Polyend Dreadbox Medusa Bedienungsanleitung
Owner’s Manual
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................ 3
Quick Start .................................................................................. 4
Schematic Diagram .................................................................. 5
Manual ....................................................................................... 6
Overview ............................................................................... 6
The Synthesizer...................................................................... 7
1. The Oscillators ............................................................ 7
2. The Filter ...................................................................... 8
3. The Envelopes ............................................................ 8
4. The Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) ..................... 9
5. Play Modes ................................................................. 9
6. Mixer and Volume ................................................... 10
The Grid and Sequencer ................................................... 10
1. How it’s Organized .................................................. 10
2. Two Modes: Grid and Notes................................... 11
3. Creating, Playing, and Editing a Sequence......... 12
4. Using the Pads as a Keyboard ............................... 15
Other Info ............................................................................ 17
1. Saving and Loading Programs............................... 17
2. Input and Output..................................................... 17
3. Random Button........................................................ 18
4. The Cong Menu ..................................................... 18
5. Firmware Update Procedure.................................. 20
6. CC Chart ................................................................... 21
Appendices .............................................................................. 24
A. List of Modulation Destinations..................................... 24
B. List of Modes and Scales .............................................. 26
Introduction
A joint development between Dreadbox and Polyend, the Medusa is a 6-oscillator
(3 voltage-controlled analog and 3 digital) hybrid synth, coupling the sound of ana-
log with the control of digital. It is equipped with:
• A multimode analog lter based on the Erebus with 2-pole LP, 4-pole LP,
and 1-pole HP settings
• A 64-step sequencer inheriting the spirit of the Polyend Seq
• An 8 x 8 grid of side-to-side (X), up-and-down (Y), and pressure sensitive
(Z) pads used to play the synthesizer and program the sequencer
• 3 play modes including: 1-voice, unison mono (up to 6 oscillators), 3-voice
(2 oscillators per voice), and 6-voice (1 oscillator per voice)
• 5 envelopes (3 assignable) and 5 LFOs (all assignable)
• 2 OLED displays providing visual feedback on knob and slider settings;
envelopes and LFOs; and menu and conguration settings
• Ability to save up to 128 programs and sequences
As a rst for Dreadbox, you’ll now be able to program patches and sequences, save
them, and then play them directly from the synth using the 8 x 8 grid of pads.
As a rst for Polyend, you’ll now have a myriad of shapeable analog and digital
sounds that can be wildly modulated and directly married to the sequencer.
Playing with the Medusa won’t turn you to stone, but don’t be surprised if you nd
yourself frozen in front of it, playing for hours.
333333
Please before using the Medusa synthesizer, make sure that you have installed
the latest rmware, which can be found in the following links:
www.polyend.com/medusa
www.dreadbox-fx.com/medusa
Quick Start
* manual calibration
CONFIG > Calibration > Start
When the Calibration is completed, press CONFIG to return back
4
enjoy
6In order to turn an Envelope
or an LFO ON or OFF double click
the button
1 Connect the
power adapter and
turn the unit ON
3Let the synthesizer warm up
for at least 20 minutes.
Afterwards you can do a manual calibration*
2 Connect a corresponding
device (monitor, amp, headphones)
to the OUTPUT or PHONES
4We suggest you explore
the 32 factory presets.
LOAD > press any of the 1-32 pads
5 GRID = OFF : The pads are used as a keyboard
GRID = ON : The pads hold stored parameters
and notes
Schematic Diagram
A VCO1
VCA VCA VCA VCA VCA VCA VCA
A VCO2 A VCO3
NOISE
EXTR IN
MIXER
D OSC1 D OSC2 D OSC3
VCO FM
VCF
FM
SyncSync
Headphones OutMain Out
VCF
VCA
5
Manual
Overview
The Medusa has 3 main sections for working with the synthesizer and sequencer.
Section A
This is the 8 x 8 grid of buttons that can be used to play the synth, program the sequenc-
er, and select storage locations for GRID data and Medusa programs.
Section B
This section of the Medusa is used to program, play, and edit the sequencer as well as to
congure various settings for the sequencer and the synth. The OLED at the top of this
section (referred to as the seq OLED in this manual) displays the assorted menu choices
for conguring the sequencer and synth.
Section C
This section of the Medusa is used to program the various parameters and settings for
the synth engine. The OLED in this section (referred to as the synth OLED in this manu-
al) displays various information about patch settings (including knob and slider values)
while they are being changed or edited.
OSC1 OSC2 OSC3
OS
C1
OS
C2
OS
C3
A B C
6
1. The Oscillators
The Medusa is equipped with 3 analog oscillators and
3 digital oscillators (referred to as A OSC1, A OSC2,
A OSC3 and D OSC1, D OSC2, D OSC3 for this manual
and the menu options in the Medusa).
