As per the original instrument there are three oscillators on Minimonsta2 and the flow of each one is laid out horizontally. The only real differences between them is that Oscillator 1 does not have control over its fine tune and Oscillator 3 can be used as an LFO. Oscillator 3 also substitutes the sawtooth-triangular waveform for a reverse-sawtooth waveform.
<aside> 📖 There were three oscillator boards during the original Mini’s production run between 1970 & 1981. The first discrete VCOs were evident on the R.A. Moog and Musonic badged models. Collectors say these are richer in tone than subsequent boards but in reality they were also very unstable and difficult to keep in tune.
The next version appeared in 1972 and this become the most common oscillator board, continuing until serial number 10175. This is the board we used for modelling Minimonsta via our 1794 serial Model D.
The final, revision appeared from serial number 10175 and continued until the end of production in 1981. Many say that this version has a lack of warmth and sounds thinner*, compared to the previous version. When we decided to create Minimonsta, we auditioned a Mini with this version but felt it sounded more akin to an ARP, and instead opted to model previous oscillator board. Nonetheless, we know from experience that every Mini does indeed sound slightly different, even when comparing ones with the same VCO board.
*This was because they tracked each other more accurately as they had better high end frequency compensation.
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This selects the octave for the Oscillator 1 tone. Octaves are selected in feet (as in the length of an organ pipe) 2’ is the highest and 32’ is the lowest. The Lo setting is effectively 64’ but this is so low that you’ll probably only hear a series of clicks when selected.
New in Minimonsta2, you can change the width of all three Square/Rectangular waves with this knob.
Minimonsta2 has six basic waveforms. Broadly speaking, the triangle waveform has the least harmonic content and the narrow rectangular waveform has the most.
As per Oscillator 1 this selects the octave for the Oscillator 2 tone. This ranges from 2’ to 32’ and Lo.
This sets the fine tune value of this oscillator between - 8 and + 8 semitones.