MOOG SUB 37 TIPS (VOLUME IV)
The Sub 37 and Aftertouch...
Many of the patches in Volume III make use of aftertouch. One of the most common complaints about aftertouch is that it goes from zero to full way too fast. Leaving much of the range in between largely unused. Well I'm here to tell you that the 37 has a trick up it's sleeve to remedy that. In the global settings of the Sub/Subsequent 37, you will find 3 parameters that can greatly increase the usability and control of aftertouch. These settings are in the Pressure Cal section. Parameter 1 is the minimum amount of aftertouch that will be applied. Parameter 2 is the maximum amount of aftertouch that will be applied. Parameter 3, the most important one, is called slew. This parameter can help create a smooth onset of the aftertouch and make it more usable and easy to control.
We have these global parameters set to:
Pressure Cal Minimum: 200
Pressure Cal Maximum: 8191
Pressure Cal Slew: 840
We like a very smooth onset so we have ours set pretty high at the moment. This setting almost needs to be tailored to each preset but sadly, it is a global setting. We often make changes to this setting depending on the musical context and the patch being used. For those of you that are heavy aftertouch users, these settings should be customized to the performance.
While the default settings work perfectly fine in every way, we suggest that you take the time to experiment with and adjust these settings to match the atmosphere and tempo of the song or part that you are working on.
Understanding the LFOs...
What you need to understand about the LFOs is that they aren't just LFOs. They are modulation generators that have 18 different options for the "source" that drives/generates the modulation. Of course, the usual LFO wave shapes are on offer but if you turn the mod source knob all the way to the right, you get 13 more options to choose from via the controllers menu. The default setting in this menu is the filter envelope. Other options include "Constant On", "Noise LFO", "Seq Mod" etc.
"Constant On" is just what it says. A static amount (100%) that is useful when you don't want the oscillating motion that is usually associated with traditional LFOs. This is useful for obvious things like opening the filter with the modwheel or aftertouch.
The default destinations for the LFOs are Osc 1/2 Pitch, Filter Cutoff and Osc 1/2 Shape. The 3rd destination knob in each LFO section (the bottom one) gives you access to quite a few destinations via the button's last setting "PRG/EG TIMES" and the controllers menu. There are 86 destinations in this menu. Check out our LFO info image for a visual approach.
The Variance
This parameter is found in the global edit menu. (Variance is a global setting which means that it will be applied to all presets) Variance introduces a random tuning offset to each note. The offset is updated at each note-on event. Oscillators 1 and 2 are offset symmetrically; if Oscillator 1 is offset 3.1 cents sharp, Oscillator 2 will be 3.1 cents flat. The VARIANCE parameter sets the maximum amount of detuning, using increments of 0.1 cents.
We like to keep this setting between 3 and 8 cents to add some of that vintage character. Many of the presets in Volume III already have the oscillators detuned in various ways. We suggest starting with a variance of zero and tailoring this setting for each performance.