The Harp C Chord arpeggiated hold

arp · bright · 112 BPM (100–124) · C major · 8 bars

Harp C Chord6.05Four notes held for the arpeggiator, and the order you press them is the tune

Every patch on the Moog Subsequent 37

The technique

Hold four notes at once and switch the arpeggiator on. A box that sounds one or two notes cannot play four held keys as a chord; with the arpeggiator running it plays them one after another, and the chord is heard. On such a box this is the only way to hold four notes at all.

The I first, then the vi, the IV and the V: root, third, fifth and the root again on top, the same shape moved to each chord, two bars each. The vi and the IV sit below the I, and the V comes back up a tone from the IV.

Set the pattern to play upward. Each voicing comes out from the bottom, root, third, fifth, octave, and so on round. The line ascends, and the melody is the chord.

Now set the pattern to play the notes in the order you pressed them, ORDR where a panel abbreviates it. Press the same four keys with a different finger first and you get a different line: the fifth first, then the root, the third and the top root, and the I comes out fifth, root, third, octave. Same chord, different tune, and the order of your fingers decides it.

Under that pattern, every change of chord is also the choice of a melody. Land the first finger on the note you want the two bars to open on and press the other three after it.

The chords

4 chords over 8 bars, in C major.

DegreeChordNotesBarsUnder the figure
ICC · E · G1–2●
viAmA · C · E3–4●
IVFF · A · C5–6●
VGG · B · D7–8●

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

The notes

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

  • steps 1–32·over I C·C3 E3 G3 C4·degrees 1 3 5 1·MIDI 48 52 55 60
  • steps 33–64·over vi Am·A2 C3 E3 A3·degrees 6 1 3 6·MIDI 45 48 52 57
  • steps 65–96·over IV F·F2 A2 C3 F3·degrees 4 6 1 4·MIDI 41 45 48 53
  • steps 97–128·over V G·G2 B2 D3 G3·degrees 5 7 2 5·MIDI 43 47 50 55

On the Moog Subsequent 37

Subsequent 37 · Voice

Settings for this voice

Settings for a arp · 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

  • SWING50%(0…100 %)

    50 is straight; it swings the onboard arpeggiator and sequencer, nothing played from elsewhere

    PRESET EDIT, ARPEGGIATOR, SWING

ARPEGGIATOR

  • ONON

    Lit, or nothing below does anything

  • SYNCON

    On, RATE picks a division; without MIDI clock or tap tempo the arp will not play

  • RATE (division)1/16

    At SEQ this is the step length

    RATE picks divisions while SYNC is lit

  • RANGE0

    The notes held, and no octave above or below; past either end lights two LEDs and spans three

  • BACK / FORTHOFF

    Off, or the pattern turns round at each end

  • INVERTOFF
  • PATTERNORDR

    ORDR sounds held notes in the order pressed; SEQ plays back a recorded step sequence

  • LATCHOFF

    Off, so releasing the keys stops it

GLIDE

  • ONOFF

    Must be lit for any glide at all

OSCILLATORS

  • OSC 1 · OCTAVE8'
  • OSC 1 · WAVESAWTOOTH

    The knob is continuous; these are its four named points

  • OSC 2 · OCTAVE4'
  • OSC 2 · WAVESQUARE

    The knob is continuous; these are its four named points

  • OSC · HARD SYNCOFF

    Keep OSC 2 at or above OSC 1 or it barely sounds

  • OSC · KB RESETON

    A defined leading edge, at the cost of a click on hard attacks

  • OSC · DUO MODEOFF

    Off: one note at a time, both oscillators on the same key

  • OSC · KB CTRLHI

    Inert while DUO MODE is off; set so FREQUENCY keeps its semitone scale

  • OSC 2 · FREQUENCY0.5st(-7…7 st)

    Centre is unison with OSC 1; fully clockwise is a fifth

  • OSC 2 · BEAT FREQ0.5Hz(-3.5…3.5 Hz)

    A constant beat rate at every pitch, unlike FREQUENCY

MIXER

  • OSC 16.5(0…10)
  • SUB 12(0…10)

    Always a square, always an octave below OSC 1

  • OSC 25(0…10)
  • NOISE0(0…10)

    Pink, not white

  • FDBK / EXT IN0(0…10)

    With nothing in EXT IN this feeds the mixer output back into itself

FILTER

  • CUTOFF2600Hz(20…20000 Hz)

    Fully down closes the filter completely

  • RESONANCE3.5(0…10)

    Above 7 the filter sings by itself

  • MULTIDRIVE1(0…10)

    Tube-like warmth at the bottom, hard clipping at the top

  • SLOPE12

    dB per octave: one, two, three or four poles

  • EG AMT4(-5…5)

    Bipolar: below centre the envelope pulls the cutoff down

  • KB TRACK1.5(0…2)

    1.0 is 1:1 tracking centred on C3; 2.0 is 2:1

ENVELOPE GENERATORS

  • ENV · KNOB SHIFTOFF

    Unlit, or the eight knobs below are DELAY, HOLD, VEL AMT and KB TRACK instead

  • FILTER EG · ATTACK1ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • FILTER EG · DECAY110ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • FILTER EG · SUSTAIN0.5(0…10)

    0 to 100%, calibrated 1 to 10

  • FILTER EG · RELEASE90ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • FILTER EG · LOOPOFF

    On, the envelope repeats for as long as a note is held — a multistage LFO

  • AMP EG · ATTACK1ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • AMP EG · DECAY190ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • AMP EG · SUSTAIN2.5(0…10)

    0 to 100%, calibrated 1 to 10

  • AMP EG · RELEASE90ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • AMP EG · MULTI TRIGON

    On, every note re-attacks even when you play legato

  • AMP EG · LOOPOFF

    Off on everything but a bed: looping the amplitude re-articulates a held note

MOD 1

  • SOURCETriangle
  • HI RANGEOFF

    On, the LFO runs ten times faster

  • SYNCOFF

    Off, so RATE is in hertz rather than clock divisions

  • LFO RATE6Hz(0.1…100 Hz)
  • KB RESETOFF

    On, the LFO restarts at zero on every note

  • PITCH AMT0(-5…5)
  • OSCBOTH

    Which oscillator PITCH AMT reaches

  • FILTER AMT0(-5…5)
  • DESTVCA LEVEL
  • MOD AMT0(-5…5)

This block draws on the Subsequent 37 User's Manual, pp.15-61; its values are starting points.