# Berlin School Sequence and Space - Build Patch: [[Patches/Original/Berlin School Sequence and Space]] Signal path: [[Patches/Original/Berlin School Sequence and Space - SignalPath|SignalPath]] An incremental build of that patch. One or two cables at a time, so you can hear each stage and watch the interesting voltages on the Mordax DATA. Starting points, jack names, and the final cable list come from the patch note. DATA jack names and modes come from the official [DATA User Guide](https://mordax.link/DATA_User_Guide) (SYS V. 01.02.05, updated 230310), linked from [mordax.net](https://www.mordax.net/products/data). **Cable colors:** [[Cable Colors]] after [Learning Modular](https://learningmodular.com/choosing-patch-cables/): ⚪ Gray 1 V/oct · 🔵 Blue modulation · 🟡 Yellow audio · 🔴 Red gates/triggers · 🟢 Green clock/sync · ⚫ Black external ## Before you start - Power the case as usual. Seat the DATA in the main rack if it is not already there. The guide says its microSD card must stay in the slot during use. - Monitors or the A-540 down at first. - Set every module to the starting points in the [[Patches/Original/Berlin School Sequence and Space|patch note]] before you add cables: Mother-32 a 16-step ostinato in one key, no swing, saw wave, CUTOFF around 1 o'clock, a little resonance, short EG decay, LFO RATE slow (about one cycle every 2 to 4 bars); Disting #1 on **B-1**, parameter 4 (Atten B) low (3 or 4), Z (slew) at minimum; Disting #2 on **A-6**, Z on a scale that fits, such as minor; Rings modal resonator, polyphony 2, STRUCTURE 11 o'clock, BRIGHTNESS 10 o'clock, DAMPING 2 o'clock, FREQUENCY an octave or two above the Mother-32; Beads DRY/WET at 1 o'clock, REVERB at 2 o'clock, FEEDBACK at 10 o'clock. - On the DATA, open the **Oscilloscope** program from the main menu. In each channel's pop-up menu, set **COUPL** to **DC**. The guide says you typically want to view signals as DC; AC coupling blocks a steady voltage and will make a clock or a stepped CV sit at 0 V or droop. Use trigger mode **AUTO** whenever the time scale is in the hundreds of milliseconds or in seconds. **DATA jacks, as named in the User Guide:** four **Input Jacks** (±10 V), four **Buffered Through Jacks**, and four **Output Jacks**. This build uses only the inputs and the throughs. The guide: "Regardless of the program running, a signal present at an Input Jack is buffered and sent back out of its corresponding Through Jack for use elsewhere in your patch." The official panel photo on mordax.net numbers those channels **1–4**; each Through Jack sits directly under its Input Jack, with a downward triangle between them. The panel does not silk-screen the words Input or Through; if your panel reads differently, check the panel. The Output Jacks (the right-hand bank, also numbered 1–4) are unused here. **Pass-through habit:** to watch a signal, unplug the destination end, go from the source into a DATA Input Jack, and continue from that channel's Buffered Through Jack to the destination. The cable color stays the color of the signal. The DATA has four channels, so they get reassigned as the build moves. A running plan is at the top of each step. ## 1. Hear the ostinato dry **DATA:** channel 1 watches the Mother-32 VCA. Channels 2–4 are free. **Cables** 1. 🟡 Yellow · Mother-32 VCA (out) -> DATA channel 1 Input Jack 2. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 1 Buffered Through Jack -> A-540 channel A input **Set.** Run the 16-step ostinato. A-540 up just enough to hear. Leave Beads out of the path for now. **Listen for.** A steady, hypnotic saw sequence, short decay, no swing. In the spirit of Schulze's "Crystal Lake," but still dry and in one speaker. **Watch on DATA.** Channel 1, Oscilloscope, TIME around 1MS to see the saw, or 500MS to 1.0S (AUTO) to see the amplitude envelope pulse with the sequence. SCALE 5.0V. The Tuner can read a held note on this channel (27.50 Hz to 2,960 Hz). **If it doesn't sound right.** No sequence: the Mother-32 sequencer may be stopped, or the VCA MODE may be off. A long, pad-like note: shorten the EG decay. ## 2. Add Rings, still dry **DATA:** channel 1 Mother-32 audio, channel 2 Rings audio. Pitch arrives in the next step; for now, strike Rings by hand. **Cables** 1. 🟡 Yellow · Rings ODD or EVEN (out; with one jack patched, both signals are mixed) -> DATA channel 2 Input Jack 2. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 2 Buffered Through Jack -> A-540 channel B input **Set.** Rings already in modal mode, polyphony 2, FREQUENCY an octave or two above. Leave STRUM unpatched. Turn FREQUENCY, or patch a brief voltage into V/OCT, to start a note. **Listen for.** Bell-like notes on the right, above the ostinato on the left. The two voices are still dry and out of the same room. **Watch on DATA.** Channel 2, Oscilloscope, TIME around 1MS, SCALE 5.0V, AUTO then NORM if it steadies. A decaying, ringing strike, not a steady oscillator. The Tuner can check this pitch, though a decaying bell may wander as partials die. **If it doesn't sound right.