SFX-MV6 / operation manual 0.3 Six-track digital machine instrument

Mono//6

Designed for
Ableton Move

Six distinct synthesis machines. Seven parameter pages. Sixty-four steps that remember every turn.

MONO//6Digital synthesis sequencer · Schwung system

Multiple synthesis system

ONE BOX.
SIX VOICES.

An original clean-room instrument built around the fast machine-and-lock workflow.

MONO T1120.0

SW SAW

UNIL
064UNIW
021SUB1
000TUNE
064

Edit pages

Read the operation manual

01 / Start

Choose how much machine you want.

Mono is installed in two forms. Use the full-surface build to write complete six-track patterns, or load one voice into a normal Move track.

The complete instrument.

Mono takes over Move's surface and turns it into a six-track synth with its own 64-step sequencer and per-step parameter locks.

6 tracks64 stepsLocksLive keys

Launch MonoOpen the Schwung overtake module named mono.

Choose a trackPress one of the first six pads on the top row. Track 1 is selected at startup.

Choose a machinePress top-row pad 7 to move forward. Hold Shift while pressing it to move backward.

Play and sequencePlay a note on the lower three pad rows, tap a step key to place that note, then press top-row pad 8.

A machine inside Move.

Mono Voice behaves like a normal Move sound generator: Move owns the track, clips, pads, and sequencing while Mono supplies the synthesis engine.

1 voiceMove clips9 pages6 machines

Add Mono VoiceLoad mono-voice into a normal Move track.

Play normallyUse Move's pads and sequencer exactly as you would with another sound generator.

Pick a pageTurn the jog wheel, or use the left and right arrows, to move through SYNTH, AMP, FILTER, EFFECT, LFO 1–3, ARP, and ARP STEP.

Pick a machine or deeper controlHold Shift and turn the jog wheel to change machine. Hold Shift while turning knobs 1–8 on any page to edit its secondary bank.

02 / Surface

The whole Move, remapped.

This is the full-surface Mono build. Press anything in the diagram to inspect its job.

MONO / CONTROL MAPREADY

PRESS A CONTROL

Choose a pad, knob, or step key below. This display will explain exactly what it does.

Sequencer / steps 01–16← page 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 →

Performance SetupHold Shift and press top-row pad 8. Turn the jog for Sequence, Step Detail, Arpeggiator, Routing + FX, and Song Mode. Sequence keeps global and per-track timing together; the other screens use the same eight-knob / sixteen-step grammar. Press Back or Shift + pad 8 to return.

03 / Locks

Make every step its own sound.

A parameter lock stores a knob value on one step. The base sound stays untouched everywhere else.

Hold a step.

Keep any of the 16 step keys pressed. Use the arrows first if the step lives on page 2, 3, or 4.

Turn a knob.

Mono writes that value only to the held step. The LED turns purple to show the step now carries a lock.

Remove it.

Hold the step, hold Shift, then turn the same knob. That parameter returns to the track's base value.

Red · trig

Purple · lock

White · playhead

Green · held

Live automationPress Move's Record button, start playback, then turn Mono controls. Full Mono writes the selected track's current step; Mono Voice follows Move's clock while Move keeps recording the notes. Continuous values glide over about 30 ms, while waveform, LFO routing, trigger, and wave choices stay stepped.

04 / Save

Keep the sound. Keep the sequence.

Choose the save that matches where the sequence lives. Mono presets and Move Sets preserve different layers of the instrument.

VOICE

Save the sound.

In Schwung's Chain Editor, highlight the Mono Voice synth block, hold Shift and click the jog wheel, then open User Presets → Save current. This recalls the machine, every sound parameter, and Mono's live automation locks.

SET

Save sound + Move clips.

For notes recorded in Move's normal sequencer, save the whole Move Set: hold Shift and press Step 1. Sets save automatically and contain the clips, track state, and Mono Voice automation.

MONO

Save the six-track pattern.

Inside full-surface Mono, hold Shift and click the jog wheel. Choose Save current, name it, and confirm; Mono saves and returns to the instrument. Recall restores all six tracks, every machine variation, 64 steps, timing, step conditions, mutes, and parameter locks. Back cancels naming or closes the browser without leaving Mono.

05 / Perform

Build motion into the sound.

Hold Shift and press top pad 8 in full Mono, then turn the jog to move between Sequence, Step Detail, Arpeggiator, Routing + FX, and Song Mode. The Remote UI puts the complete system on one screen.

