NerdSEQ

It has 8 tracks which can be used for CV/Gate, MIDI, I2C sequencing and more. In the basic configuration, the first 6 tracks generate CV, trigger and gate signals on 18 outputs (12 CV + 6 trigger/gate). The other 2 tracks are audio tracks, each with 2 dedicated audio parts for sampling and synthesis sequencing. The audio part can also act as a waveform oscillator or FM synthesizer.

Every track can also be switched to another function:

• MIDI Midi expanders
• More CV outputs CV16
• More trigger outputs Trigger16
• I2C Multi-IO
• Multi-oscillator Dualchord
• Video synthesizer Video Expander

Modulation functions such as LFOs, envelopes and many more complex functions can be generated for internal and external use. Dedicated clock and reset inputs and outputs are available for different clock types. 4 freely assignable CV inputs can be used for live manipulation or CV/Gate recording. An advanced modulation matrix, which also allows algorithmic functionality (a kind of scripting), connects all kinds of internal and external signals with each other.

The sequencer itself is inspired by old module trackers¹ like Fasttracker 2 (PC)², OctaMED (Amiga)³, LittleSoundDJ (Game Boy)⁴ and Little Piggy Tracker (multiple platforms)⁵, to name only a few. There are many more inspirations.

It contains many functions for sequencing: advanced live performance, pattern lengths up to 64 steps, chaining, polyrhythmic tracks, groove, glide, retrigger, flexible trigger, gate and step lengths, patches, special effects, probability, advanced timelines, tables and much more. The audio tracks add sample playing, pitching, sample effects and retrigger, as well as a synthesizer engine that creates waveforms or acts as a 4-operator FM synthesizer. Samples are loaded from the SD card slot on the front panel.

The sequencer can make loops (as in many loops) and full songs — even several songs in one project, depending on complexity and how many patterns they use. Patterns can be started and stopped independently per track, which allows flexible clip-style sequencing. Projects are saved to and loaded from the microSD card.

All editing is implemented in a very easy way (at least I tried to make it so). Every screen or edit option can be reached with one key or SHIFT + key. There are no nested submenus and no deep menu diving, and I try to keep it that way in future updates.

Additional expanders allow MIDI recording and sequencing, control from a Sega gamepad, up to 64 more trigger, gate and CV outputs, virtual patch cables over I2C, sequencing for the ART modules by Tiptop, a flexible 8-voice oscillator/synth voice, and screen cloning and video synthesis on a composite or HDMI screen.

In general, you can go very deep with the NerdSEQ. There are so many features that it can feel overwhelming, and not everything will be easy to understand at first. You don’t have to use everything. Start simple and explore more features along the way. And when you wonder whether the NerdSEQ can do this or that, chances are high that it can, often in more than one way. It is worth reading through the manual, or at least the parts that interest you.

So don’t get scared: you have a very powerful tool in front of you, and it only gets as deep as you want it to.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1. CV inputs 1–4 0–10 V, freely assignable
2. Clock and reset inputs with the IN clock LED
3. Display 480 × 320 colour IPS
4. microSD slot projects and samples
5. CV outputs 1–6
6. Trigger/gate outputs 1–6
7. MOD outputs 1–6
8. Offset switches for CV and MOD
9. Audio outputs 7 and 8
10. Clock and reset outputs with the OUT clock LED
11. Screen buttons second function with SHIFT
12. Transport and edit buttons
13. Cursor keys

All expanders connect on the back of the NerdSEQ with ribbon cables: the Midi expanders with a 12-pin cable to the PAD-Midi port, the NSA expanders with a 14-pin cable to the NSA header. The ART add-on is the exception and hangs off an I2C port of the Multi-IO.

Hardware overview

• 8tracks
• 255sequencer rows
• 176patterns, up to 64 steps each
• 144patches
• 32tables, up to 16 steps each
• 12sample slots
• ∞possibilities

… and many more features.

I recommend using the latest versions so that all features are available across the NerdSEQ ecosystem.

Several functions can manipulate each other, which helps to create complex sequences. In the most basic case, the sequencer selects a pattern to play on a track. That pattern sequences notes, triggers and so on into one of its destinations, for example the CV/Gate outputs or samples.

On top of that, these sequences can be further manipulated by the Automators or the Tables, for example. Some functions can also be routed to outputs without any sequence: an envelope can go directly to a CV/MOD output, and the envelope itself can again be triggered or gated by a sequence, a table, the CV inputs or other sources.

The Mapping block can access and manipulate all of the blocks in all directions. This ranges from something as simple as mapping a MIDI CC to a CV output up to complex algorithmic processing across several blocks. You can even ‘code’ games with it that use any of the signals or modulations.

1. 

   Splash screen

   First there is a splash screen, followed by the current firmware version number.

2. 

   Expander check

   The system checks whether any NSA (Nerd Sound Adapter) expanders are connected. If so, it shows their type and firmware version. Channels with nothing connected show as Not Found.

3. SD card check

   The SD card is checked to confirm it is correctly initialised.

4. 

   Ready

   The start-up sequence is finished, and an empty Sequencer screen waits for you to get started.

Next comes a guide to the basics of values that you will find in most trackers, then some basics about trackers and navigation on the NerdSEQ.

The history of trackers⁷ goes back to the late 1980s, when people developed a new way of making music by entering the score differently. It is often seen as programming music rather than composing, because of the way the music data is entered. That is not really the case: once you know the basics, it is composing all the way!

Trackers are often used to play samples (in a note scale) on different tracks, and to control the sound chips of old home computers directly. The workflow differs from score-based or piano-roll sequencing.

In most trackers the sequence runs from top to bottom, in rows and columns. Each row is a step in the sequence. The main columns are the tracks, and sub-columns hold different commands. Each track usually has the same kind of sub-columns (modern trackers allow different kinds of tracks and sub-columns): typically one for the note, one for the volume and sometimes one for a special command, plus more depending on the tracker.

Notes are written as the note name followed by the octave:

C-3

note C, octave 3

F-5

note F, octave 5

D#2

D sharp, octave 2 — a semitone above D-2

Eb2

the same note shown as a flat

The NerdSEQ can also show flat note values on demand, selectable per track: instead of D#2, the same note is shown as Eb2. The exact look of notes differs between trackers; on the NerdSEQ they look like the examples above.

Hexadecimal

Other values in the sub-columns, such as the volume, are usually shown as hexadecimal⁸ numbers. Only the very basics are explained here; the footnotes link to more detail.

We usually count in base 10: 0, 1, 2 … 9, 10, 11 … On every 10th number the digit on the left increases; on every 100th, the two digits on the left, and so on. Hexadecimal is base 16, so the left digit increases on every 16th number. Instead of reaching 10 after 9, the letters A to F fill the gap:

So after 9F comes A0, and after FF comes 100. The NerdSEQ shows most of its values in hexadecimal.

Screens instead of scrolling

Some trackers show all content on one screen; others need scrolling, and some switch to a different screen for other content. Because the NerdSEQ has a small display, the information is divided logically into different screens, explained later on.

There is much more to know about trackers — the links below are a good start. I also suggest looking at some tutorials for LittleSoundDJ, as it is the tracker most similar to the NerdSEQ. Though there are some major differences, it gives a good idea of how to work with dedicated screens.

Screen buttons

The 6 half-size buttons on the top row switch between screens. Hold SHIFT and press one of them for its second function.

Bottom-left buttons

START

Start the sequencer, or trigger/cue a pattern.

STOP

Stop a pattern; with SHIFT, stop the sequencer. If the sequencer is already stopped, SHIFT + STOP runs ‘Stop All Sounds’: all gates are reset, all notes stopped, and a reset signal is generated if the clock output is a regular modular clock. On an audio track, pressing STOP on a track that is already stopped stops all sound on that track.

SHIFT

Reach the second function of a button, or edit.

UP

Page up by 16 steps: the cursor moves 16 rows up.

DOWN

Page down by 16 steps: the cursor moves 16 rows down.

OK

Mostly used to create new patterns or patches, and to enter, confirm or start a menu option.

Cursor keys

The cursor keys are on the right. Up, down, left and right do simple navigation and scrolling, and work like this in most screens: in the Sequencer screen, for example, ▲/▼ change the row and ◀/▶ change the track/column. Some screens have more key combinations, explained later on.

Editing values

Combined with SHIFT, the cursor keys edit. Values always change in the smallest steps with SHIFT + ◀/▶ and in bigger steps with SHIFT + ▼/▲. In the Pattern screen:

• If Editsteps are enabled (Setup screen), the cursor moves down automatically by the edit step amount when you insert a value with SHIFT + ▲ on an empty field in the Pattern screen.
• SHIFT + DELETE deletes/empties values.
• SHIFT + MARK starts Mark mode in the Pattern or Sequencer screen. Select a block with the navigation buttons: navigating with SHIFT moves the start point of the block, without SHIFT the end point. Press SHIFT + MARK again to leave Mark mode and copy the marked values to the clipboard. There are more functions in Mark mode and with the MARK button, described in the relevant parts of the manual.

Mute and solo

The same mute and solo functions work in the drum matrix of an I2C/Multi track or the Trigger16 expander.

Quick navigation

• In the Pattern screen, hold PATTERN and use the cursor keys to move between patterns, in the order of the sequencer arrangement.
• In the Table screen, hold TABLE and use ▲/▼ to move between tables.

Most screens have a frame containing the main clock and cue indicator, either horizontally or vertically. If the main clock is based on 64 steps, for example, it shows the currently playing step as a kind of progress bar. Many screens also have a status bar at the bottom with extra information about the function under the cursor.

Sequencer and tracks

The main screen is the Sequencer screen, which shows your track arrangement and patterns. You can sequence each of the 176 patterns on any track, as long as the track has the same type — patterns differ depending on the track type. A Modular track has its strength in sequencing the CV/Gate outputs and their modulations, for example, while a MIDI track is specialised in polyphonic MIDI sequencing. There are 8 pattern/track types, each with its own sequencing strengths:

• Modular
• Audio
• Midi
• Trigger16
• CV16
• Dualchord
• I2C/Multifunctional
• Video

Patterns, patches and tables

Each pattern has its own Pattern screen with the note values, FX and much more — the main sequencing. On each step, a pattern can also execute patches (like macros) or tables (a sequencer in the sequencer). These have their own Patch and Table screens. There are 144 patches and 32 tables in total.

A pattern is locked to its track type. It can be re-used on other tracks of the same type, but not on tracks of a different type; the editor prevents selecting patterns that are not allowed. Tables and patches are also related to the track type, and are ignored (or limited) on other track types.

Each track type has its own track setup screen for track-specific functions. Another screen shows the basic current values of a track and lets you change them by hand.

Menus and settings

The Nerd menu is a context menu that opens in many places, to execute or change functions and values quickly.

The Project screen holds project-related settings. Load and save your projects there, and change global settings such as the global transpose or the project BPM. It is also the entry point to other project-related screens: the Scale screen for all your quantisation needs, Track assign, MIDI routing in the Midi Setup/I2C screen, clock input/output settings, and more. Project screen settings are saved and loaded with the project.

The Setup screen holds the editor, functionality and hardware settings that you usually change once, or at least not often. You can also calibrate there and update the expander firmware. These settings are stored in the hardware automatically and survive a power cycle.

Modulation

The Automator screen is one of the side screens for modulation. It contains LFOs and other modulation sources, and a basic modulation matrix that sends the automator results to many track-related destinations. For envelopes, there are also 8 ADSR envelopes in the Envelope screen.

The Mapping screen is another major command centre. There you can combine all kinds of internal and external parameters: just connect them mod-matrix style, or add algorithmic manipulation, up to generative processes. Or, if you can, code that one missing function yourself.

Even though there are many screens and menus, you will mostly work in the Sequencer and Pattern screens. The important screens are reachable with one button or a double press.

Rows and tracks

The sequencer screen is for the general sequencing of patterns. Here you combine islands or chains of patterns into loops or songs.

The leftmost column shows the row numbers, from 00 to FE (255 rows), next to a scrollbar (yes, you can scroll all the way down) and a mini-map that shows, for all 255 rows, whether a row uses any patterns. You always see 16 rows at a time; the screen scrolls as you navigate.

The next 8 columns are the 8 tracks. By default each track is dedicated to one output channel — track 1 to CV1, TRIGGER1 and MOD1, and so on — so with the default settings there are 6 CV/TRIGGER/MOD tracks and 2 Audio tracks.

Some slots are empty (shown as --), and some have patterns filled in. If track 1 shows 00 in the first row, pattern 00 is assigned to that spot. The same pattern can appear in two tracks if those tracks are of the same type. Several instances of the same pattern number stacked below each other play that pattern several times.

A ** in a slot stops the track (not the sequencer) when the player reaches it. Starting a ** slot by hand also stops the track. Use it to start only some of the tracks in a row, or to stop several tracks at once.

Navigate with the cursor keys. If ‘Navigation Wrap’ is enabled, the cursor wraps around from the rightmost position.

Playing

Chained patterns (one below the other) play in sequence and loop back to the start of the chain at its end.

You can also mark several tracks with SHIFT + MARK. START or STOP then starts or stops the selected tracks in the same launch mode (START uses the first marked row).

Creating and entering patterns

Every position in the Sequencer screen can have its own colour, to help you recognise patterns or blocks more quickly. Apply colours to a single position or a marked block in the Nerd menu.

The information panel

On the right you see the project name, the tempo, the current global transpose and whether the editor is enabled. The editor can be disabled so that no pattern can be changed by accident — while playing live (triggering patterns), for example, or giving a demonstration.

In the middle are indicators for the recently played notes, the gate/trigger state and the modulation state of the 6 CV/Gate tracks. Extra indicators show when a track uses a different clock (multiplier/divider, or decoupled from the clock: EX) or a playback order other than the default (numbers highlighted). Below are the 4 audio parts, showing the recently playing samples or waveforms, followed by a decimal view of several values (if enabled). To the left of it is the length of the selected pattern (cursor on a pattern).

At the bottom is a status text with useful information — mostly the type of the current track, or the pattern’s name if it has one. At the bottom right is the time elapsed since playback started.

Copy and delete

Three buttons copy and delete sequencer content: MARK marks an area to copy or delete, COPY copies or inserts a previously marked area at another row/column, and DELETE empties or deletes the marked area (or the current cursor position).

1. Press SHIFT + MARK on the start position. The screen border changes colour to show Mark mode.
2. Move the cursor to the end of the area. Hold SHIFT while navigating to move the start position instead.
3. Press SHIFT + MARK again (or SHIFT + COPY). Mark mode ends and the block is in the clipboard.
4. Move the cursor to the destination and paste, in one of two ways:

Copying onto an incompatible track type (a Modular track onto an Audio track, for example) leaves the destination unchanged, to avoid problems caused by track incompatibilities.

Deleting a single position

Deleting a block

1. Press SHIFT + MARK on the start position (the border changes colour).
2. Move the cursor to the end of the area.
3. Empty it with SHIFT + DELETE, or delete it with SHIFT + UP + DELETE — the rows below move up and fill the space.

Deleting marked values also copies them to the clipboard, so delete works as cut-and-paste.

Each of the 8 tracks (technically the 8 columns in the Sequencer screen) can be dedicated to sequencing specific destinations. For example, you would use a Midi track type to create polyphonic Midi sequences, while you would use a Modular track type for dedicated CV and Gate sequencing. Each track type is specialised to emphasise the possibilities of the selected destinations.

The track type decides which columns a pattern has and what they can do, so that every column fits its job. A Modular track, for example, has dedicated columns for the CV, the trigger and the modulation output. A Midi track instead has 4 note columns, each with its own velocity, for 4-voice polyphonic Midi sequencing per track, and functions that only make sense for Midi, such as note off with release velocity. That is why every track type has its own Pattern screen, its own list of FX commands and its own Track Setup, all described below. The possible destinations per track are:

• CV/Gate (Modular track) which has dedicated functions for the local CV and Gate outputs.
• Samples / Oscillators / FM Synth (Audio track) has features for playing samples, waveforms, or building an FM synthesizer
• Midi (Midi track) has its strength in polyphonic MIDI sequencing and Midi effects, controllers etc. You need a Midi Expander(there are 3 different types) for MIDI sequencing.
• Trigger16 is a special track type for the Trigger16 expander, which has special trigger columns and a drum matrix to trigger up to 16 different drums/triggers per track
• CV16, for the CV16 expander, which has 16 more CV outputs that can be sequenced or manipulated polyphonically, as well as its own envelopes and LFOs
• Dualchord for the Dualchordexpander, which has dedicated columns and commands to sequence up to 8 paraphonic waveforms of the Dualchord multi-oscillator.
• Multi/I2C which is a combination of different destination types. As the name suggests, it allows all possible I2C sequencing, and far beyond that it can be used for many different purposes, including most of the other track type destinations (e.g. CV, Midi, Triggers…). It also has a drummatrix, just like a Trigger16 track but here each of the drummatrix columns can be assigned to either trigger outputs, Midi, I2C and more.
• Video for the More Video-IO expander which has all the functionality for advanced video synthesis.

By default, tracks 1 to 6 are set up as Modular tracks and tracks 7 and 8 as Audio tracks. Only tracks 1 to 6 can be Modular tracks, and only tracks 7 and 8 can be Audio tracks; all the other types can be used on any track. To change the assignment, use the Track Assign screen, which you can access from the Project Screen (Project Screen Track Assign Screen).

Track Assign Screen

In the Track Assign screen you can assign different track types such as CV/Gate, Midi, or Trigger16 to one of the tracks. You can enter the track assign screen from the project screen.

PROJECT SCREEN→TRACK ASSIGN

The Track Assign screen shows 8 rows, one for each of the 8 tracks. The types of the tracks can be changed by using SHIFT+CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT. This allows you to choose between the Modular track type (only for Tracks 1..6), NSA1,2,3,4 → and if there are expanders connected, then it shows the recognised expander type (Trigger16, CV16, Dualchord, Video) together with the NSA Channel number, Midi and, lastly, I2C/Multi. Tracks 7+8 don’t allow you to choose a modular track; instead you can select them to be audio tracks (samples, oscillators, FM Synth) or the NSA, Midi or I2C track types.

When you are done with the assignment, choose SET and press OK, and the tracks will be assigned. (If you leave the screen and forget to SET, it will ask you to confirm or abort the changes.)

If a track has already been assigned, you can also enter the track setup screen of the track here by using the OK button.

Track Setup Screen

Here you can change track-specific and track-type-specific settings. Some settings are common to all tracks (e.g. Track Clock, Pattern Order) and some are specific to the track type (e.g. Column Destinations, Oscillator settings etc.).

You can enter the track setup screen in the following ways:

• via the Nerd Screen / Menu on the sequencer screen
• via Track Assign Screen (press the OK button on one of the already assigned tracks)
• by pressing the PATCH button while in the Current Values Screen (pressing PATCH twice from the Sequencer Screen or in most parts of the pattern screen gets you to the Track Setup screen).

The track-type-specific settings are explained within the pattern screen descriptions.

These are the common settings available for all track types:

• Track Clock → Change clock dividers or multipliers of the track. If the player is playing, the change applies at the end of the current pattern. If it is not playing, the change is applied immediately. Change using SHIFT+CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT.

  The Track Clock can be set to the following Multipliers/Dividers: /7,/6,/5,/3,/32,/16,/8,/4,/2,Normal, *2,*4,*8,*3,*5,*6,*7

  The lowest setting called Mapping will decouple a Track from the Mainclock and the track clocks/ticks can be fed from a Mapping Destination (TRACK → Track X → TICK). Here you can feed the track manually with ticks from any source, such as the CV inputs, Midi/I2C, or any NerdSEQ parameter. Any Mapping source can serve as a tick source. Check the Mapping Screen for the possibilities.

• Transpose → Allows or prevents transposing of the track. This applies to both the global and the track transpose.
• Scale → Set either to the global scaling (define the global scale in the Scale Screen / Settings), or select to bypass scaling so that no scale setting has any effect on the track’s playback/editing. It is also possible to select one of the 89 different scales or a user scale just for this track.
• Trigger Delay → Delays the Trigger on the local Trigger output with a fixed or a random time (compared to the CV change of the track). Depending on the setting Setup Screen→Trigger Delay reach this applies only to the trigger column or to all generated triggers.
  This is useful for modules that do not sample the CV voltage correctly after the rising edge of the trigger. A value of 0 means that the triggers have no delay.
  Beyond the maximum delay time (16.9 ms), 16 random ranges can also be selected as a variable trigger delay. Use these to achieve a humanisation effect. (Press OK on one of the random ranges to enter the Random Ranges Screen and change the range).

  This setting is only functional on tracks 1..6.

• Trigger Setting → Either Normal or Inverted. When Normal is selected, the Trigger/Gate behaves normally (Off = 0 Volt, On = 5 Volt). If Inverted is selected, the Trigger/Gate output is inverted: → Off = 5 Volt, On = 0 Volt.

  This setting is only functional on tracks 1..6.

• Voltage Setting → Defines the type of voltage output:
  • 1V/Oct
  • 1.2V/Oct (Buchla scaling)
  • Hz/Volt (old analogue synth scaling)

  This setting is only functional on tracks 1..6.

• Random FX1..4 → Enables randomised values for the selected FX. When turned on with a range selected, all FX values in that column will play with random values within the selected ranges. This can also be toggled with the Random FX command (RDMN) from the FX list. Press OK to get to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges.

  Note that some track types have only 2 or 3 FX columns and therefore only 2 or 3 Random FX settings.

Basic Pattern Screen info and editing functions

The following general pattern functions and info apply to all pattern types.

All pattern screens (which differ depending on the track type) share some common visual elements. In the first column from the left side you can see the different pattern row numbers. Within this field you can see the current playback position on the left side which shows the current playing step. To the right of the row numbers there is the scrollbar which shows the current cursor position within the complete pattern. Next to that is a little mini-map which shows for the whole pattern if any values are filled in. If the player is playing and the current pattern is playing, then a little indicator is running and showing the current step within this mini-map. The middle part mostly contains track-specific columns like notes, triggers, FX etc. On the right side there is mostly an info-column which gives some info about the pattern and some current states. The different Pattern Screen explanations for the different track types go into the details of these.

• Navigate with the cursor keys to left/right for the columns and up/down for the rows
• If ‘Navigation Wrap’ is enabled in the settings, the cursor will jump back to the top when the bottom is reached. Likewise, when the cursor reaches the rightmost position, it will go back to the leftmost position, and vice versa.
• START starts or cues the current pattern.
  SHIFT+START starts or cues the whole row of the sequencer screen (if you entered the pattern screen on the 2nd row of the sequencer screen, then the 2nd row is affected)
• Using the Nerd Menu (SHIFT+NERD), you can also name a pattern.
• In the setup menu you can change the highlighting period (e.g. every 4th row is highlighted).
• Extra editing features if not marked:

  Remove the current row and shift everything below the row one up: SHIFT+UP+DELETE

  Insert an empty row and shift everything below the current row one down: SHIFT+DOWN+DELETE

• You can browse between different patterns by holding the PATTERN button and using the cursor keys. This will navigate between the patterns as they are arranged on the Sequencer Screen.

  PATTERN + CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT will browse through the sequencer row/tracks and select any available pattern there to be edited directly. And PATTERN + CURSOR UP/DOWN will browse through the patterns on the same track as they are lined up in the sequencer screen.

• When the cursor is on an FX command, you can open the FX Selector by pressing OK.

  A menu appears showing all possible effects for this track type. You select an effect with the OK button and it will be filled into the FX command column.

• There are several facilities to copy, delete or manipulate pattern content. For that there are the 3 Buttons MARK, COPY and DELETE. (use these alternate button functions while holding the SHIFT button).

  MARK to mark an area which should be copied, manipulated or deleted (use SHIFT+DOWN to mark all), COPY to copy/insert a previously copied area to another row/column and DELETE to empty or delete the marked area (or to delete/empty the current cursor position). Deleting also copies the deleted values to the clipboard, so it can function as a Cut + Paste operation.

  To Copy a block:

  Press SHIFT+MARK on the first position which should be copied (Screen border colour should change to indicate the Mark mode)

  Move the cursor to the last position of the desired area (press SHIFT+DOWN to mark all).

  The start position of the mark can be changed when holding the SHIFT button when navigating.

  Press SHIFT+MARK (or SHIFT+COPY) again. Mark mode is released and the marked block is saved to the clipboard.

  Now move the cursor to the destination position.

  There are 2 ways to copy:

  1st Press SHIFT+COPY and the previously saved block is copied to the current position. (This overwrites existing content.)

  2nd Press SHIFT+DOWN (Not cursor down)+COPY and the previously saved block is inserted at the current position. The affected rows will move down behind the inserted area.

  You can also copy between different patterns and between compatible column types (e.g. notes to notes).

  To delete:

  To delete/empty only the current cursor position press SHIFT+DELETE to empty the current position or SHIFT+UP+DELETE to really delete the position and move the following rows one up.

  To delete a block:

  Press SHIFT+MARK on the start position which should be emptied/deleted (Screen border colour should change to indicate the Mark mode)

  Move the cursor to the end position of the desired area.

  You can choose between emptying or deleting the marked block:

  1 Emptying → Press SHIFT+DELETE to empty the marked block.

  2 Deleting → Press SHIFT+UP+DELETE to delete the marked block. All rows beneath the marked block will move up and fill the deleted space.

  Deleting marked values also copies them to the clipboard, so it can function as cut and paste.

Copy and paste actions can be made between all compatible columns, regardless of the type or where they are. Notes to Notes, Triggers to Triggers, Grooves to Grooves etc.

FX columns can only be copied to the same track type.

For example, to copy a note part from a CV/Gate track to the 2nd note part of a Midi track, mark the note part in the CV/Gate track. Then, in the Midi track, go to the 2nd note part where it should be copied and press SHIFT+COPY.

The same applies to all compatible fields. The column types must also match for the marking.

To empty/clear a complete pattern:

Pressing SHIFT+MARK+DELETE in an unmarked situation will remove all pattern content.

To change multiple values of a marked block:

Multiple values in a marked block can be changed simultaneously. While in mark mode, press SHIFT+OK+CURSOR UP/DOWN to increase/decrease the marked values in larger steps and SHIFT+OK+CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT to increase/decrease them in smaller steps.

Note that this function does not work with the FX, Table, and Patch columns.

To move values of a marked block to other rows:

Marked blocks can be moved up or down using the following button combinations: SHIFT+OK+UP will move the block one row up. Any overlapping content will automatically move to the first row below the marked block. The start position of a block cannot move above pattern row 00.

SHIFT+OK+DOWN will move the block one row down. Any overlapping content will automatically move to the first row above the marked block. The end position of a marked block cannot move below pattern row 63.

• Loop marked parts → Marked rows on the pattern screen can be looped by pressing the START button (while in mark mode). The marked area loops until another section is marked and started, or until START is pressed again to release loop mode. SHIFT+START can start the loop for all patterns on the same sequencer row.
  Note that the main clock keeps running normally and looped sections are not automatically re-synchronised with the main clock — they simply loop the marked content (re-syncing is of course always possible).
• Note columns usually set a note and can also set a note-off. A note off can be set either below the lowest note, or by using the delete (SHIFT+DELETE) function. If the field is empty, a note-off will be inserted. Otherwise the field will be cleared. This is a toggle function.
  
