Mimetic Digitwolis#

Next-generation four-channel CV-sequencing powerhouse with configurable routing, quantization, MIDI, and more.

Overview#

Mimetic Digitwolis is the long awaited sequel to the classic Mimetic Digitalis, our classic Cartesian performance sequencer. This heavily upgraded second edition features many customer-requested features, including customizable quantizers for both internal and external signals, internal sequence-length and clock divisions, triggerable step randomization, and a whole lot more. With fully configurable inputs, new lane output types, and a completely rethought interface, Mimetic Digitwolis retains the performable concepts of the original while unlocking entirely new ways to play a Eurorack sequencer.

Type: Four-output CV sequencer
Size: 10 HP
Depth: 1 inch
Power: 2x5 Eurorack
+12 V: 80 mA
-12 V: 20 mA

Etymology#

Mimetic -- from Latin: "pertaining to mimes"

Digitwolis -- from Latin digitalis contracted with English two: "belonging to two fingers"

"Second finger mime of death"

Power#

Power connector

To power your Noise Engineering module, turn off your case. Plug one end of your ribbon cable into your power board so that the red stripe on the ribbon cable is aligned to the side that says -12 V and each pin on the power header is plugged into the connector on the ribbon. Make sure no pins are overhanging the connector! If they are, unplug it and realign.

Line up the red stripe on the ribbon cable so that it matches the white stripe and/or -12 V indication on the board and plug in the connector.

Screw your module into your case before powering on the module. You risk bumping the module's PCB against something metallic and damaging it if it's not properly secured when powered on.

You should be good to go if you followed these instructions. Now go make some noise!

A final note. Some modules have other headers -- they may have a different number of pins or may say "not power". In general, unless a manual tells you otherwise, do not connect those to power.

About#

Mimetic Digitwolis is a highly configurable sequencer and quantizer. It features four mappable CV inputs and five mappable trigger inputs, four output lanes, and MIDI in and out on TRS type A jacks.

Each of its four lanes can be configured to output modulation CV, pitch CV, triggers, or gates, or to act as a quantizer on external CV. Each sequence can be any length from one to 16 steps, and can be navigated sequentially forwards and backwards, or with X/Y navigation in a variety of arrangements like 4x4 and 5x3. Internal clock dividers can also be applied to lanes, and sequences can be navigated with any trigger source, addressed with external CV, and/or synchronized to external clock sources like MIDI.

A number of destructive edits are also available for mapping to external triggers. Shred, the famous randomization parameter from the original Mimetic Digitalis, can now be triggered externally as well as manually. Steps can also be triggered to their minimum value. Shift offsets the entire sequence a configurable number of steps forward. Finally, stepped CV recording is possible using a trigger and external CV source.

CV and Pitch lanes can have their output minimum and maximum configured to best accommodate their destinations, and slew limiting can be applied to their outputs for smooth transitions between values. External CV can also be mapped to offset the level of a lane, and CV lanes can have their output attenuated by external CV as well.

Mimetic Digitwolis features an extensive variety of editing shortcuts, useful for randomizing entire sequences, creating ramp patterns, offsetting entire sequences, copying one lane to another, and quickly adjusting sequence length and step position.

Pitch and external quantizer lanes have configurable scales, editable either manually from the screen or with an external MIDI keyboard. When a new scale is applied to a pitch lane, the existing sequence will reflect the new scale immediately, a particularly fun behavior when using a MIDI keyboard as a performance element. Randomizations in pitch lanes using manual or triggered Shred will also respect note minimum, maximum, and scale settings, making it easy to randomly create musical sequences on the fly or in generative patches.

The internal memory can save and load into 24 slots. Saves include all sequence data and trigger and CV mappings, making it easy to jump between entirely different patches and configurations.

MIDI is also implemented globally as a clock synchronization option, and Program Change messages can be used to load saved configurations from an external controller. CV lanes will output stepped CC modulation, and pitch, note, trig, and gate lanes will output simple MIDI note sequences. Quantizer lanes will output notes based on quantized pitch and gate length, acting as a simple CV to MIDI interface. Scales can be configured with MIDI input for quantizer and pitch lanes, and the steps of CV lanes are mapped to 16 CCs, which can be addressed with an external faderbank for direct editing.

