Leaderboard

The fourth chapter of the draft manual. The relevant section of the table of contents is: 4. Entering notes 4.1. The Jam page 4.1.1. Rec and Fwd 4.1.2. Step recording 4.1.3. Live recording 4.1.4. Edit recording mode 4.2. Working on the EDIT page 4.2.1. Copy, paste, duplicate, quick-export 4.2.2. Clear, move, scroll, undo 4.2.3. Using FAST and ALL buttons This chapter includes recording, which was a complicated topic to get straight. I appreciate if someone has the time to test the step and live recording settings to see if they really hold water 100%. But if not, I'm sure there will be a feedback thread later on where everything fishy will float to the surface when people try to cut their teeth on friendly but mistaken advice :-) Notes for TK and others: In the newest official firmware at the moment of writing this (4.090) the Step/Live recording setting 'AStart' is not functioning correctly, and the draft manual has only some ideal description of how I have imagined it should work. The section will be updated in the final version. I write: "303 View shows a variety of settings". Does "303" refer to TB-303 bassline synth, MC-303 groovebox or something else? I write: "It is not possible to copy and paste individual parameter or trigger layers." Is this so? I write: "Multiple tracks within a single group can be selected with the track selection buttons, or any combination of tracks on the Track Selection page." Where is the track selection page? Can it be selected only with a F1–F4 buttons set for that in the HW setup file, or by setting it as a bookmark? I couldn't find it in the main menu. A possible bug: The Track Selection page demands that one track in Group 1 is always selected. If at any point all the tracks in Group 1 become unselected, it has the effect that all tracks in all groups get unselected, and track 1 gets selected. Option #8 says that it affects the paste and clear functions, but what does clear 'Complete Track' do that clear 'Only steps' doesn't do? In other words, how does Option #8 affect the clear function? Thoughts on the ALL button (press & hold ALL button = change all steps into the same value with just one knob): If ALL mode is 'on', pressing & holding switches it 'off', and pressing & holding works only if you start pressing & holding when the mode is 'off'. In other words, if the mode is 'on', you have to switch it 'off' before you can press & hold it for "all jump to the same value" adjustment. Question: Would it be possible/handy to effect a press & release threshold time for switching from 'on' state to 'off' state? E.g. so that by default pressing & holding the ALL button, while the mode is 'on', enables the ""all jump to same value" mode, and when you release, the ALL mode will stay 'on'; but if you release the button in 200ms (or whatever, i'm not sure what a good value would be) after pressing it down, it will switch to 'off' mode instead? Or maybe there are other ways that I didn't come to think of. It works ok as it is (and I can document it as it is), but it could perhaps be polished a bit :-) ----------------------------8<--------------------------------- ------------------- 4. Entering notes ------------------- There's a few ways to enter notes on the sequencer when you're on the EDIT page. The most simple option is to press a GP button to trigger Gate 'on' or 'off', and turn the knob below the step to adjust the note value. Default note is C-3, default velocity is 100, and default length 75%. This method is good only for single notes, because pressing a GP button only toggles the gate 'on' or 'off', and thus just "enables" the note value (and any other parameters) that happens to be stored in that step. By default there is one C-3 note in a single note layer in each step of a newly initialised note type track, but if you have recorded multiple notes in the step previously, then switching the gate 'on' will enable these multiple notes (and other events you have recorded in the step). For a drum track's instrument layers this method works best. However, this is not really "recording notes", rather it's just pushing a button to toggle the gate 'on' or 'off' for a step. The actual recording options and settings are available on the Jam page. 4.1 The Jam page ---------------- You can enter the Jam page by pressing UTILITY + GPB10 (Jam). However, as the Jam page is likely to be used quite often, it might be useful to set one of the four function buttons (F1­-F4, on the right hand side of the frontpanel) to take you directly to the Jam page to make transitioning between EDIT and Jam pages as easy as possible. (For this you need to edit the HW setup file, see Appendix 1.) The Jam page consists of two stand-alone settings (Rec and Fwd) and five groups of settings: Step, Live, Pattern, MIDI, and Miscellaneous. The groups can be selected with GP buttons, the editable settings of the selected group appearing on the right LCD. In addition to Rec and Fwd, this manual deals with only Step and Live settings. 