  – SHIFT+OK on Note or MOD fields quickly toggles the values between some presets and the last value (for CV/Gate notes in the following ‘sequence’: [ ], C-0, C-4, C-8, RN0, —. For a CV/Gate MOD field: 000, 800, C-0, C-4, C-8, R 0, RN 0, —).

Modular Track

A Modular Track (also known as a CV/Gate Track) is the default track type for sequencing the CV, MOD, and Trigger/Gate outputs. Each track is assigned to a fixed set of CV/Gate outputs:

Track 1 → CV1, TRIGGER1, MOD1 | Track 2→ CV2, TRIGGER2, MOD2 and so on…

While the basic columns are assigned to the outputs by default, there are also many ways to sequence and manipulate all other outputs and functions from the same track as well.

A modular track can be used for tracks 1..6.

Pattern Screen

The patterns of a Modular Track have the following columns:

Row, Note, Trigger, Mod, Patch, Table, FX1..4 and Groove

• Row → shows the 16 visible rows and is not selectable.
• Note → To enter music notes (C-4 for note C in octave 4; D#5 for note ‘Dis’ or D-sharp in octave 5). [ ] is the lowest ‘note’ and is used for note off. If the Autogate function in the Setup Screen is turned on, the Gate is ON when a note is being played and the Gate is OFF when a Note off occurs. The Gate will also automatically cycle Off and On when a new note plays without a note-off, in order to retrigger. The Off time can also be set in the Setup screen. Some modules need a longer Off time to see the gate drop and retrigger, so increase it if repeated notes do not retrigger. If a trigger is filled in on the same row, the auto-gate function is disabled for this row, as the trigger takes priority.

  You can pre-listen a note by using the OK button. (This also works in combination with SHIFT.)

  It is also possible to pre-listen your sequence by holding the OK button and scrolling up/down. If a note value is filled in on the same step in the MOD column, then this note will be updated as well. (This allows ‘duophonic’ pre-listening.)

  Also, if the setting ‘Auto Fill in Trigger’ is enabled, a trigger (default trigger type defined in the Setup Screen) is automatically inserted when inserting a note. This gives fast results when programming sequences live. If ‘Auto Remove Trigger’ is enabled, a trigger on the same row is automatically removed when a note is being deleted.

  Beyond Note C-A, there are 16 possible random ranges to select. The selections are marked RN0 → RNF and with these a random note will play within the selected range. (Pressing the OK button on a random command will bring you to the Random Ranges screen, where you can change the range.)
  Use SHIFT+OK on the note column to browse through different content:

  C-0, C-4, C-8, RN0, —, [ ]

• Trigger → turns the trigger output on/off (repeatable). This field has multiple functions; the values have the following meanings:

If the 2nd digit is zero and the first has a value:

10 triggers very shortly ON/OFF (5ms)

20 triggers ON/OFF with a longer ON (10ms)

30 triggers ON/OFF with an even longer ON time (15ms)

….. up to D0

If the 1st digit is zero and the 2nd digit has a value it has an (inverted) function which results in a delayed gate:

01 triggers OFF/ON shortly (delayed gate, 5ms delay)

02 triggers OFF/ON with a longer OFF time (delayed gate, 10ms delay)

03 triggers OFF/ON with an even longer OFF time (delayed gate, 15ms delay)

….. up to 0F

Keep in mind that you may want to reset the trigger in the new row or earlier using the kill command.

If both the 1st and the 2nd digit have a value then the trigger will repeat.

The first digit sets the trigger length, where 1 is the shortest and F the longest. The trigger and pause times are equal. The 2nd digit is for the amount of repetitions, where 1 is one repetition (2 trigger pulses) and F is 15 repetitions (16 trigger pulses).

22 triggers ON/OFF/ON/OFF/ON/OFF fast (10ms pulses)

23 triggers ON/OFF/ON/OFF/ON/OFF/ON/OFF fast (10 ms pulses)

52 triggers ON/OFF/ON/OFF slower (25ms pulses)

Furthermore, there are special function numbers with which you can manipulate the trigger outputs to generate ratcheting or BPM-related trigger/gate lengths, or to set or reset them.

00 Turns output OFF ( = reset Gate)

D0 Trigger 1 Tick long

D1 until DF Trigger 2 to 16 ticks long

E0 One step long Gate

E1 Ratcheting 1x (Half a step Gate)

E2 Ratcheting 2x (Duplets)

E3 Ratcheting 3x (Triplets)

E4 Ratcheting 4x (Quadruplet)

E5 Ratcheting 5x (Quintuplet)

E6 Ratcheting 6x (Sextuplet)

E7 Ratcheting 7x (Septuplet)

E8 Ratcheting 8x (Octuplet)

E9 Odd ratcheting 1x (half a step gate starting with a low level)

EA Odd ratcheting 2x

EB Odd ratcheting 3x

EC Odd ratcheting 4x

ED Special Ratcheting ‘ high low low high 1001’ within one step

EE Special Ratcheting ‘low low high high high high 001111’ within one step

EF Special Ratcheting ‘high high low low high high 110011’ within one step

F0 Random trigger length within selected random range 0 (see random ranges)

F1 Random trigger length within selected random range 1

F2 Random trigger length within selected random range 2

F3 Random trigger length within selected random range 3

F4 Random ratcheting within selected random range 0

F5 Random ratcheting within selected random range 1

F6 Random ratcheting within selected random range 2

F7 Random ratcheting within selected random range 3

F8 Random trigger length / ratcheting combination within selected random range 0. Lower random percentages produce triggers of various lengths and higher percentages do ratchets.

F9 Random trigger length / ratcheting combination within selected random range 1.

FA Random trigger length / ratcheting combination within selected random range 2.

FB Random Gate within the selected random range 0. This will randomly either set or reset the gate depending on the random settings. Higher percentages will more likely set the gate and lower percentages will more likely reset the gate.

FC Random everything from the trigger possibilities within the selected random range 0. This maps all trigger commands from 00 to FE to the 100% and, depending on the random selection, chooses one of them.

FD Toggles the output. If it was on, it will be off, and vice versa.

FE Turns output ON ( = set Gate)

A trigger in the trigger column overrides the auto-gating function of a note in the same row. All trigger functions from the trigger column are shown in the statusbar as well.

Pressing OK on a trigger value will ‘fire’ the trigger.

SHIFT+OK and releasing the buttons toggles between the default trigger value, FE, 00 and ‘–’.

Pressing SHIFT+OK on a trigger with a random selection will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen.

Another input possibility is to insert Euclidean patterns into the trigger sequences.

To do so, use SHIFT+OK+CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT to increase or decrease the number of Euclidean triggers. The Euclidean input fills with the default trigger type which is defined in the Setup Screen. The maximum number of inserted Euclidean triggers is limited to the pattern length and the triggers are spread evenly across the sequence, also based on the pattern length.

Using SHIFT+OK+CURSOR UP/DOWN the trigger column can be directly shifted either up or down while the values are wrapping around. The shifting is also applied within the pattern length.

Pressing ‘SHIFT+DELETE’ on an empty trigger column will toggle between inserting a 00 (Gate Off) or an empty trigger column.

Triggers can also have a fixed or random (within a range) delay per track. That means that a trigger in the Trigger column will always delay by x milliseconds. This ensures that all external gear can handle the trigger together with the intended CV signal and will not use a possibly invalid CV value. It can also be used to add a random or defined microtiming element to the gates / triggers.

More on the delay settings in the Track Setup menu.

• MOD → Changes the Modulation output of the track to a value from 000 to FFF (range from 0 – 10 Volt or -5/+5 Volt). The MOD output can also generate note-scaled values. Beyond FFF, the note scaling begins from C-0 to A#9.
  After that the random functions begin with R 0 to R F, which generate a random pitch within the selected range. After that are the random note functions RN0 to RNF, which also select random notes within the selected range.

  You can ‘pre-listen’ a Mod note value by pressing OK. This will change the MOD output directly to the note or value. If a note is also filled in in the note column, it will also be changed and a trigger is generated. This allows a kind of ‘duophonic’ pre-listening. Additionally, a sequence can be pre-listened by scrolling through it with the cursor UP/DOWN keys.
  Note: If one of the random functions is selected, the OK button will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen.

  Using the SHIFT+OK button combination the values can quickly be toggled between 000, 800, C-0, C-4, C-8, R 0, RN0 and —.

• Patch → selects a patch which is executed before a note plays. A patch is like a macro or multi-function preset. It allows you to manipulate many FX functions simultaneously from any step. Press OK to create a new patch. Press SHIFT + OK on a filled in patch to Clone the filled in patch into a new patch. SHIFT+DELETE will remove the patch from the pattern field. (It will not delete the patch itself; it remains available for use.) Enter the Patch Screen with the PATCH button. More on patches in the Patch Screen description.

• Table → allows you to select a table to transpose notes or effects. These can run at a different (or the same) time scale from the main sequencer steps and can create arpeggios or fast/slow-changing effects. (see Table Screen to find out what tables are capable of).

  A table number in the column will start the table and it can be stopped using the table stop command in the same column below table 00 showing as the two asterisks ‘**’. Tables can be entered using the table button. If a table is not initialized yet, then it will be either automatically initialized by entering the table, or you can create a new table using the OK button. Initialised tables have the normal row colour, while uninitialised tables are greyed out (shown in the colour of a muted track).

  Pressing SHIFT+OK on a used table position will clone the selected table into a new one.

  SHIFT+DELETE will toggle between ‘–’ and ‘**’.

• FX → the FX column allows you to add or change several effects/functions for the track, the sequencer or the modulators. You would use the FX columns for example to enable glide on your CV output or to change the probability setting.

  In addition to effects, most general track functions for CV/Triggering etc. can also be started or manipulated via the FX columns. Some FX effects/functions act like a knob, while others execute a function once or change settings. For example, if you choose one which acts like a knob (like glide or probabilities), it sets the knob position when played from the sequencer, and the knob stays in that position until it is set to another position.

  The advantage is that a function can remain active as long as needed without occupying space in the FX column for every step. This also makes it easy to have functions that last longer than a pattern. Other FX functions like for example TRIG just produce a trigger one time.
  Functions which act like knobs are marked in the descriptions below.

  In a CV/Gate (Modular) track, only one FX column is shown at a time. A small indicator appears on the right side of the FX value whenever another FX column on the same row contains data, so you can see at a glance that the row has FX data without scrolling through all columns.
  You can select an FX type using SHIFT+CURSOR UP/DOWN or through the FX Selector menu. To open the FX Selector you press the OK button on the FX command column. A menu appears with a selection of all possible ‘effects’ for this track type. You select an effect with the OK button and it will be filled into the FX command column.

  Additionally, you can use the setting ‘Setup Screen → Play editing FX’ to skip the playback of the FX currently being edited (when the cursor is on it). This prevents unintended playback or changes while editing. The FX Selector and the FX skip function on editing are available for all track types.
  Each track type has its own list of effects. See the available effects for a CV/Gate Track below:

• PTCH → Pitch. Changes the CV pitch in fine steps. 40 is the midpoint (no change). 41 and higher raise the pitch and 3F and lower lower the pitch.

  The pitch will stay until a new note is triggered.

• GL C → Glide CV. Lets the note glide to the next note.
• GLCR → Glide CV Resolution. Changes the glide resolution. Higher values can produce a quantise effect (tip: higher resolution also requires a higher Glide CV value).
  To get a ‘snappy’ glide, set GLCR to something like 6 – 15 and fine-tune with low GL C values.
• MOD → Modulate, changes the MOD CV output, same as the MOD column.

  The MOD values can generate pitches from 000 to FFF ( 5V → +5V / 0V → 10V ). With values higher than FFF the notes C0 to B-9 can be selected.

• GL M → Glide MOD. Lets the Mod output voltage glide to the next selected value in the sequencer.
• GLMR → Glide MOD Resolution. Same as for notes, but for the MOD output.
• TRIG → Trigger. Triggers the trigger output, same as the trigger column but without overriding the auto-gating.
• CV1..6 → Changes the CV of the CV outputs 1 .. 6. So you can manipulate all CV outputs from every track. The CV values can generate pitches from 000 to FFF ( 5V → +5V / 0V → 10V ). With values higher than FFF the notes C0 to B-9 can be selected.
• TRG1..6 → Trigger 1..6 Triggers the outputs 1…6, so you can control every trigger output from every channel.
• MOD1..6 → Modulate 1..6 Changes the CV of the MOD outputs. This lets you manipulate each of the 6 MOD outputs from any track.

  The MOD values can generate pitches from 000 to FFF ( 5V → +5V / 0V → 10V ). With values higher than FFF the notes C0 to B-9 can be selected.

• PRCV → Probability percentage for the Note column. Sets the percentage of the probability mode for the music notes. The Probability mode can skip notes based on the probability percentage. (0% .. 100%). The probability is evaluated per step. For example, with 75% there is a 75% chance that this step is executed, regardless of what is filled into this step. A probability value of 0 means this type will never play. A value of 64 (100%) means it will always play.
  Probability also affects the automatic gate setting for notes. If the current note is skipped, the gate is also not set automatically. You can override this by using Trigger values instead. For combined CV+Trigger probability, use the PROW command, which covers both functions.
• PRTR → Probability percentage for the Trigger column. This affects any value from the trigger column but not the gating generated by notes (auto-gate). The functionality is the same as described for the Note probability.
• PRMD → Probability percentage for the MOD output. The same probability functionality as described before, but for the values in the MOD column.
• PRTB → Probability percentage for the Table column. The same probability functionality as described before, but for the values in the Table column.
• PRF1 → Probability percentage for the FX1 effect column. Here every kind of effect parameter from the FX1 column can be involved in the probability.
• PRF2 → Probability percentage for the FX2 effect column. Here every kind of effect parameter from the FX2 column can be involved in the probability.
• PRF3 → Probability percentage for the FX3 effect column. Here every kind of effect parameter from the FX3 column can be involved in the probability.
• PRF4 → Probability percentage for the FX4 effect column. Here every kind of effect parameter from the FX4 column can be involved in the probability.
• ASL0..ASL7 → Automator settings for Automator slots 0 ..7. ( Automator screen) Here you can manipulate all Automator settings for each slot. Depending on which type of Automator you assigned to a slot, you can change its values. The 3 value digits have the following special functions:

  X00, The first digit (X) is the function of the Automator, so if, for example, you assigned an LFO to this Automator, the first digit is being used to decide which LFO setting should be changed. (e.g. Start, Stop, Reset, Speed, Offset, Invert, Amplitude etc.). The last 2 digits (0XX) are for the value (scaled to 255 values except for n*STEP and STEP Clock functions).

  This is partly a knob setting, depending on the function.

• ENV1..8 → Envelope settings and actions for the local envelopes 1..8.

  ( Envelope screen)

  The first digit (combined with the latter ones) defines one of the following functions:

  100 → Set Envelope Gate

  101 → Reset Envelope Gate

  102 → Trigger Envelope Gate

  103 → Toggle Envelope Gate (if it was set then it resets and the other way around)

  2xx → Set the attack value

  3xx → Set the attack peak

  4xx → Set the decay

  5xx → Set the sustain

  6xx → Set the release

  7xx → Set the offset

  800 → Set the type to ‘One shot’

  801 → Set the type to AD-SR

  802 → Set the type to Loop

  This is partly a knob setting, depending on the selected function.

• PROW → Sets the probability for the entire sequencer row. Note that FX4 is excluded from the row probability, so it is always possible to disable or change the row probability or other effects from the sequence.
• PCRD → Play a chord on the current step. This works if a base note is filled into the Note column, and it plays the selected chord on the displayed CV outputs. The currently selected track provides the base note and base CV output, and the additional notes needed for the chord are played on the following CV outputs (up to CV6). For example, if Play Chord with Minor 6th is used on Track 4, then CV4 and CV5 will both play the (2 note) Chord based on the basenote used in the note column. The status field will also show that CV4-5 are used. If the number of chord notes exceeds CV6 then the latter notes are ignored. You can see the maximum notes that the chord will play in the status field. E.g. if Track 4 is selected to play chord ‘7th diminished’ then the status field will show 4-7(6) because output CV6 is the maximum one and 7 is ignored. You might want to play this chord on another lower track then. The following chords are available: Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Diminished 5th/Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Minor 7th, Major 7th, Triad Major, Triad Minor, Triad Diminished, Triad Diminished 5th, Triad Diminished Augmented, Triad Suspended 4th, Triad Suspended 2nd, 7th Dominant, 7th Minor, 7th Major, 7th Minor Major, 7th Suspended, 7th Augmented, 7th Augmented Major, 7th Augmented 9th, 7th Half Diminished, 7th Diminished, 7th Diminished 5th, 7th Diminished Flat 9, 6th, 6th Minor, 9th, 9th Minor, 9th Major, 9th Diminished 5th, 11th
• FX+* → Add or multiply a value to the last used effect. This effect remembers the last value of the selected FX and adds a value to it or multiplies it by a value. The effect is then updated as well. For example, if the last used effect was a MOD change to value 300, and the FX was set to add 10 to this, a new MOD change to 310 would be initiated. Now the 310 is the last known value. FX+* functions can be called multiple times and then work with the results of the last changed values. If, for example, you multiply the last FX value, let’s say again the MOD effect that was just changed (which is now 310), by 1.5 (hex value 0F, the multiply range goes from 0.1 to 25.5), then the current MOD value would be multiplied by 1.5 and changed again. The result here is 498 (values in hex) and the MOD is updated again.

  The calculations can either be limited to the maximum effect value or be allowed to overflow.

  The first digit defines the affected FX column, the type of calculation and whether it should overflow or not. (An overflow occurs if the new value is higher than the highest value (or lower than the lowest, depending on the calculation type) of the effect. For example, if the maximum value of the effect is FF (255), and the current value is FE (254) and the calculation would be ‘ADD 0A (10dec) with overflow’ then the result would be 8.)

  0XX Add value XX to the last FX1 Effect (no overflow)

  1XX Add value XX to the last FX2 Effect (no overflow)

  2XX Add value XX to the last FX3 Effect (no overflow)

  3XX Add value XX to the last FX4 Effect (no overflow)

  4XX Add value XX to the last FX1 Effect (with overflow)

  5XX Add value XX to the last FX2 Effect (with overflow)

  6XX Add value XX to the last FX3 Effect (with overflow)

  7XX Add value XX to the last FX4 Effect (with overflow)

  8XX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX1 Effect (no overflow)

  9XX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX2 Effect (no overflow)

  AXX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX3 Effect (no overflow)

  BXX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX4 Effect (no overflow)

  CXX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX1 Effect (with overflow)

  DXX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX2 Effect (with overflow)

  EXX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX3 Effect (with overflow)

  FXX Multiply XX (0.1 – 25.5) with the last FX4 Effect (with overflow)

• FX-/ → Subtract / Divide with/from last FX value.
  This works just like the multiply/add function, except that subtraction and division are used.

The MOD and CV FX commands in the Modular tracks also have a special function in combination with the ADD/SUB/MUL/DIV functions. If the MOD or CV value has been used as a pitch before (values 000 – FFF), it stays a pitch value and FFF would be the maximum pitch value for the calculations. If it has been used as a note, the calculations are done in notes and the results are also notes.

• RDMN → Random FX values. This can either override the next selected FX value or enable a general random override of FX values within a selected range.

  There are 16 different ranges to choose from ( Random Ranges Screen).
  The first digit selects the type of the function:
  
  0XX Random next FX value
  1XX Enable random for the FX column. This will override all FX commands in the selected FX column within the selected range until it is turned off again.

  2XX Disable random for the selected FX column

  
  The 2nd digit defines the selected range from 0 to 15
  X0X Selects Range 0
  X1X Selects Range 1 etc…
  
  The 3rd digit defines which FX is affected:

  XX0 a random FX 1..4 is selected for the random functionality
  XX1 FX1 is selected for the random functionality
  XX2 FX2 is selected for the random functionality
  XX3 FX3 is selected for the random functionality
  XX4 FX4 is selected for the random functionality

Pressing the OK button on the FX value will bring you directly to the Random Ranges Screen

• PATC → Same as the patch column. Calls a patch.
• TABL → Same as the table column. Selects/Starts/Stops a Table.
• STSP → Start sequencer pattern. Here you can select any position on the sequencer screen that should start to play next. It works in the same way as the start button. It toggles between starting on the zero cross of the mainclock or on the next cue point. The first digit X00 is for the track, where zero is for the whole row and 1..8 for the sequencer tracks. The last two digits 0XX are for the row number in the sequencer screen.
• CBPB → Combined Playback FX
  This is a multifunction FX to change the clock settings, playback order, transpositions and to execute live jumps between patterns.

  The first digit defines the functions:

  0XX → Change the clock type after the end of the currently playing pattern. The new pattern will play with the new clock setting.
  Here you can set the different dividers and multipliers for the current track. Possible settings are from 000 to 010:

  /7, /6, /5, /3, /32, /16, /8, /4, /2, Normal clock, *2, *4, *8, *3, *5, *6, *7
  This order was chosen on purpose, as base-2 dividers and multipliers are the most commonly used and are placed around the regular clock. (See track setup)

  The first digit has an additional function: it either lets the clock change with a new pattern (after the end of the currently playing pattern) or forces the new clock setting immediately.

  1XX → Same as 0XX but it changes the clock immediately. Use this with caution as this might cause an unsynchronized pattern if called somewhere in the middle of a pattern.
  If it is set on the first step, the new clock setting will run properly synchronized within this pattern. (depending on whether the last pattern was synchronized).

  This works regardless of the running pattern order. This command on the first step will always be fetched in advance.

  2XX → Playback Order. This defines how a track should play its pattern. The default setting is ‘Forward’ where the sequence in the track runs normally from step 0 to 63 (or less). If used with the 2XX setting then the new playback order will be activated after the current pattern is finished.

  Other settings are:

  Backward → Plays the pattern from the last (depending on pattern length) to the first position / step.

  PingPong → Plays the pattern forward and backward

  RND Keep → Random Keep. Chooses a random order once and keeps this same order playing until it is changed.

  RND Refresh → Random Refresh. Chooses a new random order each time a pattern is finished.

  With both random settings all steps within the pattern length are always played!

  Even-Odd → Plays first the even steps and then the odd steps

  3rd → Plays every 3rd step

  4th → Plays every 4th step

  5th → plays every 5th step

  ROW E-O → Row even/odd. Plays first the even rows (4 – 8 steps for each row depending on the pattern length) and then the odd rows

  UP/DOWN → Will play in an Up/Down order (on an 8×8 / 4×4 grid)

  SPIRAL → Will play in a spiral order outside in (on an 8×8 / 4×4 grid)

  SPIRAL<> → Will play in a spiral order outside in and inside out (on an 8×8 / 4×4 grid)

  1ST-Last → Will play the first step, then the last step, then the 2nd step, then the 2nd last step etc…

  10325476 → Will play in the numbered order (step 1, step 0, step 3, step 2 etc.)

  00112233 → Plays each step twice (within the pattern length)

  CRAB → Plays step 0, then step 1, then step 0 again, then step 2, then 0 again etc…

  DRUNK → Plays the regular order but often jumps a step back, ahead or repeats a step…

  3XX → Playback Order now: Same as the 2XX command except that the new playback order is active immediately. If it is set on the first step, the new order will always be active, regardless of the current running pattern order.

  4XX → Transpose track. Transposes the track (same as track settings) up or down. The middle value (no transposition) is 40.

  5XX → Global Transpose. Changes the global transpose setting (same as project settings) up or down. The middle value (no transposition) is 40.

  6XX → Swing: Changes the Swing settings (same as project settings) when the main clock is set to internal. The middle value (no swing) is 40.

  7XX → Track Jump: Jumps immediately to another pattern in the same track (if available) defined by the row (XX) on the sequencer screen. The sequence will continue on the same step, just in another pattern. After the pattern is finished, the original patterns will continue to play. This is the same performance function as when using the OK button on a pattern in the sequencer screen when the Edit-Mode is disabled.

  8XX → Row Jump: Same as 7XX but for the complete sequencer row (where possible).
  This is partly a knob setting, depending on the selected function.

  9XX → TR Delay: Changes the Track setup setting for the Trigger delay

  AXX → Set Track Scale: Sets the Track scale or selected global scale to one of the scales.

  BXX → Set Global Scale: Sets the Global Scale to one of the scales.

  CXX → Sets the keynote of the currently used scale.

• SPFX → Special FX command. Contains some non-value special functions:

  000 → No function

  001 → Stop Track at the end of the Pattern

  002 → Stop Track immediately

  003 → Stop Song immediately

  004 → Set Clock Output

  005 → Reset Clock Output

  006 → Pulse Clock Output

  007 → Set Clockreset Output

  008 → Reset Clockreset Output

  009 → Pulse Clockreset Output

  00A → Reset all FX values of the track

  00B → Reset all FX values of all tracks

  00C → Jump to a random position in the same pattern (within the pattern length)

  00D → Resync Track to the mainclock (synchronizes on the zero cross of the mainclock)

  00E → Resync All tracks to the mainclock (synchronizes on the zero cross of the mainclock)

  00F → Avoid transpose for the Track

  010 → Allow transpose for the Track

  011 → Create a table tick. This is for the current running table on the track and can be used to proceed with the next table step.

  012 → Sync Clock. Forces the current pattern to synchronize to the mainclock immediately.

  013 → Fill Pattern. Fills the track's currently playing pattern using the current Fill Pattern Screen settings.

  014 → Magic Fill. Magic-fills the track's currently playing pattern.

  015 → Fill Pattern (record only). Same as 013, but only executes while Record mode is on.

  016 → Magic Fill (record only). Same as 014, but only executes while Record mode is on.

  017 → Fill Playing. Fills the currently playing pattern of every track at once.

  018 → Fill Playing (record only). Same as 017, but only runs while Record mode is on.

  019 → Magic Fill Playing. Magic-fills the currently playing pattern of every track at once.

  01A → Magic Fill Playing (record only). Same as 019, but only runs while Record mode is on.

  01B → Fill Follow. Fills the track’s currently playing pattern from the row that is playing right now up to the end of that pattern. All rows before the playhead are left untouched, so the fill only lands in front of the running position.

  01C → Fill Follow (record only). Same as 01B, but only executes while Record mode is on.

  With these Fill SPFX commands a pattern can fill or re-fill itself (or the whole row) while playing. The record-only variants are a safe way to limit live filling to the moments when Record is armed.

• BPM → Changes the main tempo to the desired Beats Per Minute.
• XMAP → Execute / Check a Mapping row from the Mapping Screen.
  This command has 3 functions.

  0XX → The selected Mapping row (XX selects the mapping row 00-45) will be executed once. This can be used to execute any possible function in that mapping row. For example, to set a variable or to start an algorithm from the mappings. You can prevent the row from being executed by the mappings themselves by adding a CTRL>XXMP>1RW command in the mapping row before it. This also allows you to create a sequence of XMAP rows that are executed only by the sequencer. Please check the Mapping Screen for more information. Be aware that the selected row will be completely executed, regardless of whether the source changed or not.

