Godfried Manual

This is a preliminary draft version of Godfried’s manual, so everything is subject to change without notice! [/end_of_legal_notice]

WHO IS GODFRIED?

Godfried is your personal timing afficionado that conducts all your timing related issues serving up to 6 different trigger outputs. And while he is at it, Godfried serves a CV, to.

Or without that marketing gossip, Godfried is intended to be your systems master clock. It has 6 trigger and 1 CV outputs.

POLYRHYTMIC

Godfried is fully polyrhythmic. This means every track runs its own tempo which is derived by an arithmetic ratio from the internal Master Clock.

By default every track runs on a 1:1 ratio, thus being synchronized to the master clock. A 16 step sequence then takes 16 clock beats to cycle. If you want it to run the classic 16th stuff set its Beats parameter to 4, so the 16 steps play in 4 beats time. If a track is configure as Algebraic Clock Divider or Turing Sequencer its a bit different: set Counts to 1 and Fract to 4 which means every step takes 1/4th of the master clock.

Don’t fear, we will explain this in detail with the different track types later.

BASIC USAGE

TRANSPORT BUTTONS

If Godfried is configured to run on its internal high precision clock the buttons act like classic CD-Player controls:

Pushing the green Play Button will start the internal clock, indicated by the blinking green LED. Pushing again pauses the clock, indicated by a steady lit green LED. Pushing again will restart the clock from exactly the position it was halted.

Pushing the red Stop Button will stop and reset the master clock, reset all track clocks and resets all tracks to step 1. This is indicated by a permanently lit red LED.

If you want to avoid accidentially interrupting Godfried during a performance you may lock the transport buttons: while the clock is running by holding down the run button and then push the stop button. Godfried is now in RunLock Mode and will happily ignore any transport button pushes. To indicate RunLock both red and green LEDs blink simultaneously. To end RunLock mode push the stop button for prolonged time, Godfried will stop and reset after about a second. Please note that RunLock does not work for the A and B inputs performing trigger related purposes.

ENCODER AND EXIT BUTTON

The encoder is used to move the cursor frame, or if a value is highlighted to change the value. Click the encoder button to select an item or to confirm a changed value. Sometimes you can hold down the encoder button to access a hidden menu – we’ll share these secrets with you where appropriate.

Use the Exit Button to cancel a value change or exit a menu to the level above.

MENU STRUCTURE

We tried to make the menu system as flat as possible. So there are only 2 levels: the Main Menu, from which you head only one further level to the 7 Track Menus or the Clock- and Memory Menu

MAIN MENU

The Main Menu gives a quick overview of whats going on with Godfried and is your starting point to the track submenus and as well to the clock and memory submenu.

The tracks are labeled with the tracks number and the type of the track. The position on the screen represents the position of the corresponing jack on the panel. The CV track in the upper right corner of the screen is labeled “OFF” if its inactive or only the type of the CV track. Clock Menu and Memory Menu are obviously labeled with their names.

ACTION INDICATORS

There is a little blinking rectangle in the upper right corner of each labels that indicates a trigger pulse on the output. The Clock Menu label displays the internal Master Clock and additionally has 2 blinking rectangles at the bottem left for a trigger pulse on the A input, respective at the bottom right for the B input.

MANUAL TRIGGER

If you have selected one of the trigger tracks Godfried will send a trigger Pulse when you push the exit button.

ACCESSING SUB MENUS

To access a submenu select the desired tracks or menus label by turning the encoder until the cursor rectangle hits the its label. Now push the encoder button to access the selected tracks submenu.

CHANGING TRACK TYPES

You can change the selected track’s type by keeping the encoder button pressed. After a second the Type Select Window will open. Select the desired track type by turning the encoder. Press the encoder button to change the tracks type or use the exit button to cancel.

GODFRIEDs DIFFERENT TRACK TYPES:

Godfried has 6 Trigger Tracks that send 1ms…10ms +8V trigger pules and a single CV Track that sends voltages from 0…4,95 V with 12 bit resolution.