In addition to extensive external connectivity, an internal clock can be enabled so that the sequencer can run entirely independently.

We thought the original Mimetic Digitalis was a powerhouse in just 10hp, but Mimetic Digitwolis extends that functionality in ways we couldn't have dreamed of when we created the original. Seem like a lot? In this manual, we'll cover all the bits and baubles in depth.

Input & output voltages#

Mimetic Digitwolis outputs CV from 0V to +5V, and gates/triggers from 0V to +5.3V. Its CV inputs have a range of 0V to +5V. Its trigger inputs respond to a rising edge around +1.8V.

Navigating the screen#

Mimetic Digitwolis has two sequencer screens: the overview screen, which shows all four lanes at once, and the focus screen, which shows one lane in detail. You can swap between screens with the View button.

explanation

The Overview and Focus screens

By pressing the Config button on the overview screen, you’ll open the Globals menu which contains transport settings, factory presets, and more.

explanation

By pressing the Config button from a focus screen, you’ll open the Lane menu, which contains configuration settings for the focused lane.

explanation

You can navigate between the global settings and lane settings with the 1/2/3/4 lane buttons. Press a lane button from the Globals menu to jump to that lane’s configuration settings, or press the current lane’s button to jump to the Globals settings.

You can use the Edit encoder to navigate the menus and edit settings. Scroll through the menus by turning the encoder, and tap the encoder to enter a submenu, or edit a setting’s value. After tapping to select a menu item to edit, rotate the encoder to change the value, then tap again to deselect.

If you’re in a submenu, the View button will take you back to the previous menu.

Tap the Save or Load buttons from the Overview or Focus screen to open the Save or Load menus.

Quick Start#

Mimetic Digitalis's capabilities are extensive, and it can fit into a patch however you want it to. That said, here are a few simple patches to get started!

Total independence#

Load the Voice preset by navigating to the Presets section of the Globals menu.

Patch Out 1 to the trigger input of your voice, Out 2 to the pitch input, and Outs 3 and 4 to modulation destinations (like filter cutoffs, wavefolder thresholds, envelope times, etc).

Hold Load and tap Shred. This will randomize all lanes, generating a new sequence. Lane 1 will advance by itself, generating triggers. Lanes 2, 3, and 4 will advance based on the trigger sequence generated by lane 1.

Adjust the tempo by tapping Config, then editing the BPM field in the Xport submenu.

From the config menu, tap 2 to open Lane 2's configuration menu. Select the Output submenu, then select Scale to bring up the keyboard. Change the enabled and disabled notes with the Edit encoder to pick a different scale and change the sound of your sequence. Press Config to return to the main sequencer screen.

Press View to swap to the Focus screen, then tap the Select buttons to swap between lanes. Flip the switch to the Edit position and use the Prev and Next buttons to select steps for editing, then use the encoder to dial in the sequence to taste (or just hit Shred to keep randomizing!).

Cartesian sequencing#

Load the 4 x 4 preset by navigating to the Presets section of the Globals menu.

Patch trigger or clock sources to Trig Ins 1 and 2, and a reset signal to Trig In R if needed.

Hold Load and tap Shred to randomize all step values.

Patch the output CVs to various modulation destinations in your system.

Press View to swap from the overview screen to the Focus view.

Flip the switch to the Edit position. The sequence will pause, but track incoming clocks behind the scenes.

Use the Prev and Next buttons to navigate between steps, and the encoder to edit step values. Use the 1/2/3/4 buttons to swap between lanes for editing.

Once you’ve dialed in a sequence, flip the switch back to Run to continue playback.

Tap Config and change one of the lane types to Note.

Dial in a pitch sequence (or create a random one by holding Shred), and patch the lane output to the pitch CV input of an oscillator.

Simple subdivisions#

Load the Null preset by navigating to the Presets section of the Globals menu.

Patch a clock source to Trig In 1, and a reset trigger to Trig In R.

