The Moog 55 Strings suspension writing

pad · soft · 60 BPM (52–70) · C major · 8 bars

Moog 55 Strings2.1Large modular string ensemble, orchestral pacing

Every patch on the Moog Muse

The technique

Four chords, eight bars, and the line covers all of them. The first two are suspended: each holds its suspension for a bar and resolves in the second, and the line does the same. The last two are held notes.

Inside each chord, every move is a step, and it is slurred, not struck. Over each of the first two chords, the chord’s second steps up a tone to its third. Each resolution is played off the held note without a new attack, so a chord gets one entry and the line moves inside it.

The suspension resolves inside the second bar of each chord, never the first. That is what makes eight bars feel like they are still arriving: the third is withheld for a bar and then given.

Enter two beats late. The pad has already moved when the line comes in, and the wait is what makes a held string note sound placed.

Never play a chord’s third while that chord is still suspended. It is the note the suspension is withholding, and playing it early gives the resolution away.

Over the last two chords, hold one note each, two beats late and a step apart: the key’s seventh over the vi seventh, then the root over the suspended V. The line barely moves and the harmony does the work.

Slow attack, slow release. Every note should still be swelling when the next chord arrives under it.

The chords

4 chords over 8 bars, in C major.

DegreeChordNotesBarsUnder the figure
ICC · E · G1–2●
IVFF · A · C3–4●
viAmA · C · E5–6●
VGG · B · D7–8●

The figure is played over these chords; supply them separately if your rig allows.

The rules

  • Enter each chord at least 8 steps after it lands — the pad moves first and the line arrives after it.

The notes

8 bars in C major. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

  • steps 9–24·over I C·D5·degree 2·MIDI 74
  • steps 25–40·over I C·E5·degree 3·MIDI 76
  • steps 41–56·over IV F·G5·degree 5·MIDI 79
  • steps 57–72·over IV F·A5·degree 6·MIDI 81
  • steps 73–104·over vi Am·B4·degree 7·MIDI 71
  • steps 105–128·over V G·C5·degree 1·MIDI 72

On the Moog Muse

Muse · Timbre 1

Settings for this voice

Settings for a pad · soft voice on this box, written here. They are not the preset’s own values: load the preset to hear it as it ships.

Settings

VOICE CONTROL

  • UNISONOFF

    Stacks every unused voice onto the first note held, so the timbre plays one note at a time

  • MONOOFF
  • DETUNE15%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 92

    Between voices when poly, between stacked voices under UNISON, between the two oscillators under MONO

  • TIMBRE A VOICE COUNT8(0…8)

    The counts always sum to eight, so setting this sets the other — TIMBRE B gets the rest

    VOICE CONTROL, then MORE

  • DYNAMIC VOICE ALLOCATIONOFF

    Its printed default. On, a busy timbre steals from the other and the count above stops holding

    VOICE CONTROL, then MORE

PROGRAMMER

  • MIDI IN CHANNEL1

    TIMBRE A listens here

    PROGRAMMER, MENU, MIDI

  • MULTI IN B CHANNEL2

    TIMBRE B listens here under MULTI MODE. Both default to 1, so this must differ or the two timbres double on one channel

    PROGRAMMER, MENU, MIDI

  • RECIEVE CCON

    Defaults to OFF, so the box ignores CC until this is set. The manual's spelling

    PROGRAMMER, MENU, MIDI

OSC 1

  • OCTAVE8'
  • FREQUENCY0st(-7…7 st)

    Bipolar, in tune at noon; a perfect fifth either way

  • TRI/SAW0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 46

    Triangle fully counter-clockwise, sawtooth fully clockwise

  • PULSE WIDTH50%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 47

    A square wave sits at noon

  • WAVE MIX0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 48

    The slider: triangle/sawtooth on the left against the pulse wave on the right

OSC 2

  • OCTAVE8'
  • FREQUENCY3st(-7…7 st)
  • TRI/SAW0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 51
  • PULSE WIDTH50%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 52
  • WAVE MIX0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 53
  • SYNC 2▸1OFF

    Locks oscillator 2 to the phase of oscillator 1

MOD OSC

  • AUDIOOFF

    Sub-audio: eight per-voice LFOs, one for each voice

  • WAVEFORMSINE
  • FREQUENCY10%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 25