The trigger tracks can be of different types either

• CMD for sending Command triggers or gates according to the transport buttons
• ACG for using the Arithmetic Clock Divider to send triggers depending on the master vlock
• XOX acting as a freely configurable 64 step Trigger Sequencer
• EUC acting as an Euclidean Sequencer
• CVT serving triggers according to the CV Tracks behaviour

The CV Track can be either type

• CV acting as a 64 step CV Sequencer with 7 Bit (0-127)
• NOTE acting as a 64 step Note Sequencer quantized to the 1V/Oct standard
• TUR acting as a Turing Machine Sequencer with up to 32 bit shift register and 12 bit DAC register
• ACC
• CAL

All of these tracks are fully polyrhythmic derived from the master clock.

The different trigger track types in detail:

CMD – Command

Command type tracks send triggers and gates responding to the transport buttons and are independent of the master clock. You may choose between

• Trigger on RUN
• Trigger on STOP
• Trigger on STOP
• Trigger on PAUSE
• Gate on RUN
• Gate on STOP
• Gate on PAUSE
• OFF

To change the command simply push the encoder button – the cursor frame will become highlighted. Turn the encoder until your desired command is shown and push the encoder button to confirm.

When you are done adjusting, push the exit button to return to the main menu.

ACG – Algebraic Clock Divider

The Algebraic Clock Divider is used to easily generate triggers that are in an algebraic ratio to the master clock, think of it as both a “Clock Divider” or “Clock Multiplier”.

The classic Clock Divider divides a master clock by a given number, mostly a perceived musically usefull. So it generates a trigger every 2, 4, 8…etc master clock beats, some do even weired things like uneven numbers. Similar goes for Clock Multipliers that mostly generate 2, 4, 8… etc evenly spaced triggers for one beat of the master clock.

The Algebraic Clock Divider (ACG) takes a broader approach as you can select almost any ratio you like and you dont need to differentiate between “Divider” and “Multiplier”. Backdraft is you might need to remember some basic algebra from way back in school.

ACG type tracks generate a trigger pulse every count of a C/F fraction of the master clocks beat, determined by the Counts (C) and Fraction (F) parameters (numerator and denominator mathematically speaking).

Here are some examples:

Counts = 4, Fraction=1 generates a trigger every 4 beats of the master clock – a classic Clock Divider

Counts = 1, Fraction= 4 generates 4 triggers for every single beat of the master clock – a classic clock multiplier

Counts=7, Fraction=2 generates a trigger pulse every 3.5 beats of the master clock – not sooo classic anymore….

Counts=13, Fraction=7 generates a trigger pulse every 13/7 beats of the master clock, that is a 0,4642th note given a 4/4 bar on the master clock which means a trigger every 0,9285s with a master tempo of 120.00 bpm.

Please note, that the Fraction parameter goes all the way up to 32, so it divides a beat of the master clock into 32 slices – thats a 128th note if you consider a 4/4 bar. Please further note, that Counts=4 and Fraction=8 is the same as Counts=1 and Fraction=2. And so on, remember?

ACG DIVIDER

Since there is a need for “long” dividers the ACG additionally has an adjustable divider that counts the ACG steps and only triggers every N-th step of the ACG. You can simply set it with the N Parameter, that goes all the way up to 9999. By default its set to 1, so you might just ignore it if you dont need something like a trigger every 2002/17th beat of the masterclock. The complete formula for a trigger pulse is N * (Counts/Beats) of the master clock.

N is displayed on the bottom left label, the bottom middle label shows the actual counted ACG steps, the right label shows the track number.

ACG PRECISION

Since a digital clock is always quantized rounding errors might occur. Godfried distributes these are as evenly as possible to the single steps so the everything stays in sync forever for a cycle of Fraction steps. We are speaking of microseconds of jitter inbetween….

When you are done adjusting, push the exit button to return to the main menu.

XOX – Trigger Sequencer

The classic XOX style sequencer plays trigger sequences of up to 64 steps length. You guessed right – X indicates the step is switched on and the little square means the step is switched of…..

STEP NUMBER AND EDIT WINDOW INDICATORS

On the top of the screen youll notice some graphics that change with the clock or encoder action. As the display only (usefully) can show 16 Steps the small rectangle above shows a representation of the whole pattern. The small triangle indicates the patterns length, the bars indicate how many pages of 16 steps are present and the frame indicates which of these pages is actually displayed. The small rectangle moves with the clock and indicates the currently played step.