Tap View to swap to the Focus view, the tap Config to open Lane 1's configuration menu.

Rotate the encoder to hover over the Step field, then tap the encoder to enter the submenu. Rotate to navigate to the Advn field, then tap to enable the field for editing. Rotate to change the mapping to Trig 1.

Tap Select 2, then rotate the encoder to change its mapping to Trig 1, too. Repeat for lanes 3 and 4.

Using the same method, map the Rset field to Trig R.

Tap View to go back to the main lane configuration menu, then open the Sequence submenu.

For each lane, edit the Div field to a different value (perhaps 1 for lane 1, 2 for lane 2, 8 for lane 3, and 16 for lane 4.)

Tap Config to close the menu, then View to return to the overview screen. Each lane will now advance at a different rate from the same clock, but will reset to stay in phase when Trig In R is triggered.

Patch the outs to CV destinations in your system.

To edit the sequence, flip the switch to the Edit position. Use the Prev and Next to change what step is being edited. Tap the Select buttons to enable or disable lanes for editing. Rotate the encoder to change a step value manually, or use Shred to generate a random value.

Flip the switch to Run to resume playback.

For even more polyrhythmic fun, hold down a Select button, and press and turn the Edit encoder. This will change the respective lane's sequence length.

To learn more about what Mimetic Digitwolis can do, try out the other presets described below, and explore the lane configuration menus.

Interface#

explanation

MIDI In

MIDI TRS type A input. MIDI can be used to clock the module, edit sequences, and configure scales, depending on configuration settings.

MIDI Out

MIDI TRS type A output. Mimetic Digitwolis can generate MIDI notes and CCs, depending on lane configuration.

CV Out 1/2/3/4

The outputs of Mimetic Digitwolis.

CV In A/B/C/D

Four configurable CV inputs.

Trig In R, 1/2/3/4

Five configurable trigger inputs.

Edit

The main editing interface of Mimetic Digitwolis.

When a CV lane is selected, turning the encoder will coarsely adjust the level of the current step, and pressing+turning the encoder will finely adjust the level.

When a Note lane is selected, turning the encoder will adjust the current step by semitones, and pressing+turning the encoder will jump octaves.

When a Trig or Gate lane is selected, turning the encoder clockwise will activate a step, and turning counterclockwise will deactivate a step.

In a menu, turning the encoder will change the highlighted menu item, and tapping the encoder will enable/disable value adjustment, or enter a submenu.

View

Swaps between the Overview and Focus sequencer screens, or goes back a screen when in a submenu.

1/2/3/4

Lane select buttons.

On the Overview screen, these buttons select/deselect lanes for editing. Double-tap a lane to select one lane and deselect the others. Selected lanes can have their steps edited with the encoder and the Zero/Shred buttons.

On the Focus screen, these buttons swap between focused lanes.

In the configuration menu, these buttons swap between lanes for configuration.

Stop/Edit/Run

Transport control switch.

Stop: Stops the sequencer from advancing. All lanes are disabled from responding to CV or triggers, and quantizer lanes are disabled. Resets all lanes to step 1 when the switch is flipped to Run.

Edit: Stops the sequencer from advancing, but tracks lane navigation events. When moved back to the Run position, the lane playheads will continue at the appropriate step(s).

Run: Normal playback.

Config

Opens the configuration menu from the Overview/Focus screen, or closes the configuration menu from any menu screen.

Copy

Hold down Copy and tap a lane select button, then tap another. The first lane’s sequence will be copied to the second lane.

Save/Load

Opens the Save/Load menu. There are four banks, each with six save slots. The save menu also contains the dreaded Reset All option, which erases all save slots and sets them to default. Beware!

Note

Saves contain all lane configuration settings (including input mappings, voltage ranges, scales, and so on), Xport settings, and all sequence data. Mimetic Digitwolis also autosaves frequently, so the module will be in the same state upon reboot.

Prev/Next: Navigates to the previous/next step. On the Overview screen, deselected lanes won’t change position when these buttons are pressed.

Note

Tapping both Prev and Next simultaneously will jump to step 1.

Zero: Sets the current step to its minimum value. If already at the minimum value, sets the step to the maximum value.

