# Seahorse - Lo-Fi Shift Register Duo - Build Patch: [[Patches/Seahorse/Seahorse - Lo-Fi Shift Register Duo]] Signal path: [[Patches/Seahorse/Seahorse - Lo-Fi Shift Register Duo - 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 cases as usual. The DATA lives in **Eurorack 001 Installed** (BLACK panel, 16 HP), per [[Rack]] and [[Modules/DATA]]. Move it into the SeaHorse if you have 16 HP free — that case has open room — or fly cables from the SeaHorse to the DATA still sitting in the main rack. If neither is practical, skip the pass-throughs and build by ear; every "Watch on DATA" step is optional. The guide says its microSD card must stay in the slot during use. - Monitors, Mini Speakers, or the A-541 down at first. SEEDS, Grains, Micro Sequence, Echo, Passive Mult and Mini Speaker silk-screens are check panel. Ginko does not publish a user manual for the SEEDS or Grains panels, only building manuals. - Set every module to the starting points in the [[Patches/Seahorse/Seahorse - Lo-Fi Shift Register Duo|patch note]] before you add cables: Micro Sequence on a slow tapped tempo, clock only; Disting on **F-6**, Scale 5 (root + 5th), Length 16, Slew around 8, Z starting at 0 (most random) until you lock it at "**" (about +2 V); SEEDS picked by ear and tuned so the Disting root lines up with Grains; Grains set for a steady, low buzzing tone; Shades attenuator mode, channel 1 (SEEDS) at noon, channel 2 (Grains) fully clockwise; Echo Rate 11 o'clock, Feedback 1 o'clock, Mix 12 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 drone and the 8-bit voice dry **DATA:** channel 1 Grains, channel 2 SEEDS. If the DATA stayed in the main rack, fly these over or move the DATA first. Both audio jacks are check panel. **Cables** 1. 🟡 Yellow · Grains audio output (check panel) -> DATA channel 1 Input Jack 2. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 1 Buffered Through Jack -> A-541 channel A input (1/8″) 3. 🟡 Yellow · SEEDS audio output (check panel) -> DATA channel 2 Input Jack 4. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 2 Buffered Through Jack -> A-541 channel B input (1/8″) **Set.** Grains pots for a steady buzzing tone, low. SEEDS on a sound of your choosing; there is no published user manual for the panel. Tune them to the same root by ear. A-541 up just enough. Grains cannot exceed about 5 V peak-to-peak, so it will read quieter. **Listen for.** A buzzy granular drone on one side and a chiptune-flavoured tone on the other, both still unsequenced. **Watch on DATA.** Channel 1, Oscilloscope, TIME around 1MS, SCALE 2.0V: a small, busy waveform. Channel 2, SCALE 5.0V: a brighter, often more squared 8-bit tone. The Tuner can try either channel (27.50 Hz to 2,960 Hz). **If it doesn't sound right.** Silence: both output jacks are check panel. SEEDS completely buries Grains: that is expected until Shades balances them in a later step. ## 2. Add the clock and the shift register **DATA:** channel 3 the Micro Sequence clock, channel 4 Disting A (pitch). Clock and SEEDS pitch jacks are check panel. **Cables** 1. 🟢 Green · Micro Sequence Tap Tempo Clock output (5 V per maker; check panel) -> DATA channel 3 Input Jack 2. 🟢 Green · DATA channel 3 Buffered Through Jack -> Disting X (in, clock) 3. ⚪ Gray · Disting A (out, quantized CV) -> DATA channel 4 Input Jack 4. ⚪ Gray · DATA channel 4 Buffered Through Jack -> SEEDS pitch CV input (check panel) **Set.** Leave Disting Z at 0 so the register is most random. Length 16, scale on root plus fifth, a little slew. **Listen for.** The SEEDS melody starts wandering over roots and fifths on top of the drone. It keeps changing, and should not clash hard with Grains. I have no maker figure for how well SEEDS tracks 1 V/oct; if the roots and fifths drift, treat it as texture or narrow Disting parameter 3 (Output attenuverter). **Watch on DATA.