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Arturia beatstep pro, User Manual

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ARTURIA – BeatStep Pro – USER’S MANUAL 

1

 

INTRODUCTION 

Congratulations  on  your  purchase  of  the  Arturia  BeatStep  Pro!  This  unique  device  is  a 
combination  of  many  musical  technologies:  an  assignable  MIDI  controller,  two  analog-
style  step  sequencers,  a  drum  programmer  and  a  live  performance  tool,  all  in  a  single 
compact  package.  It  has  an  unlimited  number  of  potential  uses  and  setup  options, 
thanks to its simultaneous USB, MIDI, CV/Gate and synchronization capabilities. 

We’ll  give  some  useful  examples  in  this  manual  and  then  you  should  be  able  to  start 
experimenting with BeatStep Pro. The unit has a relatively simple appearance, but you 
will find there are many ways to integrate it with your system. This in turn will open up 
many new avenues for musical inspiration and creativity. 

Be  sure  to  visit  the  www.arturia.com  website  and  check  for  the  latest  firmware, 
download the MIDI Control Center and check out the tutorials and FAQs. 

We are very proud of the BeatStep Pro, and are confident that as you use it you will find 
yourself immersed in many extended periods of creativity. 

Summary of Contents for beatstep pro

Page 1: ...USER S MANUAL USER S MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Arturia The software described in this manual is provided under the terms of a license agreement or non disclosure agreement The software license agreement specifies the terms and conditions for its lawful use No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any purpose other than purchaser s personal use wi...

Page 3: ...wo MIDI adapter cables 1 8 TRS jack to 5 pin DIN gray One DIN adapter cable 1 8 TRS jack to 5 pin DIN black The two Quick Start Guides for BeatStep Pro Be sure to register your BeatStep Pro as soon as possible There is a sticker on the bottom panel that contains the serial number of your unit and an unlock code These are required during the online registration process You may want to record these ...

Page 4: ... instrument 3 Before cleaning the instrument always remove the USB cable When cleaning use a soft and dry cloth Do not use gasoline alcohol acetone turpentine or any other organic solutions do not use a liquid cleaner spray or cloth that s too wet 4 Do not use the instrument near water or moisture such as a bathtub sink swimming pool or similar place 5 Do not place the instrument in an unstable po...

Page 5: ...s 17 2 2 8 Encoders 17 2 2 9 Step buttons 18 2 2 10 Pads 18 2 3 REAR PANEL OVERVIEW PART 1 19 2 3 1 Pitch Velo Gate outputs 19 2 3 2 Drum gates 19 2 4 REAR PANEL OVERVIEW PART 2 19 2 4 1 Clock input output 19 2 4 2 MIDI input output 19 2 4 3 USB DC IN 20 2 4 4 Power switch 20 2 4 5 Kensington lock port 20 3 BASIC OPERATIONS 21 3 1 WHAT S A PROJECT 21 3 2 THE BLANK PROJECT 21 3 3 MAKING A PROJECT 2...

Page 6: ... 2 1 1 About quantize recording 34 5 2 2 Selecting a Drum 35 5 2 3 Muting a Drum 35 5 2 4 Encoders 35 5 2 4 1 Shift 35 5 2 4 2 Velocity 35 5 2 4 3 Gate Time 35 5 2 5 Step buttons 35 5 2 6 Pattern Length 36 5 2 6 1 Pattern Follow mode 36 5 2 6 2 Lengths 16 steps 36 5 2 6 3 Editing steps 17 32 37 5 2 7 Pads 37 5 2 7 1 Playback mode 37 5 2 7 2 Time division 37 5 2 8 Swing 38 5 2 9 Randomness Probabil...

Page 7: ...DAW send CV Gate signals 53 9 1 3 How should I route the signals 53 9 1 4 CV Gate specifications 54 9 2 DRUM GATES 54 9 2 1 How do they work 54 9 2 2 Which pads do I use 54 9 2 3 Can my DAW send CV Gate signals 55 9 2 4 How should I route the signals 55 9 2 5 Drum Gate specifications 55 10 CONTROL MODE 56 10 1 WHAT IS CONTROL MODE 56 10 2 TOP PANEL FUNCTIONS 56 10 2 1 Tempo 56 10 2 2 Metronome Tap...

