Mojave is a granular sandstorm. Drawing its inspiration from vast swaths of desert in the American Southwest, Mojave is a live granular processor that uses microscopic bits of audio to create beautifully crafted sonic landscapes.
The core of Mojave’s sound design palette is a unique set of melodic and rhythmic controls that presents each grain in a compositional context. Generate clock-synced granular arpeggios, or envelope your sound in rich harmonic swirls with the turn of a knob. All microsound settings can be easily accessed via individual knobs letting you tailor each grain, and effortlessly construct dunes of sound. Mojave is not exclusive to modular signals either; become the wind itself by using the onboard microphone to sift through and manipulate acoustic audio.
And, just like Nautilus, Mojave’s internal settings can be configured via the USB drive and the Narwhal web app. Whether you are constructing pebbles or sandstone monuments, Mojave is the perfect balance between exploratory sound design and harmonious sublimity.
Live granular processor and stochastic event generator
Onboard high quality MEMS microphone
Configurable Dune CV/Gate output
Firmware updates & alternate firmware via the USB Drive
Based on the Daisy platform
Check out our demo videos on Mojave, both from our team and Red Means Recording!
Making a live granular processor has been a huge goal of mine, going all the way back to the beginning of Qu-Bit with the Nebulae v1. I hope this module brings a sense of wonder and intrigue to you the same way it has to me while making it.
Though both Nebulae v2 and Mojave both contain granular engines, they do exist in separate spheres of sound design!
Mojave is a live granular processor, and is focused on taking grains and manipulating them within predetermined parameters (div/mults of the clock rate, pitch quantizations, etc.).
Nebulae v2, however, is a granular sampler, and with it’s phase vocoder engine is able to parse audio’s time and speed independently from one another.
Though there is some overlap in granular controls, I hope this brief comparison clarifies the unique qualities of each!
Yeah, a smaller buffer to keep filling (circular recording?) for audio processing, I’ve watched the overview videos, more into mutable beads territory, (it lacks the reverb on the final stage, perhaps too heavy on the daisy seed) it looks really nice, but you’re right, the phase vocoding is powerful on the nebula, your new setup (nautilus, aurora, Mojave and the nebula) is really interesting, made thinking about a special system. thanks
The Gust knob can either act as internal feedback (turn knob left of center) or a reverb (turn knob right of center)! You can even adjust the reverb length and dampening amount via our Narwhal web app!
Edit: Also as a side note, but both the Daisy Seed and Beads run the same MCU onboard, while the Seed has a larger amount of RAM. This allows Mojave to set it’s audio buffer size up to two and a half minutes long while retaining audio fidelity.
Very nice looking module. I have to admit i was asking for grain clocking functionality to be added in the next nebulae 2 firmware release, but i see the Mojave as a better approach since it’s built on a new platform and has been fleshed out to the point that the neb2 could not handle. So I see Mojave as an awesome expander for the Nebulae 2. Though i have to say now I am even more curious to know what lies in store for the next neb2 firmware update.
Though it’s not specifically what you are requesting for Nebulae, you can manual trigger grains with the Source input jack. Just hold down the SOURCE button and pressing the FREEZE button. You’ll know that the jack will generate grains if the FREEZE button LED is illuminated.
You could then use an external clock/gate sequencer to trigger your grains!
I really like Mojave so far.
Despite i don’t get how wasn’t implemented on current Nebulae V2 (Rasp pi4 and 3B) as an alternative firmware like on Aurora.
Just ordered mine the other day, this things looks and sounds absolutely incredible!!! Cant wait to get my hands on it, bravo to you guys for making something so amazing, now ship it so I can play with it!!! Lol
Hi Michael!
I’m interested in understanding more about the buffer size. Is it possible to set a long buffer (1,2 minutes) on the fly or do I need to set it up on the app? I read from the manual that is “fixed 6 seconds”
Buffer size is only configurable via Narwhal. You can either have a buffer size that adapts to the clock rate (options are 16 beats, 8 beats, 4 beats, 2 beats, or 1 beats of the clock rate) or a fixed buffer size (the default is 6 seconds, but you can select a range between 1 second and 2 and a half minutes)!
Hello. I received Mojave a few days ago and so far I really like it. This is my first Qu-Bit module. My next one will be Nautilus I guess
So for Mojave: It took me some time to get meaningful and useful results but slowly I’m getting there. I really like the idea to put the grains in a rather musical and rhythmical context. So the results are a bit more predictable.
I have a few questions though:
In Narwhal I can change the quantization scale to some predefined scales. I would love to have something simple like only 5th and octaves, or even only e.g. 5th intervals without octaves. Is there any way to set up custom scales?
Is there a way to change the behavior of the lock and freeze buttons? The on/off states are latched with a button press or gate. Could this be changed to “gated on” as well? So that either a positive voltage or a button hold would activate these functions.
Can the Zone parameter also be quantized to the grid in clocked mode?
The reverb seems a bit quiet at full CW. Can you add an option to boost it in Narwhal?
I’ve had the Mojave for a couple months now and I’m really loving it’s immediacy and flexibility as a granular device. It is my most beloved granular device to date. I do, however, have a suggestion that I would LOVE to see in any potential, future updates or Narwhal options:
As you demonstrated with Nautilus’ Chroma effects, simple effects built within the modules audio chain can be super powerful and add a lot of options and character to the module. I would LOVE to see an implementation of a small palette of simple effects like Chroma fx as an alternative assignment for the structure knob. Sky modes could then represent the different effects implemented and the Structure knob might act as a modulation knob for the effect applied to the grains. The effects that most interest me include a LP, BP, and/or HP filter, bit crusher, phaser, wavefolder, and saturation.
I’m sure a lot of people are digging the scales and what Structure does with them already, but with the Speed function already CV-able with random or sequenced v/oct modulation, I don’t always find it so necessary to use Structure as it was initially designed.
Thanks for your consideration. I totally understand if there are some technical realities that mean it can’t be done, but from a musician/user’s vantage point, these features would really make the module stand out even more than it already does among the granular processors on the market.