Note

Minimum and maximum values can be configured per lane for CV and Note lanes using the Output: Min and Output: Max settings.

Shred: Sets the current step to a random value.

Combo moves#

Just like the original, Mimetic Digitwolis has a number of fun button combos for quick editing and sequence generation.

Save + 1/2/3/4: Save all data to slot A/B/C/D.
Load + 1/2/3/4: Load all data from slot A/B/C/D.
Hold Load + rotate Edit: Creates ramp pattern in the selected lane(s).
Hold Save + rotate Edit: Creates hill pattern in the selected lane(s).
Hold Copy + rotate Edit: Increases or decreases all step values in the selected lane(s)
Hold 1/2/3/4 + rotate Edit: Offsets the sequence of the selected lane(s) forwards or backwards one step with each encoder click. This is a destructive edit, resetting offsets will need to be done manually.
Hold 1/2/3/4 + press and rotate Edit: Changes the pattern length.
Load + Zero: Sets all step values in selected lane(s) to minimum.
Load+Shred: Sets all steps in selected lane(s) to random values.
Next+Prev: Resets all lanes to step 1.

Trigger sources#

Trigger destinations used for moving a sequence can come from a variety of sources:

Off: The trigger destination is disabled.
Trig In R/1-4: The five trigger inputs on Mimetic Digitwolis.
CV A-D: Repurposes the CV In jacks to respond to trigger signals.
Xprt 1/2/4/8/16: Triggers the destination based on the transport clock (Globals: Xport). The number following the text is the musical note denominations: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note.
Out 1-4: Reads the output of another lane and triggers the destination when the voltage exceeds the trigger threshold. Particularly useful when a different lane is configured to output Trig or Gate signals.

Other trigger destinations can be assigned directly to Trig In R/1-4.

Note

Mimetic Digitwolis will reset a lane to step 1 on the next advance event after receiving a reset trigger. For example, an XAdv/YAdv trigger following a Rset trigger will take a lane to step 1. Simultaneous advance and reset triggers will also take a lane to step 1, with some margin for error baked in if triggers aren’t exactly simultaneous. If a lane has a clock divider greater than 1, it will still reset on the next advance event after receiving a reset trigger, and the clock divider will reset its count.

MIDI#

Mimetic Digitwolis has a number of MIDI functions, and can both respond to and generate MIDI data.

Program Change (PC) messages: The 24 save slots can be loaded with MIDI Program Change messages 0-23 (or 1-24, depending on how your MIDI device presents numbers). When a slot is manually loaded, its corresponding Program Change message will be output, too.
MIDI sequencing: All lane types can output MIDI data. By default, MIDI output will be turned off, but it can be activated by changing a lane's MIDI: Chan setting from Off to any number. More details about lane configuration can be found in the Configuring the lanes section.

CV lanes generate CC data. The CC number can be changed from the lane’s MIDI configuration submenu.
Note lanes output a note on immediately followed by a note off, with the corresponding MIDI note. A starting octave offset can be changed from the lane’s MIDI configuration submenu.
Trig lanes output a note on immediately followed by a note off. The MIDI note can be changed from the lane’s MIDI configuration submenu.
Gate lanes output a note on when an active step is reached, and a note off when an inactive step is reached. The MIDI note can be changed from the lane’s MIDI configuration submenu.
Qtiz lanes output MIDI notes corresponding to the CV output with a note duration matching the gate input.

Note

Since Qtiz lanes output MIDI note data, they can be used for basic CV to MIDI conversion.

MIDI sequence editing: CV and Note sequence data can be edited with MIDI as well.

CV lane steps are mapped to CCs 4-19. If you have a MIDI controller with 16 knobs or faders, you can use it to directly control each step.
Note lanes will set the current step to an input MIDI note if the MIDI: Mode setting is set to Edit.

MIDI scale editing: An external MIDI keyboard can be used to select the notes used by Qtiz and Note lanes. The MIDI: Mode setting changes how notes are selected.

hold: Notes held simultaneously will be assigned to the quantizer scale. Quantizer notes will reset the next time a chord is held down.
time: Notes played in quick sequence will be assigned to the quantizer scale. Quantizer notes will reset if a note is played after a long pause.
toggle: Notes will be toggled on or off each time they are played.