  1XX → The selected mapping (XX selects the mapping row 00-45) will be executed once like with 0XX but the result of the executed mapping row decides whether the current pattern row plays or not. A result of 0 will not play the rest of the pattern row and any other number will play it normally. Any further FX columns will be included in this condition as well. This can also be applied from a patch.

  2XX → The selected mapping (XX selects the mapping row 00-45) will NOT be executed but only its current result will be used to decide whether the rest of the current pattern row should be played, in the same way as the 1XX command.
  
  The conditional 1XX and 2XX commands allow for a kind of ‘conditional triggers’.
  

• BASE → Base note. Transposes all following notes of the current pattern by the base note value (> 00 is higher, < FF is lower). The transposition lasts until the end of the pattern.
• KILL → Stops the note before the next step. With it you can create really short gates/triggers or any gate timing.

  As an additional function, a value of 0 doesn’t trigger the note. Use this for a note change without new triggering/gating.

• BRK → Break/Jump/Repeat: Resets (breaks) the pattern sequencer to the beginning. With this you can set the number of steps for each pattern (up to 64 steps). The second function repeats the pattern X times: fill in a value with the break (below 100) and the pattern repeats. A repeat value of FF (255) is special and lets the pattern repeat endlessly.

  The third function is to jump to a row in the same pattern. To use the jump function, set the first digit to 1. The last 2 digits are the pattern row to jump to.

Examples:

BRK 000 → Breaks the pattern and starts with the next pattern if selected

BRK 003 → Repeats the same pattern (until the break) 3 times, so it plays the pattern 4 times until it continues with the next pattern.

BRK 108 → Jumps with the player to row/position 8 in the same pattern.

All jump, break and repeat functions are cancelled if a new pattern is selected to be played next.

• Groove → changes the number of substeps per pattern step (can be used to change the step length). 6 is the default preset value (equal to 24ppqn resolution = 6 ticks per step), but finer resolutions can be achieved with higher values. The preset value can be changed in the Setup screen (Default Groove Ticks), giving new patterns a different default groove. A shuffle/groove effect can also be created by alternating groove values, e.g. 5/7/5/7/5/7. Different groove settings can also cause patterns to drift apart from each other, affecting the general timing of steps.

The groove difference indicator is shown if the total number of groove ticks doesn’t match the pattern length and the main groove tick setting.

The general playback of a Modular pattern row uses the following order:

Patch > FX1 > FX2 > FX3 > FX4 > Table > MOD > Trigger + CV

So, for example, parameters changed in FX1 already affect FX2, and so on.

Track Setup (Modular Track)

• Track Clock → See Track Setup Screen.
• Transpose → See Track Setup Screen.
• Scale → See Track Setup Screen.
• Trigger Delay → See Track Setup Screen.
• Trigger Setting → See Track Setup Screen.
• Voltage Setting → See Track Setup Screen.
• Random FX1..4 → See Track Setup Screen.
• Midi – MOD → Defines the source for the MOD Column (and MOD Output) function for recording or input via Midi. The settings are either CC 1 (mod wheel on a Midi keyboard) movements, the velocity of the note or the result of a mapping row if it has been defined for Midi input in the Midi / I2C Setup Screen and the mapping destination.
• Midi Poly Tracks → Defines whether a track should act as a monophonic (1) track or as the basis of a polyphonic (2+) track when it is played or recorded from Midi. For a polyphonic track, the voices will be spread across the following tracks. For example, if it is Track 2 and the number of Poly tracks is 3, then Track 2, 3 and 4 will be combined as a polyphonic group. Midi data played on track 2 will then be split across the 3 tracks, depending on the number of voices played. The MOD/Velocity setting of Track 2 then also applies to the other tracks. This works for the local CV/Gate Tracks. All other track types are ignored. The maximum track number is 6, so all tracks higher than 6 in the polyphonic groups are also ignored. (This allows up to 6-voice polyphonic behaviour if set up accordingly.) Each of the polyphonic grouped tracks gets its own CV/Gate/MOD per voice, which also allows independent Envelopes to be connected to each voice.

Audio Track

Pattern Screen

The Audio tracks have different columns because samples or waveforms do not have CV settings or modulation outputs. However, they have other relevant parameters like volume or the selected sample. Also the parameter set for the FX columns is different compared to the CV tracks.

To use samples you must load them into one of the 12 sample slots. Use either the Load Sample function in the Nerd Menu (SHIFT+NERD on an audio track in the sequencer screen or in the pattern screen of an audio track) or press OK in the sample column. This will lead you to the Load Sample window where you can fill sample-slots with audio-files from the SD Card. Samples are then loaded into memory. The sample memory is limited to 180 kB, which allows over 4 seconds of audio at 44100 Hz, 8-bit mono. Samples with a lower resolution will be longer. Choose your balance between quality and length. The Load Sample window has several options to reduce the sample rate, as well as some playback behaviour settings.

In addition to samples, different waveforms can be played and run like an oscillator. These waveforms can be pitched and played like a regular sample, except that they run indefinitely unless stopped or modulated by envelopes or other effects. Besides being an oscillator, each audio part can also act as a 4-Operator FM synthesizer (details in the Sample / Wave / Synthesis part of the manual).

Another feature is that each audio track/pattern can contain 2 separate sequences. This means 2 samples/waveforms can be sequenced and played simultaneously. Both parts can have different FX and groove settings, so they can run somewhat independently. However, when one part of the pattern finishes, the other will finish as well, and both will be re-synchronised for the next pattern. In the screen you can always see one of the 2 pattern parts. The 1st part of the pattern is on the far left; if you navigate to the right past the groove column, the 2nd part will appear with the same functions.

Let’s first explain the pattern audio screen for the samples/waves/synth:

First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.

Then the following columns:

• Note → To fill in the musical notes. It changes the pitch of the sample/wave in note scale. To trigger a sample/wave a note must be filled in. In the screenshot, the base note is C-4, which represents the original sample speed. A note-on also means ‘Gate on’, which can be used with envelopes to trigger an envelope when the sample/wave is triggered.
  To stop a sample/wave, you can also use the brackets here (below lowest note / Delete on empty note field) [ ]

  This will directly stop the sample or wave audio and also releases the gate. Next to the note off there is also the ‘Gate Off’ function (below the note off function / delete on a note-off field) ‘***’. This keeps the sample or waveform playing but sets a connected envelope into its release phase (if the envelope is set to AD-SR mode).

  Note that the envelope is not retriggered unless it has either finished or the gate was released.

  After the highest note, 16 Random (RN0 → RNF) ranges can be selected which generate a random note within the selected random range. Pressing the OK button here will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen.

• Sample / Waveform → Fill in the number of the sample slot. So for example, if you want to play sample slot 1 (626 SD2, which is the 2nd snare drum sample of the famous Roland TR-626 drum computer), you would need to fill in 01 here, since the sample is loaded into the first sample slot. The waveforms are available from sample number 12 to 17 (0C..11).

  The different waveforms are:

  12 (0C) → Sine

  13 (0D) → Triangle

  14 (0E) → Ramp

  15 (0F) → Sawtooth

  16 (10) → Pulse

  17 (11) → Noise

  Furthermore, the values R0 to RF are available, which randomly select a sample or waveform based on the random ranges 0-15.

  Once played, the waveforms keep running and will only stop on either a Note Off or a Stop All Sounds command. Be aware that the Oscillator function is not a true replacement for analogue oscillators, but for many applications they will do the job well.
  Pressing the OK button on the Sample/Waveform column will lead you to the Load Sample window and OK on the Random Range selection will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen.

• Volume → Sets the volume of the sample/waveform. 7F (127) is the default value for a sample (max –2.5 to +2.5 V on the output); you can increase the volume up to FF (255) (max –5 to +5 V on the output). Be aware that using a 2nd sample in the same track at this level can lead to clipping, since the samples are mixed together as in a regular mixer. To be safe with 2 samples, keep the volume of both below 7F. The volume can also be set in a column without a sample, to change the volume of an already playing sample.
• FX → 2 FX columns for each sample. You can add different FX parameters to further manipulate the sample. These parameters are:
  • FPTC → Fine pitch a sample. Changes the pitch of the currently playing sample. Value 0x40 is the base value, which equals the original pitch of the sample; higher values will pitch the sample higher and lower values will pitch the sample lower. A newly triggered sample will reset the fine pitch values.
  • RTRG → Retrigger sample. Restarts the sample after a dedicated time multiple times:

    The 1st digit is the time delay after which the sample is retriggered and the 2nd digit is the number of repetitions. A retrigger will also retrigger any connected envelope.

    A value of 0000 for the retrigger will also retrigger or start a connected envelope.

  • BCSH → Bitcrush. A digital effect which lowers the bit depth of the sample (floating point precision). The bitcrush setting stays on until it is set to zero again. This works as a channel effect, like a knob that you turn on by turning it to the right (01..FF) and turn off by turning it fully to the left again (00).
  • DIST → Distortion. Adds a simple digital distortion effect (floating point precision) to the current sample. Here too, it stays on until you turn it off again.
  • WFLD → Wavefolder effect. Folds (triangle) the waveform/sample.
  • BACK → A multi-function FX.
    If a sample is currently playing, this is used to play the sample backwards.

    xxx1 → Plays it backwards. Can also be used in the middle of a sample to change the playing order.

    xxx0 → Plays the sample normally

    If a waveform is playing, the following functions can be activated:

    xx00 → No Modulation/Function

    xx01 → Hardsync with the other waveform of the same track. So if a waveform is also playing on the other part of the track, then the current waveform is reset on a zero cross of the other waveform. This can be used on both sides to manipulate both waveforms.

    xx02 to xx10 → FM modulation of the currently playing waveform. The currently playing waveform is the carrier, and other waveforms/operators/samples can be used as the modulator(s). This allows you to create up to 4-operator FM synthesizer configurations.

    The following configurations can be selected: FM from OP1, OP2, OP3, OP4, OP1+2, OP2+3, OP3+4, OP1+3, OP2+4, OP1+4, OP1+2+3, OP2+3+4, OP1+3+4, OP1+2+4, OP1+2+3+4

    x0xx → No change to the mute/silenced attribute of the sample/wave part.

    x1xx → The current audio output of the sample/wave part is muted/silenced. Use this if, for example, you use the waveform only as a modulator and don’t want to hear it in the output. Internally, the audio signal can still be used for the modulations.

    x2xx → The current audio output of the sample/wave part is not muted/silenced

    0xxx → Notes play normally for the current sample/wave part

    1xxx to 4xxx → Will copy the notes from the selected source (OP/Wave 1..4). This allows one to play the same notes or a transposition of the notes from the source. Important for harmonic FM modulations or bigger sounds when mixing waveforms.

  • OFFS → Set the sample offset to the scaled value.

    In combination with the Pulse waveform, this also defines the pulse width ratio, where 0 means 50:50. Other settings can go up to 0:100 (001) or 100:0 (FFF).

  • TABL → Start/assign table to the pattern part. So you can also use the tables for samples or waveforms. The numbers show the selected table. A table that has already been assigned is shown in the regular colour. Tables that are not assigned/used yet are greyed out (the ‘mute’ colour). You can assign them to an audio track by either pressing the OK button or by pressing the TABLE button. With the TABLE button, the Table Screen is also entered directly, so the selected table can be edited. Note that tables generated in the audio tracks can also use the FX from the audio tracks.

    A table number higher than 31 will set a ‘Stop Table’ command, shown by ‘STOP’.

  • PATC → Executes the selected Patch ( Patch Screen)
  • PROB → Add probability to the pattern part. It adds the probability of a sample to be played (or stopped) with a given percentage. Same as the Note probabilities for the CV outputs (see description there). Both pattern parts can have different probability settings. Here too, the probability stays set until you turn it off again yourself.
  • PRF1 → Add probability for the FX1 parameter+value. Same as the probability setting, but it applies a probability to the first FX parameter. This way you can add probability to every parameter.
  • PRF2 → Add probability for the FX2 parameter+value. Same as the probability setting, but it applies a probability to the second FX parameter. This way you can add probability to every parameter.
  • TRIG → Fire the triggers from tracks 1..6. The first two digits define the triggers 1..6 and the last two digits define the type/value of the triggers. These use the same trigger functions as the regular trigger columns.
  • NOTE → Changes the note of the selected CV/MOD output. The destinations are CV1..6 and MOD1..6. The 2nd digit sets the Output and the last 2 digits the Note value.
  • VOLT → Changes the pitch/voltage of the selected CV/MOD output. The destinations are CV1..6 and MOD1..6. The 1st digit sets the Output and the last 3 digits the pitch value.
  • DELY → Delay settings for the track. This function again contains multiple settings:

    0100 – Delay Type → Short Highest quality. Best quality but short delay time.

    0101 – Delay Type → Lo-Fi. Lower quality but longer delay time

    0102 – Delay Type → More Lo-Fi. Lowest quality but longest delay time

    0103 – Delay Type → Fast. High quality, very short time for flanger effects

    02xx – Delay Time → Sets the delay time.

    03xx – Delay Input send → The input volume for the delay.

    04xx – Delay feedback → The volume/amount of the delay feedback.

  • GLID → Changes the glide.
  • PROW → Probability for the sequencer row. Keep in mind that the whole audio row of the track is affected and not only a part of it. The last FX is excluded from the probability, so it can be used to reset the probability setting from the sequence.
  • SETW → Set/change the current sample/waveform. Any sample/wave inserted in the sample/wave column will be overridden by this FX command.
  • RDMN → Random FX. Random next FX value or enable a general FX random override within the selected range. This function is the same as the RDMN function for CV/Gate tracks. Press OK here to enter the Random Ranges Screen.
  • +*-/ → Add/Multiply/Subtract/Divide. The same as the ADD/SUB functions for a CV/Gate track, except that all 4 calculations can be done with this one FX.

    The first 2 digits define the calculation type and for which FX this should apply:

    00XX → 03XX Add and update the amount of XX to the last known FX 1-4 without overflow

    04XX → 07XX Add and update the amount of XX to the last known FX 1..4 with overflow

    08XX → 0BXX Multiply and update the last known FX 1..4 value with value XX (0.1 → 25.5) without overflow

    0CXX → 0FXX Multiply and update the last known FX 1..4 value with value XX (0.1 → 25.5) with overflow

    10XX → 13XX Subtract and update the amount of XX from the last known FX 1-4 without overflow

    14XX → 17XX Subtract and update the amount of XX from the last known FX 1..4 with overflow

    18XX → 1BXX Divide and update the last known FX 1..4 value with value XX (0.1 → 25.5) without overflow

    1CXX → 1FXX Divide and update the last known FX 1..4 value with value XX (0.1 → 25.5) with overflow

  • ASL0..7 → Automator Slot settings. (same as for CV-Gate patterns, check there for details)
  • ENV1..8 → Local Envelope settings. (same as for CV-Gate patterns, check there for details)
  • STSP → Start sequencer pattern. Here you can select any position on the sequencer screen that should start to play next. It works in the same way as the start button. It toggles between starting on the zero cross of the main clock or on the next cue point. The first digit X00 is for the track, where zero is for the whole row and 1..8 for the sequencer tracks. The last two digits 0XX are for the row number in the sequencer screen.
  • CBPB → Combined Playback FX.
    Same as the settings in a Modular CV/Gate Track.
  • LSMP → ‘Nearly’ seamless load of a complete sample block. This replaces a complete sample block (the content of all 12 sample slots). More on that in the Project screen section where sample blocks can be generated.
  • SPFX → Special FX functions.
    Same as the settings in a Modular CV/Gate Track.
  • BPM → Changes the main tempo to the desired Beats Per Minute.
  • XMAP → Same as the settings in a Modular CV/Gate Track.
  • KILL → Stops a sample at a given time. Value 000 will stop the sample immediately and higher values will stop the sample after the selected time.
  • BRK → Break/Jump. Breaks (stops) the pattern. This lets you create patterns shorter than the standard 64 steps (e.g. 16 or 7 steps). Be aware that BRK stops both parts of the pattern. So even when working with different timings in one pattern, the whole pattern will be broken and resynchronised with the next pattern. If a value is filled into the lower digits, the pattern will repeat that number of times (e.g. 002 will repeat the pattern up to the break 2 times, so it plays 3 times). A repeat value of 255 will repeat the pattern endlessly.

    The second function is to jump to a row in the same pattern. To use the jump function, set the first digit to 1. The last 2 digits are the pattern row to jump to. So, for example, BRK 105 will jump to row 5, and BRK 110 jumps to row 10 (16 decimal). BRK 000 (or any value lower than 100) will only activate the Break function. Be aware that the jump/repeat functions work only on the first FX column for sample 1 of the track.

• Groove → The groove setting for the step, as in the other tracks. The standard is 6, but different step lengths can be set with it. See the groove explanation on the normal pattern groove section.

  A special feature here is that one pattern has 2 groove settings, so you can have different settings for the 2 parts of the pattern.

  The groove difference indicator is shown if the total number of groove ticks doesn’t match the pattern length and the main groove tick setting.

Basic usage:

To add a sample to a slot, open the Load Sample window by pressing either the PATCH button when you are in a sample pattern or by pressing OK when on the sample column.

Pressing OK (and maybe scrolling up/down) on the sample notes can be used to ‘pre-view’ the sample with the note-pitch. This function is similar to the note pre-listen in the modular pattern screens.

Waveforms can be mixed or synchronised and even manipulated from the Automators.

The general playback of an Audio pattern row uses the following order:

FX1 > FX2 > Volume 1 > Note 1 > FX3 > FX4 > Volume 2 > Note 2

So FX settings in FX1 already affect FX2 etc…

Track Setup (Audio Track)

• Track Clock → See Track Setup Screen.
• Transpose → Allows or prevents transposing of the track. This applies to both the global and the track transpose.
• Scale → See Track Setup Screen.
• Random FX1..4 → Enables randomized values for the selected FX. When turned on with a range selected, all FX values in that column will play with random values within the selected ranges. This can also be enabled/disabled with the Random FX command (RDMN) from the FX list. Press OK to get to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges.

For all following values, see the Sample / Wave / Synthesis part of the manual for details and a description of their usage.

• Delay Type → Sets the type of the audio delay for the track.
• Delay Time → Sets the amount/time of the delay buffer
• Delay Send → Sets the input amplitude for the delay
• Delay Feedback → Sets the amount of the delay feedback
• Clone Audio 7 to 8 → Clones and overwrites the audio stream of Track 7 into Track 8. The audio stream is grabbed and included before the delay in the audio chain.
• FM boost → Global setting for the FM intensity

  Sample Wave setting for the parts 1,2,3,4: (values can be edited here)

• Selected Sample/Wave → The currently selected sample/waveform
• Volume → Volume/Amplitude of the Sample/Wave
• Glide → Glide settings for the sample/wave part
• Muted → Sets whether the audio output of this part should be muted or not (signal can still be used for modulations)

  Clone Notes from → Selects whether the notes should be cloned from the source. With this, multiple waves/samples can be sequenced from one source

  Clone Coarse → If notes are cloned, this sets the note transpose/offset in semitones

  Clone Fine → If notes are cloned, this sets the fine-tune for the main note.

  Modulation Source → Selects whether the current audio should be either FM modulated by one or more other waves/samples or Hardsynced to another waveform

  Pulsewidth (Pulse) → This determines the pulse width of the pulse wave in case the current waveform is set to ‘Pulse’

  Wavefold → Sets the current wavefolding amount for the current sample/wave part

  Bitcrush → Sets the bitcrush settings for the current sample/wave part

  Distortion → Sets the distortion settings for the current sample/wave part

  You can use the UP / DOWN buttons to switch between all 4 Wave/Sample settings (for both audio tracks).

Midi track

Pattern Screen

If a track is assigned to Midi, the Midi pattern screen is used. You can assign a track to be used for Midi in the Track Assign Screen.
A Midi track can sequence any external Midi synth/module etc. in a polyphonic manner. To sequence Midi, one of the Midi Expanders is required.

The Midi screen is split into different pages. Move the cursor further to the right to get to the next pages.

First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.

• 4 Note columns, each with a Note value and a Velocity value. If an override channel is turned on for a column, you can see the channel assignment at the top next to the music note.

  The notes range from C-0 to C-A. Beyond note C-A there are 16 random range settings RN0 → RNF which can be used to generate a random note within the selected range. Pressing the OK Button on these will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen. Random notes also work with the chord function.
  The Velocity column (mostly volume) can have velocity values from 00 (Note off) to 7F (0-127). The Velocity column also contains some additional functions to generate slides (for many monophonic midi synthesizers) or to sequence the local CV/Gate outputs instead. If you press SHIFT+OK in the Velocity column (with a corresponding note) it will toggle between the additional/alternative functions.

  Here is an overview of the functions (together with the Note or Note off):

Local (track) CV Output functions:

A → Does only a note change on the CV output. No gate change if a note is filled in. Gate off if a note off is filled in.

A0 → Does a note change while turning the Gate OFF

A1 → Does a note change while turning the Gate ON

A2 → Does a note change while doing a trigger of 10ms (like trigger 20)

A8 → Does a note change while doing a trigger of 40ms (like trigger 80)

AT → Does a note change while toggling the current Gate state

Local (track) MOD Output functions:

B → Does only a note change on the MOD output. No gate change if a note is filled in. Gate off if a note off is filled in.

B0 → Does a note change while turning the Gate OFF

B1 → Does a note change while turning the Gate ON

B2 → Does a note change while doing a trigger of 10ms (like trigger 20)

B8 → Does a note change while doing a trigger of 40ms (like trigger 80)

BT → Does a note change while toggling the current Gate state

Local (track) Trigger/Gate functions:

T → Gate On if a note is filled in but note is ignored. Gate off if Note off is filled in, but note change is ignored.

T0 → Gate OFF without note change.

T1 → Gate ON without note change.

T2 → Trigger of 10ms (like trigger 20) without note change.

T8 → Trigger of 40ms (like trigger 80) without note change.

TT → Toggling the current Gate state without note change.

Local CV/MOD functions, regardless of current track:

C1 → Note change on CV 1 Output (no Gate change)

C2 → Note change on CV 2 Output (no Gate change)

C3 → Note change on CV 3 Output (no Gate change)

C4 → Note change on CV 4 Output (no Gate change)

C5 → Note change on CV 5 Output (no Gate change)

C6 → Note change on CV 6 Output (no Gate change)

M1 → Note change on MOD 1 Output (no Gate change)

M2 → Note change on MOD 2 Output (no Gate change)

M3 → Note change on MOD 3 Output (no Gate change)

M4 → Note change on MOD 4 Output (no Gate change)

M5 → Note change on MOD 5 Output (no Gate change)

M6 → Note change on MOD 6 Output (no Gate change)

Random Velocity Functions (for Midi notes)

R0 to RF → Use a random velocity within the selected random range. Pressing the OK button will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen.

VA to VP → Use velocity values from the Variables Variable Screen

Slide functions (for Midi notes) for Monophonic synthesizers which support a slide/glide/tie function which means that the new note is played first and then the old one is stopped. This differs from the regular flow, where the last note is always stopped before the new note plays.

S1 to S9 → Midi Slide to the new Note with Velocity 10% (S1) to 90% (S9)

S0 → Midi slide with a velocity of 100% (equal to 7F/127).

SA to SH → Midi slide with a random velocity defined by Random Range 0-7

Page 2

First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.

Depending on the Midi gear used, settings might act like knobs.

• PC → Program Change. Sends a program change command to the midi channel. If the ‘On Change’ setting in the Midi track setup is enabled, it will only be sent when the value changes. Some Midi devices take a long time to recall the new program and may stop playing in the meantime. Sending only on change minimises disruption from Midi gear. You can press the OK button to directly send the program change / prelisten.
• FX1..2 → 2 FX columns with the following functions:
  • PBND → Pitch bend. Sets the pitch bend, where 2000 is the middle value (i.e. pitch bend not used), 3FFF is maximum (pitch bend wheel fully up) and 0000 is minimum (pitch bend wheel fully down).
  • CTL1..CTL8 → Midi Control preset messages for CC and Program change. Sends controller changes to the controllers which are set up in the midi track settings. The last 2 digits 00XX are for the value (7F maximum). If the first digit X000 is set to one, the 2nd digit 0X00 sets the Midi channel. This makes it possible to send CC values to channels other than the one set up for the track. Some devices receive main data on one channel and other parameters via CC on other channels. If the first digit X000 is reset to 0, the Midi channel set up for the track is used.

    Additionally, the Control Preset can be set to Program Change in the setup screen. The meaning of the digits is the same as with the control changes but it will produce program change messages.

  • CC A..CC H → Freely assignable Midi CC. While the Midi controller numbers for CC#1..8 are fixed and must be set up in the track settings, these controllers can be freely assigned.

    The first 2 digits XX00 set the controller type/number and the last two digits the value.

    The main difference from the first 8 controllers is that the first 8 can also be used for the Automators and other channels while the controllers 9..16 can freely be assigned in the sequence.

  • CATC → Channel Aftertouch. Sends aftertouch values valid for the whole channel (supported by most Midi implementations).
  • PAT1..4 → Polyphonic Aftertouch. Sends aftertouch values per note, where 1..4 is the note column which should be addressed. The values are valid from 00 to 7F.

    Polyphonic aftertouch is often not implemented as it generates much more Midi traffic.

  • NRP1..4 → Sets NRPN controllers. These act mostly like higher resolution CC if implemented by the midi device. The NRPN controller number is set in the Midi track setup screen, and the value can range from 0000 to 3FFF. Be aware that an NRPN message sends up to 4 times as much Midi data compared to a normal CC message. So handle with care to avoid a midi traffic jam (especially in combination with Automators).
  • SNRP → Sets the controller type of NRPN4. With this, NRPN4 can be used as a flexible controller. The controller type number can be up to 3FFF.

    –PCRD → Plays a chord within the Midi columns. Depending on the selected chord there are 2 to 4 notes. The first note in the Midi note columns defines the base note of the chord. In the Midi note columns you can see how many notes are used for the chord, and the notes are then played on these columns. Please be aware that a chord of multiple notes also needs multiple note-off commands. These can either be inserted via the regular note-off commands or by using the same chord with a note-off in the first note column.

    Available chords for Midi are: Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th,

    Diminished 5th/Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Minor 7th, Major 7th, Triad Major, Triad Minor, Triad Diminished, Triad Diminished 5th, Triad Diminished Augmented, Triad Suspended 4th, Triad Suspended 2nd, 7th Dominant, 7th Minor, 7th Major, 7th Minor Major, 7th Suspended, 7th Augmented, 7th Augmented Major, 7th Augmented 9th, 7th Half Diminished, 7th Diminished, 7th Diminished 5th, 7th Diminished Flat 9th, 6th, 6th Minor, 9th, 9th Minor, 9th Major, 9th Diminished 5th, 11th.

