayed. (see notations).
On the bottom of the main menu, you can see the name of the currently loaded scale.
You can access settings and tools via four sub-menus:
 INFO shows the status of each channel in more details and also displays the detected
frequency. It can also be accessed by pressing the BACK button form the main menu
 TOOLS contains various tools, such as VCO calibration, auto-tuning or clock generator.
 TUN (tune) contains functions dealing with tuning and scales
 CONF contains all other settings and congurations of µ Tune
If you have expanders installed the main menu will look dierent because the status of the
additional channels is shown. In the examples below we used dierent notation settings for the
channels: Channel 1 and 2 have notation setting 'decimal'. Channels 3,4,6, and 8 are set to
'semitone' and channels 5 and 6 are set to 'relative 1'. More info about the possible notation
display can be found in the chapter about notation settings.
Figure 5: Main menu with 4, 6 and 8 channels (using 1,2 and 3 expanders)
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2.2 INFO
Figure 6: Status and Tuner
The INFO screen shows the status of channels 1 and 2 in more detail. If you have more than
two channels by means of expanders, you can scroll to display those as well. Just as in the main
menu, you can see input note (upper left corner), output note (upper right corner), input and
output gate states (arrows) and the current scale on the bottom. Additionally the frequency
detected at the GATE-in input is shown. You can set the display mode of this frequency to
the following modes:
 Hz: shows the frequency in Hertz. In the example this mode is used for channel 1.
 Absolute pitch: Shows the frequency like a normal tuner (e.g. guitar tuner) would do.
You can see the closest detected note (e.g. C#) and the error in cents. If you however
load a dierent tuning it will use its notes as base for the calculation. So it's a fully
microtonal tuner. In the example this display mode is used for channel 2.
 Relative pitch: pretty much like absolute pitch, but shows the dierence from the ex-
pected pitch based on the current output note. This is very useful when tuning your
setup or when preparing a VCO for auto-tuning.
 BPM: Shows the detected frequency as 'beats per minute'. Useful for measuring clock
signals
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2.3 CONF
In the cong menu you can set conguration for inputs and outputs, midi
2.3.1 Channel conguration
Figure 7: Channel congs for channel 2 and for all channels at once
Each channel can be congured individually in the channel cong menu. You can select the
channel to edit with the 'Channel to edit' selector. Here, you can also select 'ALL' to congure
all channels at once.
µ Tune can detect whether an input is used and change the conguration accordingly. For each
of the four possible modes (cv and gate not plugged in, cv only plugged in, gate only plugged
in and both plugged in) you can congure the function of each input and output. This can be
done in a simple way which is sucient in most cases, or you can specify the behavior in full
detail.
Plug in detection can be used to automatically change your setup based on the plugged in
connections. For example: if no CV-input is connected the channel works as a midi to CV/gate
interface, but if you plug it in it quantizes and outputs an automatically generated trigger pulse.
The possibilities are almost endless here.
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