Product Review - Moon Modular M-563 Trigger Sequencer

[morbius]

In so much as I own two Synthesizer.com modular systems, and am an old 'Moog' and 'ARP' dude from the early 70's... kinda take my review of this module with that in mind. And... it would be helpful in some of my comparisons, if you are at least 'familiar' with, but preferably an owner of either Dotcom's Q96X-series of sequencing modules, or Moog's 960/962.

As soon as I saw Moon Modular's M-563 Trigger Sequencer, I wanted one. Period. And "damn the torpedos"! Now, after receiving my M563, I did do some 'suggesting' and trouble-shooting with the fine people at Moon Modular... and they were extremely 'open' to my suggestions... did an update/retro-fix, and returned the module as promptly as one could expect from Germany to the USA.

Now- this was pretty soon after the initial release... and as with any new company starting-up... there's a short period of fine-tuning and tweaking to be done... and I'd say they did it quite well! So- on to the review...

The Trigger Sequencer is exactly what the name suggests... it is a "trigger" sequencer.... NOT a regular sequencer. The difference is... if you have been planning on buying an analog stepping sequencer to produce notes, melodies, etc. .... this is NOT the same animal. The M-563 is, I would say, closer to an add-on for an existing stepping sequencer... (that is- if you already have one or more sequencers). So don't think "Ah! This is cheaper than the Q960, or the Q119... I'll just buy it!".... cuz it won't do what you need.

If you're familiar with the Dotcom Q963 Trigger-Bus... this module is much closer to providing the same sort of function... but with substantial differences. First- the M-563 is a 'stand-alone' module (meaning it, unlike the Q963, is NOT connected to (or reliant on) the Q960 behind the panel)... it is placed where ever you want, with no real need to be adjacent to the main sequencer(s). Note: this module will not fit in the bottom-row of the Dotcom's Studio-44 cabinet due to the configuration of the PCB's on the rear of the module. It 'will' fit in the upper-row, or in Studio-22, or Portable cabinets. Power connection is quick and easy, with connectors on board for either Dotcom's, or COTK. Just plug, and play... that easy.

This is another example of the 'quad' concept... with four rows (of 8 steps or stages); four 'Timing' pots (which are more like pulse-width settings, like on the Q119 Sequencer); four 'Shift' inputs; four 'Trigger' outputs; a 'Reset' jack and push-button; and internal oscillator 'ON' and 'OFF' jacks and push-buttons; a white indicator lamp (consistent with Moog and Dotcom); and push-buttons for 'Shift All', and 'Reset All'.

The 8 switches on each of the four rows are 3-position... 'Gate On', 'Gate Off', and 'Reset' (which is like 'reset-point'). There are also red LED indicators for each of the 8 stages, of each of the four rows. An interesting idea was to use switching-jacks (used for external triggers to control each row independently) on the 'shift inputs', and to wire them so that patching to input 1 controls all 4 rows... UNLESS- you patch another external trigger to input #2, in which case row 1 follows the first input... rows 2, 3, and 4 follow the #2 input... and this continues thru ext. input 3, and 4.

So conceivably- you could have four separate external inputs, each patched to it's own row, and they'd all react independently.... OR- add the internal oscillator into this scheme... the internal osc. controls all rows... until/unless an external trigger input is patched to one or more of the jacks. In which case, the same staggered operation occurs... #1 input overrides all four rows... unless an external is patched to #2, and/or #3, and/or, #4. So, you can have both the internal osc., and external trigger sources controlling individual rows. It sometimes does require some advanced planning regarding which row-number controls what.

The internal oscillator has a frequency control pot... but no external frequency voltage input... so- you cannot control the internal osc.'s frequency via voltage-control... but you can turn it 'on' and 'off'. The frequency range of the internal osc. is much more limited, if you compare it to the internal osc.'s of a Q960 or a Moog 960. Sometimes, I had to decide which I wanted to use as the master-clock... one of my sequencers... an external osc., or the M-563's internal osc. Sometimes, just depending on the patch, and what you're wanting to do... you may find yourself changing which osc. is used as the master, and which is going to be slaved. And- you may end-up changing this back and forth a few times... just depending.

The 'Timing' pots for each of the four rows... these guys can be critical, and if not set right, can make the difference between the triggers being sent from that row driving whatever it's patched to, or not. And some modules may 'see' the triggers when this pot is set at '2', and others may want to 'see' it at '4' or something else. In any case, "I'd rather have it, than not".

One tendency that I've experienced over and over again, is that when you use this module in combination with several other sequencing modules... you end-up with so many possibilities, you can get lost in just experimenting... forgetting that you 'had' planned on recording something. (or maybe that's just me).

Uses:
I'm not 100% sure that I've explored this module to it's final limits, as of yet. I've used it to reset trigger-points of a running sequencer(s) (much like the Q963 Trigger-Bus)... I've used it as a master-control, advancing each step of the sequencer(s)(and you can make patterns this way)... or- have one row control the VCA-EG, another control the VCF-EG, another control additional EG's which produce accents for the sequence... and another row to control the shift-timing of other sequencers, or sequential switches, or just electronic switches.

As an experiment, I did patch the outputs from rows to a mixer, then patched the mixer to the CV-input(s) of the 'tonal' oscillator(s)... in essence, attempting to create a standard sequencer function. It is limited to 4-notes... and is a 'less than ideal' way to do a 4-note sequence... but it worked (albeit too impractical,really).

Do I think this is the 'end all, and be all' of sequencing? Nope. It's just an extra tool that 'clever' individuals may find numerous uses for. If I were on a budget (or very limited space), with a dotcom system and Q960 sequencer... I'd buy the Q963. But- for those who may have the budget and space... you may just become quite fond of this module. And- As I've said... my experience with the good folks at Moon Modular has been great! They have been responsive, and I could tell that 'customer relations' was at the top of their concerns. So, whether you're thinking of buying this module, or one or all of the others... have no fear with Moon!

~Morbius~