    The range of this knob differs with the AUDIO button above

  • PITCH AMOUNT10%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 31
  • PITCH ▸ OSC 1ON
  • PITCH ▸ OSC 2ON
  • FILTER AMOUNT0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 39
  • FILTER ▸ 1OFF
  • FILTER ▸ 2OFF

MIXER

  • OSC 165%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 58
  • RING MOD0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 60

    Sum and difference tones of the two oscillators — inharmonic as they detune

  • OSC 265%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 59
  • MOD OSC0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 61
  • NOISE0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 62

    White noise

  • OVERLOAD0%(0…100 %)
  • OVERLOAD RANGELOW

    LOW narrows the drive range for finer control

    Press MORE in that section

FILTER

  • ORDERSTR

    SERIAL, STEREO or PARALLEL — with HIGH PASS this decides bandpass, stereo lowpass or notch

  • LINK FILTERSOFF

    Off, so FILTER 1 CUTOFF is an absolute cutoff rather than the spacing between the two

FILTER 1

  • HIGH PASSOFF

    Lowpass

  • CUTOFF1200Hz(20…20000 Hz)· MIDI CC 67
  • RESONANCE15%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 68

    Self-oscillates into a sine fully clockwise

  • ENVELOPE AMOUNT20(-100…100)· MIDI CC 69

    Bipolar, no modulation at noon

  • KB TRACKING1:2

FILTER 2

  • CUTOFF1400Hz(20…20000 Hz)· MIDI CC 72
  • RESONANCE10%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 73
  • ENVELOPE AMOUNT10(-100…100)· MIDI CC 75

    Bipolar, no modulation at noon

  • KB TRACKING1:2

FILTER ENV

  • ATTACK1.5s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 79
  • DECAY2s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 80
  • SUSTAIN60%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 81
  • RELEASE2.5s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 82
  • LOOPOFF

    Looping, the envelope runs like an LFO

VCA ENV

  • ATTACK2s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 86
  • DECAY2s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 87
  • SUSTAIN90%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 88
  • RELEASE3s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 89
  • VELOCITYON

VCA

  • LEVEL65%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 7

    Light TIMBRE A or B first

  • PAN0(0…100)· MIDI CC 10

    Bipolar, centred at noon — the screen reads 100L through 0 to 100R

  • PAN SPREAD65%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 9

    All voices sit at the PAN position fully counter-clockwise

  • PAN SPRD MODEL/R

    Press MORE in that section

DELAY

  • CLOCK SYNCON

    Both TIME knobs jump between divisions of the global TEMPO

  • SYNC TYPECOMBO

    Its printed default — every division rather than only straight, triplet or dotted ones

    Press MORE in that section

  • LINK DELAYSOFF

    Off, so TIME-L is the left delay time rather than an offset against the right

  • TIME - L1/8· MIDI CC 93

    Straight, against the dotted right

  • TIME - R1/8 D· MIDI CC 94

    Dotted, so its repeat falls between the left one’s

  • FEEDBACK40%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 103

    Single repeat through to infinite

  • CHARACTER50%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 104

    Noon, where the default DJ-style filter on the repeats is doing nothing

  • MIX30%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 105
  • TIMBRE A / TIMBRE BON

    Two separate buttons, one per timbre — engage the one for the timbre this part is on. Disengaged, this part bypasses the delay on a fully analog path

LFO 1

  • WAVEFORMTRIANGLE
  • RATE0.24Hz(0.01…40 Hz)

    The default range; RATE MIN and RATE MAX in the MORE menu can widen it to 1 kHz

  • AMPLITUDE20%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 13

    An attenuator ahead of every destination

  • SYNCOFF

    Off, so RATE is the free-running Hz scale rather than tempo divisions

    Press MORE in that section

  • LFO TYPEPER-VOICE

    PER-VOICE gives eight separate LFOs, one per voice

    Press MORE in that section

  • BI ▸ VCA PAN AMOUNT20%(-100…100 %)

    Press ASSIGN, then turn PAN — one turn picks the destination and sets this depth — then ENTER

This block draws on the Muse User's Manual v1.4.0, pp.27-111 and the instrument at firmware 1.4.0; its values are starting points.