When the Medusa rst powers up, an auto-calibration
routine is launched, tuning the oscillators. This is indicat-
ed by a small dot in the top of the seq OLED in section B
of the Medusa. From the CONFIG menu (see page 14),
calibration can also be manually started if required.
The analog oscillators offer a choice of classic wave-
forms, including: saw tooth (ramp up), pulse wave, tri-
angle, and sine. The digital oscillators have the same
4 classic waveforms plus a 5th wavetable option.
When the wavetable is selected, all four of the LEDs
next to the wave illustrations will light up.
The wavetable oscillator offers 20 wavetables you
can select via the PRESET MENU (see page 17), and
wavetable position can be modulated for each
D OSC manually with the WAVETABLE knob (M), or
automated with envelopes and/or LFOs.
Notice that there are 3 identical sets of controls (A, B,
and C) for both the analog and digital oscillators. If
the DIGITAL button (F) is pressed and lit, then the con-
trols (buttons/knobs A, B, and C) will affect the 3 dig-
ital oscillators. If the DIGITAL button is not lit then the
controls apply to the 3 analog oscillators. The OSC 1,
2, and 3 knobs (A) let you tune either oscillator ±12 semitones (an octave), or with
the FINE TUNE button (M) pressed and lit, the knobs will tune ±100 cents (1 semitone).
By pressing the WAVE button (B), you can cycle through and select the available
analog and digital wave forms. By pressing the OCTAVE (C) button, you can trans-
pose the pitch of the oscillators up or down an octave.
When the OSC 1, 2 button (D) is pressed, the FM knob (E) controls the amount of
exponential frequency modulation of A OSC 1 and A OSC 2 by A OSC 3. When the
FILTER button (G) is pressed, the FM knob (E) controls the amount of frequency mod-
ulation of the lter cutoff by A OSC 3.
The PW knob (H) lets you manually adjust the pulse width of the pulse wave for the
3 analog oscillators, from 50% to 95%. This same value is applied to each oscillator,
but doesn’t affect the digital oscillators. The pulse-width can also be modulated by
both envelopes and LFOs.
The Synthesizer
After toggling on, your Medusa unit will welcome you with an initial auto-calibration
process, the pads will pulse and there will be a progress bar visible on the top of the
middle screen.
A
B
C
EG F
D
H
K L M
I J
7
The NOISE knob (I) lets you mix a balance between brown noise (low-pass 6db/oct)
and violet noise (high-pass 6db/oct). In the middle position it offers grey noise (notch
ltered) equally mixing both the low-pass ltered noise and the high-pass ltered noise.
The SYNC 2 button (K) synchronizes A OSC 2 to A OSC 1, and SYNC 3 button (L) syn-
chronizes A OSC 3 to A OSC 2, letting you add extra harmonics to the wave form.
Important to note, the OSC 1,2 FM, SYNC 2, and SYNC 3 buttons have no effect on
the digital oscillators. They only affect the analog oscillators.
2. The Filter
The Medusa comes with a switchable, 3
state lter, offering 2-pole (12dB/oct) low
pass (LP), 4-pole (24dB/oct) LP lter, and
1-pole (6dB/oct) high pass (HP) settings.
Both resonance and tracking settings offer
further control of the lter, and the lter can self-oscillate.
Use the CUTOFF dial to control the cutoff frequency of the lter, the RESONANCE
knob to apply resonance to the lter, and lastly use the TRACK knob to adjust how
much or how little the lter tracks to the keyboard.
3. The Envelopes
The Medusa offers 5 loop-able, Delay-A-D-S-R
envelopes, with the 4th (FILTER) and 5th (AMP)
envelopes being dedicated to the lter and
amplier respectively. All the envelopes can
be assigned to modulate a list of targets (see
Appendix A - List of Modulation Destinations).
To activate and use envelope 1, 2, 3, or the FIL-
TER envelope (the AMP envelope is always on),
double click the corresponding button, and the
synth OLED will show the word “ON”. To turn off an envelope, simply double click it again.
To link the slider controls to a particular envelope, press and release the button for
that envelope (1, 2, 3, FILTER, or AMP). When you adjust the sliders, the light for the
envelope you’re controlling will blink, and the shape of the envelope will be dis-
played in the synth OLED.
The AMOUNT knob lets you control how much the envelope affects or modulates
the target, and the TARGET knob lets you choose what the envelope will modulate
(see Appendix A - List of Modulation Destinations). A short cut for linking an enve-
lope with a target is to press and hold the desired envelope button, and move the
knob or slider associated with the parameter. This also works for LFOs. Please, notice
that in order to add the FM modulator as a target for ENVs and LFOs you need to use
the choice of OSC 1,2 or Filter buttons instead of the AMOUNT knob.