Page 8: ... 4 6 TIE a note 71 12 6 DRUM WINDOW 71 12 6 1 Navigation 71 12 6 1 1 Scroll 71 12 6 1 2 Zoom 72 12 6 2 Front panel parameters 72 12 6 3 SEQ length 73 12 6 4 Sequence events 73 12 6 4 1 Enter delete events 73 12 6 4 2 Move events 73 12 6 4 3 Copy paste events 74 12 6 4 4 Event velocity 74 12 6 4 5 Event length Gate time 74 12 6 4 6 TIE an event 74 12 7 CONTROLLER WINDOW 75 12 7 1 Common features 75...

Page 9: ...8 8 Drum Map 85 12 8 9 User Scale 86 13 PARAMETER CHARTS 87 13 1 DEFAULT SETTINGS 87 13 1 1 Encoders 87 13 1 2 Step buttons 88 13 1 3 Pads 88 13 2 MCU HUI ENCODER ASSIGNMENTS 89 14 ARTURIA BEATSTEP PRO LEGAL INFORMATION 90 14 1 SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT 90 14 2 FCC INFORMATION USA 92 14 3 CANADA 93 14 4 EUROPE 93 ...

Page 10: ...nchronization capabilities We ll give some useful examples in this manual and then you should be able to start experimenting with BeatStep Pro The unit has a relatively simple appearance but you will find there are many ways to integrate it with your system This in turn will open up many new avenues for musical inspiration and creativity Be sure to visit the www arturia com website and check for t...

Page 11: ...evel it can be connected to any computer with a USB port and used as an input device for various applications The included MIDI Control Center software allows you to define a wide variety of MIDI commands to be transmitted by the encoders buttons and pads of the BeatStep Pro However BeatStep Pro is so powerful on its own that there may be times when you want to use it without a computer attached I...

Page 12: ...vices to the BeatStep Pro 2 1 2 3 Clock sources destinations The Clock input and output can synchronize with older clock types such as 24 pulses per quarter note ppqn 48 ppqn or even a single pulse per step The included adapter 1 8 TRS jack to 5 pin DIN black can be used to connect DIN sync capable devices to the BeatStep Pro See section 8 2 2 for specific information about what cables to use with...

Page 13: ...hould use the included anti ground loop adapter if you experience background noise in your speakers that disappears when you disconnect the audio interface from your computer or the CV Gate connections to your analog gear A ground loop can also cause problems with pitch tracking when using the BeatStep Pro CV connections with analog synthesizers Connect the anti ground loop adapter as follows ...

Page 14: ...equence control see 2 2 6 7 Project Control modes see 2 2 7 8 Encoders see 2 2 8 9 Step buttons see 2 2 9 10 Pads see 2 2 10 2 2 1 Transport Shift buttons The Transport buttons control the internal sequencers and external MIDI devices using MIDI Machine Control But they also can send other MIDI messages to your DAW which is handy if your DAW does not respond to MMC commands Use our MIDI Control Ce...

Page 15: ... be changed with a single action The operation of these features is described in section 12 8 2 5 2 2 2 3 Preset length section BeatStep Pro sequences can be up to 64 steps long consisting of up to four 16 step subdivisions that play one after the other Those are called the Step Groups The four LEDs above the double arrow buttons are used to indicate the pattern length and which Step Group is curr...

Page 16: ...lity to the sequences As with the Swing setting these controls can affect the entire project all three sequencers at once or only the current sequencer leaving the others untouched For more details on all three features see sections 6 4 and 6 5 2 2 5 Tempo and synchronization Set the project tempo here either with a twist of the RATE FINE encoder or by tapping the TAP METRO button The display will...

Page 17: ... read chapter 4 and chapter 5 to learn more 2 2 7 Project Control modes There are 16 Projects available in the BeatStep Pro and each Project contains 16 patterns per sequencer This allows for tens of thousands of possible combinations all available instantly The Project button is used to select the desired Project The Control Mode button transforms the BeatStep Pro front panel into a monster MIDI ...