** Channel 3, Oscilloscope, TIME around 500MS to 1.0S, AUTO, SCALE 2.0V: a slow clock, 5 V per the maker. Channel 4, same window: a stepped, sometimes slewed voltage that does not yet repeat a single 16-note loop. **If it doesn't sound right.** SEEDS still on one pitch: the pitch jack is check panel, or Disting A is not reaching it. Sour, out-of-scale notes: Parameter 2 should be 5 (root + 5th). No motion: the clock jack is check panel, or Disting is not on F-6. ## 3. Lock the loop **DATA:** no new cables, same four channels. **Set.** When you like the loop, turn Z up until the display shows "**" (about +2 V). **Listen for.** The same 16-step melody now repeats over the drone. This step adds no sound of its own; it only stops the register from flipping bits. **Watch on DATA.** Channel 4's staircase should now repeat every 16 pulses on channel 3. **If it doesn't sound right.** The melody keeps changing: Z is not at the lock point, or something is already holding the Z input down. ## 4. Mix and add a dark echo **DATA:** unplug Grains and SEEDS from the A-541 and send the mix through the Echo. Echo, Passive Mult and Mini Speaker silk-screens are check panel. **Cables.** Unplug channel 1 and 2 Through Jacks from the A-541. Then: 1. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 2 Buffered Through Jack -> Shades channel 1 Signal input 2. 🟡 Yellow · DATA channel 1 Buffered Through Jack -> Shades channel 2 Signal input 3. 🟡 Yellow · Shades channel 2 Signal output (channels 1 + 2; leave channel 1's output empty) -> Echo audio input (check panel) 4. 🟡 Yellow · Echo output (check panel) -> Passive Mult 5. ⚫ Black · Passive Mult -> Mini Speaker 1 input (check panel) (judgment call) 6. ⚫ Black · Passive Mult -> Mini Speaker 2 input (check panel) (judgment call) 7. 🟡 Yellow · Passive Mult -> A-541 channel A input (1/8″) **Set.** Shades channel 1 (SEEDS) at noon, channel 2 (Grains) fully clockwise; Shades can only cut, not boost, so balance by turning SEEDS down. Echo already at the starting points. **Listen for.** The locked (or unlocked) chiptune melody over the buzzy drone, with a dark echo behind it. **Watch on DATA.** Channels 1 and 2 are still the dry voices going into Shades. Channels 3 and 4 still show clock and pitch. **If it doesn't sound right.** Only one voice: Shades channel 1's output may be patched, which would break the 2-into-1 mix. No echo: the Echo input and output are check panel. ## 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. 🟢 Green · Micro Sequence Tap Tempo Clock output (5 V per maker; check panel) -> Disting X (in, clock) 2. ⚪ Gray · Disting A (out, quantized CV) -> SEEDS pitch CV input (check panel) 3. 🟡 Yellow · SEEDS audio output (check panel) -> Shades channel 1 Signal input 4. 🟡 Yellow · Grains audio output (check panel) -> Shades channel 2 Signal input 5. 🟡 Yellow · Shades channel 2 Signal output (channels 1 + 2; leave channel 1's output empty) -> Echo audio input (check panel) 6. 🟡 Yellow · Echo output (check panel) -> Passive Mult 7. ⚫ Black · Passive Mult -> Mini Speaker 1 input (check panel) (judgment call) 8. ⚫ Black · Passive Mult -> Mini Speaker 2 input (check panel) (judgment call) 9. 🟡 Yellow · Passive Mult -> A-541 channel A input (1/8″) With the DATA left in as of step 4, the watched paths are: cable 4 through DATA channel 1, cable 3 through channel 2, cable 1 through channel 3, and cable 2 through channel 4. Cables 5–9 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 chiptune-flavoured melody wandering over roots and fifths on top of a buzzy granular drone, with a dark echo behind it. It keeps changing until you lock it.