In the lower right corner auf the screen the tracks number and the cursor position are displayed.

SEQUENCE EDITING

Move the cursor rectangle to the desired step. Push the encoder button to toggle between X (on) and O (off). That simple.

PATTERN LENGTH

To select the menu items at the bottom of the screen you will have to dial trough all the steps of the sequence either forward or backwards.

Move the cursor to the L labeled slot and push the encoder button. The Change Length Window will open and you can turn the encoder to adjust the sequence’s length. Your change will take place instantly, even while the clock is running. Push the encoder button to approve or the exit button to cancel your change and return to the XOX Menu.

PATTERN BEATS – POLYRHYTHMS

The Beats parameter sets how many beats of the master clock it takes to play all the steps of the sequence (which is set with the length parameter).

By default Beats is set to the same value as Length, so 1 beat of the master clock advances the sequence by 1 step. This is indicated by the striked out label PRH (the term PRH stands for “PolyRHythmic” and is stolen from Colin Frasers brilliant Cirklon Sequencer). To make the pattern polyrhythmic simply change this parameter as described above for the length parameter. If you chose to change the beats, this is indicated by a B + the number of beats, instead of the striked out PRH.

Setting beats to a higher value than length makes the sequence play slower, setting it lower makes it play faster. In any case the sequence stays in sync to the master clock over each revolution – we took care theres no microscopic drift whatsoever so your sequences stay synced, no matter how long they are played.

Here are some examples:

• Length=16, Beats=4 is the classic 16 step per 1 4/4 bar sequence
• Lenght =4, Beats=16 play a step ever full note assuming a 4/4 bar
• Lenght=7, Beats=5 plays the 7 steps of the sequence in 5 beats of the Master Clock. This is a Polyrhythm.

PATTERN OFFSET

You may change the starting step of the sequence by changing the Offset parameter. By default there is no offset set, so it shows a striked out OFT. You can change this Parameter as described above, the label will change to O + the number of steps the pattern is rotated to the right. The maximum value is the patterns lenght -1, as there is no sense in circling around.

Use the exit button to return to the main menu

EUC – Euclidean Sequencer

The Euclidean Sequencer type turns the track into a full blown euclidean pattern generator. You may read Touissant’s original paper quintessentially explaining the idea of Euclidean Rhythms here. By the way, this is where Godfried’s name comes from.

The screen shows a polygonal representation of the euclidean pattern, commonly named Euclidean Circle nowadays. On the scope there are as many dots as the length of the pattern, a filled dot represents a step which is “on” hence plays a trigger. The moving ring at the radius indicates the currently played step.

LENGTH, BEATS AND OFFSET PARAMETERS

These and the 2 numbers bottom right at the screen are the same as described for the XOX sequencer type. Please have a look there.

STEPS PARAMETER

Specific for an euclidean pattern is the Steps parameter, which you find in the middle if the left Row. This parameter indicates how many steps of the sequence are switched on. Or for the ones who read the paper above, its k.

>XOX

May be you want to edit your euclidean rhythm? Simply select this Paramter, confirm the change and the sequence is converted to a XOX type sequence on the same track.

CVT – CV Track Triggers

This track types generates Triggers according to the CV tracks behaviour, this means whenever a step of the CV track is switched on, it triggers. For Turing type CV track it triggers whenver the step register advances. Since there are no parameters to this there is nothing more to describe. And no picture.

CV – Control Voltages

The CV Type lets you use the CV track to send classic 7 bit MIDI style CVs from 0V to 4,95V

Step Number, Edit Window Indicator, Length, Beats and Offset parameters are the same as descibed for the XOX sequencer type above, so please have a look there.

SWITCHING STEPS ON AND OFF

To toggle a steps status simply select it with the cursor and push the encoder button. The CV will only change at selected steps and be held as long as the next selected step is played.

CHANGING A STEPS CV VALUE

To change a steps CV keep the encoder button pushed for about 1/2 second. A small window pops up and you can change the value by turning the encoder. Push the encoder button to confirm the new value or the exit button to cancel.

NTE – Note Sequencer

The Note Sequencer is pretty much the same as the CV type, except it plays CVs quantized to the 1V/Oct standard where C1 is set to 1V.

