The Muse Runner floating-arrival lead on the Moog Muse

The technique

Six chords, twelve bars, and the line goes round them four times. Three minor chords, then the pair the key does not own, then the minor fifth to take it back. The first pass is the line. The second takes it up into the higher register and turns the shape over. The third comes back down to just above the chords and thins to one note each. The fourth is the highest and the thinnest, and it is the ending.

One late entry per chord, until the last pass leaves its first chord empty. Let the pad move first, then arrive: an entry lands two beats after the chord has changed under it, and the wait is what makes the note sound placed rather than programmed. Two entries come later still, a bar and a half in: the raised third over the major I in the third pass, and the note that opens the fourth pass alone, over the VI. Wait for those until it feels too late, then play them.

First pass, the full line. The key’s fifth held over the i, dropping a major third to the third late in the second bar. The root an octave up over the VI, stepping down through the seventh to the sixth. The sixth over the iv, its neighbour a semitone below and back. The raised third late over the major I, hanging. The raised sixth over the IV, lifting a minor third to the root. The second over the v, resolving down a major third to the seventh.

Second pass, up in the higher register with the contour turned over. The third falling to the root over the i and left to sit. The third with its upper neighbour a tone above and back over the VI. The fourth stepping down through the third to the root over the iv. The fifth rising late to the raised third over the major I. The root down to the raised sixth and back over the IV. The seventh stepping down through the raised sixth to the fifth over the v. That raised sixth over the v is right: it is the second of the v as well, so play it and do not soften it to the key’s own sixth.

Third pass, one note a chord, sitting just above the pad. Each arrives two beats in and holds until the next chord is already under it. The root, the third, the root, then the raised third arriving very late over the major I and hanging into the IV, then the root, then the second over the v with no resolution. Let each one sit and move nothing.

Fourth pass, the ending. Nothing over the i. The third alone over the VI, very late. The root held over the iv. The raised third held over the major I, and keep the vibrato off it until the chord is nearly over. The root held over the IV. Then the leap up a fifth to the key’s fifth over the v, and let it ring past the end.

The moves inside a chord are slurred, not struck. Each is played off the held note without a new attack, so a chord gets one arrival and the line keeps moving; the entries are the only attacks in the whole figure.

The fourth and fifth chords are where the key turns major, and the line goes with it in every pass: the raised third over the I and the raised sixth over the IV, each a semitone above what the key gives you. Play the natural note and the turn disappears.

Hold each chord’s last note until the next chord is already sounding, then release, except into the major I. There the note closing the iv clears on the bar line, in every pass, so the raised third arrives on air.

The last note is the key’s fifth, high, held past the point where the pad would come round again, and nothing follows it. If you would rather the line cycle than close, end on the second instead and it hands back to the first pass; leaving the line on the second unresolved is how the third pass ends.

Wide vibrato, arriving after the note has settled. The note should be still for a moment before it starts to move.

read in

The chords

6 chords over 12 bars, in F# minor. The 12-bar cycle repeats 4 times under this 48-bar figure.

Degree	Chord	Notes	Bars	Under the figure
i	F#m	F# · A · C#	1–2	●
VI	D	D · F# · A	3–4	●
iv	Bm	B · D · F#	5–6	●
I	F#	F# · A# · C#	7–8	●
IV	B	B · D# · F#	9–10	●
v	C#m	C# · E · G#	11–12	●

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

The rules

Over I, never the 3rd — the natural third against the raised one is the turn collapsing.
Over IV, never the 6th — the same move one chord later, and the natural sixth cancels the chord.
Enter each chord at least 8 steps after it lands — the pad moves first and the note arrives after it; an entry on the change pins it.

