8x10

8x10

MFB 522 Manual

General

The MFB-522 is a drum machine that uses fully analogue sound sources. Most of its nine instruments can be edited in real-time using onboard controls. In addition, the bass drum, clap, and tom/conga sounds are available in two or three variations per pattern. The MFB-522 offers 72 rhythms, each with corresponding fill-ins, as well as eight memory locations for songs. The sequencer also offers a separate accent track, three shuffle intensities, and can be synchronized to an external MIDI clock.

Set-up and Connections

Connect the external power supply to the Power jack. MIDI-In allows you to connect a MIDI keyboard, a MIDI trigger pad, or a sequencer. Stereo Out is the main line-level analogue output — use it to connect the MFB-522 to an amplifier, mixing desk, or audio interface. In addition, bass drum, snare drum, clap, and hi-hat offer four individual outputs. When connected, these instruments are automatically subtracted from the Stereo Out. Use the On/Off switch to turn on the MFB-522.

Instruments

Use the white buttons (1/BD ... 8/HH) to manually trigger the instruments. Sound variations and instruments that share a channel with another instrument — such as short bass drum, rimshot, short clap, high tom/conga, and clave — can be played by holding Shift and pressing the corresponding white button. All instruments offer individual level controls.

Sound Parameters

Bass Drum

  • Tune — sets the bass drum's basic pitch.
  • Decay — controls the release length of the sound.
  • Tone — adjusts the intensity of the attack phase.
  • Played directly: responds to the set decay time.
  • Triggered with Shift: fixed, short decay.

Snare Drum

  • Noise — sets the volume of the sound's noise part.
  • Tone — controls the balance between a low and higher snare sound.
  • Shares a channel with the Rimshot (Shift). Both sounds cannot be played simultaneously.

Clap

  • Attack — sets the width of the individual claps.
  • Filter — adjusts the color of the sound, ranging from muffled to crisp.
  • Decay — controls the release time for the noise part, adding a reverb-like flavor.
  • Played directly: longer sound with four claps.
  • Triggered with Shift: shorter sound with two claps.

Tom/Conga

  • Toggle between tom and conga sounds. Both cannot be played simultaneously.
  • Although a single instrument, the sound source offers three pitches per pattern (low/mid/high).
  • Tune — sets the spreading of the pitches.
  • Decay — controls the sound duration.

Cowbell

  • Decay — controls the sound duration.
  • Tune — continuously detunes one of the two tone generators.
  • Shares a channel with the Clave (Shift). Both sounds cannot be played simultaneously.

Cymbal

  • Tone — adjusts the sound character.
  • Decay — controls the release length.
  • Tune — sets the pitch.

Hi-hat

  • Decay — controls the sound duration.

MIDI Note Assignments

All instruments can be triggered via MIDI:

Note Instrument
B0 (35) BD short
C#1 (37) Rimshot
D#1 Clap short
F1 (40) Cowbell
G1 (42) Clave
A1 (44) Low Tom/Conga
B1 (46) Mid Tom/Conga
C#2 (48) Cymbal

All instruments are also available two octaves up.

Sequencer

Press Play to start and stop the sequencer. The sequencer plays the basic one-bar rhythm (left LED lit) or the fill-in (right LED lit). The 72 rhythms (patterns) are divided into groups. For the selection of the first eight patterns, use the white buttons to select a memory location. To select patterns 9–72, press and hold Rhythm and type in the pattern number (e.g., for pattern 36). The selected rhythm will be displayed. Pattern changes can be done on the fly — a new selected pattern starts once the current pattern is completed.

Programming Patterns

Prior to recording, select the pattern while the sequencer is stopped or is playing. If editing a pattern in a selected memory location, it can be done in real-time on the fly.

  1. Press and hold Rec and select an instrument using the white buttons.
  2. Release Rec to start. The 16 LEDs illuminate and you can use the buttons to set or delete steps on the odd sixteenth notes.
  3. The even sixteenth notes (steps 2, 4, 6, etc.) are accessed by pressing Shift.
  4. Releasing Shift automatically switches back to the odd steps.

Programming Alternative Instruments

To select the alternative instruments (short bass drum, rimshot, short clap, high/mid tom/conga, clave): hold Rec and press the white button twice (or three times for tom/conga). To switch back to the standard instrument, reselect the instrument track.

Programming the Accent Track

The accent track is programmed like an instrument. Select it by pressing Rec and Shift. Accents are possible for every step but always affect all instruments. By pressing Shift twice, it is also possible to set "negative" accents that reduce volume.

Setting Pattern Length (Less Than 16 Steps)

  1. Hold Rec and press 7/OH and 8/HH simultaneously, then release Rec.
  2. While the sequencer is running, press any white key to specify (or remove) the step border. This border will not be displayed.

Song Playback

The MFB-522 offers eight memory locations for songs, each containing up to 64 rhythms. To select a song for playback, press Song with one of the white buttons (eight buttons = eight songs). Then press Play to start.

Recording a Song

  1. Select a song first and start song programming by pressing Rec.
  2. For each step in the sequence, first select whether you want to use the one-bar basic rhythm or the same pattern with fill-in.
  3. Select the first rhythm using the white buttons and confirm by pressing Song.
  4. Repeat this for each following pattern.
  5. Complete and save the song by pressing Rec.

Shuffle

The MFB-522 offers three global shuffle intensities. Upon switching on, shuffle is inactive. To activate, repeatedly press Shift and Play to cycle through: Shuffle 1 → Shuffle 2 → Shuffle → No Shuffle.

Using this function during playback will not immediately switch the shuffle mode — it takes effect on the next bar. The shuffle setting is not stored with the pattern and must be reset whenever restarting the unit.

Setting the MIDI Channel

  1. Press and hold Shift and Fill.
  2. Select the channel using the Tempo knob. The selected channel is indicated by LEDs 1–16.
  3. Store the channel by releasing Shift and Fill.

MIDI Clock

The MFB-522 receives the MIDI commands start, stop, and MIDI clock when set to external synchronization. When set to internal synchronization, these commands are ignored.

To switch between internal and external synchronization modes, press Play while switching the unit on. The mode will not be displayed.