Due to the precise D/A converter of the Teensy 3.2 Microcontroller the accuracy is better than +- 3ct.

TUR – Turing Sequencer

This type is our take on Tom Whitwells idea of the Turing Machine Sequencer, having a longer shift register with up to 32 Bits, a higher precision DAC register with up to 12 Bits – and in true Godfried style being fully polyrhythmic.

The screen shows the complete shift register at the top, the small chevron indication the lenght of the register.

Below, labeled 0-B is a representation of the DAC register, which determines the control voltage. In any case the CV is renormized to 0-4,95V, independant of the DAC registers length.

PROBABILITY

The Probability parameter labeled “P” sets the probability the wraparound bit in the shift register is toggeled. For P=100 every bit is toggled, for P=0 no bit is toggled.

FREEZE

With this parameter you can lock the shift registers content instantly without the need to set the probability to 0. Simply move the cursor frame to the label and push the encoder button. A small lock symbol indicates the register is locked and no changes will occur.

SHIFT REGISTER LENGTH

This parameter labeled S sets the shift registers length between 1 and 32 bits.

DAC REGISTER LENGTH

This Parameter labeled D sets the digital to analog converters register length from 1 to 12 bits.

COUNT AND FRACTION

These 2 parameters are the same as described for the Algebraic Clock Divider above. So please have a look there.

ACC

A Picture is Missing here!

Therefor it has the same count CNT, fraction FRAC and number NUM parameters as the ACG, please have a look there for explanation.

This type adds an CV accumulator to Godfrieds capabilites, think of it as an LFO synced to an additional Arithmetic Clock Generator.

The ACC has the following modes

• S/H – emits a random Voltage synced to the ACC’s ACG
• /| – emits a 0V – 4,95V ramped up CV thats duration is set by the ACG
• |\- emits a falling ramp CV
• /\ – emits a triangle CV that starts rising
• \/ – emits a triangle CV that starts falling

An attached CVT Track triggers every time the CV hits a discontinuity.

CLOCK MENU

The Clock Menu hosts all parameters concerning the master clock.

As we assume you are now familiar with Godfrieds modus operandi, we won’t microexplain any further.

TEMPO

To change the tempo for the master clock, select this parameter. You can change the tempo with a resolution of 0.1 BPM with turnig the encoder. Holding the encoder button down while simultaneously turning the encoder uses a lower resolution of 2 BPM for faster changes.

INPUT A SETTINGS

The Input A Menu lets you choose how Godfried reacts to trigger pulses on the A jack. Trigger threshold is about +1,8V.

• OFF (OFF) – obviously switches the trigger input off
• RUN BUTTON (RUN) – starts and pauses on consecutive triggers, exactly the same as pushing Run Button described above.
• STOP BUTTON (STP) – does exactly the same as pushing Stop Button described above.
• RUN ON TRIGGER (R*) – starts at trigger pulse
• PAUSE ON TRIGGER (P*) – pauses at trigger pulses
• STOP ON TRIGGER (S*) – stops and resets on trigger
• RESET ONTRIGGER (RES) – resets all timers and patterns independent if Godfried runs or not
• LOAD NEXT SNAPSHOT (LS*) – loads the next available Memory Snapshot on trigger
• JUMP TO SNAPSHOT (JS*)- loads a predefined Memory Snapshot. You will be asked to select a snapshot when confirming this menu item
• SYNC TEMPO (XT*)- sets the tempo according to incoming trigger pulses. Please note, that only the Master Tempo is synced to an external trigger pulse, you will have to start and stop Godfried yourselves using the transport control buttons or the B trigger input

The reason Godfried doesnt sync to a higher resolution is, it internally still runs on its own master clock. A classic sequencer just counts the triggers on the clock input, but since these triggers are not polyrhytmic – as Godfrieds tracks might be – you cant precisely trigger polyrhythmic tracks. Each time a trigger pulse comes in Godfried has to recalculate the timing for ALL steps of all tracks, taking in account possible rounding errors. On one hand this would exceed the available processing power with high tempo or high ppqn triggers, on the other hand calculating these steps gets more precise thus producing less jitter with longer reference periods.

After all, Godfried is intended to be your master clock, not a slaved sequencer.

INPUT B SETTINGS

The same as Input A Settings, but you can’t choose the sync options.