4.1.1. Rec and Fwd Rec (GPB2) sets recording mode 'on' or 'off'. Recording mode needs to be 'on' if you want to record notes with just pressing keys on your MIDI controller, i.e. without need to touch the sequencer's buttons or knobs. You can record notes also by two other ways when Rec is set 'off' (see section 4.1.4. for Edit recording mode), but in all cases recording notes takes its settings from the Jam page. Rec stays 'on' even if you leave the Jam page, and you can record notes regardless of which page you are on. However, you won't see what you record unless you're on the EDIT page or the Jam page. If you start recording while on the Jam page, the display will switch to the EDIT page (where 'STEP RECORDING' will flash on the left LCD) as long as you keep recording notes, but after a few seconds of inactivity you will be returned to the Jam page. A more convenient way is perhaps setting Rec 'on' and then going to the EDIT page (by pressing the EDIT button), where you can now take your time to record the notes you like, and scroll back and forth if needed, without having to worry about getting automatically returned to the Jam page. Recording works regardless of whether the sequencer is running or stopped. Most of the time recording makes practical sense only in Phrase mode, where patterns are not changing (for Phrase and Song mode, see section 5.2.). Fwd (GPB3) sets note forwarding 'on' or 'off'. If Fwd is 'on', it means that while recording notes, the notes are forwarded immediately to the Port and MIDI channel of the track (set in the EVENT page). If it's 'off', you won't hear the notes when you record them. Whether or not to keep Fwd on depends on your equipment and setup. Some MIDI Router settings (MENU + MIDI -> MIDI Router) can cause notes to become triggered twice per key press while recording. For a simple setup, however, setting Fwd 'on' is probably a good idea. 4.1.2. Step recording On the Jam page, press GPB4 to choose Step recording settings for editing. They appear in the right LCD. Mode can be set to either Poly or Mono. Mono allows you to record only one note at a time, and always in the first note layer, overwriting any notes that already were there, while Poly allows you to record as many notes simultaneously as you have note layers on the track you're recording on. (The number of available note layers depends on how you have set up the track; see section 2.1.1.) Both modes overwrite whatever was in the note, velocity and length layers for each recorded step. If a step had several note layers with notes in them (i.e. a chord) and you record a single note in that step (which always goes in the first note layer), all the other note layers are erased as well. In Mono mode you will have access to 'Inc' (increment) setting, which allows you to effect an automatic step increment after recording a note in a step. For example, Inc setting +2 means that after recording the first note (e.g. in step 1), the cursor will jump forward two steps (e.g. into step 3). This way you can spare yourself the trouble of adjusting the cursor position by hand, if you know that you want to record notes in a steady rhythm. Inc setting is not available for Poly mode, which means you have to adjust the cursor by hand. AStart controls whether or not to start the sequencer automatically when you press a key on your MIDI controller to record the first note. If the sequencer is already running, AStart setting makes no difference. Note that if the sequencer is not running and AStart is 'off', recording will always be step recording (and will use step recording settings from the Jam page), even if Live recording is selected on the Jam page. Step recording with AStart or the sequencer already running is not affected by the tempo, but only by the increment setting. ***currently AStart is not functioning correctly. Step setting indicates the cursor position on the EDIT page. The position can be changed on the EDIT page with the datawheel, and the cursor position is copied to the Jam page, but with Step (GPK11) you can change the cursor position while on the Jam page as well. Turning the knob takes you briefly to the EDIT page, and after a few seconds of inactivity you will be returned to the Jam page. Note that if you have AStart 'on', the first note will always be recorded in step 1, regardless of the cursor position, and all subsequent notes will be recorded at the running cursor position. You can step record CC messages the same way you can record notes. There are two alternative conditions: either the incoming CC message number has to have a dedicated CC parameter layer already, or there is a CC layer that is currently 'off'. For example, an incoming CC#001 will be recorded to the first CC layer where there already are CC#001 messages, or if there is no such layer, the CC#001 message will recorded into the first free CC layer. If there are no available CC layers, the incoming messages won't be recorded anywhere. Example: To try recording in practice you need a new pattern. Save what you have, then press PATTERN and choose 1:A3 for the