  • +*-/ → Add, Multiply, Subtract, Divide last FX. Same as the function in a modular track.
  • VELO → Velocity override. This command can either override the velocity value of one of the Midi note columns or add to/subtract from the last known velocity when used in a table. Using this command in a table can create nice Midi Delay or Fading effects. The first digit defines which columns should be affected and the 2nd digit sets the functionality: Overrule, Subtract, add. The last 2 digits define either the overrule velocity value or the subtract/add amount.

All further parameters are exactly the same as for a Modular CV/Gate Track, so all functions of the local tracks can still be used, with the following exceptions:

• KILL → Kills the note (sends a note off) after a set time. The first digit X000 selects the note column which should be killed (0 is for all notes and 1..4 for notes 1..4), and the last three digits 0XXX set the time until the note stops. Small amounts can generate very short note times (shorter than steps).

Page 3

First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.

• FX3 → Same FX as on page 2.
• Patch → Column to set a patch. The function is the same as with the local CV/Gate tracks. OK creates a new patch on an empty spot. SHIFT+OK clones a patch. Greyed-out patch numbers are either empty or already used by other track types. OK on a patch number will enter the Patch Screen
• Table → Set a table. You can create a new table by pressing the OK button. By pressing SHIFT+OK on a current table you can clone the currently selected table into a new table. Selecting ** here (the highest value) is the ‘stop table’ command.
• Groove → Apply groove settings just as for the other tracks (see the CV/Gate Pattern screen for a description).

Specials for the Midi tracks:

A track can be assigned to a channel (multiple tracks can use the same channel, but be careful with overlapping notes). On top of that, CC values 1..8 can also be sent to other channels.

A setting (in the Midi track settings) allows the notes of the first note column to be sent via Midi and also to the local CV/Gate outputs, where a note on sets the gate and a note off resets it.

Pressing the OK button on the Note Columns will pre-listen all notes in the row. Navigating UP/DOWN plays the notes while navigating.

The general playback of a Midi pattern row uses the following order:

Patch > Program Change > FX1 > FX2 > FX3 > Midi Notes 1,2,3,4 > Aftertouch

So, for example, parameters changed in FX1 already affect FX2, and so on.

The probability settings can be applied to the Note columns 1..4, the FX columns 1..3 and the whole row.

Track Setup (Midi Track)

• Track Clock → See Track Setup Screen.
• Transpose → Allows or prevents transposing of the track. This applies to both the global and the track transpose.
• Scale → See Track Setup Screen.
• Loc.Trigger Delay → See Track Setup Screen.
• Random FX1..3 → Enables randomized values for the selected FX. When turned on with a range selected, all FX values in that column will play with random values within the selected ranges. This can also be enabled/disabled with the Random FX command (RDMN) from the FX list. Press OK to get to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges.
• Base Midi Channel → Set the Midi track to a midi channel so the generated Midi data from that track is routed to that channel. (unless overridden otherwise). Midi Channels 1-16 can be selected for the regular Midi-IO and TRS-A Expanders. Midi Channels 1-16 for TRS, USB-Host and USB-Device can be selected with the Multi-IO Expander.
• Overrule Column 2,3,4 → Usually all notes from the 4 midi note columns will be played on the base midi channel. This can be overridden so the selected columns can sequence on another channel.
• Note Offset → Main transpose/offset for Midi notes. This is used to match different Midi devices. The offset is added to the main transpose and can be either positive or negative.
• Record Columns → Select the number of Midi voices that can be recorded in a Midi Track.

  The first 4 settings (1, 1+2, 1+2+3, 1+2+3+4) select how many columns are used for midi recording (which also defines the recording polyphony).

  The latter settings (2, 3, 4) define that the recording should be monophonic into the selected column only.

So if, for example, the setting is 1+2, only the first 2 columns are available for Midi recording and the other 2 columns stay untouched.

• Clone to Modular → If enabled, the Midi notes and note offs from the first note column are also sent/cloned to the local CV and gate outputs of the track. Note on sets the gate and the CV value to the note, and note off (also with KILL) resets the gate again. The Velocity value will be output onto the MOD output of the track.
• Program Change → If set to ALWAYS then all program change events are sent. If set to ON CHANGE then it is only sent if the program number changes. Some Midi devices need quite some time until the program/patch is completely recalled and might stop responding for a while. This setting minimizes any possible problems/glitches.

  If it is set to ALWAYS PRE it will always be sent, and also in advance (5 steps earlier if possible) if the program change of the next playing pattern is placed in the first row (pre fetch). Please note that if you initiate a pattern change after these steps, the program change will already have been sent. This is a convenient feature for Elektron (and possibly other) gear which needs the program change one bar in advance to be able to react in time.
  – Automation Limit → Limits the amount of data generated by the Automator and sent to the Midi destinations Pitch bend, CC and NRPN. The settings are 100%, 50%, 25%, 10% and 5%. Keep the settings as low as acceptable to minimize Midi data overflows.

• Control Preset 1..8 → Sets the Controller (CC) number for the first 8 CC FX values or selects this Control Preset to be used for additional Program Change messages. These can be used with different Midi channels for CCs and also as Automator destinations.
• NRPN 1..4 → Sets the NRPN-Controller (CC) number for the 4 NRPN FX values. These can then be accessed from the FX columns and also used as Automator destinations.

Trigger16 Track

Pattern Screen

This pattern screen is only available with a connected ‘Trigger16’ expander. You must assign a track to be used together with the expander in the Track Assign Screen.

As the pattern values don’t fit on one screen, it is split into 3 pages.

Page 1

First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.

Then the following columns:

• TR1 .. TR8 are the columns for the first 8 trigger outputs. The values are exactly the same as on the local Trigger columns. (see the Modular Track Pattern screen for an explanation).

  As a side note, these can also be the columns TR9 .. TR16. You can set the track to use the 2nd half of the 16 outputs in the track settings.

  The trigger part is highlighted if a trigger is set up in the drum matrix for the same trigger position.

Page 2

First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.

• FX1 .. FX3 → FX columns dedicated to the Trigger16 expander with the following parameters:
  • TR1 .. TR16 → Trigger values, same as the regular trigger values
  • TRBL → Trigger Binary Value Low. Sets the binary value for the first 8 Trigger outputs. The triggers are set or reset depending on the value. This could be used for some cool dividers.
  • TRBH → Trigger Binary Value High. Sets the binary value for the second 8 Trigger outputs (9..16). The triggers are set or reset depending on the value.
  • TREF → Trigger extra effects. Some additional trigger functions:

    All Triggers/Gates Off → turns all Trigger/Gate outputs off.

    Swap Outputs → Off/On. If on, the 8 trigger columns are swapped to triggers 9..16 (same as the track setup setting, but from the sequence).

    Toggle Swap Outputs → Toggles the columns between being 1..8 or 9..16

  • NOTE → Plays or changes the note on the local CV+Gate output. If the first digit is 0, only a note change will be sent to the CV output. If the first digit is 1, a trigger (set up in the track setup → Matrix Trigger) is also sent together with the note. The filled in notes can currently be seen in the status bar. (subject to change).
  • All further parameters are exactly the same as for a Modular CV/Gate track, so all functions of the local tracks can still be used. The only difference is the probability settings, which now belong to several trigger outputs and FX.

  PR12 belongs to the columns 1+2 (Trigger outputs 1+2 or 9+10)
  PR34 belongs to the columns 3+4 (Trigger outputs 3+4 or 11+12)

  PR56 belongs to the columns 5+6 (Trigger outputs 5+6 or 13+14)

  PR78 belongs to the columns 7+8 (Trigger outputs 7+8 or 15+16)
  The outputs for the columns are determined by the Swap Outputs function.

  Additionally, the same outputs on the drum-matrix are affected.

Page 3

First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.

• Patch → Set patches for all FX parameters. Same usage as the Patch column in a CV/Gate track.
• DrumMatrix → 16 columns for the 16 outputs. The drummatrix is a special classic view where you can set and reset triggers in a matrix for all Trigger16 outputs as well as the local trigger outputs.
• Groove → Groove settings as known from the other tracks (see the CV/Gate pattern screen for further explanation).

  Special DrumMatrix usage:

  The triggers in the drum-matrix can be enabled with SHIFT+CURSOR RIGHT and disabled with SHIFT+CURSOR LEFT or via SHIFT+DELETE. Multiple rows or columns can be deleted using the mark/delete functions.

  The kind of triggers as well as the output per column can be changed in the track settings screen.

  Complete and partially selected drum-matrix content can be copied and pasted like other pattern content, also between Trigger16 and Multifunctional/I2C tracks.

Values filled in on Page 1 or Page 2 override any drum-matrix trigger on the same trigger output. For example, if Trigger 3 is enabled in the drum-matrix with the drum-matrix triggers set to 20, and on Page 1 Trigger 3 is set to 52 in the same row, then the 52 overrides the 20. This rule is defined per ‘matching’ output, not per column.

The Triggers can also be muted or soloed. To mute a Trigger your cursor must be on either a trigger column in the first page or on the drum-matrix. Pressing SHIFT+DOWN+START will mute/unmute the trigger. Pressing SHIFT+UP+START will Solo or unsolo the Trigger. When unsoloing, all triggers will be unmuted as well. The function works the same as muting and solo-ing for the regular tracks.

SHIFT+OK and releasing the buttons toggles between the default trigger value, FE, 00 and ‘–’.

Drum-Matrix patterns can be moved per trigger. Using SHIFT+OK+CURSOR DOWN moves the currently selected trigger column in the drum-matrix one step down. Triggers that shift out of the last row will be inserted in the first row. Using SHIFT+OK+CURSOR UP moves the currently selected trigger column in the drum-matrix one step up. Triggers that shift out of the first row will be inserted in the last row.

Besides setting different trigger points in the drum-matrix manually, a different input mode is available. Drum triggers can be inserted in a ‘Euclidean Rhythm’ style. The idea is to add a number of trigger points with the pauses between them as equal as possible. For example, if a pattern has 64 steps and 16 triggers should be filled in, then a trigger will be inserted every 4 steps.
So it is possible to insert 0 to 64 triggers, and the trigger points and pauses are automatically calculated and inserted in the selected trigger column of the drum-matrix.
By using SHIFT+OK+LEFT, the number of triggers is decreased and the euclidean rhythm is inserted. By using SHIFT+OK+RIGHT, the number of triggers is increased and the euclidean rhythm is inserted. Note that the counting starts at the cursor position, so if, for example, the cursor is on the 7th row, then the euclidean counting starts from the 7th row to the last row and wraps around and continues on rows 0..6. The euclidean function will also consider the selected pattern length in its calculations.

It is also important to know that currently inserted trigger points of the trigger column will be overwritten by the euclidean input. On the other hand, columns that were inserted in the euclidean way can be edited further to get different results.

Pressing OK on a selected Trigger (Trigger columns or drum-matrix) will pre-listen that trigger. SHIFT+DOWN+OK on the 8 trigger columns will pre-listen the whole trigger row.

Using the move and euclidean functions on the drum matrix is a fast way to create interesting drum rhythms on the fly.

If the Trigger16 Track is set to Piano Roll mode, each drum trigger column represents a note which depends on the base note chosen in the track setup. So if the base note is set to C-2, the leftmost trigger column is C-2, next to it C#2, D-2 and so on. At the top of the pattern view you can see the sharp and flat notes coloured, based on the base note. A filled-in trigger plays the note on the local CV track and fires a trigger on the local trigger output. The trigger settings are the same that are used for the Drum-Matrix. Note that the drum-matrix triggers also fire. If you want to prevent the drum-matrix from firing in piano roll mode, scroll past the highest base note (B-8): there you can choose all base notes again, but with the additional drum-matrix output turned off.

The general playback of a Trigger16 pattern row uses the following order:

Patch > FX1 > FX2 > FX3 > Trigger Columns 1-8 > Drummatrix 1-16

So, for example, parameters changed in FX1 already affect FX2, and so on.

Track Setup (Trigger16 Track)

A ‘Trigger16’ expander is needed to enter this screen.

• Track Clock → See Track Setup Screen.
• Transpose → Allows or prevents transposing of the track. This applies to both the global and the track transpose.
• Scale → See Track Setup Screen.
• Loc.Trigger Delay → See Track Setup Screen.
• Random FX1..3 → Enables randomized values for the selected FX. When turned on with a range selected, all FX values in that column will play with random values within the selected ranges. This can also be enabled/disabled with the Random FX command (RDMN) from the FX list. Press OK to get to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges.
• Swap Outputs → Swaps the first row 1..8 of the trigger expander outputs with the second row 9..16. This is implemented because of the limited number of columns in a track, so you can decide which outputs to access directly. Expanders can be assigned to multiple tracks, for example the first 8 triggers on one track and the last 8 triggers on another track. Besides that, the other outputs are always available through the FX column and can be triggered on the Drum-Matrix.
• Matrix X Destination 1..16 → Sets the trigger destination for the selected column. The destination per column can be either one of the Trigger16 outputs or one of the 6 Local Trigger outputs. The same output can be used on multiple columns.
• Matrix X Type 1..16 → Sets the trigger type per column for the drum-matrix. Here all trigger types (same as regular trigger types) can be filled in, and the drum matrix triggers then use these settings.
• PR → Piano Roll function. Enables a (vertical) monophonic piano roll function. If turned on, you can set a base note, or a base note without a trigger. All triggers entered in the Drum-Matrix will then also play a note on the local CV/Gate track, beginning with the base note on the first trigger and then semitones up until the last trigger. The Notes can be played with either the local track trigger or not (in the setting after the highest base note). In Piano Roll mode, the ‘black’ and ‘white’ piano keys are marked at the top of the 16 matrix triggers.
• Firmware Update → Enters the Expander Firmware Update Screen. NSA-Expanders are smart devices and can get firmware updates for new functions or bugfixes as well. (See NSA Firmware update screen)
• Test Trigger 1..16 → Here the Trigger/Gate outputs can be tested (0 Volt = Off, 5 Volt = On). The LED should also be on or off according to the voltage.

CV 16 Track

The CV16 expander adds 16 additional CV outputs to the NerdSEQ which can be used as additional note, pitch or modulation outputs. To control the additional outputs, a dedicated pattern screen and setup are available. Also, one expander can be assigned to multiple tracks so each track uses its own dedicated outputs.

Several columns and the FX in a pattern can play notes or change pitches. The Automators and Mappings can also manipulate the CV16 outputs/functions.

In addition to the notes the following effects/modulators can be applied for each CV16 output:

Glide:

For each CV output there are glide settings. These work just like the glide setting on the Modular tracks of the NerdSEQ itself with the 2 parameters speed and resolution.

The speed decides how fast the glide is and the resolution defines the quantisation of each speed iteration. To get snappy glides from one note to the next, increase the resolution a bit and keep the speed at a low value. The glide is per CV output, and a pitch/note glides to the new note with the assigned speed/resolution. The glide settings can be changed in the track setup or from the FX columns.

Modulators:

There are 16 modulators in total: 8 Envelopes and 8 LFOs. Each can be used on all outputs of the CV16 expander. So you can assign every Envelope to every output of the CV16 expander. The same applies to the LFOs.

For example, you can assign Envelope 2 to CV outputs 1 and 4, Envelope 4 to CV14, LFO 2 to CV2 and CV7, and so on… You could even assign one Envelope to 15 or all 16 outputs and start them all at different times. Keep in mind that only 1 modulator can be active per CV output, so an Envelope and an LFO on the same CV output is not possible. The most recently started modulator will stop the previous one.

Each modulator has dedicated functions and settings (each 8 times) which are:

Envelope → Since these are ASR envelopes, each envelope has Attack, Sustain and Release settings.

Every Envelope can be set/started into different stages:

Attack → Release → ‘Fires’ the envelope, going through its attack phase and when it reaches the sustain voltage level, the Release phase starts.

Attack → Sustain → ‘Fires’ the envelope, going through its attack phase, and when it reaches the sustain voltage level it holds that level until the release phase is started.

Release → Starts the release phase from the current sustain level.

Loop → ‘Fires’ the envelope, going through its attack phase; when the sustain voltage is reached, it goes directly into the release phase and loops this endlessly.

The Attack/Release times go from 20 milliseconds to ~14 minutes. The Sustain voltage can be set up from 0 to 10 Volts in 255 steps.

LFO:

Each of the 8 LFOs has 3 settings: Waveform, Speed and Amplitude.

The possible waveforms are: Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, Ramp, Square, Noise and Random.

The random waveform is special as it contains all waveforms except for noise and it changes between them randomly at a random moment. So it can switch from triangle to ramp and then to sine and so on at various times. The speed changes the wave iterations between 0.0011 Hz (~14min) and 21.8 Hz. The amplitude ranges from 0 to 10 Volt (-5/+5 bipolar) in 255 steps, with a finer resolution in the smaller ranges.

The LFOs can be started and will run endlessly. There is also a command which resets the LFO, so the waveform starts over.

For each CV output there is an additional setting to decide whether the modulator (Envelope or LFO) should be pure or added to the current Note/Pitch.

If the setting is pure, the following rules are valid for the modulators:

Envelope

The ASR (Attack Sustain Release) envelope starts its attack phase at 0 Volt (-5V) and rises until it reaches the sustain voltage. At full sustain (255/FF) this is 10 Volt (5V). If the release phase is finished the voltage is 0 Volt again.

LFO

The LFO midpoint with the pure setting on the CV output is 5 Volt (0V). So the LFO will swing between 0 and 10 Volt (-5/+5V) at full amplitude.

If the CV output is set to ADD, the modulator voltage is added to the current pitch or note value. The Modulators will act as bipolar modulators. In this case the following rules apply, assuming, for example, the note C-2 → 2 Volt (-3V):

ADD for the Envelope

The attack phase starts from 0 Volt (-5V), because it cannot go lower than the lowest possible voltage. It rises to the sustain level (if sustain is set to full) of 7 Volt (2V) and returns to the lowest value after the release. Note C-5 would output the full range of the envelope, and higher notes would shift the offset higher.

ADD for the LFO

The LFO swings bipolar around the note/pitch value. Depending on the amplitude setting, the bipolar LFO swing has values from plus/minus 5 Volt to millivolts around the current pitch value.

Once a modulator is started it will stay active until it is stopped by the sequence or the user.

For CV outputs which are set to pure, note values have no effect.

A modulator can be stopped with the appropriate command in the pattern screen for the CV output or in the pattern Nerd Menu → Stop all sound. If modulators are stopped, the original Note/pitch value/voltage will return to the CV output.

Besides the sequencing, the CV expander can also be a destination for live recording or playing through the CV inputs or Midi. Currently, 1 CV note can be recorded from the CV inputs together with an envelope (using the settings of Envelope #8). On a Gate On at the CV inputs, an envelope with the Attack→Sustain phase is entered into the CV16 columns together with the note. On a Gate Off, the release phase is entered.

If the recorded input is a Midi signal, flexible settings are available to achieve polyphonic recording.

The input settings can be from 1 up to 6 polyphonic CV notes, or 1 to 5 CV notes plus the envelope. All these are filled into the CV16 columns. If the envelope function is activated, Envelope #8 is used as well. When multiple keys are pressed, the envelope will run through Attack→Sustain on the first note and starts the release phase when releasing the last note.

Another setting is the 2×2 or 3×3 polyphonic recording. In this mode a 2 or 3 voice polyphonic recording and envelope generation is possible. In 2×2 mode, up to 2 notes at the same time will be entered in the first 2 columns, while the next 2 columns set the envelopes for these notes. So the envelope in column 3 is for note 1 in column 1, and the envelope in column 4 is for note 2 in column 2. If 3×3 mode is active, it records up to 3 notes, each with an envelope, where the first 3 columns are the notes and the next 3 columns the envelopes for the corresponding notes. This allows full 3-voice polyphony per track.

Please keep in mind that the Glide, Envelopes and LFO can never fully replace real analogue slews, envelopes or LFOs. But they are definitely a very good addition for many applications.

Pattern Screen

This pattern screen is only available with a connected ‘More CV 16’ expander. You must assign a track to be used together with the expander in the Track Assign Screen

As the pattern values don’t fit on one screen, it is split into 3 pages.

The CV16 or ‘More CV16’ Expander adds some more flexible screens and functions which need some additional explanation compared to the regular screens.

To get as many functions as possible within the given columns and user interface, multiple functions can be assigned from the same column in the first 6 columns. Also, each column can be assigned to a different destination. The destinations can be set in the CV16 Setup Screen.

Destinations for the first 6 columns can be one of the CV16 outputs (1..16), the local CV/MOD outputs of the track (TCV or TM), CV1 to CV6 (LC1..LC6) or MOD1..6 (LM1..LM6). So all CV/MOD outputs can also be controlled with notes and pitches from within the 6 CV16 columns. Even the Triggers/Gates can be manipulated from here as well with a limited set of available Gates/Triggers (Gate On/Off/Toggle, Trigger 20ms and 40ms).

Besides the destinations of the CV setup, different CV types can be used in all of the 6 columns. If the tracks are set up to use one of the CV16 outputs, then the following features can be used:

Notes, Pitch, Trigger/Gate, Envelopes (Attack/Sustain/Release), LFO (Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, Ramp, Square, Noise, Random, Triggers on the CV16 output (from CV16 firmware V1.2 and higher)).

Page 1

Columns 1..6:

If regular notes are filled in, the assigned outputs will change the voltage to the note value (if no modulator is running on that output). Depending on the offset switch, the voltage for note C-0 is either 0 Volt or -5 Volt. After the highest note C-A (as in, scroll the note-value further than note C-A) the modulators can be set up. To fit everything into the columns, a special number format is used: of the 2 digits, the left digit defines the modulator number.

The right digit defines the modulator type. The following types are available:

0 → Envelope Attack > Release (column also marked with a ‘^’ )

1 → Envelope Attack > Sustain (column also marked with a ‘^’ )

2 → Envelope Release (column also marked with a ‘^’ )

3 → Envelope Loop (column also marked with a ‘^’ )

4 → LFO Start/Continue (column also marked with a ‘~’ )

5 → LFO / Envelope Reset (column also marked with a ‘<’ )

6 → Stop Modulators (column also marked with a ‘-’ )

Here are some examples of the values:

Filled into the first column, which is assigned to CV2:

^10 → Envelope 1 start as Attack/Release on output CV2

^11 → Envelope 1 start as Attack/Sustain on output CV2

^12 → Envelope 1 starting release phase on output CV2

^13 → Envelope 1 set to loop (repeating attack/release) on output CV2

~14 → Start/continue LFO1 on output CV2

~34 → Start/continue LFO3 on output CV2

<55 → Reset LFO5 on output CV2

Note that, for example, Envelope 2 is a different modulator from LFO2. The numbers just decide which function you want to start on which column/CV output.

The same LFO or Envelope can run on multiple CV outputs, even in different stages.

Another example for a column which is assigned to CV12:

~24 → Start/continue LFO2 on output CV12.

-16 → Stop modulator on output CV12. The modulator number is not relevant here. The column / CV output is released from the running modulator and returns to its original note/pitch.

Envelope stages continue from the current ‘voltage’, so if a release phase was not finished and the envelope is started again, it will continue with the attack phase from the current release level. Use the reset command to completely reset and restart an envelope.

With CV16 Firmware V1.2 or higher the CV16 outputs can also generate simple triggers. For this, the one-shot LFO curve TRIG is implemented. This will generate a Trigger with a dedicated amplitude and length (speed setting) on the CV16 output. A speed setting of 00 will reset the Trigger/Gate and a speed setting of FF will set the Gate to the specified amplitude.

Furthermore, above the modulator numbers a set of Triggers/Gates can be set.

So if you scroll beyond the modulators the following options are available:

The first set is for the trigger/gate output of the current track:

TT0 → Gate Off for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TT1 → Gate On for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TTT → Toggle Gate for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TT2 → Trigger of 10ms for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TT8 → Trigger of 40ms for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

The 2nd set is for the destination of the column. If the column is assigned to CV 1..6, the destinations are the local trigger/gate outputs 1..6. If they are set up for the local track 1..6, then these are also automatically assigned to 1..6. All other assignments use the current track.

Assuming the column uses CV3 as its destination:

TD0 → Gate Off for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TD1 → Gate On for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TDT → Toggle Gate for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TD2 → Trigger of 10ms for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TD8 → Trigger of 40ms for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

Next are 2 sets to generate randomness.

First there is RN0 to RN7 which generates a note within the selected range 0-7.

Then there is R 0 to R 7 which generates a pitch within the selected range 0-7.

Pressing the OK button on the random commands will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen.

Lastly, there are the pitch settings of the assigned outputs.

These operate like the normal pitches from 000 to FFF which represent 0 to 10 Volt (-5/+5).

As a side note, the pitch values are scaled, so not all 4095 (FFF) values are available. In fact, only 3892 different values are available, with some numbers skipped across the whole range. In general use you will not notice this at all, as the voltage steps are so fine that skipping one value is not audible. If you really need them anyway, you still have the full range with 4095 values available through the FX columns.

It is also possible to use the Trigger16 expander from within a CV16 track. To do so, set one or more Trigger16 outputs of a Trigger16 expander as column destinations in the Track Setup.

Instead of the pitch commands, the values 00 – FE can then be used to control the Trigger16 expander output with its usual trigger commands. Additionally, the Trigger Destination commands TD0, TD1, TDT, TD2 and TD8 in the same column can be used to control the Trigger16 outputs.

As a fast browsing option, you can also use SHIFT+OK to directly jump between Notes, Modulators, Triggers, Pitches and an empty value.

On the right side of the screen you will find the current settings of the selected column. These can differ depending on which kind of destination is selected for the column, but also on which type the cursor is currently on.

These are not only visible but can also be edited directly. By pressing the PATCH button your cursor toggles from the left column side to the right side. The settings can then be edited as usual using SHIFT+UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT.

If the destination is a CV output of the expander, you have the following settings:

GLC → Glide Speed

GLR → Glide Resolution

MOD → Modulation pure or added

If you selected a modulator, you get the additional settings of the modulator. For an envelope these are:

ATK → Attack value of the selected envelope

RLS → Release value of the selected envelope

SUS → Sustain value of the selected envelope

For an LFO these are:

TYP → The type of the selected LFO (e.g. Sine, Sawtooth etc.)

SPD → The speed of the selected LFO

AMP → The amplitude of the selected LFO

Pressing PATCH again will bring you back to the regular column editing.

At the top of the screen you can see whether, and what kind of, modulations are active on that output.

A ‘^’ means an active envelope. A ‘~’ means an active LFO. If the modulation is set to pure, no note will be played on that output/column until the modulation (Envelope or LFO) is stopped and the output is released again for any other function such as Notes. There is one exception for this behaviour. If the setting ‘Pure Overrule’ is enabled, a new note will disable the modulation. Also, SHIFT+STOP on a stopped sequencer will disable any CV16 modulations.

On the right bottom side you see a graphical representation of the currently selected modulator (if the cursor is on it).

While editing, press OK to pre-listen the current sequencer row.

Page 2

On the second page there are 2 FX columns. These mostly use a special coding for the 4 digits, which is explained for each function. For all CV16 functions, details/help is available in the statusbar, so you should be able to work with all of them without checking the manual again.

