Moffenzeef have been on a roll in 2017, developing some exciting and performance friendly modules including their newest clock dividing beast, MITO. They were kind enough to send one along for inspection and experimentation, and it is extremely fun and flexible.
Named for the cell division process Mitosis, the device includes 6 independently controllable clock dividers, capable of reducing the incoming clock down to 1 pulse every 16 clock pulses. Each clock can be set using the appropriate channel knob, or muted using the corresponding on/off switch. The six channels can be individually modulated via external CV signal as well, to create intricate and changing patterns. Paired with a sequencer or another Moffenzeef module, The Deviant, that can alter the division amount in a repeatable way, MITO can generate complex rhythm loops.
MITO also features control over swing amount of every other incoming clock pulse using the Amoeba knob and CV input. The swing function delays every other 16th note pulse, and can shift from off to subtle swing all the way to shifting every other pulse to overlap the next pulse. Light modulation of the swing amount can vary yield a more live rhythmic feel, while heavy modulation can be destructive and jarring (in a good way!) Pulsewidth is another modulation friendly parameter, allowing the note length to be altered. This is another function that greatly benefits from modulation, especially when used with envelopes and percussion modules with gate inputs.
Along with all of the other Moffenzeef digital modules, MITO is based on arduino architecture, allowing the user to hack and alter the internal code to suit their own needs. The appropriate materials are available for download from the Moffenzeef Github page, and available under a CC-BY-NC-SA Open Source license. That means if all of those uneven clock divisions are not really cutting the mustard for you, you can find the code and edit some small portions of it to get even clock divisions from the outputs… Or maybe just from the top three!
How are you generating complex and interesting patterns in your system? Tell us about it in the comments!