MIDI transport: By setting Globals: Xport to MIDI, a MIDI clock source can be used to synchronize the sequencer. For each lane that should be advanced by MIDI, assign the Step: Advn source to Xport 1/2/4/8/16, with 16 being the fastest (16th notes) and 1 being the slowest (whole notes). Lanes will reset to step 1 when a MIDI Start message is received.

Configuring the global settings#

From the Overview screen, tap Config to open the global configuration menu.

explanation

Xport: Along with directly advancing lanes with triggers or CV, Mimetic Digitwolis has a number of sensible transport configurations. External transport sources generate clock signals, and reset all lanes when started. Transport events appear as trigger sources in applicable lane destinations. For example, to advance a lane every 16th note, set the Advn trigger to Xprt16.

Note

If transport is set to MIDI, DIN, Gate, or Trig, lanes stop completely if transport is stopped. This means that quantizers will hold their current value, and direct trigger mappings will not respond until transport is active again.

None: Disables transport; lanes can only be advanced with direct trigger mappings.
MIDI: Follows MIDI clock and MIDI transport events.
DIN: DIN sync.
- Run: Input for the Run gate.
- Clk: Input for the 24PPQN clock signal.
Gate: Gate-controlled transport. The sequencer can follow the clock input only while the gate input is high.
- Run: Input for the Run gate.
- Clk: Input for the clock. Unlike the DIN setting no internal division is applied, so 4PPQN clocks are suitable here.
- Rst: Input for reset triggers.
Trig: Toggleable transport. The sequencer can follow the clock input after a trigger is received, and stops advancing when the next trigger is received.
- Run: Input for the start/stop trigger.
- Clk: Input for the clock. Unlike the DIN setting no internal division is applied, so 4PPQN clocks are suitable here.
- Rst: Input for reset triggers.
Clock: Generates a clock signal internally.
- BPM: Sets the rate of the internal clock.

Note

Changing Xport sources (or loading save slots with different Xport settings) can cause lanes to become out of sync. We recommend restarting your Xport source after changing or loading different Xport settings.

Presets: Mimetic Digitwolis features a number of factory presets designed to serve as starting points for various types of patches. These are easily loadable and editable.

explanation

CV x 4: Four CV lanes.
- Trig In R resets all four lanes.
- Trig In 1-4 advance lanes 1-4 respectively.
- CV In A-D address lanes 1-4 respectively.
Null: Four CV lanes. All CV and Trig inputs are unmapped.
Pitch x 4: The same mappings as CV x 4, but with four Pitch lanes. The lanes are quantized to a major scale.
Quant: Four quantizer lanes. Each lane has a trigger input and a CV input; the trigger input tells the quantizer when to read the CV signal.
- Trig In 1-4 and CV In A-D are mapped to lanes 1-4 respectively.
Notes: Lanes 1 and 3 are Trig lanes, and lanes 2 and 4 are Note lanes.
- Trig In R resets all four lanes.
- Trig In 1 advances lanes 1 and 2.
- Trig In 2 advances lanes 3 and 4.
- CV In A addresses lanes 1 and 2.
- CV In B addresses lanes 3 and 4.
4 x 4: Pays homage to the original MD. Four CV lanes; trigger and CV mappings are shared by all lanes.
- Trig In R resets all lanes.
- Trig In 1 X axis advance for all lanes.
- Trig In 2 Y axis advance for all lanes.
- Trig In 3 Jump all lanes to random step.
- CV In A X axis address for all lanes.
- CV In B Y axis address for all lanes.
Voice: Self-contained sequencer for one voice.
- Lane 1 outputs triggers.
- Lane 2 outputs pitch CV.
- Lanes 3/4 output modulation CV.
- Lane 1 is advanced by the internal clock.
- Lanes 2-4 are advanced any time the trigger output on lane 1 fires.