The notes

48 bars in F# minor. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

steps 9–24·over i F#m·C#5·degree 5·MIDI 73
steps 25–34·over i F#m·A4·degree 3·MIDI 69
steps 41–52·over VI D·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 53–56·over VI D·E5·degree 7·MIDI 76
steps 57–66·over VI D·D5·degree 6·MIDI 74
steps 73–84·over iv Bm·D5·degree 6·MIDI 74
steps 85–88·over iv Bm·C#5·degree 5·MIDI 73
steps 89–96·over iv Bm·D5·degree 6·MIDI 74
steps 105–130·over I F#·A#4·degree #3·MIDI 70
steps 137–148·over IV B·D#5·degree #6·MIDI 75
steps 149–162·over IV B·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 169–184·over v C#m·G#4·degree 2·MIDI 68
steps 185–194·over v C#m·E4·degree 7·MIDI 64
steps 201–212·over i F#m·A5·degree 3·MIDI 81
steps 213–226·over i F#m·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 233–244·over VI D·A5·degree 3·MIDI 81
steps 245–248·over VI D·B5·degree 4·MIDI 83
steps 249–258·over VI D·A5·degree 3·MIDI 81
steps 265–276·over iv Bm·B5·degree 4·MIDI 83
steps 277–280·over iv Bm·A5·degree 3·MIDI 81
steps 281–288·over iv Bm·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 297–308·over I F#·C#5·degree 5·MIDI 73
steps 309–322·over I F#·A#5·degree #3·MIDI 82
steps 329–340·over IV B·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 341–344·over IV B·D#5·degree #6·MIDI 75
steps 345–354·over IV B·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 361–372·over v C#m·E5·degree 7·MIDI 76
steps 373–376·over v C#m·D#5·degree #6·MIDI 75
steps 377–386·over v C#m·C#5·degree 5·MIDI 73
steps 393–418·over i F#m·F#4·degree 1·MIDI 66
steps 425–450·over VI D·A4·degree 3·MIDI 69
steps 457–480·over iv Bm·F#4·degree 1·MIDI 66
steps 505–514·over I F#·A#4·degree #3·MIDI 70
steps 521–546·over IV B·F#4·degree 1·MIDI 66
steps 553–578·over v C#m·G#4·degree 2·MIDI 68
steps 633–642·over VI D·A5·degree 3·MIDI 81
steps 649–672·over iv Bm·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 681–706·over I F#·A#5·degree #3·MIDI 82
steps 713–738·over IV B·F#5·degree 1·MIDI 78
steps 745–776·over v C#m·C#6·degree 5·MIDI 85

On the Moog Muse

Muse · Timbre 1

Settings for this voice

Settings for a lead · bright 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
MONOON
DETUNE20%(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/SAW100%(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'
FREQUENCY1st(-7…7 st)
TRI/SAW100%(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
FREQUENCY20%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 25
The range of this knob differs with the AUDIO button above
PITCH AMOUNT0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 31
PITCH ▸ OSC 1OFF
PITCH ▸ OSC 2OFF
FILTER AMOUNT15%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 39
FILTER ▸ 1OFF
FILTER ▸ 2ON

MIXER

OSC 175%(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 270%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 59
MOD OSC0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 61
NOISE0%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 62
White noise
OVERLOAD15%(0…100 %)
OVERLOAD RANGELOW
LOW narrows the drive range for finer control
Press MORE in that section

FILTER

ORDERSER
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
CUTOFF2000Hz(20…20000 Hz)· MIDI CC 67
RESONANCE30%(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 TRACKING1:1

FILTER 2

CUTOFF3200Hz(20…20000 Hz)· MIDI CC 72
RESONANCE20%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 73
ENVELOPE AMOUNT10(-100…100)· MIDI CC 75
Bipolar, no modulation at noon
KB TRACKING1:1

FILTER ENV

ATTACK0.1s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 79
DECAY0.8s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 80
SUSTAIN55%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 81
RELEASE0.6s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 82
LOOPOFF
Looping, the envelope runs like an LFO

VCA ENV

ATTACK0.1s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 86
DECAY0.9s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 87
SUSTAIN90%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 88
RELEASE0.6s(0…10 s)· MIDI CC 89
VELOCITYON

VCA

LEVEL80%(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 SPREAD0%(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

PITCH LFO

RATE5.2Hz(0.01…40 Hz)
SHAPE50%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 19
Sawtooth fully counter-clockwise, a symmetrical triangle at noon, ramp fully clockwise
AMOUNT60%(0…100 %)· MIDI CC 20
Bipolar, no modulation at noon; ±2 semitones at maximum
▸ OSC 1ON
▸ OSC 2ON
SYNCOFF
Press MORE in that section

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.