pattern to be edited. Select G1T1, clear it, and use the LENGTH page to set its length to 16 steps. Check on the DIVIDER page that the Timebase is 16 (divider value 16). Also, make sure you are in Phrase mode. Go to the SONG page to check the setting, and if needed, change it so Phrase mode with GPK9***. (For Phrase and Song mode, see section 5.2.) Go to the Jam page and press GPB4 to choose Step Recording settings to be edited. Set Rec 'on', Mode to Mono, AStart 'off', Step to 1 and Inc. to +2. Then use your MIDI controller to enter whatever 8 notes come to mind. Or if you have a hard time making a choice, you can just press GPB16 (Toggle Gate), eight times and the sequencer will use the step recording settings to simply switch the gates of the proper steps to on, enabling the note, velocity and length data that was already there. You can perform this operation from the Jam page, which will show the EDIT page briefly while you're entering notes and switch back to the Jam page after a few seconds of inactivity. Or you can switch to the EDIT page manually, enter the notes there, and then come back to the Jam page manually. 4.1.3. Live recording On the Jam page, press GPB5 to choose Live recording settings for editing. They appear in the right LCD. Mode can be set to either Poly or Mono. Mono allows you to record only one note at a time, and always in the first note layer, overwriting any notes that already were there, while Poly allows you to record as many notes simultaneously as you have note layers on the track you're recording on. (The number of available note layers depends on how you have set up the track; see section 2.1.1.) Both modes overwrite whatever was in the note, velocity and length layers for each recorded step. If a step had several note layers with notes in them (i.e. a chord) and you record a single note in that step (which always goes in the first note layer), all the other note layers are erased as well. AStart controls whether or not to start the sequencer automatically when you press a key on your MIDI controller to record the first note. If the sequencer is already running, AStart setting makes no difference. Note that if the sequencer is not running and AStart is 'off', recording will always be step recording (and will use step recording settings from the Jam page), even if Live recording is selected on the Jam page. ***currently AStart is not functioning correctly. Note that if you have AStart 'on', the first note will always be recorded in step 1, regardless of the cursor position, and all subsequent notes will be recorded at the running cursor position. Quantize can be set from 0% to 99%, and it controls the tolerance with which "early" off-beat notes will be recorded in the *following* step, instead of in the step where they technically were played. The higher the value, the more likely it is that an "early" note will be recorded into the next step. ***image here Note that when note forwarding (Fwd) on the Jam page is 'on' and an "early" note is moved by the quantize function to the next step, the note will be triggered twice. When you press a key on your MIDI controller, the note is immediately forwarded to the port and MIDI channel for that track (because Fwd is 'on'), and sounds for the first time. Because it was a a bit early, it is moved "into the future", i.e. the next step, but the sequencer won't be there for another 0.2 seconds or so. However, when the sequencer does reach the next step, it will play the note that was moved there, the note that had sounded already a fraction of a second before. You can record CC messages live the same way you can record notes. There are two alternative conditions: either the incoming CC message number has to have a dedicated CC parameter layer already, or there is a CC layer that is currently 'off'. For example, an incoming CC#001 will be recorded to the first CC layer where there already are CC#001 messages, or if there is no such layer, the CC#001 message will be recorded into the first free CC layer. If there are no available CC layers, the incoming messages won't be recorded anywhere. Example: Let's say you want to record live a sequence where the notes come down on steps 1, 5, 9 and 13. If Quantize is set to 0% and during live recording you press the keys for the second and third notes just a bit too early, the sequencer shows no mercy and the notes will be recorded in steps 1, 4, 8 and 13, instead of step 1, 5, 9 and 13 like you wanted. (The first note will always be on time if you start live recording with the first key press.) Quantize allows you to "cheat" a bit, and by increasing the setting you can have these "a bit too early" notes recorded into the next step instead. The percentage controls the definition of "a bit too early". Select track G1T2 and press GPB5 to select live recording settings. Set Rec 'on', Mode to Mono, AStart 'off', and Quantize to whatever you prefer (e.g. 20%). Start the sequencer by pressing PLAY. If you now press a MIDI controller key at any time, the display will switch to EDIT