** No strike unless you move FREQUENCY: that is normal until pitch changes arrive in the next step. Short, dull ticks: raise DAMPING. ## 3. Let the Distings pick Rings' notes **DATA:** channel 1 Mother-32, channel 2 Rings, channel 3 Disting #2 quantized pitch. The LFO square is the clock for this voice, and it is not synced to the sequencer. **Cables** 1. 🟡 Yellow · Disting #1 B (out, noise) -> Disting #1 X (in) (judgment call) 2. 🔴 Red · Mother-32 **LFO SQ** (out) -> Disting #1 Y (in) (judgment call). Panel label per Mother-32 Users Manual: LFO SQ. 3. ⚪ Gray · Disting #1 A (out) -> Disting #2 X (in) 4. ⚪ Gray · Disting #2 A (out, quantized pitch) -> DATA channel 3 Input Jack 5. ⚪ Gray · DATA channel 3 Buffered Through Jack -> Rings V/OCT (in) **Set.** LFO RATE still slow, one cycle every 2 to 4 bars. Disting #1 slew at minimum so the notes stay stepped. STRUM stays unpatched, so Rings starts a note on each pitch change. **Listen for.** Rings now plays bell-like notes out of step with the ostinato, like a hand-played melody over a metronome. Every note should land in the scale you set on Disting #2. **Watch on DATA.** Channel 3, Oscilloscope or Voltage Monitor, TIME around 1.0S to 5.0S, trigger AUTO, SCALE 2.0V. You should see a stepped voltage that jumps on each LFO square, much slower than the ostinato. If the steps sit at 0 V, COUPL may be on AC. **If it doesn't sound right.** Rings still only speaks when you turn FREQUENCY: the quantized CV may not be reaching V/OCT, or the LFO square may not be triggering the sample and hold. Sour notes: check Disting #2's scale. Wild octave jumps: lower Disting #1 parameter 4 (Atten B); the noise is ±8 V at maximum. ## 4. Put both voices in Beads **DATA:** keep channels 2 and 3. Reroute channel 1 so the Mother-32 VCA still appears on the scope, but now continues into Beads IN L. Channel 4 can watch Beads L if you want the wet signal; otherwise leave it free. **Cables.** Unplug both dry runs from the A-540 (channel 1's Through Jack, and channel 2's Through Jack). Then: 1. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 1 Buffered Through Jack -> Beads **IN L** (Mother-32 VCA should still be in channel 1's Input Jack) 2. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 2 Buffered Through Jack -> Beads **IN R** (Rings should still be in channel 2's Input Jack) 3. 🟡 Yellow · Beads L (out) -> A-540 **channel A input** (1/8″ modular-level jack, per ladik.eu) 4. 🟡 Yellow · Beads R (out) -> A-540 **channel B input** (1/8″ modular-level jack, per ladik.eu) **Set.** Beads already at the starting points. The input gain sets itself when you plug in. For a delay as well, SIZE fully clockwise turns Beads into a delay; latch SEED and set the time with DENSITY, or patch Mother-32 ASSIGN into Beads SEED to lock it to the tempo. That ASSIGN cable is optional and is not in the patch note's cable list. **Listen for.** Both voices sit in a wide wash of reverb, and of delay if you added it. The ostinato stays hypnotic; Rings still plays out of step above it. **Watch on DATA.** Channels 1 and 2 are still the dry voices going into Beads. If you would rather see the wet output, move a channel between Beads L and A-540 A. **If it doesn't sound right.** Dry as before: DRY/WET may be fully counter-clockwise, or Beads may be bypassed. Only one voice in the room: one of the dry cables may still be on the A-540. A howl: lower FEEDBACK. ## Full patch These are the cables from the patch note. If the DATA is still in the path, each watched signal is two cables (source to Input Jack, Buffered Through Jack to destination) instead of one. 1. 🟡 Yellow · Mother-32 VCA (out) -> Beads **IN L** (audio input (1) in the manual; firmware update procedure names this jack IN L) 2. 🟡 Yellow · Disting #1 B (out, noise) -> Disting #1 X (in) (judgment call) 3. 🔴 Red · Mother-32 **LFO SQ** (out) -> Disting #1 Y (in) (judgment call). Panel label per Mother-32 Users Manual: LFO SQ. The LFO is not synced to the sequencer, so Rings changes notes at a rate unrelated to the ostinato. 4. ⚪ Gray · Disting #1 A (out) -> Disting #2 X (in) 5. ⚪ Gray · Disting #2 A (out, quantized pitch) -> Rings V/OCT (in). With STRUM unpatched, Rings starts a note on each pitch change. 6. 🟡 Yellow · Rings ODD or EVEN (out; with one jack patched, both signals are mixed) -> Beads **IN R** (the other audio input (1); stereo pair with IN L) 7. 🟡 Yellow · Beads L (out) -> A-540 **channel A input** (1/8″ modular-level jack, per ladik.eu) 8. 🟡 Yellow · Beads R (out) -> A-540 **channel B input** (1/8″ modular-level jack, per ladik.eu) With the DATA left in as of step 4, the watched paths are: cable 1 through DATA channel 1, cable 6 through channel 2, and cable 5 through channel 3. Cables 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 run direct. The DATA can stay in or come out. To remove it, patch each watched signal straight from source to destination, as in the list above. The sound should not change; you just lose the graphs. **What it should sound like, once the last cable is in:** a steady, hypnotic Mother-32 sequence in the spirit of Schulze's "Crystal Lake." Above it, Rings plays bell-like notes out of step with the sequence, like a hand-played melody over a metronome. Both voices sit in a wide wash of reverb and delay from Beads.