Note Letter/Number: Changes whether Note lanes display their step values as note names (C, D, Eb, F, G, etc) or as numbers (0-9,A,B).
ScrS: Enables or disables the screensaver.
MIDI: Opens the submenu for global MIDI settings.

explanation

Chan: Changes the MIDI channel that the module uses for sending/receiving program change (PC) messages. Setting this to off disables PC messages.
Thru On/Off: Sets whether MIDI from the MIDI In jack is sent to the MIDI Out jack or not.
Dump: Performs a SysEx dump of all saved data.

Configuring the lanes#

Each of Mimetic Digitwolis’s four lanes can be configured to output a variety of signals. From the Focus screen, press the Config button to open the lane configuration settings. Within the Config menu, you can use the 1/2/3/4 buttons to change which lane is being edited.

The submenus and configuration options will change depending on the type of output selected. The first item in the Lane configuration menu selects the type of signal that will be output:

CV: Unquantized CV, designed for modulating non-pitch destinations.
Note: Quantized CV, designed for pitch sequencing.
Gate: Binary output for time-dependent gate destinations like ADSR envelopes.
Trig: Binary output that outputs 5ms triggers on active steps, useful for drum modules and other triggerable destinations.
Qtiz: A quantizer for external CV signals, with options for selecting scale from a MIDI keyboard. Can also output MIDI notes generated from analog signals.

Type: CV#

Unquantized CV, designed for modulating non-pitch destinations.

explanation

Step#

explanation

Dims: 16x1, 8x2, 5x3, 4x3, 4x4: Sets the step maximum and navigation scheme for the lane. By default, a lane will be set to 16x1, which is a conventional 16-step sequence. 16x1 can be advanced forwards and backwards by assigning triggers to Advn and Prev. The other Dims settings have multiple dimensions, and can be advanced by assigning triggers to XAdv and YAdv.
Advn (16x1 only)/XAdv/YAdv: Trigger-input mapping for advancing to the next step in a sequence.; If Dims is set to 16x1, only one Advance mapping is available. Other Dims settings have multiple dimensions, and X and Y can be assigned to separate trigger sources.
Prev (16x1 only): Trigger-input mapping for moving back one step.
Rset: Trigger-input mapping for reset triggers. After receiving a reset trigger, the lane will jump to the first step next time any Advance trigger is received.
Rand: Trigger-input mapping for jumping to a random step.
Ofs (16x1 only)/XOfs/YOfs: CV input mapping for step address. This allows for navigating the sequence with CV sources like LFOs.; If Dims is set to 16x1, only one Ofs mapping is available. Other Dims settings have multiple dimensions, and X and Y can be assigned to separate CV sources.

Sequence#

explanation

Len (16x1 only): Sets the length of the sequence.

Note

To edit the length of a sequence from the Overview or Focus screen, hold down a 1/2/3/4 button, and press+turn the Edit encoder.

Div: Applies a clock divider to all Advance triggers (including X and Y, if applicable), from 1 to 16.
Zero: Trigger-input mapping for the Zero function: any time a trigger is received here, the current step will be set to its minimum value.
Shrd: Trigger-input mapping for the Shred function: any time a trigger is received here, the current step will be set to a random value.
Shift: Trigger-input mapping for shifting the sequence’s step values. Each time a trigger is received here, all step values will be moved forward by the number of steps set in the Amt setting.
Amt: The number of steps that a sequence will be shifted when the Shift function is triggered.

Output#

explanation

Slew: Sets the amount of slew applied to the sequence.
VMin: Sets the minimum output voltage of the lane.
VMax: Sets the minimum output voltage of the lane.
Scl: CV input mapping for scaling the output of a lane with an external CV signal.
Ofs: CV input mapping for offsetting the output of a lane with an external CV signal.

MIDI#

explanation

Chan: Sets the MIDI channel that a lane will output on. MIDI output is disabled if this is set to Off.
cc: Sets the MIDI CC that the sequence will be output on.

Record#

explanation

Read: CV input mapping for recording external values to the sequence.
Inp: Trigger-input mapping for recording external values to the sequence. When a trigger is received here, the CV input will be read and the value will be assigned to the current step.