view for a few seconds and show what you recorded and where. The sequencer will stay on the EDIT page if you keep pressing keys to record notes, but if you don't, the display will come back to Jam page. Another way to start live recording is switching AStart to 'on'. This way you don't have to press PLAY to start the sequencer, but instead the sequencer will be started automatically when you hit the first key you want to record (naturally Rec has to be 'on' as well). This way the first note will always be recorded into the first step. If you want to take your time, you may first want to set the live recording settings to your liking, switch to the EDIT page manually, and then hit the first key you want to record. This way the sequencer will stay on the EDIT page, which allows you to e.g. use the GP buttons to delete badly timed notes etc. (Naturally Rec and AStart have to be 'on'.) 4.1.4. Edit recording mode Besides Live and Step recording, there is one more way to enter notes while on the EDIT page: the Edit Recording mode. Edit Recording mode can be used in two ways. While on the EDIT page, you can press & hold a GP button, and the > < angle brackets will turn into { } curly brackets, the display will flash 'EDIT RECORDING', and you can enter a note or notes into the step while pressing & holding the GP button. Note that Edit Recording mode takes its settings (notably Mode and AStart) from the Jam page, so e.g. unless you have Poly mode enabled there, you won't be able to record multiple notes simultaneously; if the mode is Mono and you press several keys, they will all be forwared if Fwd is 'on', but only one of them will be recorded. Note also that Rec doesn't have to be 'on' for Edit Recording mode to work; if Rec is on and you're on the EDIT page, you don't need Edit Recording mode to record notes. Alternatively you can press SELECT while on the EDIT page to *toggle* Edit Recording mode 'on' or 'off'. This allows you to play e.g. two-handed chords, as you don't have to use one hand to hold down a GP button. 4.2. Working on the EDIT page ----------------------------- Of all the pages of the MBSEQv4, you will probably spend most your time on the EDIT page. The default view is the Step View, where you can see 16 steps at a time, but only two layers: one parameter layer and one trigger layer. The active parameter layer is displayed in the LCDs, the values can be changed with the GP knobs, and the name of the layer is displayed in the left LCD's top row (e.g. PB: Vel. for "Parameter layer B: Velocity"). The active trigger layer name is displayed in the left LCD's top row (e.g. TB: Roll for "Trigger layer B: Roll"), and the trigger can be switched 'on' or 'off' for each step with the GP buttons. The LEDs below each step will indicate whether the trigger is 'on' or 'off' for each step. If the LED is lit, the active trigger layer for that step is 'on', and if it's unlit, the trigger is 'off'. Pressing & holding EDIT brings up a menu where you can select alternative views. 1. Step View (the default) shows 16 steps at a time, but only one parameter layer (in the LCDs) and one trigger layer (in the states of the LEDs below the LCDs). 2. Trigger View shows only one step at a time, but seven trigger layers and up to 8 parameter layers for the selected step. 3. Layer View shows only one step at a time: the gate trigger layer and up to 14 parameter layers for the selected step. 4. 303 View shows a variety of settings, mimicing the Roland TB-303 bassline synthesizer / Roland MC-303 groovebox / something else??.*** 4.2.1. Copy, paste, duplicate, quick-export Besides just entering/recording notes and other data in a track, you can also copy, paste and duplicate the data in each track. Copy and paste have their dedicated buttons on the frontpanel, while the rest of the editing options can be found by pressing UTILITY. Quick-export uses the MENU + COPY button combination. It is not possible to copy and paste individual parameter or trigger layers.***is this so? Pressing COPY copies the active track into the buffer, and they can then be pasted onto another track; you can change sessions in between copying and pasting if you like. Note that COPY copies the *set length* (from the LENGTH page) of the track. For example, if the set length is 16/128, pressing COPY will copy only the first 16 steps into the buffer. Multiple tracks cannot be copied at once. If several tracks are selected, only the one visible in the LCDs is copied. **possible bug: if track length is 8/xx and you have nothing in steps 1–8, but notes in steps 9+, COPY will copy these notes (including possible empty steps from step 9 onwards), and PASTE will paste them in the beginning of the target track. But if there is even one note in steps 1–8, the notes in steps 9+ won't be copied/pasted. However, if you *press & hold* COPY, you can copy a selected *section* of the active track. GP knobs select the start and end position of the section (indicated by > < angle brackets). A knob at the starting position (or to the left of it) selects the