How does the followup to the highly successful Vintage Keys pack even more synthesis power into the same space? Martin Russ discovers that a 1U Z-Plane Synthesizer can be deceptively large inside!

I always wanted a modular synthesizer. I built several prototypes of my own, but always ran into problems with oscillator drift or tracking, and less-than-perfect-quality patch cords. In the end, I decided to buy a decent commercial monosynth and abandon my dreams of really deep analogue synthesis (after all, Wendy Carlos apparently manages without any modular synths...). Now, unexpectedly, Emu Systems have come to my rescue. Morpheus breaks some of the most sacrosanct rules of synthesis and heralds a new era of synthesis power, just in time for Christmas. What a present!

When I reviewed their Vintage Keys earlier this year, I wondered what would be next in Emu's evolving series of modules. The Proteus modules combined superb samples with just enough programmability to produce some very usable sounds — and the ultimate measure of success has to be a wide availability of add-ons: ROM expansions in this case. Vintage Keys brought back some classic sounds of the past in a box that didn't go out of tune, weigh a ton, or need a mortgage to buy. It also offered programmability — that rare commodity that encourages you to go beyond just using the manufacturer's presets, and delve into the delights of tweaking sounds to your own taste. For the next generation Emu module I expected more of the same... but what they have delivered in Morpheus is the answer to my prayers.

WHAT IT OFFERS

Morpheus is a 1U high, rack-mounting Sampling and Synthesis (S+S) synthesizer module, with 32-note polyphony on up to 16 MIDI channels. It extends the concept of Proteus by adding to the sample and synthesis parts, whilst still retaining the simple 'scroll through and edit' menus and editing format. When you programme over 100 new sounds for something like Vintage Keys, which I did recently (disk available soon from SOS), your 'wish list' of facilities becomes quite well defined. I am pleased to report that almost everything I wanted is already present in Morpheus, along with some ideas from the Proteus MPS keyboard, and the result is a powerful synthesizer module with a huge range of sounds.

Morpheus builds on the basic principles of S+S technology, but stretches the definitions. The samples in Morpheus can be reversed, re-looped anywhere within the entire sample memory, started anywhere in the attack stage, doubled & detuned, portamento'd and enveloped — and the envelopes and start position can be modulated by any controller. The filters are 14-pole interpolating types, which offer considerably more control over the shaping of timbre than your customary 2- or 4-pole fixed, lowpass variety found on most modern synths. Two new Function Generators provide sophisticated control by helping you to create complex, multi-stage envelopes and LFOs. To match all the new features, the modulation routing has been extended — there are now the equivalent of 20 'patch cords' to play with.

A new digital effects section helps to round out the sound of a multi-timbral performance using just the Morpheus, although the usual 'Proteus-style' send/return jacks still enable you to patch in your own favourites or use them as an extra four audio outputs. A card socket on the front panel makes accessing ROM or RAM sounds quick and simple, with no need for SysEx dumps. Comprehensive? That's almost an understatement! In short, Morpheus is a modular synthesizer in a box.

HARDWARE

Morpheus uses the same 1U box as Vintage Keys. There are eight buttons, a green backlit LCD display, memory card slot, rotary data wheel, volume control, headphone socket and power switch on the front panel, whilst the rear panel features three pairs of stereo outputs and the IEC mains input socket. The black, brushed aluminium front panel looks suitably hi-tech, whilst the soft rubber rotary controls provide plenty of non-slip grip [ah... but are they as good as Michelins in the wet? - Ed].

SONIC ORGANISATION

Emu have changed their approach slightly with Morpheus. Instead of linking sounds (Emu call them 'presets') together, a new higher structure has been introduced: the Hyperpreset. A Hyperpreset is like the Performance Map on a Proteus MPS keyboard; it sets the way that presets are assigned to areas (or zones) of the keyboard. Layering, velocity splits and key splits are all possible, and you can use up to 16 presets. Proteus Links only allowed you to use four presets, and had other limitations, whereas Hyperpresets allow you to set the volume, pan, transpose, tuning, key range and velocity range of each of the 16 presets. You can store 128 Hyperpresets in RAM inside the Morpheus, with a further 128 on an optional credit card-sized memory card.

There are 128 preset sounds permanently stored in Morpheus's internal ROM, whilst an additional 128 presets can be saved in RAM, making 256 presets in all. The card slot can also be used to provide another 128 presets from ROM or RAM cards. Previous Proteus and Vintage Keys models provided just one multi-timbral setup, but Morpheus extends this to provide 16 named multi-timbral MIDImaps, as well as the last settings, which makes 17 in all. This means that you can quickly configure Morpheus as a single channel synthesizer expander with lots of polyphony (or, alternatively, a gigantic monophonic stack!), or use it as a multi-channel sound source for use with a sequencer.