ARP

Latch a chord.

Choose one of six orders, eight clock rates, one to four octaves, gate, velocity, and a 16-step pitch-offset lane. Tap a Step key to select an arp position; knob 8 edits its ±24-semitone offset. In Mono Voice, jog past LFO 3 to ARP: knob 1 enables the arp and knob 2 enables latch. The next page, ARP STEP, uses knobs for offsets 1–8 and Shift + knobs for 9–16. Turn latch off to release its notes.

TIE

Hold a note past its step.

Gate tops out at exactly one step. For longer notes, open Step Detail, use the step keys to select each step after the trig, and turn Tie on: a tied step keeps the note ringing through itself without retriggering the envelopes. Tied steps need no note of their own; give one a note and the pitch changes legato. The amp envelope is Attack/Hold/Decay/Release with no sustain stage, so long notes also want generous Hold or Decay. Step Detail likewise edits ±23/48-step microtiming and accents beside probability, condition, retrig, and slide.

SONG

Chain windows.

Sixteen rows each choose a start, length, repeat count, and ±24-semitone transpose. A row can reuse any section of the same 64 stored steps, so variations do not require duplicate patterns.

A/B

Morph the patch.

Patch Lab contains 12 original starting sounds, Init, and bounded randomization. Capture two endpoints on the same machine, then sweep all continuous controls while discrete modes switch cleanly at center.

NBR

Patch tracks together.

Set routing on the receiving track: Track 2 receives Track 1, Track 3 receives Track 2, and so on; Track 1 has no preceding source. Trigger the source voice, choose FM on the receiver, then raise Depth. You can mute the source from the final mix while it continues modulating the receiver. The result then passes through the receiver’s filter and dedicated track FX.

USR

Bring a waveform.

Remote UI loads audio into eight persistent DigiPRO user slots shared by Mono and Mono Voice. Mono DC-centers, normalizes, and 12-bit quantizes each 512-sample wave before saving it atomically.

06 / Pages

Eight knobs. Seven views. No menu maze.

Use this live panel to see every label exactly as it appears on Move. Change machine or page; move the sliders to update the mock display.

Parameter pages

SYNTHMONO T1

SW SAW

Stacked detuned saws with sub oscillators for wide basses, leads, and drones.

Synthesis machine

Shift banks + machine memoryHold Shift and turn any parameter knob on any page for eight additional controls. SYNTH adds machine controls; AMP adds envelope curves and response; FILTER adds tracking, slopes, drive, mix, and saturation; EFFECT adds deeper EQ and delay shaping; each LFO adds fade, delay, slew, symmetry, steps, polarity, velocity, and key tracking. Every LFO can target Pitch or any of the 112 sound parameters. Each track remembers a separate SYNTH + Shift SYNTH setup for every machine.

07 / Machines

Six starting points. Six different instincts.

M–01SUPERWAVE

SW Saw

Detuned saw layers and sub oscillators. Start here for broad bass, bright chords, and unstable unison.

Unison
Sub mix
Shift: bright / stack / sub

M–02SUPERWAVE

SW Pulse

A band-limited base pulse and unison pair with animated width plus two sine subs. Good for hollow bass, nasal leads, and moving PWM beds.

Two sine subs
Pulse width + restart
Shift: asym / stack / sync

M–03SUPERWAVE

SW Ensemble

Up to four pitched voices with Off and just-ratio choices, a saw-to-square-to-spike wave control, and chorus. The harmony machine.

4 pitches
Wave + pulse width
Chorus level + width

M–04DIGITAL CHIP

SID 6581

Quantized chip-style oscillator with pitch-clocked noise, pulse-width animation, and selected or previous-track modulation sources.

Five wave choices
Ring / sync modes
Shift: ring / sub / chaos

M–05WAVETABLE

DigiPRO

A factory-independent bank of 32 512-sample, 12-bit waves with position animation, restart, oscillator sync, and eight replaceable user slots.

24 generated + 8 user waves
Selected / previous sync
Shift: second wavetable

M–06FM+

FM+ Static

Two-block FM with named ratios, separate feedback behavior, a combined operator envelope, modulator level, and harmonic tone shaping.

2 blocks
Feedback
Shift: third operator

08 / Reference

Everything worth remembering.

Mono / full surface

Top pads 1–6Select one of six synth tracks. Mute + pad toggles mute; Shift + Mute + pad toggles solo. Delete + pad remains available on hosts that forward Delete.