The following FX functions are available:

CV A to CV H → Change the CV value. The leftmost digit Xxxx defines the CV output 1 to 16 and the three right side digits xXXX define the CV value/pitch from 000 to FFF.

NT A to NT H → Change the Note. The 2nd left digit xXxx defines the CV output 1 to 16 and the two right digits xxXX define the note value.

GL A to GL H → Glide settings for the 16 CV outputs. The first digit Xxxx defines the CV output. The second digit xXxx defines whether it is the Glide Speed (0) or the Glide Resolution (1) setting. The 2 digits on the right xxXX are the value of the selected settings from 00 to FF. Be aware that the current settings will be filled in automatically when starting to edit.

ST A to ST H → Start Modulator. With this you can start (or stop) any modulator on any CV output.

The 2nd digit from the left xXxx defines the CV output 1..16. The third digit from the left xxXx defines the Modulator number 1..8. And the rightmost digit xxxX defines the type of modulator.

These are: 0: Attack→Release Envelope, 1: Attack→Sustain Envelope, 2: Release Envelope, 3: Loop Envelope, 4: Start/Continue LFO, 5: Reset LFO, 6: Stop modulator

SENV → Set Envelope Parameter. Used to change envelope parameters from the playing sequencer. The first digit from the left (Xxxx) is the envelope number. The 2nd digit from the left xXxx defines which envelope parameter is affected 0: Attack, 1: Release, 2: Sustain. And the 2 digits on the right xxXX define the value. Note that the current Envelope settings are automatically filled in.

SLFO → Set LFO parameter. With this you can change the settings of one of the 8 LFOs.

The first digit from the left Xxxx is the LFO number. The second digit xXxx selects the setting to be changed: 0: Type, 1: Speed, 2: Amplitude. The last 2 digits xxXX are for the value of the setting.

SADD → Set modulation for the CV output 1..16 to pure or add setting. Here the 3rd digit from the left xxXx defines the CV output number. The last digit xxxX defines whether the modulator should be added to the current pitch (set to 1) or be pure (set to 0).

PROW → Probability for the whole row except for the last FX column.

PCRD → Play Chord. Plays a chord on multiple CV outputs. Xxxx selects the column and start CV for the base note. For example, if set to 2xxx, the 2nd column is used for the base note, and the CV assigned to this column plays the first note of the chord. The following CVs are then used for the rest of the chord. For example, imagine a chord with 4 notes is selected and the column uses CV6. The chord will then be played on CV6, CV7, CV8 and CV9. So the chord is not related to the other columns. Even more, multiple chords can be played at the same time on one step using more chord FX commands with other base-column selections.

xxXX defines the selected chord (different chords use 2 to 6 notes). The following chords are available: Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Diminished 5th/Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Minor 7th, Major 7th, Triad Major, Triad Minor, Triad Diminished, Triad Diminished 5th, Triad Diminished Augmented, Triad Suspended 4th, Triad Suspended 2nd, 7th Dominant, 7th Minor, 7th Major, 7th Minor Major, 7th Suspended, 7th Augmented, 7th Augmented Major, 7th Augmented 9th, 7th Half Diminished, 7th Diminished, 7th Diminished 5th, 7th Diminished Flat 9, 6th, 6th Minor, 9th, 9th Minor, 9th Major, 9th Diminished 5th, 11th

PH 1 to PH8 → Placeholders for future FX and currently unused.

All further parameters are exactly the same as for the Modular CV/Gate tracks, so all functions of the local tracks can still be used. The only difference is the probability settings, which now belong to several CV outputs and FX.

The Probability settings are defined as follows:

CV1, CV2, CV3, CV4, CV5+6, FX1, FX2, FX3.

Page 3

The 3rd page contains the 3rd FX column which has the same settings as the previous 2 FX columns.

Next to it are the Patch and Table settings. The Patch function works in the same way as for the local CV/Gate tracks and so all FX parameters of a CV16 expander can be manipulated from the patches. The same applies to the Table column. With both the Patch and Table columns, you can create a new Patch/Table by pressing the OK button and clone into a new Patch/Table by pressing SHIFT+OK on a selected Patch/Table.

The last column on the right is the groove column, which works in the same way as the groove column from the normal CV/Gate tracks.

The general playback of a CV16 pattern row uses the following order:

Patch > FX1 > FX2 > FX3 > CV Columns 1-6

So, for example, parameters changed in FX1 already affect FX2, and so on.

Track Setup (CV16 Track)

A CV16 Expander is needed to enter this screen.

• Track Clock → See Track Setup Screen.
• Transpose → Allows or prevents transposing of the track. This applies to both the global and the track transpose.
• Scale → See Track Setup Screen.
• Loc.Trigger Delay → See Track Setup Screen.
• Random FX1..3 → Enables randomized values for the selected FX. When turned on with a range selected, all FX values in that column will play with random values within the selected ranges. This can also be enabled/disabled with the Random FX command (RDMN) from the FX list. Press OK to get to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges.
• Record Voices → Sets the number of voices which can be recorded from Midi. The following settings are currently available: 1..6 records Midi into that number of columns. So if set to 3, only the left 3 columns are used to record the Midi notes.

  1..5 + ENV8 → 1 to 5 columns are used to record notes, and the envelope data is additionally filled into the next column. With a polyphonic Midi stream the rules are: when the first note is pressed, Envelope 8 is filled in as Attack/Sustain envelope on the field next to the highest possible selected note column. When the last note is released on the keyboard, a release for Envelope 8 is filled in. For example, if you set up 2 voices + envelope, then the envelopes are always filled in on the 3rd column.

  Furthermore, there are the 2×2 and 3×3 record voice settings, which allow full polyphonic note + envelope generation. Here notes are filled into the first 2 or 3 columns, and the envelopes belonging to each note are filled into the following 2 or 3 columns.

  If a column is set up as a Trigger16 destination, Gates/Triggers will be filled in instead of the envelopes.

• Pure Overrule → Defines whether a modulator in Pure mode should be stopped when a note is filled in and played.
• Destination 1..6 → Defines the destination for the columns 1..6. The following destinations are available:

  EXT CV1..CV16 → the CV outputs on the expander.

  TRACK CV → The CV output on the NerdSEQ of the current track.

  LOC CV1..CV6 → The NerdSEQ CV outputs 1..6.

  TRACK MOD → The MOD output on the NerdSEQ of the current track.

  LOC MOD1..6 → The NerdSEQ MOD outputs 1..6.

  TRIGGER16 1..16 NSA 1..4 → Outputs 1 to 16 of a Trigger16 expander (Address/Channel 1 to 4)

• Glide 1..16 → Set the Glide Speed and Resolution for each CV output.
• Modulation 1..16 → Set the behaviour of the modulations onto the current pitch/note. In pure, only the modulators are routed to the output. In add, the modulator is added to the current pitch/note.
• Envelope 1..8 Settings → Attack, Release, Sustain. A graphical representation of the envelope shape is drawn on the screen.
• LFO 1..8 Settings → LFO Type (Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, Ramp, Square, Noise and Random. Additionally the ‘LFO’ type ‘Trigger’ can be selected if the CV16 firmware uses version V1.2 or higher) plus the Speed and Amplitude.
• Firmware Update → Enters the NSA Firmware update screen.

CV16 Calibration

• Get Calibration → Requests the CV16 calibration settings for the selected expander. After the NerdSEQ has successfully received the relevant data from the expander, the values are presented in the fields below. With a multimeter connected to the CV outputs you can calibrate each output.
  With CV16 firmware lower than V1.2 you will receive 2 settings per output. You can calibrate these using the following instructions:
  Select CV 1 __ 0 V. The multimeter should now read 0 Volt. If not, change the values in the right hand field until it best matches 0 volt.

  Now select CV 1 __ 10V. You should now measure 10 Volt at CV output 1. If not, change the value in the right hand field until it best matches 10 volt.

  Proceed for all outputs if needed. The Calibration settings are automatically saved 10 seconds after the last CV value has been changed/calibrated, so be sure not to turn off your system until 10 seconds have passed!

With CV16 Firmware V1.2 or higher the 11 point calibration is enabled which allows a more accurate calibration for each octave.

You will receive 11 calibration points for the Voltages 0 to 10 Volt. For each output to calibrate, first choose the CV1 __ 0 Volt setting and change the calibration values until you measure the closest to 0 Volt on your multimeter. Then do the same for the 10 Volt setting.

At this position you can choose to fill in the settings from 9 Volt to 1 Volt automatically, interpolated between the 0 and 10 Volt settings (use SHIFT+OK).

Now fine-tune each octave by changing the values down to 1 Volt.

Repeat for all outputs. Here too, the settings are saved to the CV16 automatically after 10 seconds of inactivity.

Dualchord Track

Pattern Screen

This pattern screen is only available with a connected ‘Dualchord’ expander. See the capabilities description of the Dualchord Expander in the Dualchord section.

You must assign a track to be used together with the expander in the Track Assign Screen

As the pattern values don’t fit on one screen, it is split into 4 pages.

On the first page there are 4 columns for entering music notes. These columns use the 4 oscillators of the first output of the Dualchord (in the default configuration; the column-to-oscillator assignment is flexible). Note values from C-0 to C-A can be inserted here as well as a Note off [ ] which turns the oscillator completely off. Furthermore, RN0 to RNF allow you to randomly choose notes within the selected random range. Pressing OK here will get you to the Random Ranges Screen where you can define the note-range. In general, when a filled-in note plays, the oscillator will be started if it was not already running. You can stop the oscillator with a note off [ ] or by pressing SHIFT+STOP with a stopped sequencer (which stops all sounds and so also the oscillators). Next to the 4 note columns there is the trigger column for the first trigger output on the Dualchord Expander. (again in the default configuration; this can be changed to the other trigger output of the Dualchord or to the local trigger outputs). Here all trigger commands are possible that are also available in a local CV/Gate track. See the description of the different trigger-types here .

On the next page you will find exactly the same layout, but for the next 4 oscillators 5-8 and the 2nd trigger output (in the default configuration). The functionality is the same.

Pages 3+4 have the 3 possible FX columns with the following FX functions:

NT A..D → Play note where the first digit Xxxx selects the oscillator 1-8 and on the right part the note can be selected (C-0 to C-A).

PT A..D → Set the oscillator to the selected pitch where the first digit Xxxx selects the oscillator again and the next 3 digits xXXX define the pitch frequency where 000 is the lowest frequency and FFF the highest frequency.

GL A..D → Changes the glide setting for an oscillator where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the glide intensity.

VL A..D → Changes the main velocity of an oscillator where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the velocity amount

MTRA..D → Triangle velocity (mix) for the selected oscillators where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the Triangle wave velocity.

MSIA..D → Sine velocity (mix) for the selected oscillators where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the Sine wave velocity.

MSAA..D → Sawtooth velocity (mix) for the selected oscillators where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the Sawtooth wave velocity.

MPUA..D → Pulse velocity (mix) for the selected oscillators where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the Pulse wave velocity.

PWMA..D → Pulsewidth for the selected oscillator (affects only the pulse wave) where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the pulsewidth (00 is a ratio of 100/0, 80 is a ratio of 50/50 and FF is a ratio of 0/100).

TUNA..D → Detune the selected oscillator where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the oscillator and the last 2 digits xxXX select the detuning (00 detunes with -128, 80 means ‘no detune’ and FF is a detune of +127). The detuning will stay until changed.

VMOD → Sets the modes of the Envelope / Filter / Amplifier (ENV/VCF/VCA) voice block (needs the Dualchord firmware V1.4 or later). The 2nd digit xXxx selects the function and the last 2 digits xxXX the value. The exact functions are described in the Dualchord track setup part.

VENV → Sets the envelope of the voice block where the 2nd digit xXxx selects the function and the last 2 digits xxXX the value: x0XX Attack, x1XX Decay, x2XX Sustain, x3XX Release.

VFLT → Sets the filter of the voice block. x0XX changes the Cutoff, x1XX the Resonance and x2XX the Filter Envelope Amount (80 is the middle point / no modulation, 00 is fully negative and FF fully positive).

VFLD → Sets the wavefolder of the voice block. x0XX changes the Fold Drive and x1XX the Fold Bias (80 is centered).

VNOI → Sets the noise volume of the voice block with the last 2 digits xxXX (00 = no noise).

Please note that the VMOD, VENV, VFLT, VFLD, VNOI only have an effect if ‘Waveform FX’ is enabled (track setup).

LFOA..F → Changes the LFO settings of the internal Dualchord LFOs where the first digit Xxxx selects the LFO. The 2nd digit xXxx selects the function of the LFO to be changed:

CLON → Clone Dualchord output settings, where the 2nd digit (xXxx) selects the function:

MRPH → Morph settings where the 2nd digit (xXxx) defines the function:

CTUN → Set the detune spread intensity for the oscillators 1-4 (x1XX) and oscillators 5-8 (x2XX)

TRG1, TRG2 → Set the Dualchord Trigger function where the last 2 digits (xxXX) define the trigger type as described here:

KNBA..D → Define the knob destination for the Dualchord knobs A to C (see the Dualchord track setup for the available knob destinations)

PCRD → Play Dualchord chord presets. The 2nd digit defines the output of the Dualchord and the last 2 digits define the selected chord, which can use 2 to 4 oscillators. The base-note is derived from the 1st or the 5th oscillator. You can also see in the status line which oscillators are being used. The note columns also show the use of additional oscillators for the chord. These can be overwritten with alternative notes on demand. The chords can be defined with the last 2 digits (xxXX). (see the ‘Part Mode’ settings in the Dualchord track setup for the available chords). Here is a list of the included chords together with the number of oscillators used:

All further parameters are exactly the same as for the Modular CV/Gate tracks, so all functions of the local tracks can still be used. The only difference is the probability settings, which belong to the Dualchord columns:

Column 1, Column 2, Column 3, Column 4, Trigger Column 1, FX1, FX2, FX3 and Row

On the 4th page there is, next to the 3rd FX column, also a ‘Patch’ and the ‘Groove’ column. Both work in the same way as in a local CV/Gate track.

On the right side you can see which preset chords (Part Modes) are currently selected for the Dualchord outputs.

The general playback of a Dualchord pattern row uses the following order:

Patch > FX1 > FX2 > FX3 > Note Columns 1-4 and 5-8, Trigger1, Trigger 2.

Track Setup (Dualchord Track)

In the Track Setup screen for the Dualchord you can change the general track behaviour, Midi input settings which are related to the Dualchord, the various modes and the Oscillator, LFO and Knob settings and assignments.

A Dualchord Expander is needed to enter this screen and a Track has to be assigned to the Dualchord. As with all Track Setup screens, you can enter it from the Nerd Screen / Menu or by pressing the PATCH button twice, or from the Track Assign Screen by pressing OK on the assigned Dualchord track.

• Track Clock → See Track Setup Screen.
• Transpose → Allows or prevents transposing of the track. This applies to both the global and the track transpose.
• Scale → See Track Setup Screen.
• Loc.Trigger Delay → See Track Setup Screen.
• Random FX1..3 → Enables randomized values for the selected FX. When turned on with a range selected, all FX values in that column will play with random values within the selected ranges. This can also be enabled/disabled with the Random FX command (RDMN) from the FX list. Press OK to get to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges.
• Record/Play Voices → Sets the number of voices which can be played and recorded from Midi. Basically this will route the monophonic or polyphonic Midi Notes to one or multiple oscillators/columns and adds selected attributes.

  Each of the settings is available with 2 attributes. First, the note columns of the Dualchord track that are used, and second, whether the Trigger column should be filled in as well. If the trigger column is used, a ‘Gate on’ (FE) trigger is inserted on the ‘Note On’ of the first note, and a ‘Gate off’ (00) is inserted in the trigger column on the ‘Note Off’ of the last released note. If the note on and off occur on the same step, the default trigger type is inserted instead.

  For the column selections, there are many different combinations for the MIDI input possible (all with and without triggers):

  For example, 1+2 means that you can press 2 Midi notes at the same time and these will be routed to the Dualchord columns 1 and 2. Columns 3 and 4 are then not affected by the Midi input.

  Note that with a Midi ‘note on’ the selected oscillator starts if it was stopped before.

• Rec/Play Note Off → This setting belongs to the Rec/Play Voices setting; here you can define whether an oscillator should stop again on a ‘note off’ or if it should keep running (default). If the setting is enabled, a ‘note off’ ‘[ ]’ will also be inserted into the columns if you are recording.
• Column Setup → Here you can define different destinations for the 8 note columns and the 2 trigger columns. A use case would be if you want to use 2 different tracks with the Dualchord: one where the first 4 columns + trigger point to the first 4 oscillators (and thus the first oscillator and trigger output jacks on the Dualchord), and another track where the first columns point to oscillators 5-8 and the 2nd trigger for the 2nd output jacks.

  The possible destinations for the Note columns 1..8 are: Oscillators 1..4 (Output 1), Oscillators 5..8 (Output 2). For the Trigger columns you can choose between both trigger outputs on the Dualchord, the trigger output of the current track (tracks 1-6) and the local trigger outputs 1..6.

• DC Sound Settings

  Here you can select one of the 4 possible presets for the Dualchord settings. Each preset holds all Dualchord settings, which allows you to create 4 different sounds. The presets / Dualchord settings are global and not per track. The current preset is always the one you can edit.

  The export and import preset functions allow you to load/save single presets to/from the NerdSEQ SD card. This always affects the currently active preset. Presets are loaded and saved with the project.

The next block defines the general Oscillator Modes / Dualchord functions:

• Clone Out 1 to 2 → Defines whether and how the first output should also be cloned to the 2nd output. With this you can create a stereo field if one output is connected to the left and another to the right channel of your mixer. Other use cases where you just mix both outputs are possible as well to enhance the oscillator variation. You can choose between the following settings:

  None → Output cloning is disabled

  Stereo Dephase → The waves of the first output are cloned to the 2nd output while the 2nd output has a phase shift from 0 to 360 degrees (defined with the Clone Depth setting). This will generate a fixed stereo field.

  Stereo Detune → The waves of the first output are cloned to the 2nd output while waves of the 2nd output are slightly detuned (detune amount defined with the Clone Depth setting). This creates a kind of moving stereo field.

  Please note that the best stereo effect is achieved by using lower octave notes.

  The waves of the 2nd output can still be manipulated but will be overridden again if any note or setting of the first wave is changed. Changes to the phase/detune amounts are applied as (fairly) slow updates, so the manipulation of the output 2 oscillators is not audible.

• Clone Depth → Defines the intensity for the Stereo Phase or Stereo Detune effects.
• Part 1 Mode → These are the oscillator modes for the first output. Here you can define whether the oscillators should be independent or play together, with many presets. The available modes are:

  Normal → Each of the oscillators 1..4 works independently.

  4x Note → Oscillators 1..4 are linked: if a note on oscillator 1 is started or changed, oscillators 2, 3 and 4 will start/change as well with the same note. So if you play the note C-3 on oscillator one, then note C-3 will also play on the other oscillators. If you add detuning per oscillator (or the detune spread), the oscillators will be detuned from each other and generate a ‘wider/thicker’ sound. You could create a ‘supersaw’-like sound with that. The other oscillators can still be manipulated separately, but each note on oscillator 1 will apply to all of them and override them. There is no synchronisation between the oscillators and only a note-off would re-sync the oscillators.

  2x Note |0|-1| → Oscillators 1 and 2 are linked as with 4x Note, except that the 2nd oscillator will play 1 octave lower.

  3x Note |0|-1|+1| → Oscillators 1, 2 and 3 are linked as with 4x Note, except that the 2nd oscillator will play 1 octave lower and the 3rd oscillator 1 octave higher.

  4x Note |0|-1|+1|0| and 4x Note |0|-2|-1|1| act in the same way as before with the oscillators using different octaves.

  2x Note 5th → Oscillators 1 and 2 are connected while oscillator 2 plays 5 semitones higher

  4x Note 5th → Oscillators 1..4 are connected together with oscillator 2 playing 5 semitones higher, oscillator 3 playing 1 octave lower and oscillator 4 playing 7 semitones lower

  2x Note 7th → Oscillators 1 and 2 are connected while oscillator 2 plays 7 semitones higher

  4x Note 7th → Oscillators 1..4 are connected together with oscillator 2 playing 7 semitones higher, oscillator 3 playing 1 octave lower and oscillator 4 playing 5 semitones lower

  The following mode settings involve 2 to 4 oscillators in the same way, but for chords. The following chords are available (2x, 3x and 4x are the numbers of oscillators used):

  2xMinor 2nd, 2xMajor 2nd, 2xMinor 3rd, 2xMajor 3rd, 2xPerfect 4th, 2xDim 5th, 2xPerfect 5th, 2xMinor 6th, 2xMajor 6th, 2xMinor 7th, 2xMajor 7th, 3xTriad Major, 3xTriad Minor, 3xTriad Dim, 3xTri Dim 5th, 3xTri Dim Aug, 3xTri Sus 4th, 3xTri Sus 2nd, 4x7th Dom, 4x7th Minor, 4x7th Major, 4x7th MinMaj, 4x7th Sus, 4x7th Aug, 4x7th Aug Maj, 4x7th Half Dim, 4x7th Dim, 4x7th Dim 5th, 4x6th, 4x6th Minor, 4xMinor 2nd, 4xMajor 2nd, 4xMinor 3rd, 4xMajor 3rd, 4xPerfect 4th, 4xDim 5th, 4xPerfect 5th, 4xMinor 6th, 4xMajor 6th, 4xMinor 7th, 4xMajor 7th, 4xTriad Major, 4xTriad Minor, 4xTri Dim, 4xTri Dim 5th, 4xTri Dim Aug, 4xTri Sus 4th and 4xTri Sus 2nd.

• Morph Waves 1234 → These are the combined morph settings for the 4 oscillators. With this you can morph between the 4 possible waveforms in any combination. For example:
  Sine ↔ Pulse
  Sawtooth ↔ Sine
  Pulse ↔ Sawtooth ↔ Triangle
  Sine ↔ Sawtooth ↔ Triangle ↔ Pulse
  …and so on. All possible combinations of 2, 3 and 4 morph waveforms are available in this setting. With the Morph Amount setting the actual morph position can be defined:
• Morph Amount 1234 → This parameter (0 – 255 / 0-100%) defines the morph position of the selected waveform. As an example, if the ‘Morph Waves’ setting is PULSE ↔ SAW, an amount of 0 / 0% results in a pulse wave. When set to 127 / 50%, the waveforms are a mix of the pulse and the sawtooth wave. At 255 / 100% it is a pure sawtooth wave.The morph amount works the same way for all selected waveforms. This can also be assigned to an LFO or to a knob or controlled from the FX/Mappings to get many ‘moving’ variations of the different waveforms.

  Note that this will always override the wave settings of each oscillator, since it acts as a kind of ‘preset’. The individual waveform settings will also be overridden by an enabled morph setting on project load.

• Detune Spread 1234 → This will detune all of the 4 oscillators with the ratios of

  | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |. You can use this to get an immediate ‘wide’ or ‘thick’ effect, for example with the 4x Note modes. The spread ranges from subtle to strongly audible detuning.

The following 4 settings are exactly like the ones before, except that they apply to oscillators 5 to 8 of the 2nd output.

Waveform FX / ENV/VCF/VCA Setup

This block adds an envelope, a filter, a noise source and a wavefolder/hardsync section to the Dualchord. It needs at least the Dualchord firmware V1.4.

There is only one voice block available and you route it to either output 1 or output 2. Be aware that the other output is muted as long as the block is active. This is on purpose since the envelope and the filter need the processing power of the second output. With the routing turned off, the Dualchord behaves exactly as before with 2 independent outputs.

All settings of this block are stored per Dualchord preset and are saved and loaded with the project. You can switch ‘on the fly’ between presets which either use 2 outputs or the dedicated Waveform FX.

• ENV/VCF/VCA Setup → Defines the routing of the voice block. It is shown as a small signal path so you can see directly what is happening. Next to OFF (both outputs run as usual) the following routings are available:

  WAV>VCF>OUT1 → The oscillators run through the filter to output 1 while the envelope only modulates the filter.

  WAV>VCF>VCA>1 → The oscillators run through the filter and then through the VCA which is driven by the envelope.

  WAV>VCA>VCF>1 → The same, but with the filter placed behind the VCA.

  WAV>VCF>OUT2, WAV>VCF>VCA>2 and WAV>VCA>VCF>2 are the same 3 routings but then for output 2.

• Env Attack / Env Decay / Env Sustain / Env Release → The ADSR settings (0 – 255) of the voice envelope. The envelope is triggered/gated by the Dualchord trigger/gate of the routed output.
• Filter Mode → Selects the filter. Next to Off there are 19 filter types available: Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass and Notch, each in a Biquad (BQ) and in a State Variable (SVF) version, followed by Peak Q10, Peak Q30, Peak Q100, Low Shelf 10, Low Shelf 30, High Shelf 10, High Shelf 30, Butterworth LP, Butterworth HP, Bessel LP and Bessel HP. The Biquad filters are a bit ‘rougher’ while the SVF versions are more ‘tamed’.
• Filter Cutoff → The cutoff frequency of the filter (0 – 255)
• Filter Resonance → The resonance of the filter (0 – 255)
• Filter Env Amount → Defines how much the envelope modulates the filter cutoff. This setting is bipolar (-128 to +127) where 0 means no modulation at all.
• Noise Volume → Mixes a noise source into the voice (0 = off). The noise is added before the filter and the VCA.
• Wavefold/HardSync → Here you set up either the wavefolder or the hardsync settings. Only one of these can be active at a time. Next to Off you can choose Sine Fold 1..4 and Tri Fold 1..4 where the number defines how many of the 4 oscillators are being folded. The sine folder is a smooth classic one while the triangle folder is brighter and keeps folding even at extreme drive settings. After that the hardsync settings follow: Sync 1>2, Sync 2>3, Sync 3>4, Sync 1>2>3 and Sync 1>2>3>4 where the first mentioned oscillator is always the master which resets the following one. Both master and slave need to sound and the slave is usually tuned/detuned higher to hear the classic sync sound.

• Fold Drive → The intensity of the wavefolder (0 – 255). Only active if a wavefold mode is selected.
• Fold Bias → Shifts the symmetry of the wavefolder (-128 to +127, 0 is centered) which adds even harmonics. Also only active with a wavefold mode selected.

  Note that the wavefolder and the hardsync only work when the voice block is routed to one of the outputs.

Wave 1 – 4 Setup (and Wave 5 – 8 Setup)

This block contains all the individual settings for each oscillator:

• Lock Wave1 (5) to 1234 (5678) → With this setting enabled, all changes to oscillator 1 (or 5) will also automatically apply to the other 3 oscillators (2,3,4 or 6,7,8) of the same output.

  The other oscillators can still be edited, but every new change on oscillator 1 (5) overrides those changes again. If disabled, each waveform can be edited independently.