VOICE STRUCTURE

Morpheus continues the underlying voice structure of Proteus: an oscillator passes through an envelope to a filter, then on to a cross-fading, panning, and output stage. A preset can contain up to two sets of these component parts, where each oscillator uses up one note of polyphony. Notice that there are separate filters for each oscillator, unlike many synthesizers where the two oscillators are mixed together and then passed through one shared filter. Using Morpheus's built-in 'double and detune' chorus effect uses up another note of polyphony per oscillator. Two LFOs and two Function Generators, as well as the usual keyboard velocity and tracking, pressure, MIDI Controllers and Auxiliary Envelope, provide the modulation sources. In total, there are 64 LFOs and 80 Function Generators — the extra 16 Function Generators are provided just for use within Hyperpresets on a given MIDI channel.

There are two sets of 10 'patch cords' to connect the controllers to parameters: Note-On sources are sampled once when the MIDI Note-On message is received, whereas Real-Time sources are continuously monitored. With a few exceptions, the same sources are available for each destination. Having all these possible sources and destinations for control signals makes Morpheus very similar to a modular synthesizer, but with the considerable advantages of solid, stable oscillators, morphing filters with a manageable number of controls (unlike a Moog Vocoder), and no rats-nest of cables obscuring what you are trying to do.

FUNCTION GENERATORS

Two LFOs per note would often be described as luxury, but Morpheus provides an extra two Function Generators per note, as well as a third which can operate on those presets assigned to one MIDI channel in a Hyperpreset. If you are counting, that's well over 100 sources in total.

The Function Generators are 8-stage envelopes, but with several extra features. Firstly, you can loop them between any envelope segments, and those loops can be conditional if you wish — so you might have a looped section of an envelope that only happens when the key velocity is above a certain value. You can loop them and use the output as an LFO, and you can set randomisation and control parameters so that each loop changes value. As if that wasn't enough, you can change the slope of the output from linear to almost any curve you can think of, including exponentials, arbitrary shapes, random shapes and even chaotic ones. The opportunity to be able to use exponential envelopes will be great for slow attacks.

MIDIMAPS & EFFECTS

The top left-hand corner of the normal Morpheus LCD display normally shows a 'C01', meaning that the preset shown will respond on MIDI channel 1. If you move the cursor to that parameter and change the channel, then you can see the presets for the other channels (assuming that you have Morpheus set to 'Multi' mode, otherwise it will only respond to the displayed channel). A MIDImap is a way of storing such a multi-timbral setup, but it also allows you to define and recall the effects settings, the volume, pan, and mixing destinations: all the sort of 'mixing desk' parameters you would expect. But MIDImaps also hold useful MIDI-related parameters: the Program (Preset or Hyperpreset) message filtering, Bank Select, and Program Change Maps. In essence, they are snapshots of various complete configurations of your Morpheus.

The designers of multi-timbral expanders face one major problem: effects. Whereas chips to produce 16-part multi-timbral sounds are now commonplace, DSP effects chips only produce one or two effects at once. Allocating separate DSPs for each channel would be far too expensive, and so a compromise has to be made. There are two different ways to do it:

• PRESET-ORIENTATED. This approach links the effect to the preset, so that whenever you select a sound, you hear the preset and the effect. But when you use these presets in a multi-timbral setup, only one of the presets is able to set the effect, and all the other presets lose their preferred effect. Since having a linked preset and effect encourages the development of sounds which often depend on the effect for part of their character, preset-orientated sounds suffer when used in a multi-timbral setup.

"Morpheus breaks some of the most sacrosanct rules of synthesis and heralds a new era of synthesis power, just in time for Christmas."

• MULTI-ORIENTATED. This approach has no direct link between the preset sound and the effect. Instead, effects are applied in much the same way as you would with a mixing desk — the same effects are applied to any presets that require it by using a send/return loop. Now because the effects are independent of the presets, you no longer have sounds which depend on specific effects settings.

With their reputation for making multi-timbrality easy to use, Emu have chosen the Multi-Orientated approach. This is particularly interesting in the case of Morpheus, because many of the phasing or flanging effects that would normally be used to improve a basic sound can now be added as part of the filtering instead. This often means no additional effects are needed other than some reverb. Having seen many synthesizer users become very confused by the complex schemes that some manufacturers use to control 'preset-orientated' effects settings in multi-timbral situations, Emu have definitely chosen the best route.

The effects available within Morpheus are similar to those on the Proteus MPS, offering two separate processing sections: A and B, connected in parallel, although you can route the output of B back into the input of A. The A section include reverbs and early reflections, as well as the normal 'modulated time delay' effects like flanging and chorus, and stereo echoes. The B section offers just the 'modulated time delay' effects, a ring modulator and two fuzz effects. This arrangement means that it is not possible to add reverb to early reflections, or to fuzz the output of a reverb, and perhaps an extra 'A-to-B' configuration could be added in a future product. How about it Emu? The reverbs have just a single parameter, Decay Time, which is effective but disappointing in the light of the sophisticated programmability that the rest of Morpheus offers. In contrast, the 'modulated time delay' effects have controls for all the major parameters you would expect: LFO Speed and Depth, Delay Time etc. The inclusion of a ring modulator is quite unusual, and extends the possibilities for special effects, while the fuzz is useful for exploring the 'non-fuzzy' filters.