Offering even more exibility, by pressing the LOOP button, the envelopes can be
set to repeat or loop, behaving more like shapeable LFOs, where the LFO shape and
rate is dened by the Delay-A-D-S-R values and how fast or slow the envelope cy-
cles through each stage.
8
4. The Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs)
The Medusa has 5 LFOs, with each LFO capable of variably
sweeping through sine, pulse/square, saw (ramp up), triangle,
and reverse saw (ramp down) waveforms. As you adjust the
WAVE knob to sweep through the waveforms, the synth OLED
will display the shape. LFO rates range from .01Hz to 30Hz and
can be assigned to a list of parameters (see Appendix A - List of
Modulation Destinations) selected with the TARGET knob.
The buttons numbered 1through 5let you quickly select each
of the independent LFOs, and the 4 knobs let you control the
LFO RATE, the LFO WAVE, the LFO AMOUNT (amplitude), and the
modulation TARGET for each of the LFOs. When lit, the SYNC but-
ton will force the LFOs to synchronize with the overall clock setting
of the sequencer and change the values displayed with the RATE
knob from Herz to note values.
A shortcut for linking an LFO with a TARGET is to press and hold the desired LFO button
and move the knob or slider associated with the desired target parameter. As men-
tioned earlier in the manual, this is also valid for the envelopes.
5. Play Modes
The Medusa offers 3 unique play modes:
M- this mode runs all 6 oscillators (3 analog and 3 digital)
through the lter in one thick, mono voice.
P1 - this mode lets you play up to 3 voices, with 2 oscillators
per voice (pairing A OSC1 with D OSC1 for voice 1, A OSC2
with D OSC2 for voice 2, etc)
P2 - this mode lets you play up to 6 voices, using 1 oscillator per voice, assigning oscil-
lators to chordal voices in sequential order (the rst 1st note in a chord will start with
A OSC1 and continue to the 6th note using D OSC3).
The table below compares the different modes:
For both P1 and P2 modes you can also set the Voice Priority to First, where whatever
note is played will grab the rst available A OSC, D OSC or pair of OSCs. If you play
monophonically in P1 or P2 (one note at a time), it will only use that rst oscillator.
With the Voice Priority set to Next, Medusa will rotate through the available OSCs,
allowing longer releases to sound. These settings are accessed through the CONFIG
menu (see page 18).
The GLIDE knob lets you adjust how quickly a note or notes will glide to their intended pitch.
MODE VOICES OSCs/VOICE FILTER CONFIG AMP CONFIG
M1 6 1 shared lter and envelope 1 shared amp envelope
P1 3 2 1 shared lter and envelope for all voices 1 shared amp envelope
P2 6 1 1 shared lter and envelope for all voices 1 amp envelope per voice (6 total)
9
6. Mixer and Volume
The mixer lets you balance the output
levels of the 3ANALOG oscillators OSC1,
OSC2, and OSC3; the NOISE source; and
the 3DIGITAL oscillators OSC1, OSC2,
and OSC3. When the MIXER amplitude
is turned down to minimum for any osc,
that osc is actually switched off.
The PHONES knob lets you control the volume for headphones
plugged into the headphone jack, and the MASTER dial lets you
control the volume from the line out on the back of the Medusa.
The Grid and Sequencer
1. How it’s Organized
To understand the Medusa,
it is important to understand
how it organizes, stores and
works with data.
When you save a Program on
the Medusa, you’re actually
saving:
1) Data related to the sound
the synthesizer makes (the
Patch Data shown in the il-
lustration at the right) and
2) The Medusa GRID Data
(also shown in the illustra-
tion to the right).
All the Data Saved in a Medusa Program
GRID Data
Notes Data
(for the sequencer)
C2, D2, F#2, E2, D3, etc.
Patch Modifying Data
- Waveforms
- Filter Cutoff
- Resonance
- Amp Envelope Settings
- Filter Envelope Settings
- LFO target
and so on...
- Waveforms
- Filter Cutoff
- Resonance
- Amp Envelope Settings
- Filter Envelope Settings
- LFO target
- LFO rate
- LFO amount
- PW
- FM amount
- Mixer OSC1
- Mixer OSC2
and so on...
Patch Data
Conceptually, the GRID on the Medusa consists of 3 things:
1) The 8 x 8 matrix of pads used to play notes and store parameters.
2) NOTE data determining what the sequencer plays.
3) PATCH Modifying Data (also referred to as PM Data in this manual) that lets you
modulate the Medusa sound on the y or program parameters to modulate the
synth with each step of the sequencer.
10
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Andere Polyend Synthesizer Handbücher