  The following settings are available for all 8 oscillators:

• Wave X Velocity → Changes the main volume of the oscillator
• Wave X Glide → Glide setting which defines how fast a pitch changes from one note to another note. Snappy and slow glides are possible.
• Wave X Detune → Fine detune of the current pitch (positive and negative). Note that the detune setting stays until it is set to 0 again.
• Wave X Triangle → Defines the mix of the triangle waveform in the oscillator
• Wave X Sine → Defines the mix of the sine waveform in the oscillator
• Wave X Saw → Defines the mix of the sawtooth waveform in the oscillator
• Wave X Pulse → Defines the mix of the pulse waveform in the oscillator
• Wave X Pulsewidth → Defines the pulse-width / ratio of the pulse waveform

KNOB Setup → defines the functions that you can assign to each of the 4 knobs on the Dualchord. Please be aware that the knobs on the Dualchord don’t send any feedback to the NerdSEQ, so only internal Dualchord parameters can be changed with the knobs.

• Knob X Enabled → Enables or disables the current function of the knob. Use it when you want to change the knob destination without overriding any settings.
• Knob X Destination → Sets the destination of the knob. The following destinations (the same functions as described before and below) are available:

  ‘LFO1..8 Speed’ uses 2 different knob modes depending on the LFO speed setting itself. If the LFO is set to any of the synchronized speed settings (e.g. 64 steps or 3 per step), the knob will change between 128 steps, 64 steps … 4, 5, 6 per step; if the LFO is set to any of the ‘freerun’ settings, the knob will use the free-running speeds; LFO1..8 Amplitude, LFO1..8 Offset, LFO1..8 Phase, Stereo Deepness, Wave 1..8 PWM, Wave 1234 PWM, Wave 5678 PWM, Wave 1..8 Detune, Out1 and Out2 Detune (which is waves 1..4 and 5..8 detune), Out1 and Out2 Spread (the detune spread setting), Wave 1..8 and 1234/5678 Triangle Sine Saw Pulse, Wave 1..8 and 1234/5678 Morph, Wave 1..8 and 1234/5678 Glide, Wave 1..8 Velocity, Envelope Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Filter Cutoff, Resonance, Filter Envelope Amount, Noise Volume, Filter Mode, Fold Drive and Fold Bias.

LFO Setup → defines the attributes of the 8 LFOs and the functions that you can assign as an LFO destination.

• LFO X Enabled → Enables or disables the selected LFO

  Good to know: If the cursor is on this menu entry and the LFO is enabled, you can see the actual ‘flow’ of the LFO on the 1st LED of the Dualchord. With this you can get a visual indication of its speed.

• LFO X Destination → Sets the destination of the LFO. The following destinations (the same functions as described before and below) are available:

  Stereo Deepness, Wave 1..8 PWM, Wave 1234 PWM, Wave 5678 PWM, Wave 1..8 Detune, Out1 and Out2 Detune (which is waves 1..4 and 5..8 detune), Out1 and Out2 Spread (the detune spread setting), Wave 1..8 and 1234/5678 Triangle Sine Saw Pulse, Wave 1..8 and 1234/5678 Morph, Wave 1..8 and 1234/5678 Glide, Envelope Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Filter Cutoff, Resonance, Filter Envelope Amount, Noise Volume, Fold Drive and Fold Bias.

• LFO Speed → Sets the LFO speed. 2 types of LFO speeds are possible: Synchronized LFOs, where the LFO wave takes a selected number of sequencer steps (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 steps) or runs 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 times per step. The speed is derived from the main-clock of the NerdSEQ and will be resynchronized on every zero-cross of the NerdSEQ main-clock.

  The 2nd option is the free-running speeds, which are not synchronized in any way.

• LFO Amp → Sets the amplitude of the LFO
• LFO Offset → Sets the offset of the LFO. While an LFO usually swings between positive and negative values (bipolar) around the zero point, the offset shifts it positive or negative. Use this to find your ‘sweet spots’ for the destination.
• LFO Phase → Defines the phase of the LFO. With a free-running LFO it defines the starting point (0-360 degrees / 0-255); if the LFO is synchronized, it defines the synchronisation point of the LFO wave.

Things to know:

• Please note that the LFOs and the knobs change the values directly in the Dualchord, and the current state of the manipulated value is not reported back to the NerdSEQ.
• When loading a project which uses a Dualchord, the following priority order applies:

  All individual Wave settings
  Detune Spread settings

  Morph Mode settings

  LFO settings

  Knob settings

  This means the individual wave settings might be overridden by the morph settings if morph is enabled.

Multi-functional / I2C Track

Pattern Screen

This pattern screen is available with and without the Multi-IO Expander. You must assign a track to be used together with the expander in the Track Assign Screen

The Multi / I2C track is a multi-purpose track type which allows the sequencing of much more than only I2C gear. It can also address all local CV/Gates, the Trigger16 Expander, Midi and more, which makes it a flexible polyphonic track with up to 6 note columns and the well-known Drum-Matrix from the Trigger16 Expander.

As the pattern values don’t fit on one screen, it is split into 3 pages.

To get as many functions as possible within the given columns and user interface, multiple functions can be assigned from the same column in the first 6 columns. Also, each column can be assigned to a different destination. The destinations can be set in the Track Setup

Destinations for the first 6 columns can be the following: I2C with commands for the ER301, Just Friends, distingEX/NT or custom commands. Other destinations are the CV/MOD/Gate outputs of the NerdSEQ including a Note On/Off behaviour. The Triggers/Gates can also be manipulated from here with a limited set of available Gates/Triggers (Gate On/Off/Toggle, Trigger 20ms and 40ms).

Destinations for the Drummatrix can be: ER301, Just Friends, distingEX/NT, custom I2C commands, Midi Notes, Midi CC and the Trigger outputs of the NerdSEQ and the Trigger16 Expander. Many functions can act as a Trigger while others can also have a Gate behaviour which can last through multiple steps.

Below is a description of the different screens within an I2C/Multi pattern:

Page 1

Columns 1..6:

The 6 columns are usually used to play notes or pitches but also offer more sequencing functionality. Please keep in mind that not every destination can play notes or produce Gates.

— → An empty column

[ ] → A note off for that column. Depending on the destination, it will release the Gate or send an I2C command to release a Gate.

C-0 to B-9 → Selects the note to play; will also set the Gate, depending on the destination.

M1 to M16 → Execute the command/function defined by the drummatrix destinations 1-16

CA1 to CA 8 → Executes the I2C Custom Commands 1 to 8 on I2C Port A but without any payload. The address for this is also derived from the custom address and not defined by the destination.

CB1 to CB 8 → Same as before but for I2C Port B

TT0 → Gate Off for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TT1 → Gate On for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TTT → Toggle Gate for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TT2 → Trigger of 10ms for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

TT8 → Trigger of 40ms for the local Trigger/Gate output of the track.

The 2nd set is for the destination of the column. If the column is assigned to CV 1..6, the destinations are the local trigger/gate outputs 1..6. If they are set up for the local track 1..6, then these are also automatically assigned to 1..6. All other assignments use the current track.

Assuming the column uses CV3 as its destination:

TD0 → Gate Off for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TD1 → Gate On for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TDT → Toggle Gate for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TD2 → Trigger of 10ms for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

TD8 → Trigger of 40ms for the Trigger/Gate output 3.

Next are 2 sets to generate randomness.

First there is RN0 to RN7 which generates a note within the selected range 0-7.

Then there is R 0 to R 7 which generates a pitch within the selected range 0-7.

Pressing the OK button on the random commands will bring you to the Random Ranges Screen.

Lastly, there are the pitch settings of the assigned outputs.

These operate like the normal pitches from 000 to FFF which represent a 0 to 10 Volt (-5/+5) range depending on the destination.

As a side note, the pitch values are scaled, so not all 4095 (FFF) values are available. In fact, only 3915 different values are available, with some numbers skipped across the whole range. In general use you will not notice this at all, as the voltage steps are so fine that skipping one value is not audible. If you really need them anyway, you still have the full range with 4095 values available through the FX columns.

As a fast browsing option, you can also use SHIFT+OK to directly jump between Note Off, Notes, Matrix, Custom, Triggers, Random, Pitches and an empty spot.

If one of the columns is ‘gated’ (e.g. a note plays), its column number is highlighted at the top of the screen.

While editing, press OK to pre-listen the current sequencer row.

Page 2

On the second page there are 3 FX columns. These mostly use a special coding for the 4 digits, which is explained for each function. For all I2C functions, details/help is available in the statusbar, so you should be able to work with all of them without checking the manual again.

The following FX functions are available:

PI 1 to PI 6 → Change the Pitch value of the destination defined by columns 1-6. The pitch can be selected from 000 to FFF (0 – 4095).

NT 1 to NT 6 → Change the Note of the destination defined by columns 1-6. Value 0 is a Note off and then C-0 to B-9 can be selected.

PROW → Probability for the whole row except for the last FX column.

PCRD → Play Chord. This function is currently not implemented.

+*-/ → The Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide functions, where the arithmetic is applied to the last used FX value, which is then executed again.

XXXX The first 2 digits define the type of calculation. 00 – 03 Add the selected FX until the max value is reached. 04 – 07 Add with overflow. 08 – 0B Multiply by X.X up to the maximum value. 0C – 0F Multiply by X.X with overflow. From 10 – 17 the same with subtract and from 18 – 1F are the divide functions by X.X. An overflow will occur if the result exceeds FFF (4095).

All further parameters are exactly the same as for the FX of the Modular CV/Gate tracks so all functions of the local tracks can still be used. The only difference is the probability settings, which now belong to several CV outputs and FX.

T16A and T16B → Sends a selected trigger command to the Trigger16 Expander. The first digit XXXX defines the Expander Channel (NSA Channels 1-4), the 2nd XXXX the Trigger output and the last 2 digits XXXX define the type of the Trigger.

The further FX functions are the same as for a regular Modular CV/Gate Track.

Page 3 contains mainly the DrumMatrix which allows the triggering of drums or events.
It is split into 16 columns, and the filled-in and empty spots define the triggering of a drum, the sending of a Midi Note or CC, an I2C command etc. You can select the destination for each column in the Track Setup

The editing functions are the same as for the Trigger16 Expander, so please refer to its description.

Another special feature is that, besides one-shot triggering, some destinations also support gating. The gate of such a destination is set when a spot in the DrumMatrix is filled in, and a gate off is sent at the next empty spot. So if, for example, you set drummatrix rows 02, 03 and 04 and leave spot 05 empty, the gate will be set on 02 and reset after row 04. This is useful if, for example, you have a Midi drum defined as a trigger on one column and the same drum defined as a gate on another column. You could then play short triggers most of the time and occasionally use the gate to make the sound last longer. This of course depends on the capabilities of the destination.

You can copy DrumMatrix rows/columns between the Multifunctional/I2C tracks and the Trigger16 tracks.

The probability settings are defined as follows, but are subject to change in the future:

Column 1,2,3, Column 4,5,6, Matrix 1, Matrix 2, Matrix 3, FX1, FX2, FX3, Row

Each of the 16 drummatrix columns in an I2C/Multi track can be muted independently (the same as with a Trigger16 drummatrix). Choose the column and press SHIFT+DOWN+START to mute/unmute the column and SHIFT+UP+START to solo/unsolo the column.

Last is the groove column, which works in the same way as the groove settings from the normal Modular CV/Gate tracks.

The general playback of an I2C pattern row uses the following order:

Patch > FX1 > FX2 > FX3 > Columns 1-6 > DrumMatrix 1-16

So, for example, parameters changed in FX1 already affect FX2, and so on.

Track Setup (I2C / Multifunctional Track)

The I2C Multi Track is a multifunctional track type which allows sequencing to all kinds of destinations like I2C, Midi, CV and Triggers. The setup of the destinations is described here:

• Track Clock → See Track Setup Screen.
• Transpose → Allows or prevents transposing of the track. This applies to both the global and the track transpose.
• Scale → See Track Setup Screen.
• Loc.Trigger Delay → See Track Setup Screen.
• Random FX1..3 → Enables randomized values for the selected FX. When turned on with a range selected, all FX values in that column will play with random values within the selected ranges. This can also be enabled/disabled with the Random FX command (RDMN) from the FX list. Press OK to get to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges.
• Record Voices → Sets the number of voices which can be recorded/played from Midi. The following settings are currently available: 1..6 records/plays Midi into that number of columns. So if set to 3, only the left 3 columns are used to record / play the midi notes. The playback and note arrangement is defined in a round robin rotation.

  Destination 1..6 sets the destination of the 6 columns in the pattern screen. These are:

  I2C Destinations (for all I2C destinations the Address (0 – 127), the I2C Connections (A or B) and the Port can be selected (0 – 128)) and the local CV/Gate outputs. In this description both ports for the I2C are named at the same time as A/B but each is its own setting. The naming is mainly derived from the Teletype naming, with some changes in length, and some new commands have been added.

First, the destinations for the Orthogonal Devices ER301 (SC stands for Sound Computer). It usually uses address 31 hex and ports 1-100. (Note that the ER301 has an offset in the naming of its ports: while it starts with port 1, port 0 is actually sent. The NerdSEQ handles this internally.)⁹

A/B-SC.CV → SC.CV command sets the CV Value of the port (with slew).

A/B-SC.CVGA → SC.CV command sets the CV Value of the port (with slew) plus the Gate On/Off (SC.TR) of the same port.

A/B-SC.CVTR → SC.CV command sets the CV Value of the port (with slew) plus a Trigger (SC.PULSE) of the same port.

A/B-SC.CVSE → SC.CV.SET command sets the CV Value of the port (without slew)

A/B-SC.CVSL → SC.CV.SLEW command sets the Slew for the port

A/B-SC.TR → SC.TR Sets only the Gate of the port on a Note on, and a gate off on note off.

A/B-SC.CVNG → SC.CV command sets the CV Value of the port (without slew) plus the Gate On/Off (SC.TR) of the same port.

A/B-SC.CVNT → SC.CV command sets the CV Value of the port (without slew) plus a Trigger (SC.PULSE) of the same port.

Notes on the ER301 usage:

• At least firmware 0.5.03 must be used for reliable I2C reception.
• You need to enable Teletype support to get 2 new units, a CV and a TR unit. These can be used to receive the I2C Data from the NerdSEQ. Use the 3.3V pullup with it, especially when there is no other I2C gear connected on these lines.

The following destinations are for the Just Friends¹⁰ from Whimsical Raps and its Just Type implementation. Be sure to read through the Just Type documentation, since it describes all the functions below. The JF usually uses address 0x70; the outputs can be addressed using ports 0-6, where¹¹ port 0 is for all outputs and port 1 is IDENTITY and 6 is 6N (JF users know what I am talking about). Please note that I have not tested it with the JF myself; it was tested by someone else. If you are a hardcore JF user with Teletype knowledge and you miss something or it doesn’t work as expected, let me know.

A/B-JF.TR → JF.TRIGGER Sets only the Gate of the port on a Note on, and a gate off on note off.

A/B-JF.RMOD → JF.RMODE Set the RUN state (Note on activates Run Mode, Note off = Off)

A/B-JF.RVLT → JF.RUN Set the RUN voltage (Notes or Pitches can define Min/Max)

A/B-JF.SHFT → JF.SHIFT Shifts the transposition of Just Friends

A/B-JF.VTR → JF.VTR Trigger Channel with Velocity. Pitch 0 or note off is low state.

A/B-JF.MODE → JF.MODE Activates Synthesis or Geode modalities.

Note for the following Synth / Geode commands which only work if the JF is in MODE = 1.

It is not necessary to send that command as the NerdSEQ will send it once in advance when one of the following synthesis commands is ‘played’. It will stay in MODE = 1 until the mode has been reset using the JF.MODE command.

A/B-JF.VOXL → JF.VOX Plays a note (on/off) with a 33% level/velocity on the selected port.

A/B-JF.VOXM → JF.VOX Plays a note (on/off) with a 66% level/velocity on the selected port.

A/B-JF.VOXH → JF.VOX Plays a note (on/off) with a 100% level/velocity on the selected port.

A/B-JF.PTCH → JF.PITCH Plays a note/pitch without level/velocity triggering on the selected port.

A/B-JF.TICK → JF.TICK Clocks Geode with a stream of division ticks per measure. (values or notes 1-48 for the divisions and 49 – 255 for the BPM)

The following 2 commands are double commands and need to be next to each other in 2 columns (left side VOX1 and right side VOX2 since the VOX parameter for this needs 2 values). Both commands are needed for execution.
The VOX command for Geode: “Create a stream of rhythmic envelopes on the named channel. The stream will continue for the count of repeats at a rhythm defined by divs.”

A/B-JF.VOX1 → JF.VOX Divs, Divides the measure into this many segments

A/B-JF.VOX2 → JF.VOX Repeats, Number of times to retrigger the envelope

A/B-JF.QT → JF.QT Quantize Geode events to divisions of a measure.

The following 2 commands are also double commands just like before (left side TUN1 and right side TUN2 since the TUNE command needs 2 values). Both commands are needed for execution.
The TUNE command redefines the tuning ratio of a Just Friends channel (channel 0 = all channels) as a numerator/denominator pair. A numerator/denominator of 0/0 resets that channel back to the default tuning.

A/B-JF.TUN1 → JF.TUNE Numerator, the numerator of the tuning ratio for the selected channel

A/B-JF.TUN2 → JF.TUNE Denominator, the denominator of the tuning ratio; this column sends the combined command

Next are the commands for the distingEX¹² or distingNT¹³ by Expert Sleepers. Both share the same implementation. The address can be set within the distingEX/NT I2C Settings.

A/B-ES.CO → ES.CONTROLLER Set the I2C Controller to a value. The controllers (port) can be mapped in the disting to any algorithm parameter.

A/B-ES.PARA → ES.PARAMETER Change the parameter value of the current Algorithm to the exact value

A/B-ES.PV → ES.PARAMETER Range Change the parameter value of the current Algorithm to the range value (0…16384 scaled from the Pitch 0-4095 value in the NerdSEQ)

A/B-ES.PRST → ES.PRESET Load preset

A/B-ES.VP → ES.VOX PITCH Set voice pitch for the specified voice

A/B-ES.V → ES.VOX ON+VELO Triggers the Voice (Gate on/Off current note) with a Velocity

A/B-ES.VPL → ES.VOICE Plays a Note (Note On/Off) with a 33% Velocity

A/B-ES.VPM → ES.VOICE Plays a Note (Note On/Off) with a 66% Velocity

A/B-ES.VPH → ES.VOICE Plays a Note (Note On/Off) with a 100% Velocity

The distingEX/NT voice destinations can address either a Voice or a Note (see the differences in the disting manuals). This is chosen by the output number in the destination: outputs 1-24 target the Voices (EX only) (shown as V:1..V:24), while outputs 25-48 target the Notes (shown as N:1..N:24). Next to that, the notes can also be addressed together with a channel. The outputs 49 and higher are shown as N<note>#<channel> (N3#5 for example is note 3 on channel 5) and cover all 24 notes on the channels 1 to 16. The NerdSEQ uses the channel based note commands for these (set pitch, note on and note off with a channel), so several tracks or columns can each play their own notes on their own channel of the same module.

The next destinations are to control/play the ART modules by TipTop Audio.¹⁴ It requires the ART-Add-On and the Multi-IO Expander. The ART-Add-On is a low-cost 2HP add-on (featuring 2 ART ports) for the Multi-IO. The implementation allows polyphonic control/playing of the current (and future) ART modules and has been successfully tested (6 voice polyphonic) with the following setup: NerdSEQ → Multi-IO → ART-Add-ON → Vortex6→Octostages/Poly Envelope→Octopass Polyfilter→ Octogain

In the 2nd column the Port/Output of the ART module can be defined.

The following ART functions are available:

ART LOW → Note ON/OFF with a 30% velocity.

ART MID → Note ON/OFF with a 60% velocity.

ART HI → Note ON/OFF with a 100% velocity.

ART RND → Note ON/OFF with a random velocity defined by a random range selection.

ART MW → Modwheel controller

ART PORTA → Portamento controllers

ART PC → Program Change

ART PB → Pitchbend

Please note that not all ART commands are available/implemented with all ART receivers/modules.

More I2C destinations will follow in the future. You can also create your own I2C commands, which can already be used with unsupported I2C followers.

These custom commands can be defined in this setup menu and can also be called as a destination. Editing custom commands is described further below (another I2C/Multi menu item). Here they are destination items which can be used to ‘fire’ these custom commands.

A/B-CUSTM → Plays a selected custom command (but adds a 2 byte payload, like the selected note in the sequence or a pitch value). So if, for example, you have a 5-byte custom command, the 2 bytes will be appended. You select the custom command by the number next to the address.

The next destination is for the Local CV/Gate outputs:

CV-MOD → Local CV/Gate output functions

The 2nd column defines the function and the 3rd column the selected outputs.

For the outputs you can choose between the outputs 1-6 on the NerdSEQ and ‘LOCAL’ uses the outputs of the current track (if it is one of the tracks 1-6).

Functions:

CVGA → CV+GATE Changes the CV to the note or pitch and sets/resets the Gate

CVTR → CV+Trigger Changes the CV to the note or pitch and fires a default trigger

MDGA → MOD+GATE Changes the MOD output to the note or pitch and sets/resets the Gate

MDTR → MOD+Trigger Changes the MOD output to the note or pitch and fires a default trigger

CV → Only changes the CV to the note or pitch

MOD → Only changes the MOD output to the note or pitch

MAPPING → Overwrite a selected mapping row from the sequence. In the Mapping Screen the selected row must be set to GLOB → SEQV as a source.

Next are the Matrix Destinations, which can be used with the 16 Drummatrix trigger/gate points. Most I2C Matrix Destinations are built up in a similar way as the Column destinations using an Address and a Port. The commands are ‘fired’ from the drummatrix sequencing.

ER301 Destinations:

A/B-SC.TR → SC.PULSE sends a Pulse to the selected port.

A/B-SC.GA → SC.TR sends a Gate to the selected port. A filled-in field in the matrix sends a gate on which will stay on until the next empty field.

Just Friends Destinations:

A/B-JF.TR → JF.TR Sends a Gate on directly followed by a Gate off which results in a Trigger Pulse.

A/B-JF.GATE → SC.TR sends a Gate to the selected port. A filled-in field in the matrix sends a gate on which will stay on until the next empty field.

DistingEX/NT Destinations:

A/B-ES.TRGL → ES.VOICE sends a Note on (e.g. triggers a sample) with a velocity of 33%.

A/B-ES.TRGM → same with a velocity of 66%.

A/B-ES.TRGH → same with a velocity of 100%.

A/B-ES.GATL → ES.VOICE sends a Note on (e.g. gates a sample) with a velocity of 33%. A filled-in field in the matrix sends a gate on which will stay on until the next empty field.

A/B-ES.GATM → same with a velocity of 66%.

A/B-ES.GATH → same with a velocity of 100%.

These matrix destinations use the same port addressing as the voice destinations: the port can select a Voice (V:1 .. V:24), a Note (N:1 .. N:24) or a Note together with a channel, shown as N<note>#<channel> (N3#5 for example is note 3 on channel 5, with all 24 notes on the channels 1 to 16). This way every drummatrix point can trigger or gate its own note on its own channel of the same module.

A/B-CUSTOM → Sends the defined custom commands but without an added payload. Port defines the selected custom command.

MIDI NOTL, MIDI NOTM, MIDI NOTH → Sends a Midi Note On only with the defined Note to the defined Channel/Midi Port with a velocity of 33%(L), 66%(M), 100%(H)

MIDI NOTR → Sends a Midi Note On only with the defined note and a random velocity. The random value is derived from the Random Ranges and the drummatrix number defines which range is selected. For example, if the 2nd drummatrix column is used then it will use Random Range 1 (starting from 0). You can press OK here to get to the Random Ranges Screen.

MIDI TRGL, MIDI TRGM, MIDI TRGH → Sends a Midi Note On and Off with the defined Note to the defined Channel/Midi Port with a velocity of 33%(L), 66%(M), 100%(H)

MIDI TRGR → Sends a Midi Note On and Off with the defined note and a random velocity. The random value is derived from the Random Ranges and the drummatrix number defines which range is selected. For example, if the 2nd drummatrix column is used, it will use Random Range 1 (starting from 0). You can press OK here to get to the Random Ranges Screen.
MIDI GATL, MIDI GATM, MIDI GATH → Sends a Midi Note On or Note Off with a velocity of 33%(L), 66%(M), 100%(H). A filled-in field in the matrix sends a gate on which will stay on until the next empty field.

MIDI GATR → Sends a Midi Note On or Note Off with a random velocity. The random value is derived in the same way as for MIDI TRGR. A filled-in field in the matrix sends a gate on which will stay on until the next empty field.

MIDI CCL, MIDI CCM, MIDI CCH → Sends a Midi CC on the selected controller number with the value of 33%(L), 66%(M) or 100%(H)

MIDI CCR → Sends a Midi CC on the selected controller number with a random value. The random value is derived in the same way as for MIDI TRGR.

SAMP_LOW, SAMP_MID, SAMP_HI → Plays a loaded sample on one of the NerdSEQ audio channels straight from the drum-matrix, at a low, medium or high (full) velocity/volume. The first column next to it selects the sample slot followed by the audio channel (1-4), and the 2nd column selects the pitch/note at which the sample is played.

SAMP_RND → Same as above, but with a random velocity/volume taken from a selectable range (random ranges).

TRIG1-6 → Sends a Trigger (type selected with the Matrix Trig option below) on the selected Trigger output

T16 → Sends a Trigger (type selected with the Matrix Trig option below) on the selected Trigger of the Trigger16 Expander (defined by NSA channel and output number)

XMAP → Executes the selected Mapping Screen row from the Matrix. Be aware that the row will always be completely executed, regardless of whether the source changed or not.

To speed up editing of similar destinations (e.g. the same destination on different ports), you can press SHIFT+MARK to copy a destination row and SHIFT+COPY to paste it into another destination row.

Continuing with the Setup positions:

Matrix Trig → Defines the type of trigger which the Matrix sends out when using one of the Local or Trigger16 Destinations

Custom CMD 1-8 → These are custom I2C commands which can be defined by the user. If an I2C follower or a specific command is not supported by the NerdSEQ then you can define your own custom command by creating your own byte combinations. The maximum packet size is 7 bytes + the address, which is added automatically from the Column or Matrix definition. When played from a column, an additional payload of 2 bytes with the value from the sequence is also appended. The first field defines the number of bytes to be sent, and the bytes can then be filled in. As a simple example, suppose you want to generate the Pulse command for the ER301 to be used in the drum matrix. The length would be 2, the command for Pulse is 05 and the port would be the second byte (keep in mind that the ER301 has an offset for the port, so you would use port 00, which is recognized as port 1 on the ER301).

For the Custom Command it would then look like this: 2 – 05 00

In the Matrix you choose the selected Custom command which will then send the ER301 trigger from the Drummatrix. If the Custom Command is selected as one of the 6 column destinations, an additional 2 bytes will be automatically added as an extra payload for the note pitch or value.

Cstm Adr → Defines a default address which is used if the Custom Command is executed from one of the 6 columns but the destination was not set to an I2C destination.