TRIGGER LENGTH

This T labeled parameter lets you set the trigger pulse length for all trigger outputs from a range from 1ms up to 20ms. Please note the individual pulses may overlap for high BPM and/or Fraction settings thus you see only a constant +8V output.

TOAST

These are the screensaver settings, you may adjust the duration until the screensaver begins saving the screen and if your patch should be saved as the screensaver kicks in. Please not that this is a per Snapshot setting, so you need to adjust it every time, for every patch.

MEMORY MENU

Godfried is capable of memorizing 64 Memory Snapshots. These snapshots contain every parameter, including the turing shift register. As saving a snapshot takes quite a bit of time, and EEproms cant be written indefinitely Godfried does no automatic saving – so please remember to save your #1 hit patch yourselves.

MEMORY

The Memory parameter sets which memory slot is loaded or saved to.

LOAD

Load loads the memory slots snapshot to the internal memory. Confirmation is asked for, but there is no undo if you accidentially load a snapshot before saving your work.

SAVE

Snapshots all data to the selected memory slot. Confirmation is asked for, but there is no undo if you accidentially overwrote the memory position.

INIT

Initializes the interal memory to the default “everything off and tempo 120” settings. Confirmation is asked for, but there is no undo if you accidentially initialized the patch without saving your work.

SCREENSAVER

Little known fact: OLED displays can “burn in”, if the picture doesnt change for prolongued time. So we thought a screensaver, that prevents burning in while you do something else rather than fiddling with Godfried might be usefull. The screensaver kicks in after an adjustable time (see MEMORY > TOAST) of inactivity, so if Godfried is running this will never occur. You may also choose if the current snapshot should be saved automatically. The screensaver is ended by touching any of the buttons or the encoder.

UPDATING FIRMWARE

To update Godfrieds firmware you’ll need an installed Teensy Loader Application, which you can download here.

To update follow this procedure:

Step 1:

Remove Godfried from your modular and make sure it is unplugged from the eurorack power supply.

WARNING! IF YOU POWER GODFRIED VIA EURORACK POWER DURING THE UPDATE PROCEDURE YOU MIGHT DAMAGE ANYTHING THAT IS CONNECTED TO GODFRIED VIA USB. YOU MIGHT RISK DAMAGING YOUR COMPUTER! WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT MIGHT GO WRONG WHILE UPDATING WITH EURORACK POWER ATTACHED!!

Step 2: Download the latest Godfried Firmware from the ressourecs page

Step 3 : Connect Godfried via a Micro-USB cable which is capable of data transfer to your computer

Step 4: Open the Teensy Loader Program and proceed as described on the PRJC.com website, from where you downloaded the Teensy Loader Program

Step 5: Reassemble Godfried to your modular

Please reset Godfried to Factory Settings if noted so on the ressources page.

RESET TO FACTORY SETTINGS

When you first power up Godfried – or when you want to start from a blank canvas – use this setting to write an initialized, virgin snapshot to every memory position.

To do so hold the Encoder Button and the Exit Button pressed while powering up. Confirm that you really want to erase everything by pushing the Exit Button or cancel by pushing the Encoder Button.

If you are OK, Godfried needs some time to write all the data to the EEprom. EEproms are really slow. Meanwhile for your entertainment you might watch the progress bar animation. Or go have a coffee…

HARDWARE TEST MODE

Maybe you want to see if your fresh built Godfried is ok – to make this as easy as possible Godfried has a Hardware Test Mode.

To enter this mode hold down the Run and Stop Button simultaneously while powering up until the “HARDWARE TEST MODE” Screen appears. If the display doesn’t display anything obviously check the display, first.

To check the encoder and buttons simply push or turn – Godfried will display what you did.

To check the A and B inputs connect a trigger source – for example Triiiples – to the input, or just patch one of the outputs to that input. The according green or red LED should light up while a trigger is detected and an indication will be displayed on the screen.

To check the LEDs push the according Button and the LED lights up – if not, see the Display, if the Button is working.

To allow easy checking for the outputs Godfrieds sets all trigger outputs to steady +8V and the CV output to steady 4,95V. Measure these with your Voltmeter.

To exit the Hardware Test Mode reboot Godfried by cycling power.