Aurora Morse

Rhythmic VCA firmware for the Qu-Bit Aurora Eurorack module.

Features

Aurora Morse turns the Aurora into a clock-driven rhythmic gate. Plug a clock into the Freeze jack and audio into the inputs — the module opens and closes an internal VCA on a dotted rhythm pattern, shaping the audio into syncopated pulses.

Rhythmic gating — the VCA fires on each pattern step with an attack-decay envelope whose shape is set by the Blur knob
Twelve built-in patterns selectable by knob or CV, organised into three groups:
- Simple — straight 8th (1 bar), dotted quarter (3 bars)
- Groove — slow pulse, dotted-8th groove, triplet feel (3 bars), dotted-8th fill (2 bars)
- Dotted-8th + quarter — six variants across 1-bar and 2-bar phrase lengths with different fill endings
Clock ratio — divide or multiply the incoming clock: /8, /4, /2, ×1, ×2, ×4, ×8
Pattern reset — snap back to step 1 via gate or button
Stereo — independent left and right VCA; audio left-normaled by hardware

Download

Pre-built firmware is available on the Releases page.

Download aurora-morse.bin from the latest release
Copy it to the root of a FAT32 USB drive (it must be the only .bin file there)
Insert the USB drive into the Aurora module
Power up the module with the drive inserted — the bootloader loads the firmware automatically
Power down and remove the drive; check daisy_boot_log.txt on the drive to confirm a successful flash

Controls and Behaviour

Inputs

Jack	Function
Freeze gate	Clock input — one rising edge per step tick
Reverse gate	Pattern reset trigger
Time CV	Added to the Time knob for pattern selection
Audio in L/R	Source signal fed through the VCA

Knobs

Knob	Function
Time	Pattern selection — sweeps continuously across the twelve patterns
Mix	Output level — scales VCA peak amplitude (fully CCW = silent)
Blur	Envelope peak position — fully CCW: instant attack + full decay; fully CW: full attack ramp + instant drop
Warp, Atmosphere	Unused

Buttons

Button	Function
Reverse	Manual pattern reset (same effect as a gate on the Reverse jack)
Shift + Freeze	Step through clock ratios: /8 → /4 → /2 → ×1 → ×2 → ×4 → ×8 → /8
Freeze alone	Unused
Shift alone	Unused

CV Inputs

Input	Function
Freeze	See Freeze gate above
Reverse	See Reverse gate above
Time	Pattern selection offset
Warp, Blur, Atmosphere	Unused

Audio

The Freeze gate clock drives the pattern player. On each step advance, the VCA fires an attack-decay envelope that always spans the full step duration. The Blur knob sets where the peak falls: fully CCW snaps immediately to the peak then decays (staccato feel), fully CW ramps up through the whole step then drops (swell feel), noon gives a symmetric triangle. Mix scales the overall amplitude.

Pattern selection (Time knob + CV) is continuous with hysteresis to prevent jitter at boundaries.

Pattern changes take effect at the next Reset rather than mid-sequence, so switching patterns is glitch-free.

LEDs

LED	Behaviour
Arc (1–6)	One arc LED lit at a time, tracking position through the current pattern. Color is fixed per pattern; brightness tracks the VCA envelope in real time.
Freeze LED	Flashes white on each clock tick. While Shift is held, shows the active clock ratio as a color: violet (×1/8), blue (×1/4), light blue (×1/2), white (×1), yellow (×2), orange (×4), red (×8).
Reverse LED	Flashes white briefly on each pattern reset.
Bottom LEDs	Unused.