Video Track / Video Shader Functions

In combination with the Video Expander (VEX) there are many possibilities to generate video animations and synthesis. The VEX supports the GLSL Shader Language (OpenGL ES 2.0) and is capable of running thousands of amazing shader animations¹⁵ (including your own custom ones).

In addition to the basic shader interface inputs (time, resolution, mouseXY), the NerdSEQ integration allows up to 16 modulation inputs and the alpha channel input (transparency mixer between the animation and the NerdSEQ screen). These additional inputs require the shader code itself to be updated to use them. Some technical details for that are provided later on. All inputs that can manipulate the shader animations, including the basic ones, can be manually manipulated or modulated by dedicated Shader-Envelopes (up to 8 per shader) and Shader-LFOs (also up to 8 per shader). For example, the animation time could run forward and backward just by using a Shader-LFO (SLFO), or the X position of the animation could be manipulated by a Shader-Envelope (SENV) which is internally triggered by one of the NerdSEQ trigger outputs. And of course as mentioned the parameters/modulators can be manipulated from the sequence, automators or the mappings as well.

8 possible shader animations can be used per NerdSEQ project. You can compare this with regular sample slots. You have 8 sample (shader) slots, and each slot has its own settings (including its own SENV and SLFO settings). You can switch from one shader animation to another on the fly, or cue it to be activated on the sequencer mainclock zero cross, just like with patterns. One difference from samples, though, is that shader animations run ‘endlessly’, and you usually switch to another shader or turn them off.

The shader animations, which are usually only small files, can be loaded from the NerdSEQ SD Card or with a USB Stick used in the VEX. All animations are automatically copied into the VEX memory itself and can then run without the USB stick. There are big communities on the internet of people who create and share shader animations, so there are thousands of animations available. Many of them can run without any modification (depending on the platform you got them from). Some shaders need to be modified in order to run, and some need too many resources and are not compatible with the VEX (e.g. shader animations created on high-end computers with state-of-the-art GPUs simply need more processing power than a small embedded system like the NerdSEQ with the VEX can provide). For the same reasons, many animations can’t run at the highest resolution, but reducing the resolution can keep them running smoothly while still looking cool. Reducing the frames per second (FPS) also helps here. Despite the hardware limitations, there are still endless possibilities for cool real-time animations.¹⁶

The VEX (from version V3.0) already has 8 stock shaders integrated, which can be directly started and manipulated. All of these can be replaced by other shaders of course.

The entry to manage the shaders and their settings is the Video Project Setup Screen.

Video Project Screen / Track Setup

With an enabled VEX you can press the PROJECT button twice to enter the Video Project Screen. (The PROJECT button toggles between the regular Project screen and the Video Project Screen.)

You can also access the Video Project Screen from a Video Track by entering its Track Setup (Nerd Menu or press PATCH twice). In that case, track-related functionality is also available in the Video Project Screen. Please be aware that there is also the Video Setup screen (Setup Video Setup), which contains all the non-project-related video settings that you will mostly change only once or never!

The Video Project Screen contains all project-related video settings and loads and saves them with the project.

Once in the screen it shows the current VEX Firmware version and to the right of that the current frames per second.

Below are the track related settings which are the same as the basic settings of a regular track setup: Track Setup Screen

There is also the ‘Video Set/Mode’ block, which has the following settings:

• Video Mode → Cue: Here you can see the currently running shader 1..8 followed by its shader name or ‘Clone’ if no shader is running as well as the next cued shader (or clone). You can change the cued shader (SHIFT+CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT) which will be activated on the next sequencer main clock zero cross if the sequencer is running, or when the sequencer starts. The cued shader can also be started directly by pressing the OK button. You can start and stop the shaders even if the shader functions in the following settings are turned off (so you are still able to stop it manually if needed).
• Shader Functions → Turns the shader functions on or off. This setting will enable the further settings for the shaders. Be aware that if it is enabled, all shader settings are loaded and saved with the project. Loading projects with shaders takes a bit longer (depending on the shaders) than loading projects without shaders. So if you don’t use any animations in your project, you should turn the shader functions off.
• Transition Type → Defines how the NerdSEQ switches from one shader to another one. Next to ‘Direct’ (the classic instant switch) the following transitions are available: Fade Black, Fade White, Fade Red, Fade Green, Fade Blue, Strobe, Zoom, Slide, Door, Curtain, Blinds, Dissolve, Pixelate, Noise and Glitch.
• Transition Time → Sets the duration of the transition from 0.1 up to 5.0 seconds.

Next are the shader settings. These can only be accessed if the ‘Shader Functions’ setting above is turned on. You can always see which shader you are editing in the 2nd row of the screen. It is possible to have a different shader (or no shader) running while editing another one. Please be aware that if you manually start another shader, that shader automatically becomes the shader being edited.

The following settings are available in the ‘Shader Settings’ block:

• Edit Shader → This allows you to select the shader (SHIFT+CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT) you want to edit (remember you have 8 shader slots, each with its own settings), and also to replace it with another shader. If you press OK, the file browser will open and offer some sources and options (see below).
• Resolution → Changes the resolution of the shader. Press OK to activate the new resolution. Important: The real resolution depends on the connected HDMI screen and its settings (or the regular PAL/NTSC resolution if you are using the composite output). The percentage in the resolution settings is a percentage of the real resolution. For example, if you have an HDMI screen connected which uses 1080p as the real resolution, and the percentage is at 50%, the resolution for the animation would be 540p. Keep in mind that the real resolution output is still 1080p to the screen, only the shader-animation resolution is ‘downscaled’. This setting is important as a lower resolution significantly increases the performance of the animation. (1080p = 103,680,000 pixel calculations per second @ 50fps vs. 720p = 46,080,000 pixel calculations per second @ 50fps).

  Most shader animations will not be able to use the 100% (@1080p) resolution and reach the expected Frames Per Second (FPS). In that case you will see that the FPS at the top right of the screen is lower than the desired FPS, shown in red if the VEX is permanently overloaded. You always want to keep the resolution as low as possible while maintaining the desired FPS. A good rule of thumb is to set the resolution 3 – 5% lower than the point at which the FPS becomes ‘stable’.

  This headroom is important so that the VEX can also process all its other tasks (e.g. NerdSEQ screen, Envelopes, LFOs, communication with the NerdSEQ, USB Keyboard).

  If you press SHIFT+OK, the resolution will be saved into the shader file, and loading and preview will use that resolution next time.

• Time Source → Changes the source of the animation time. This is usually just a clock that starts from 0.0 seconds and keeps running/increasing (seconds from animation start). The animation uses this time to calculate its current ‘animation position’ in the timeline. If the setting is ‘Regular’, the normal linear time will be used for the animation.

  Further settings are Regular + SENV1..8 which uses the regular time but additionally the results of the selected shader envelope are added. In that case the time could run faster when the envelope is in its attack phase and slow down in the release phase until it runs normally again. (The envelope settings also allow negative values, which can be added to the time as well, letting the animation run ‘backwards’.)

  With Regular+SENV1+2 and Regular+SENV1+2+3 more envelopes can be involved in the time manipulation.

  The same goes for Regular + LFO1..8 where the internal LFOs are added (in a bipolar way) to the time. Regular+LFO1+2 and Regular+LFO1+2+3 are available too, to increase the timing complexity.

  The settings ‘SENV1..8 only’, ‘SENV1+2 only’ and ‘SENV1+2+3 only’ move the timeline only by the current state of the selected shader envelopes and no longer by the increasing time. If the envelope is idle, the animation is paused.

  The same rule applies for SLFO1..8 only, SLFO1+2 only and SLFO1+2+3 only. Here the timeline is set by the current state of the LFO(s). For example, a regular bipolar sine LFO would move the animation forward and backward in time.

• Time Extra Amp → Additionally manipulates the ‘time source’ with a fixed or dynamic amplification/multiplication value (positive or negative). This setting has 2 parameters. If the setting on the left (move there with the cursor keys) is set to ‘Free’, the value on the right is the multiplicator of the time. The value 1.0 would be the regular time, higher values increase the time/speed and lower values decrease it until at 0 the time would ‘pause’. Furthermore, the multiplier can be negative, so the time would decrease instead. The multiplier ranges from -20.0 to +20.0.

  The following other settings for the left part are available:

  CV/MOD 1..6 OUT → Multiply the time by the current value of the selected CV/MOD output. (0 volt would be a multiplication by -20.0, 5 Volt would be a multiplication by 0 and 10 Volt would be a multiplication by +20.0.)

  TRIGGER 1..6 OUT → Will either multiply the time by 0 (Trigger/gate off) or 1.0 (Trigger/Gate on). This causes the animation to either stop or run with its original ‘speed’ depending on the state of the selected Trigger/Gate output.

  CV1..4 IN → Multiply the time by the current value of the selected CV Input. (same values as with the CV/MOD outputs).

  Automator 0..8 → Time multiply derived from the automators (bipolar)

  S-Envelope 1..8 / S-Env1+2, S-Env1+2+3 → Time multiply derived from the internal VEX envelopes or envelope combinations

  S-LFO 1..8 / S-LFO1+2, S-LFO1+2+3 → Time multiply derived from the internal LFOs or LFO combinations

• Frames Per Second → This setting defines the frame rate at which the animation should run. Everything higher than 25 fps is usually fine for the human eye. You can set the value up to 60 fps (40fps is the default value). The shader animation tries to run the animation with the desired FPS. If the animation is not able to achieve the desired FPS, it will be ‘played’ at a lower FPS. You can see this when the FPS indicator at the top right turns red. In that case, please lower the resolution and/or the desired FPS. It is important to keep the desired vs. achieved FPS the same so all other processing is still working properly. See also the resolution topic above.

  Also please be aware that this is the animation FPS and not the real FPS that depends on the screen you connected. The real FPS is not affected by this setting.

• Alpha → Defines the mix between the real NerdSEQ screen and the animation. In the free mode the value of 1.0 will show the animation completely and a value of 0 will show the NerdSEQ screen completely. This setting only works if the shader supports it. See the technical facts about the shaders for more info. Also, if you only want to see the animation, an alpha value of 1.0 is preferred as it will improve the animation performance.

  The alpha value can also be defined by the CV/Mod outputs and inputs, Trigger/Gate, Automators, S-Envelopes and S-LFOs. The settings are the same as with the time extra amp.

• Position X / Y → These 2 settings define the offset of the horizontal or vertical axis for the animation. This setting only works if the shader supports it (mouseX/Y).

  Besides the free setting (± 1.0000), the X/Y position can also be defined by the CV/Mod outputs and inputs, Trigger/Gate, Automators, S-Envelopes and S-LFOs.

The next main section is the modulators. Up to 16 different modulators are possible per shader. Modulators are the parameters that can manipulate the shaders. The type and number of parameters depend completely on the shader itself and whether it supports them.

• Amount Modulations → Defines the number of modulator entries. This number is detected automatically when the shader loads and represents the number of available

  modulation parameters.

• Modulation 1..16 (if available) → Sets the selected modulation value. This is the main manipulator for the shader animations. Here too, the values can be changed in the ‘free’ setting or defined by the CV/Mod outputs and inputs, Trigger/Gate, Automators, S-Envelopes and S-LFOs.

The VEX has its own A/R envelopes which can be used to manipulate/modulate the shaders in a flexible way. Up to 8 envelopes, each with its own settings, are available per shader.

• Amount of Envelopes → This sets the number of envelopes visible in the menu settings (to avoid too many menu entries). Each of the up to 8 envelopes has the following settings:
• Envelope Type → Defines the type of the envelope:

  ASR Oneshot → Attack/Sustain/Release which is triggered as a one-shot. Retriggering will restart the envelope.

  ATK-HOLD-REL → Attack Hold Release envelope. On a gate, the envelope starts in the attack phase and rises to the sustain level; it enters the release phase when the gate is released again.

  ASR Loop → The Envelope will run its Attack/Sustain/Release phases in a loop as long as the Gate is on.

• Envelope Source → Sets the source that should trigger/gate the envelope.
• Trigger/Gate 1-6 uses the local outputs as a source
• SENV 1..8 chain selects another VEX-Envelope which would act as a chained envelope trigger. Once the selected envelope has finished, the current one will ‘fire’.
• T16 (NSA-Trigger) uses the Trigger16 outputs as a source.
• Dual (NSA-Trigger) uses the Dualchord Trigger/Gate outputs as the source.

  Of course, the envelopes can also be triggered/gated from the mappings and by sequencer commands.

• Envelope Attack → Defines the attack time for the envelope (0 – 255)
• Envelope Sustain → Defines the sustain level for the envelope (0 – 255). This value creates bipolar results, so envelopes can also be inverted.
• Envelope Release → Defines the release time for the envelope (0 – 255)
• Envelope Offset → Defines the idle offset level (also creates bipolar results) (0 – 255)

  Good to know: You can manually ‘fire’ the envelope by pressing OK on the Attack/Sustain/Release/Offset settings.

There are also up to 8 LFOs available per shader as modulation sources.

These can be free running or synchronized with the NerdSEQ mainclock.

• Amount of LFOs → Defines the number of LFO settings visible in the menu.
• SLFO Setting → Defines whether the Shader LFO should be turned off, free-running or synchronized to the NerdSEQ mainclock
• SLFO Wave → Selects the LFO waveform: Sine, Triangle, Positive/Negative Sawtooth
• SLFO Speed → Defines the speed/frequency of the LFO. In the free-running setting the speed goes from 1ms (0) to 100ms (255). In the synchronized setting the following speeds can be selected: 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 steps and 2,3,4,5,6 times per step.
• SLFO Amplitude → Defines the amplitude of the LFO
• SLFO Offset → Defines the offset of the LFO.
• SLFO Phase → Defines the phase of the LFO (e.g. the starting point with a synchronized LFO).

The Shader Envelopes and LFOs are dedicated to the shaders and can’t be used for regular NerdSEQ modulations. But they can be used for all kinds of shader modulations.

All 8 shaders have their own set of envelopes and LFOs.

SHIFT+DELETE will reset the selected column to its init value.

Load custom shaders / Replace a shader

If you press OK on the setting ‘Edit Shader’ in the Video Project Screen, you can load/replace custom shaders in the shader slots and use some other file-related functions.

The file browser starts up and you can navigate like this:

• OK to enter a (sub) folder / function. On a shader in the file system it will load/replace the shader into the slot and exit the file browser.
• CURSOR LEFT to go back to the last folder or exit if you are in the main folder.
• SHIFT+CURSOR RIGHT to preview a shader while staying in the file-browser. Please be aware that previewing currently also replaces the shader in that slot.

The following entries are available in the main/root folder of the file browser:

• NERDSEQ SD → opens the file browser for the NerdSEQ SD card (/shaders). Browsing the NerdSEQ SD card is very fast, but the files are not sorted alphabetically; they appear in the order in which they are stored on the file system. Previewed / Loaded shaders will automatically be copied onto the VEX SD Card.
• VIDEO INTERN → is the VEX SD card; it shows the file browser for the files located there. The screen refresh is a bit slower here, but the files are sorted alphabetically.

  You can delete files from the SD Card of the VEX by pressing SHIFT+DELETE. (The shader will not be deleted but moved to the backup folder.)

• VIDEO USB → You can use a USB stick on the VEX USB port. The shader files must be located at the root (or subfolders) of the USB Stick. Here too, browsing is a bit slower, but the files are sorted alphabetically. All loaded/previewed files are copied to the VEX SD Card automatically. Press SHIFT+DELETE to delete shaders from the USB drive.
• COPY ALL FROM NERDSEQ SD → This function will copy all shaderfiles that are located in the /shaders folder of the NerdSEQ SD Card onto the VEX SD Card. The ‘.frag’, ‘.vfrag’ and ‘.vert’ files of the folder are all copied in one run. A progress line shows ‘Importing n/total’ and the function ends with ‘Import ready’ (or ‘Upload Error’ if a file could not be uploaded).
• COPY ALL FROM/TO VIDEO USB → This function got 2 functionalities: 1. if a ‘/shaders’ folder is available on the USB stick, then this function will copy all shaderfiles that are located in the /shaders folder onto the VEX SD Card. 2. If there is no ‘/shaders’ folder on the USB stick, then it will backup all shaderfiles and images from the internal VEX SD card onto the USB Stick into /shaders/backup/.

Live update from the VEX Creator

The VEX Creator is an interactive tool to generate and manipulate your shader code. This web-based tool (using WebMIDI) connects to the NerdSEQ via one of the selected Midi ports and also allows live updates so a shader can be ‘previewed’ directly on the VEX and not only in the browser. Please see the description of the VEX Creator in the XOR Tools section.

Pattern Screen

(Video Track)

A Video-Track provides sequencing functions for the video synthesizer capabilities provided by the Video Expander (VEX). A Video pattern works just like other patterns, for example a Modular or Midi pattern. It has different columns, and instead of music notes you fill in video / shader commands, like setting the modulators, switching to other shaders or changing the timings of the video shader animation.

To create a Video Track, you must assign a track in the Track Assign Screen (and of course you need a running VEX).

In a new pattern you can find these columns:

• First, the sequencer column indicates the 16 visible rows.
• The next 5 columns are combined into 1 video command. A command uses 1-5 columns for its parameters, so you can usually edit multiple columns for one command. The 2nd column always defines the command:
• SHAD → Starts/stops the selected shader, either cued or immediately. The settings show either ‘OFF’ to turn the shader off (return to the screen clone) or one of the 8 shader slots. The additional column shows whether the shader should be stopped/started immediately (‘NOW’) or cued (‘CUE’). Cued means that the desired function will be active on the sequencer zero cross.
• MOD → Sets the selected modulator of the current shader to a value. You can change the modulator in the 3rd column to one of the 16 possible modulators and the value in the 4th column. The status line shows the real value that the modulator will receive, in the ±1.000 range. Of course only the modulators that the shader supports will show any effect on sequencing. Others will just be ignored.
• POS → Sets the X/Y position for the current shader (if supported by the shader). The 3rd column defines the X or Y position and the 4th column the value. (the status bar shows the ±1.000 range).
• TAMP → Sets the multiplier for the time amplification (only has an effect if Time Amp is set to Free), from -20.00 to +20.00.
• ALPH → Sets the alpha mix (transparency) of the shader (if supported).
• FENV → The fire envelope command. The 3rd column defines which shader envelope should be started (‘fired’), and with the 4th column you can either set or reset the envelope gate, or just fire it.
• SENV → Sets the shader envelope Attack, Sustain and Release settings.
• LFOA → The first part of the shader LFO settings, with the waveform, speed and amplitude settings.
• LFOB → The 2nd part of the shader LFO settings, which include the Offset and the Phase of the selected shader LFO
• FPS → Sets the frames per second for the currently running shader animation.
• RESO → Sets the resolution for the currently running shader (use with caution, as described in the video project settings).

Right after these commands are the classic commands to generate simple primitive graphics. These graphics and text are drawn on the basic surface which is the same surface that clones the general NerdSEQ screen. So you could use transparency between the shaders and the graphics/text.

MODE → This setting switches between regular cloning of the screen and a surface where only graphics drawn by the following commands are shown.

SPEN and PEN are not integrated properly at the moment. The further commands are currently not implemented.

There are 2 sets of these columns/functions available per pattern. If you scroll to the right, you get to the 2nd screen, where you can add a second set of these commands.

Further to the right you reach the last part, which contains 2 FX columns and the groove column.

Description of the FX commands:

SHAD → Start or stop shaders either directly ‘NOW’ or cued to the zero cross of the mainclock.

MD 1..16 → Set the modulation value for the shaders where the first digit defines either the currently running shader or a selection of shader 1..8. The last 3 digits define the modulation value.

POSX/POSY → Set the shader position. The first digit defines again the shader and the last the value.

TIME → Sets the time amplification/multiplier. First digit = shader select. Last digits: multiplier.

ALPH → Sets the alpha/transparency for the shader (1st digit=shader select).

ENV1..8 → Envelope settings for the shader (1st digit=shader select). The 2nd digit defines the functions:

0 = Gate ON/OFF/Fire, 1 = Attack, 2 = Sustain, 3 = Release, 4 = Offset, 5 = Source, 6 = Type. The last 2 digits define the values.

LFO1..8 → LFO settings for the shader (1st digit = shader select). The 2nd digit defines the functions:

0 = Type: Off/Free running/Synchronized, 1 = Waveform (sine, triangle, pos.sawtooth, neg.sawtooth), 2 = Speed, 3 = Amplitude, 4 = Offset, 5 = Phase

FPS → Frames per second

RESO → Resolution (1st digit = shader select). Handle with care as described in the video project setup.

Nearly all commands from the first 2 screens as well as the FX commands that involve the shader functions work like a knob, which means that if you change a value, it stays at this value until you change it again.

All further parameters are exactly the same as for the FX commands of the Modular CV/Gate tracks so all functions of the local tracks can still be used. The only difference is the probability settings, which belong to the Video Columns 1 and 2 and the FX probability.

Groove → Apply groove settings just as for the other tracks (see the CV/Gate Pattern screen for a description).

The general playback of a Video pattern row uses the following order:

FX1 > FX2 > Columns on screen 1 > Columns on screen 2

Technical/Developer Shader Information

As described before, the shaders support the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard and the GLSL language (which is basically C with dedicated GPU-accelerated functions).

The file format for your own shaders must be “filename.frag”, and I suggest using short filenames so they are still readable in the NerdSEQ screen fields. In addition to the ‘.frag’ extension, a special ‘.vfrag’ extension is also supported and treated in exactly the same way. A .vfrag is the regular .frag fragment shader file with additional metadata like sprite atlas, textures etc. These can be generated using the VEX Creator tool (see XOR Tools).

If you use only a ‘fragment’ shader, a default ‘vertex’ shader will be included. But you can also use your own vertex shaders by using the same filename for the vertex shader with the .vert extension → “filename.vert”.

A matching texture or sprite can be placed in the /shaders/images folder of the NerdSEQ SD Card using the same filename with the ‘.tex’ or ‘.spr’ extension. It is uploaded to the VEX together with the shader. .tex or .spr files can be generated using the VEX Creator.

A basic sketch for this standard (as in the easiest shader program) would look like this:

#ifdef GL_ES
precision mediump float;
#endif

uniform vec2  u_resolution;
uniform vec2  u_mouse;
uniform float u_time;

void main()
{
    vec2 st = gl_FragCoord.xy/u_resolution.xy;
    gl_FragColor = vec4(st.x,st.y,0,1.0);
}

Note that these variables/definitions are important (and often different in other OpenGL versions/implementations):

uniform vec2  u_resolution;
uniform vec2  u_mouse;
uniform float u_time;

The variables/vectors are named with the ‘u_’ prefix like ‘u_resolution’ or ‘u_time’. Be aware that, for example, Shadertoy variables have the ‘i’ prefix, like ‘iTime’, ‘iResolution’ and so on. You need to change these to the ‘u_’ prefix.

The Main function must be defined like this:

void main()          // or: void main(void)

It has no ‘IN’ or ‘OUT’ function parameters, unlike other OpenGL definitions.

The fixed IN (fragment coordinates) and OUT (pixel color) definitions use fixed names:

gl_FragCoord         // IN:  fragment coordinates
gl_FragColor         // OUT: pixel colour

Here too, you might need to change to these, depending on the shader.

The NerdSEQ/VEX implementation uses the following standard variables/vectors/uniforms:

Additionally to these ‘standard’ parameters the NerdSEQ got these additional input variables to allow a deeper manipulation:

You would usually use u_alpha like this in the output parameter:

gl_FragColor = vec4(red,green,blue,u_alpha);

uniform float u_modulator1;
…
uniform float u_modulator16;

These are the input variables that can be manipulated through the NerdSEQ sequences and settings. This floating point value has a range from -1.000 to +1.000.

In case you are interested to develop your own shader-animations then I suggest this great little tutorial video which covers a general explanation about the basics as well as a full development guide to a nice running shader: https://youtu.be/f4s1h2YETNY?si=5Hnxege8Y48gYPWu

Also this online book helps you through the begin and gets deep later on: https://thebookofshaders.com/

At last, an easy way to develop your shaders and try them directly in the browser would be the online-editor from the book of shaders: https://thebookofshaders.com/edit.php

There you can edit and test on the fly, and the shaders are likely to work with the VEX as well (depending, of course, on the shader itself, processing power etc.).

Good to know: Avoid ‘for’ loops with many iterations, as these increase the processing time and might cause performance issues. In particular, ‘for’ loops with tens or hundreds of iterations will most likely not work properly with the VEX. If there are syntax errors in the shader code, the VEX does its best to show you the error and line where the error occurred.

If you use shaders that you downloaded somewhere, be aware that there might be licenses involved that allow or deny commercial/non-commercial use or sharing. Often the type of license is included in the shader code or mentioned on the site you got them from.

Please share your creations on the XOR user forum so more people can enjoy/use them.

Video (Hardware) Setup Screen

The Video Setup screen is used to set up the Video Expander (VEX) hardware (mainly video modes, screen adjustments etc.).

To get there you enter the Setup screen and select ‘Video Expander’. If the setting is ‘USB’ or ‘Clone’, you can enter the Video Setup Screen by pressing OK.

The following settings are available and are automatically saved on the VEX:

Scaling Setting → This sets the kind of scaling / aliasing / interpolation of the video pixels. Use this to get a better/sharper picture when using composite. The following settings are possible: Nearest (which is the default for HDMI), Sinc, Blackman, No Side Lobes, Half 1st Side Lobe, Hamming, Hamming 3PI, Hamming 5PI.

Overscan Left/Right/Up/Down → Adds or removes a number of pixels to/from the left/right/up/down while stretching/shrinking the real screen content. If your output is partly off the screen, or has the wrong horizontal/vertical ratio or position, you can use this to correct it. (For example, many HDMI screens have a 16:9 ratio, and the NerdSEQ screen will then be stretched horizontally to fill the whole screen, which might look a bit ugly with wide, stretched letters. You might want to add left and right overscan to adjust that.)

Force HDMI → HDMI is always enabled regardless of whether a screen is connected or not. Be aware that if no screen is connected, then a different resolution might be automatically selected and used.

HDMI Safe Mode → If turned off, the settings above will affect the screen behaviour. If turned on, standard HDMI settings with a 640×480 resolution are applied. This can be used for basic testing in case you don’t get a picture on the screen.

HDMI Boost → Use this if you need a stronger HDMI signal (for example if you use very long cables and the default setting doesn’t work as expected). Keep it at the default (setting 4) if you just connect a screen with a normal short cable. Values go from 1 (lowest signal) to 11 (strongest signal for very long cables). We give no warranty and take no responsibility for any damage to your HDMI screen caused by using too strong a signal.

HDMI Resolution Group → If set to auto detect, the VEX will try to use the settings it received from your HDMI screen on startup. Furthermore, there are the CEA and DMT settings, which are 2 groups for different screen resolutions. These will force the HDMI screen to work with the selected resolution (if possible). If the group is set to CEA or DMT, the mode can be selected with the following setting:

HDMI Resolution Mode → Depending on the group, different resolution settings can be selected. Please check this document to see all possible screen resolutions:

https://github.com/XORElectronics/nerdSEQ_docs

Note that probably not all resolutions will work with your HDMI monitor/projector.