start of the section (">"), and a knob to the right of the starting position selects the end of the section ("<"). The top row of the left LCD shows the steps to be copied (e.g. "COPY S1-12" for copying steps 1–12). Releasing the COPY button copies the selected section into the buffer. Pressing PASTE once pastes the copied track from the buffer into the beginning of the track, overwriting whatever was there. If the copied track was 16/128 steps long and you paste it into a track that is 32/128 steps long, only the first 16 steps will be overwritten. However, if you *press & hold* PASTE, you can offset the beginning point of the operation with the GP knobs. The > < angle brackets indicate the location. If the pasted section is too short to cover all the content in the target track, e.g. pasting a 16 step section into a 24 step track, 8 steps of the target track will not be overwritten. (Which 8 steps won't be overwritten depends on your paste operation's starting point.) In UTILITY -> Opt. (Option #8) you can change whether the paste function pastes the whole track (Complete Track), or just the trigger layer and parameter layer values in the steps (Only Steps). (The same option controls the behaviour the the clear function as well.) 'Only steps' is probably the better setting for normal use. Complete Track copies all steps and all track settings, i.e. MIDI channel, port, length, etc. If the target track is of the same type (Note, Chord, CC, Drum) as the source track, pasting a complete track won't initialise the target track to change its combination of maximum length or the number of parameter and trigger layers. But if the target track is of a different type than the source track, the target track's type will change, and it will become an exact copy of the source track. For example, pasting a 16/128 Note track into a 64/64 CC track will turn the latter into a 16/128 Note track. It is possible to duplicate a track by pressing & holding COPY and then pressing PASTE. If your track is 16/128 steps long, this operation will copy the first 16 steps of the track and paste them immediately after it, starting from step 17. The track length is changed automatically to match the new duplicated length (e.g. from 16/128 to 32/128). The cursor position will jump to the beginning of the newly duplicated sequence (e.g. step 17). You won't be able to duplicate a track that is too long to be duplicated (e.g. a track with a length of 64/128 can be duplicated once, but a track with a length of 128/128 cannot be duplicated.) One or several tracks can also be quick-exported and imported. Multiple tracks within a single group can be selected with the track selection buttons, or any combination of tracks on the Track Selection page***where is it?, and then exported with MENU + COPY. This will copy all data in the track(s), including settings, into the PRESETS folder, i.e. they're not session dependent. This means that you can have a maximum of sixteen tracks exported this way at any given time for all your sessions. The file names are of the form COPYx(.V4T), where x is the relative number of the quick-exported track (1–16). Relative means that if, for example, you have selected tracks G2T2, G2T3 and G2T4 and then quick-export them with MENU + COPY, they will be called COPY1, COPY2 and COPY3, even though their "absolute" track numbers are 6, 7 and 8. ***track selection page demands that one track in group 1 is always selected. if at any point all the tracks in group 1 become unselected, it has the effect that all tracks in all groups get unselected, and track 1 gets selected. One, some or all of the copied tracks can be pasted with MENU + PASTE, which will paste only so many tracks as have been selected with the track selection buttons. The pasting follows the same relative pattern as the copying, so that COPY1 will be pasted to the first selected track, regardless of its "absolute" track number. Note that if you first copy four tracks this way, and later copy two tracks, the first two of the older tracks (COPY1 and COPY2) will be overwritten, but the latter two of the older tracks (COPY3 and COPY4) will remain. If you then paste four tracks, you will get two "new" tracks and two "old" tracks. Tracks exported with MENU + COPY can also be imported one by one from the EVENT page's PRESETS menu (GPB14-15). Currently there is no way to delete files in the presets folder in the sequencer; you have to do delete them manually from the SD card on your computer. 4.2.2. Clear, move, scroll, undo Clear has a dedicated button on the frontpanel, while move, scroll and undo can be found by pressing UTILITY. CLEAR clears all layers of all steps in the selected track, even if they're beyond the track's set length. Thus, if your track is 16/128 steps long, CLEAR will clear also the steps 17–128. In UTILITY -> Opt. (Option #8) you can change whether the clear function clears all track settings (Complete Track) or just the steps (Only steps). 'Only steps' is probably the better setting for normal use.