With this 'mixing desk' way of working, you will probably use one of the internal effects as a reverb, with the other providing chorus or echoes for sonic thickening. In this context the internal effects are excellent, although the provision of stereo effects sends and returns will be welcome if you require more sophisticated outboard processing.

MORPHING

There is more to morphing sounds than having a very capable filter. Those 14 poles need to be carefully placed and manoeuvred if things are going to sound right. It also helps to employ other facilities in the synthesizer — like changing an envelope perhaps. The design of the filter cubes is difficult, because there are often conflicting requirements: for example, the best sounding filters are not always the most stable — in fact, filters that go into self-oscillation are a part of classic analogue synthesis. Trying to ensure that the filters work well under all conditions, making them 'feel' right and track the keyboard, is a complex task. Emu provide about 200 'handcrafted' filter cubes in ROM for Morpheus, and these have a good mix of the available types: flangers, instrument simulations, vowel sounds and formants, harmonic filtering, combs, peaks, EQ and more, including some filters which deliberately distort the signal for 'fuzz' effects. There is even a bypass (the 'Null' filter) and some 'ordinary' lowpass filters.

My SOS October 1993 article on morphing restricted its coverage to the general case of using filters to shape samples. In Morpheus the filter cube is tied down to certain parameters, so that it is easier to get to grips with. Movement across the front of the cube is achieved by keyboard tracking (the 'x' direction), with movement up and down the front of the cube usually tied to keyboard velocity (the 'y' direction). In many cases this means that the filters will grow brighter as you move across and up the front of the cube. Remember that the key velocity and keyboard tracking only set the start point on the front of the cube; after that the movement is back and forwards between the front and back cubes (the 'z' direction). Movement from the front to the back of the cube is determined by the morph control, and this can be controlled by the Auxiliary Envelope, the Mod Wheel or a Foot Controller, an LFO or a Function Generator, or any combination that fits into 10 'real-time' patch cords!

With standardised controls, you can indulge in some very 'quick and dirty' programming: perhaps the simplest S+S cheat's approach is merely to select new samples, but in Morpheus this can also be applied to the filters. You will discover all sorts of interesting sounds just by changing the samples and the filter types — and there are plenty of them to audition: 240 samples x 240 samples x 200 filters x 200 filters (assuming you use two oscillator voices) gives a grand total of just under 2.5 billion combinations [do they include a patch sheet for each one in the manual? - Ed.].

For serious programming, you have a huge range of timbres at your fingertips. There's no need to go over the top with morphing — some of the best effects use the filters without any major modification. For example, I programmed a piano sound which uses the mod wheel to select different tones, and made a pad from a string sound by using a 'bell' filter.

The really bad news is for those people who rush out and buy the latest instruments, sample the sounds, and then flog them in the small ads: "unwanted gift..." etc. The catch with Morpheus is that you can't really sample the morphing — you can capture one example of it, but that is a pale imitation of the real thing. You would use up masses of memory trying to capture even one changing sound, and looping it would be tricky too! Creating lots of multi-samples to capture the changes with keyboard tracking and velocity makes it all the more harder. So I would be very, very surprised to see any "must sell, owner moving abroad" Morpheii appearing in the January adverts.

COPYING

One of the nicest features to find on an instrument that deserves to be programmed is support for developing your own sounds. To this end, the Copy button acts as a flexible copying facility, with options to copy the following:

• Presets from one location to another.
• Layers in a Hyperpreset.
• Filter settings from one preset to another.
• LFO and Function Generator settings.
• Auxiliary Envelopes.
• Note-On patch cords.
• Real-time patch cords.
• Hyperpresets.
• Zones.
• The Free-Run Function Generator in a Hyperpreset.
• MIDImaps.
• Channel settings in a MIDImap.
• Effects settings.
• Program Change Maps.
• Banks from RAM to Card etc.

Since many of the parameters are often reused as the basis of other sounds, the Copy button can be a good way of importing part of one sound into another.

CONCLUSION

Wonderful sounds, deep programming potential, small, light, and with a memory card — Morpheus has lots of advantages as a synthesizer and very few faults (if you want even more polyphony, buy two). There are those who might complain about the lack of General MIDI compatibility but, personally, I reckon that GM blandness is an entirely different market. Morpheus is a synthesist's and player's dream musical instrument, not a computer peripheral destined for corporate presentation background music.

This instrument is the fifth 'absolutely definite winner' I have encountered in my lifetime — my 'classic instruments' list of Yamaha CS80, Sequential Prophet 5, Yamaha DX7, and Yamaha SY77/99 now has a brand new member: Morpheus. Sell the family heirlooms. Prepare your credit card and bank account. Pick up the telephone. Get your order in now! If synthesis is your game, Morpheus is THE instrument to buy.

Further Information

£1195 inc VAT.

Emu European Headquarters, (Contact Details).