The selected resolution also affects your shader performance.

Composite Mode → Choose the video system of your TV/monitor: Normal NTSC, Japanese NTSC, Normal PAL (default), Brazilian PAL, Progressive NTSC, Progressive PAL

Composite Aspect → Select the aspect ratio for the composite signal: 4:3 (default), 14:9, 16:9

Turbo Mode → Overclocks the Video Expander a little to get some extra performance for the shader animations. It allows you to gain some percentage for the resolution / frames per second combination. The overclocking settings are safe, but keep in mind that overclocking always generates some extra heat and draws a little more current. If your VEX becomes unstable in Turbo Mode, disable the feature.

Save and Restart → Press OK to save the settings. The settings will be stored in both the Video Expander and the NerdSEQ. The Video Expander will then be restarted with the new settings.

Patches are presets that can be set on every sequencer step. The patch parameters consist of all FX types that the assigned track supports. So when a value is entered in the patch column and the sequencer passes the row, all active values of this patch will be set.

Some people call this a macro. In general, a patch contains your knob positions, which can be recalled at any time. Patches are available for all track types. You can enter the patch screen from the pattern screen by pressing the PATCH button. The column with the tuning fork is for the patches. The Audio tracks don’t have a Patch column, but there, as with all other track types, patches can be created, selected or cloned from the FX column. On the patch column or the PATC FX, you either press OK to generate a new patch or select an available patch. With SHIFT+OK a Patch can be cloned into a new patch. To enter the patch screen, navigate to the patch number and press the PATCH button (or OK if enabled). The patch screen shows the different functions/parameters on the left and the selected parameter value on the right (a kind of progress bar with the current and maximum value). At the top of this part you can also always see the decimal value. In the middle there is a ‘progress bar’ which shows the currently selected value of the ‘effect’. If there is no progress bar, this effect is disabled and will be ignored when the patch is executed. So your patch can contain and manipulate only selected effects and leave others untouched.

You can navigate up/down and change the values with SHIFT+LEFT/RIGHT/UP/DOWN.

To disable a value so that it does not change the parameter when the patch is called, use SHIFT+DELETE.

You can pre-listen the currently selected FX/function by pressing OK. Use SHIFT+OK to pre-listen the complete patch. Not all patch effects can be pre-listened as they rely on the current playback.

In the Nerd Screen / Menu (SHIFT+NERD) you can add a patch name, which helps to identify different patches.

The current values screen shows the current values/settings of the current track.

It can be accessed from the Sequencer Screen or the Tracks / Patterns (if not on the patch column and not on CV16 Pattern screen) by pressing the PATCH button.

The screen updates live, and all values can be manipulated directly by selecting the parameter and changing the value with SHIFT+UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT.

Your value will be overridden if the sequencer is running and changes the value. Besides changing parameters, some values can also be started/triggered here. For this, use the OK button to start/trigger the parameter/function.

Current values of a CV/TRIGGER/MOD track:

CV → Current CV value (not the note value)

Glide CV → Current Glide setting for the CV

Glide CV Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the CV

Modulate → Current MOD value

Glide Modulate → Current Glide setting for the MOD

Glide Modulate Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the MOD

Trigger → Current/Last trigger setting. Can be triggered with the OK button

CV Probability % → Current Probability setting for the CV

Trigger Prob. % → Current Trigger Probability setting

MOD Probability % → Current Probability setting for the MOD

Table Probability % → Current Table Probability setting

FX1 Probability → Current FX1 Probability setting

FX2 Probability → Current FX2 Probability setting

FX3 Probability → Current FX3 Probability setting

FX4 Probability → Current FX4 Probability setting

Row Probability → Current Row probability setting

Current values for the audio tracks:

Note 1 Probability % → Current probability settings for the note of the first sample/waveform

FX 1>1 Probability % → Current FX1 Probability setting for the first sample/waveform

FX 1>2 Probability % → Current FX2 Probability setting for the first sample/waveform

Note 2 Probability % → Current probability settings for the note of the second sample/waveform

FX 2>1 Probability % → Current FX1 Probability setting for the second sample/waveform

FX 2>2 Probability % → Current FX2 Probability setting for the second sample/waveform

ROW Probability % → Current Row Probability setting for the whole sequencer row

Current values of a Trigger16 track:

CV → Current CV value of the local track

Glide CV → Current Glide setting for the CV of the local track

Glide CV Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the CV of the local track

Modulate → Current MOD value of the local track

Glide Modulate → Current Glide setting for the MOD of the local track

Glide Modulate Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the MOD of the local track

Trigger → Current/Last trigger setting for the local Trigger. Can be triggered with the OK button

TR1+2 Probability % → Current probability setting for Trigger column 1+2 (including drum-matrix)

TR3+4 Probability % → Current probability setting for Trigger column 3+4 (including drum-matrix)

TR5+6 Probability % → Current probability setting for Trigger column 5+6 (including drum-matrix)

TR7+8 Probability % → Current probability setting for Trigger column 7+8 (including drum-matrix)

FX1 Probability % → Current FX1 Probability setting

FX2 Probability % → Current FX2 Probability setting

FX3 Probability % → Current FX3 Probability setting

Row Probability % → Current Row probability setting

Current values of a CV16 track:

CV → Current CV value of the local track

Glide CV → Current Glide setting for the CV of the local track

Glide CV Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the CV of the local track

Modulate → Current MOD value of the local track

Glide Modulate → Current Glide setting for the MOD of the local track

Glide Modulate Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the MOD of the local track

Trigger → Current/Last trigger setting for the local Trigger. Can be triggered with the OK button

CV1 Probability % → Current probability setting for CV column 1

CV2 Probability % → Current probability setting for CV column 2

CV3 Probability % → Current probability setting for CV column 3

CV4 Probability % → Current probability setting for CV column 4

CV5+6 Probability % → Current probability setting for CV column 5+6

FX1 Probability % → Current FX1 Probability setting

FX2 Probability % → Current FX2 Probability setting

FX3 Probability % → Current FX3 Probability setting

Row Probability % → Current Row probability setting

Current values of a Midi track:

CV → Current CV value of the local track

Glide CV → Current Glide setting for the CV of the local track

Glide CV Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the CV of the local track

Modulate → Current MOD value of the local track

Glide Modulate → Current Glide setting for the MOD of the local track

Glide Modulate Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the MOD of the local track

Trigger → Current/Last trigger setting for the local Trigger. Can be triggered with the OK button

Note 1 Probability % → Current probability setting for Midi Note 1

Note 3 Probability % → Current probability setting for Midi Note 3

Note 2 Probability % → Current probability setting for Midi Note 2

Note 4 Probability % → Current probability setting for Midi Note 4

FX1 Probability % → Current FX1 Probability setting

FX2 Probability % → Current FX2 Probability setting

FX3 Probability % → Current FX3 Probability setting

Row Probability % → Current Row probability setting

Current values of a I2C/Multi track:

CV → Current CV value of the local track

Glide CV → Current Glide setting for the CV of the local track

Glide CV Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the CV of the local track

Modulate → Current MOD value of the local track

Glide Modulate → Current Glide setting for the MOD of the local track

Glide Modulate Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the MOD of the local track

Trigger → Current/Last trigger setting for the local Trigger. Can be triggered with the OK button

COL1 Probability % → Current probability setting for Column 1

COL2 Probability % → Current probability setting for Column 2

MATRIX1 Probability % → Current probability setting for Matrix Column 1

MATRIX2 Probability % → Current probability setting for Matrix Column 2

MATRIX3 Probability % → Current probability setting for Matrix Column 3

FX1 Probability % → Current FX1 Probability setting

FX2 Probability % → Current FX2 Probability setting

FX3 Probability % → Current FX3 Probability setting

Row Probability % → Current Row probability setting

Current values of a Dualchord track:

CV → Current CV value of the local track

Glide CV → Current Glide setting for the CV of the local track

Glide CV Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the CV of the local track

Modulate → Current MOD value of the local track

Glide Modulate → Current Glide setting for the MOD of the local track

Glide Modulate Resolution → Current Glide Resolution setting for the MOD of the local track

Trigger → Current/Last trigger setting for the local Trigger. Can be triggered with the OK button

COL1 Probability % → Current probability setting for Column 1

COL2 Probability % → Current probability setting for Column 2

COL3 Probability % → Current probability setting for Column 3

COL4 Probability % → Current probability setting for Column 4

Col Trigger Probability % → Current probability setting for Trigger Column 1

FX1 Probability % → Current FX1 Probability setting

FX2 Probability % → Current FX2 Probability setting

FX3 Probability % → Current FX3 Probability setting

Row Probability % → Current Row probability setting

The probability settings are always shown in the range of 0 – 100% here.

A Table is a kind of sequencer within the sequencer. It can run next to your main pattern of the track and can be used for different purposes like generating arpeggios, generative sequences, manipulation of the main pattern, special ratcheting, off-step manipulation or FX execution, special gating sequences and much more…

Tables are also able to create their own sequences. A table sequence is up to 16 steps long (but tables can be chained, so longer table sequences are possible) and can be started from the table column in a CV/Gate, Midi or CV16 track, and via the Table FX command in all track types.

All tracks can run their own table and flexibly switch, start or stop it.

A table sequence can run synchronised to the main sequencer, can be free running without any relation to the sequencer tempo, can be clocked through the CV inputs, through the Automators, by the mappings or from the sequencer with an FX command. Additionally, different time dividers and multipliers can change the table timings. A table can also run in different directions/modes: forward, backward or pingpong. There can be only one running table per track. If you use different tables in your sequence on one track, the table position will continue to run in the looping modes. Only the one-shot or resync tables will be reset to zero on table change. Multiple columns of the main pattern can be used for transposition (note columns) or triggering (Trigger16 columns). The used/affected columns of the pattern sequence can be set up per table. More info about that in the transpose column description.

A table screen has the following columns:

• HP → Hop. Here you fill in to which row the sequencer should jump (hop). In the example in the picture, there is a 00 filled in on row 06, which means that when the sequencer reaches row 06 it will jump back to 00. Note that it doesn’t play the row with the hop but jumps directly to the new row and plays it. In this case it will be a 6-step sequence (one shot), or it will iterate between the 6 steps if the loop setting is endless or restart.

  Besides the ability to enter the row to jump to, there are 2 additional special commands.

  RU → Random upper jump. Jumps to a random position higher than the last RU command.

  So if an RU is filled in on row 05, then it would jump to a random position between 00 and 04. Multiple RU commands can be added and the RU on the highest row defines the jump ‘range’.

  RD → Random jump. This one jumps directly to any random position within the 16 rows.

  The RD and RU commands can be found by either entering a value below 00 or by pressing SHIFT+DELETE multiple times (toggles between functions)

• TPS / TRG → Transpose / Trigger. This column has different functionality depending on the track type. For a Trigger16 track it is used to define the trigger it should play.
  You can choose between ***, which means no trigger/retrigger, and the values 00 to FE, which define the trigger/retrigger type and are the same as in the trigger columns of a Trigger16 Track.

  For all other track types it transposes the currently playing note(s) of the current track by a number of semitones (in combination with one or more Note columns). ‘—’ means no transposition, +1 transposes 1 semitone higher, +2 transposes 2 semitones higher etc.
  Values below ‘—’ transpose lower: -1 by 1 semitone, -2 by 2 semitones etc.
  While CV values and oscillator pitches are simply changed by the transposition, a Midi note will always be retriggered, since Midi has no such thing as a note change without a new Note Off and Note On. A Midi table will also always retrigger if there is no transposition defined like this: ‘—’.

  Next to the ‘transpose by semitones’ functionality other special commands can be reached by pressing SHIFT+DELETE multiple times (toggles between functions):

  RND → Randomize. This will generate a random transposition. Combined with this function is the ‘RANGE’ setting which sets the lowest and highest value of the random range. With this you can limit the range to octaves or whatever range you choose. A random semitone transposition will then be chosen at the RND point.

  >>> → This is a special command which replaces the current note with a note selected in the allowed notes section on the right side. Every >>> takes the next allowed note. For example, say you have 3 notes filled in as allowed: C#, E and A.

  The first >>> would play C#, the second >>> would play E and the last one would play A. This makes it possible to create fixed arpeggio chords regardless of the main note playing.

  *** → Avoid a retrigger. This command is available for Midi tables, which will then not retrigger on this row.

  The Transpose/Trigger column in combination with the selected/enabled columns will affect the following pattern columns (by tracktype):

  Modular → Note and MOD (if used with notes) columns

  Audio → Note1 and Note 2 columns

  Midi → Midi Note columns 1,2,3 and 4

  Multifunctional/I2C → Pattern columns 1 to 6 (if used with notes)

  CV16 → The 6 CV16 columns/destinations (if used with notes)

  Trigger16 → The first 6 Trigger columns (1-6 or 9-14 if swapped)

  Dualchord → The first 4 Note columns for the first 4 waveforms, and columns 5+6 for the waveforms 5 and 6.

  Video → There is no transpose functionality for the Video Columns
  

• FX → Effect parameters. All the possible effect parameters can be added here to enable full manipulation by using the tables. All FX values of the current track type are available. Use this, for example, if you want to create a ratchet effect for your notes by choosing the trigger as FX and placing these in the order of sequencing to play doubles, triplets etc.

  With the Table FX another table can be started which allows table chaining if 16 Table steps are not enough.

  Pressing the OK button on the FX command will bring you to the FX Selector menu where you can comfortably select the needed FX from a list.

Source → Defines the timing source for the sequence:

INT. Tick → The sequence ‘clock’ is derived from the internal main sequencer ticks. (6 ticks/step)

INT. Time → Uses the table’s own clock. It can run faster than the Int. Tick, but it has no relation to the main clock tempo / bpm

PTN-MAP → The table clock gets its ticks from the FX functions of a regular pattern (SPFX 0011) or from the mappings.

AUTOMAT 0..7 → The table clock gets its ticks from one of the Automators. A tick is generated by the zero crossing of an Automator.

CV IN 1..4 → The table clock gets its ticks from a rising edge of the selected CV input.

Speed → The multiplier/divider.

A setting of 1 will trigger the next step in the table sequence with every clock. A setting of 6 will trigger the next step every 6th tick which is the standard speed of a regular step in the main sequencer. So with lower settings the table sequence will run faster while higher settings will let it run slower.

Type → Defines the type of the sequencing itself:

> Resync → the table runs forward endlessly in a loop but is restarted every time the sequencer passes the table command. It stops when the table is stopped or when the complete sequencer is stopped. It continues to run if only the track is stopped.

> Loop → the table runs forward in a loop but is not restarted by the table command. It stops when the table is stopped or when the complete sequencer is stopped. It continues to run if only the track is stopped.

> Once → The table runs forward only once and then stops.

< Resync → Same as the forward Resync, but the sequence runs backwards.

< Loop → Same as the forward Loop, but the sequence runs backwards.

< Once → Same as the forward Once, but the sequence runs backwards (starts from end or first HP)

>< Loop1 → The table runs in a ping pong loop. If set as in the example picture, it runs the following sequence: 00,01,02,01,00,01,02… and so on

>< Loop2 → The table runs in a ping pong loop. If set as in the example picture, it runs the following sequence: 00,01,02,02,01,00,00,01,02,02,01,00… and so on

>< Once → Runs the ping pong sequence as in Loop1, but only once (00,01,02,01,00).

Random → The table does not run in a fixed direction but picks a random step. In the HOP column you choose whether the random step is taken from the whole table or only up to the first hop, so the randomness can be kept within a section.

Column → Defines which (note) columns should be affected by functions of the table transpose column. Up to 6 columns can be selected. The columns refer to the columns in the main pattern. A MIDI track, for example, has 4 note columns which you can manipulate individually with the column setting in the table.

The Column setting additionally chooses whether the affected notes are retriggered on every table step (Transpose cols + retrig) or not (Transpose cols no retrig). An 'R' on the Column field indicates that retrigger is active; toggle it with SHIFT+CURSOR UP/DOWN. Automatic retriggering currently works for CV/Gate and Sample tracks.

Range → As mentioned before, defines the transposing range of random values. Change the lower value with SHIFT + LEFT/RIGHT and the higher value with SHIFT + UP/DOWN.

The part below adds a special scaling to the transpositions. When a note is transposed, it can also be locked to one of the allowed notes. It will then choose the nearest allowed note instead of the transposed note. The way it chooses the nearest note can be changed in the Quantize setting. The allowed notes can each be selected by SHIFT + RIGHT/UP or deselected by SHIFT + LEFT/DOWN.

Quantize setting:

NO → Notes are not quantized to the allowed notes. Normal transposition with all possible notes is used.

UP → The next higher note of the allowed notes is taken. For example, if the new note after transposition is E-5 and the allowed notes are C, F# and A the note will be scaled to the next higher note → F#5.

LOW → The next lower note of the allowed notes is taken. For example, if the new note after transposition is E-5 and the allowed notes are C, F# and A the note will be scaled to the next lower note → C-5.

COIN → A coin toss decides randomly whether the next higher or the next lower note will be chosen.

Finally, the SET CHORD function can set the allowed notes directly to the chosen Chord. The Chord note can be changed using SHIFT +UP/DOWN and the chord type (Major, Minor, diminished, 7th) can be changed using SHIFT+LEFT/RIGHT. The selected chord can be activated by pressing the OK button. The allowed notes then change to the chord. Holding the OK button while changing the chord will result in a direct change of the allowed notes. The SET CHORD value is just a kind of preset which sets the allowed notes; it can show a different chord than the allowed notes currently contain. It always needs the OK button for the SET CHORD to be activated.

Next to the sequencer row you can see the table animation which shows on which step the table is playing right now on the available tracks. This also shows how the sequence is running.

Nerd Menu / Table Presets:

For ease of use, many standard tables can be inserted as a preset. Use the Nerd Screen / Menu in the table screen (SHIFT+NERD) to get to the presets. Navigate down to the option Preset > xxxxx
Choose one using SHIFT+LEFT/RIGHT and press OK; it will be inserted into the current table.

The following presets are available:

Empty → Clears the content of the table

Random → Inserts a random transpose sequence with a hop 00 on a random step. The random transposition range is set by the Range (lowest and highest transposition note)

Doubles → Inserts FX commands to create a double (ratcheting) for the main sequence. This creates a double trigger/gate (or envelope trigger) for the main sequence in a step. As a result, a note is triggered twice, evenly spaced, in one step. Note that this preset also changes the table clock and type settings so the timing and sequence is correct.

Triplets → Same as doubles, but this inserts 3 equal trigger/gates for a step so triplets can be played.

The following are standard chords with 3 or more notes:

Triads → Major, Minor, Diminished, Diminished 5th, Augmented, Suspended 4th, Suspended 2nd

7th Chords → Dominant 7th, Minor 7th, Major 7th, Minor Major 7th, Suspended 7th, Augmented 7th, Augmented Major 7th, 7th Augmented 9th, Half Diminished 7th, Diminished 7th, 7th Diminished 5th, 7th flat 9

6th Chords → 6th, Minor 6th

9th Chords → 9th, Minor 9th, Major 9th, 9th Diminished 5th

Plus an 11th chord and a 13th chord.

Edit Table Name → Enter this to open the on-screen keyboard and enter a name for the table. The table name will appear at the top right.

Release Table → This will empty and release a table from a track type, so it can be newly assigned.

Good to know: Use the ‘Clean Tables’ command in the Reorganize Screen to release all unused tables automatically. Keep in mind that tables with content (something in the transpose, hop or fx column) will not be released. This avoids deleting prepared tables which are temporarily unused. To release those anyway, you need to release them in the Nerd Screen / Menu from the table screen.

You can navigate between all tables by holding the TABLE button in the table screen and pressing CURSOR UP/DOWN.

The table screen has the same Mark / Copy / Paste functionality as the other screens, but additionally you can select either the columns/rows or the settings on the right side to be used for the copy/paste actions.

Also good to know:

• You can create nice FX effects by using the Add/Sub/Mul/Div commands and letting these calculations run in a table. For audio this can create time-stretching or granular effects.
• For a Midi track a special Velocity Overrule FX has been added which can create Midi delay or fading effects in combination with the Midi retriggering of a table and a decrementing or incrementing Velocity FX.
• A table can also be filled dynamically using notes from a Midi keyboard, which allows on-the-fly arpeggios. Check the Input Assign section of the Midi / I2C Setup Screen for more info.

The Automator screen contains up to 8 possible slots for Generators / Modulators / Effects / Manipulators. An Automator can currently be an LFO, Envelope, or a CV Input. You can assign an Automator to any of the 8 slots. The output of the Automator can be routed to several functions, outputs and more through a modulation matrix. The matrix has the 8 tracks as destinations, and in it you can decide which setting / function / output of each track should be modulated by the Automator. Be aware that Automators can also generate negative values (e.g. the lower half of a sine-wave LFO), and for most destinations the values are scaled and added depending on the destination’s maximum value.

The top part of the screen shows the 8 slot rows: from the left, the slot number, followed by the assigned function (empty if no function is assigned to the slot). Next is the indication whether this slot/function is running or not. The 8 tracks next to it define which function of each track the output is ‘routed’ to. In the picture you can see that the LFO in slot 0 is routed to the MOD output of Track 1. In other words, the LFO is modulating the physical MOD1 output. In the middle of the screen you can see the animation of the currently selected Automator.

The lower part shows the settings of an Automator. The screenshot shows the LFO with all its settings.

The current version has the following Automator functions:

• LFO
• Envelope
• CV Input/Output

The destinations in the modulation matrix for the CV/Gate tracks are:

• CV Output → Modulates the function onto the CV output
• MOD Output → Modulates the function onto the MOD output
• Trigger Length → Overrides the next trigger setting with an ON/OFF trigger, where the length of the trigger is determined by the Automator output (10 .. C0)
• Delayed Trigger/Gate length → Overrides the next trigger setting with an OFF/ON trigger / gate, where the length of the delay is determined by the Automator output (01 .. 0F)
• FX1..FX4 Overrule → Overrides the next FX of the defined FX column by the value of the Automator
• CV Glide → Manipulates the Glide setting for the CV output
• CV Resolution → Manipulates the Glide Resolution setting for the CV output
• MOD Glide → Manipulates the Glide setting for the MOD output
• MOD Resolution → Manipulates the Glide Resolution setting for the MOD output
• CV/Trigger/MOD/Table/FX1..4/Row Probability → Manipulates the probability settings for the defined FX
• Step Overrule → Overrides the current step in the currently playing pattern. This is an experimental function.
• Gate → Sets or resets the gate of the selected track. If the Automator value is higher than 0, it sets the gate, and if it is lower than 1, it resets the gate.
• Trigger → Nearly the same as Gate, but instead of gating, only a trigger is generated on the low-to-high transition

The destinations for the audio tracks 7+8 are:

• Pitch → Modulates the pitch of the currently playing sample/wave for either the first or the 2nd sample/wave in the pattern screen
• Volume → Modulates the Volume
• Bitcrush → Modulates the bitcrush settings
• Distortion → Modulates the distortion settings
• Position → Manipulates the current sample offset/position (funny time-stretching effects are possible with that). In combination with a pulse wave, it modulates the pulse width
• Wavefold → Manipulates the wavefold settings of the sample/waveform
• Overrule FX1..4 → Overrides the next FX value
• Probability % → Manipulates the probability settings for the Samples 1/2
• Probability FX → Manipulates the probability settings for the defined FX
• Probability Row → Manipulates the probability settings for the whole track row
• Overrule Steps → Overrides the current step in the currently playing pattern part. This is an experimental function.

All audio destinations are for either the 1st or for the 2nd sample/wave of an audio track except for the row probability, which applies to both.

The destinations in the modulation matrix for the Midi assigned tracks are:

• Pitchbend → Sends pitch bend data to the Midi device.
• CC1..8 → Sends CC data to the controller numbers which are set up in the Midi track settings
• NRPN1..4 → Sends NRPN data to the controller numbers which are set up in the Midi track settings
• Note overrule → Not implemented yet
• The rest are the same as for a regular CV/Gate track, with the following exceptions:
  – Probabilities are set to the Midi note and FX groups.

The destinations in the modulation matrix for the ‘Trigger16’ expander assigned tracks are:

• Trigger 1..4 Length → Overrides the next trigger (of the expander), where the length of the trigger is determined by the Automator output (10 .. F0)
• Delayed Trigger/Gate 1..4 length → Overrides the next trigger (of the expander) with an OFF/ON trigger / gate, where the length of the delay is determined by the Automator output (01 .. 0F)
• Triggers Galore → Sends triggers (as set up in the track setup) to the trigger output corresponding to the current value of the Automator output.
• Triggers Square 8 → Uses the Automator output to set and reset Trigger output 8 (or 16 if swapped). If the Automator output is higher than 0, the output is set, and if it is lower than 0, the output is reset. Only applies to outputs 8 or 16!
• The following destinations are the same as for a regular CV/Gate track, with the following exceptions:
  – Probabilities are set to the trigger output and FX groups.
• Trigger 1..16 Gate – Sets a gate on the defined Trigger16 output if higher than 0; otherwise it resets the gate
• Trigger 1..16 Trigger – Generates a Trigger on the defined Trigger16 output with every low-to-high transition

The destinations for the CV16 tracks are:

• CV 1..16 → Modulates the function onto the CV outputs 1..16
• Column 1 Probability → Probability for Column 1 of the pattern screen
• Column 2 Probability → Probability for Column 2 of the pattern screen
• Column 3 Probability → Probability for Column 3 of the pattern screen
• Column 4 Probability → Probability for Column 4 of the pattern screen
• Column 5+6 Probability → Probability for Column 5+6 of the pattern screen
• FX1..3 Probability → Probability for the FX1..3 column
• FX1..3 Overrule → Overrides the values of the FX1..3 column
• Envelope 1..8 Attack/Sustain/Release → Modulates the envelope settings
• LFO 1..8 Type/Speed/Amplitude → Modulates the LFO settings
• Local CV → Modulates the local CV output of the track-setup
• Local MOD → Modulates the local MOD output of the track-setup
• Local Glide (CV/MOD) → Modulates the local glide settings
• Row Probability → Modulates the probability of the complete pattern row
• Local Gate → Sets and resets the local gate of the track

The destinations for the I2C tracks are:

• Column 1-6 Destination → Sends the data to the destination defined for Column 1-6 of the track
• Matrix 1-16 Destination Gate → Sets or resets a Gate (zero cross) to the destination defined for the Matrix 1-16 of the track. Trigger only destinations fire on the rising edge.
• Column123 Probability → Probability for the columns 1, 2 and 3 of the pattern screen
• Column456 Probability → Probability for the columns 4, 5 and 6 of the pattern screen
• Matrix1, Matrix2, Matrix3 Probability → Probability for the first three columns of the drum matrix. The matrix columns 4 to 16 have no probability setting and always play.
• FX1, FX2, FX3 Probability
• FX1, FX2, FX3 Overrule
• Local CV
• Local MOD
• Local CV Glide
• Local CV Resolution
• Local MOD Glide
• Local MOD Resolution
• Row Probability