Top pad 7Next machine. Shift + pad selects the previous machine.

Top pad 8Start or stop Mono's internal sequencer. Shift + pad 8 opens Setup; turn the jog for Sequence, Step Detail, Arpeggiator, Routing + FX, and Song Mode.

Lower 24 padsChromatic keyboard for the selected track, starting at MIDI note 48 at octave O+0.

Up / DownShift the selected track's performance keyboard by up to four octaves in either direction. The header shows O−4 through O+4; Tune remains a fine ±100-cent control.

Remote audition keysPlay MIDI notes 48–60 on the selected Mono track. The large label is the note; the small A–K label is its optional computer-key shortcut. A click is held long enough to be audible. If the Remote UI says it is waiting, select another Slot tab and return to reconnect it.

Step keysTap to toggle trigs; hold while turning a knob to lock it.

ArrowsSelect steps 1–16, 17–32, 33–48, or 49–64.

SetupSequence edits window/timing; Step Detail edits microtiming, tie (holds the previous note through the step — chain ties for longer notes), accent, probability and retrig; Arp edits latch and its 16 offsets; Routing patches the previous track and track FX; Song edits 16 chain rows.

Step editingOn stock Schwung 0.11.6, hold a step + top pad 7 to copy, add Shift to paste, or press Record to clear. The dedicated Copy/Delete buttons remain available on hosts that forward them.

Track editingShift + Left copies the selected track; Shift + Right pastes it. Shift + Record toggles undo and redo. This fallback layout keeps every edit reachable while Move owns its native Copy/Delete/Undo buttons.

Remote UIIn addition to full Step Detail, Remote exposes Patch Lab and morphing, user-wave import, the arp lane, routing/track FX, song rows, and low-level calibration signals.

Jog wheelMove through the seven parameter pages.

Knobs 1–8Edit the current page. Touching either group of four focuses that clearer display bank.

Shift + knobsEdit the current page's secondary eight-control bank.

RecordBy itself, arm live parameter-lock capture. Start the internal sequencer and turn knobs; continuous values glide between recorded steps. With a held step it clears; with Shift it performs Undo.

BackReturn from full-surface Mono to native Move. Back closes Setup or the preset browser first when either is open.

Mono Voice / normal track

Move padsPlay the voice using Move's normal pad layout.

Move sequencerRecord and edit notes using Move's native clips and steps.

Jog wheelMove through SYNTH, AMP, FILTER, EFFECT, LFO 1–3, ARP, and ARP STEP.

ArrowsPrevious or next parameter page.

Shift + jogChange synthesis machine.

Shift + knobsReveal and edit eight additional controls on sound pages. On ARP STEP they edit pitch offsets 9–16.

Knobs 1–8Edit the current page; the display follows knobs 1–4 or 5–8 as you touch them.

RecordArm Mono automation while Move plays or records. Notes remain in the Move clip; clocked knob locks live in Mono Voice.

ARP pageKnob 1 toggles the arp; knob 2 toggles latch; knobs 3–8 set mode, rate, octaves, gate, length, and velocity. Turn latch off to release its chord.

ARP STEPKnobs edit pitch offsets 1–8; hold Shift while turning them to edit offsets 9–16.

Track effectsMono Voice still sits inside a normal Move track and its surrounding workflow.

Best forUsing one Mono engine alongside Move's other tracks and clip tools.

Current fidelity boundaryThe documented topology, parameter routing, restart behavior, filter octave tracking, user-wave persistence, arp latch, neighbor routing, track FX, microtiming, and song state have regression coverage. VO-6, BeatBox, FM+ Parallel/Dynamic, and dedicated FX machines are not implemented. Mono remains a clean-room interpretation, not a firmware clone; its calibration generators enable controlled comparison but do not replace measurements from reference hardware.

09 / Install

Two modules. One archive each.

Install from GitHub.

Install Schwung, then open Modules → Custom Install → From GitHub URL in Schwung Manager.

For the full instrument, enter https://github.com/timncox/schwung-mono.

For the single-track voice, enter https://github.com/timncox/schwung-mono-voice.

One repo per module.

mono-module.tar.gz
Full-surface, six-track instrument.

mono-voice-module.tar.gz
Single sound generator for a normal Move track.

Both release repositories point back to the same canonical source, manual, and synthesis engine.

Machines6 digital

Tracks6 / 1

Pattern64 steps

Controls7 × 16

Modulators3 LFOs

LicenseMIT