***what does 'clear complete track' do that clear 'only steps' doesn't do? It is not possible to clear individual parameter or trigger layers.***is this so? Move allows you to move *individual steps* to another position with the GP knobs. When you press & hold 'Move', the screen switches to the EDIT page, and you can grab an individual step by turning the knob below it, and then move it to another location if you keep turning the knob. Releasing the GP button will write the moved step into the new location, overwriting whatever was there previously. Scroll allows you to move *sections of steps* with the knobs. When you press & hold 'Scroll', the screen switches to the EDIT page, and you can use a GP knob to grab a section of steps so that the steps to the right of the knob (including the one above the knob) will be moved together, while the ones to the left will stay where they are. Releasing the GP button writes the moved steps into the new location, overwriting whatever was there previously. Undo cancels the latest paste, clear, move and scroll operation. Note that if your MBSEQv4 is using an LPC1769 core, the undo function is disabled since firmware 4.089 because of memory issues! In other words, the undo function works only with STM32F4 based MBSEQv4. 4.2.3. Using FAST and ALL buttons Using the FAST button (left side, bottom row on the frontpanel) allows you to change a value with the knobs faster. The normal setting is useful for narrow value ranges and/or detailed changes, while FAST is useful for fast changes on a wide value range. The LED above the FAST button indicates whether the fast mode is 'on' or 'off'. Note that in some contexts, e.g. when editing velocity values, the FAST function is activated automatically. However, you can always switch it 'on' and 'off', according to your preference. The LED above the ALL button (left side, bottom row on the frontpanel) indicates whether the ALL mode is 'on' or 'off'. Using the ALL button allows you to edit multiple values with just one knob in three ways. First, with the ALL function 'on', turning the knob in the *present cursor position* will cause the values for all steps to change at the same time, so that each step will be adjusted *relative to its original value*. For example, the original velocity value 50 in one step will advance to 70, while the original velocity value 100 in another step will advance to 120. It's irrelevant with knob you turn, as long as it's at the present cursor position. Second, if you move any knob *other than the one in the current cursor position*, the sequencer will generate a descending or ascending *ramp* between the present cursor position and the knob you turn. This way you can generate e.g. velocity ramps easily. ***image on ramp here Third, when you *press & hold* the ALL button and turn the knob in the *present cursor position*, the values for all steps will *jump to the same value* as the step below which you're turning the knob. As you keep turning, the values for all steps will change at the same time, to the same value. Note that this works only if you've set the normal mode of the ALL button to toggle (instead of momentary) in the HW setup file. On how to change the HW setup file, see Appendix 1. By default the ALL function affects all steps, but this can be changed with the GP buttons when the ALL mode is on. When the ALL mode is on, the step LEDs start blinking to indicate a special function in the ALL mode. A blinking LED below a step means that the step will be affected by the ALL function; by pressing a GP button under a step you can turn the ALL mode of for that step, which is indicated by an unlit LED. These changes can be made on the Step Select page as well: press & hold the EDIT button and press GPB8 to enter the page. "*" indicates that the step will be affected by the ALL function, "o" indicates that it will not be affected. Example: If you have recorded a steady rhythm with Step Recording mode and increment setting +2 (i.e. 8th notes, every second step), you can first adjust the length of all the steps with the ALL function on for all steps, then turn half of the steps off for the ALL function so that they're not affected, and then turn a knob to adjust the length of only the "empty" steps so that the notes will not glide into each other. ***function request on pressing ALL button. if ALL mode is 'on', pressing & holding switches it 'off', and pressing & holding works only if you start pressing & holding when the mode is 'off'. in other words, if the mode is 'on', you have to switch it 'off' before you can press & hold it for "all jump to same value" adjustment. would it be possible/handy to effect a press & release threshold time for switching from 'on' state to 'off' state? e.g. so that by default pressing & holding the ALL button, while the mode is 'on', effects ""all jump to same value" mode, and when you release, the ALL mode will stay 'on'; but if you release the button in 200ms or whatever (i'm not sure what a good value would be) after pressing it down, it will switch to 'off' mode instead?