Page 18: ...ill learn how they are used to load a Project select a sequencer pattern choose a destination make a pattern chain etc And with the MIDI Control Center you can configure them to do anything a pad can do in Control Mode But their most distinctive feature is that they are color coded to match the sequencer that is currently selected So when Sequencer 1 is active the Step buttons are green for Sequen...

Page 19: ...Gate on off signals are transmitted for pads 1 8 from these connectors In contrast the MIDI connector sends Velocity and Gate Time information to all 16 pads Read more about the Drum Gates in section 9 2 2 4 Rear panel overview part 2 2 4 1 Clock input output The included DIN adapter 1 8 TRS jack to 5 pin DIN black allows BeatStep Pro to interface with pre MIDI technology that used these connector...

Page 20: ...your controller presets and sequences even without a computer present 2 4 4 Power switch If you want to turn the unit off without disconnecting the USB cable use this recessed switch 2 4 5 Kensington lock port BeatStep Pro is highly portable and it should be carried only where you want it to go So we ve included a Kensington lock slot on the far right edge of the rear panel so you can secure it to...

Page 21: ...Every control is set to transmit data on the User MIDI Channel to both USB and the MIDI output Note the default User MIDI Channel is 1 Use the MIDI Control Center to change this see section 12 8 1 For the three sequencers this means SEQ1 SEQ2 and DRUM send and receive on channels 1 2 and 10 respectively Playback mode is set to Forward Time division is set to 1 16 Gate time for each step is 50 Swin...

Page 22: ...t how to record a pattern 3 3 1 Select a Sequencer First decide which of the three sequencers you want to use as the basis for your Project If you have a melody in your head or want to improvise a bass line select either SEQ1 or SEQ2 by pressing its button If you prefer to start building a drum pattern first press the DRUM button instead 3 3 2 Select a pattern You can record to any one of the 16 p...

Page 23: ...rnal device or your DAW The MIDI channel and note can be changed using the MIDI Control Center To enable the metronome hold SHIFT and press the TAP METRO button The same action will disable it 3 3 6 Record a pattern or three If you ve gone through all the steps so far in section 3 3 then let s make a quick pattern on each sequencer For a more detailed explanation of the following procedures see se...

Page 24: ...contains them Saving a Project is simple It only takes three steps Caution When you follow these instructions you will overwrite the selected Project and all of its patterns Be sure this is what you want to do If not be sure to find out which memory location is available and store the Project there instead Once you re sure where you want to store the Project Hold the SAVE button Press the PROJECT ...

Page 25: ... after the Drum sequencer reaches the end of its current pattern See section 12 8 5 6 to learn about this feature 3 6 All Notes Off It s possible for a MIDI message to be interrupted for some reason This can result in a stuck or hanging note on the target device If this happens just press the BeatStep Pro STOP button quickly three times in a row It will then send an All Notes Off command over MIDI...

Page 26: ...y s music often uses loops so it makes perfect sense that step sequencers would experience a revival With the purchase of BeatStep Pro you now have access to not one but two of these unique creative tools plus a drum sequencer And as you have come to expect Arturia has taken them many steps beyond what the original devices could do 4 2 SEQ1 and SEQ2 characteristics Sequencer 1 and Sequencer 2 have...

Page 27: ...corresponds to the sequence step Note The encoders are touch sensitive so you can touch an encoder to view the existing value for a parameter before selecting a new value Now let s focus on each editing option briefly 4 3 2 1 Pitch The encoders can edit the pitch of a step 36 semitones from the default pitch of middle C MIDI note 60 You can edit the notes whether the sequencer is playing or not Wh...

Page 28: ...notes you want more quickly What a Scale doesn t do is change the MIDI notes that have already been assigned to the sequence steps the encoders do that What a Scale does is give the encoders a specific outline of notes to follow as they are turned So rather than always altering the pitch chromatically you have the option to specify a different musical scale This is handy when you want to change th...

Page 29: ...e each step in the sequence When one is lit a note will play at the Pitch and Velocity you choose and will keep playing for as long as you want it to Gate time To silence that note event simply press that Step button When its LED is dark that event will not play the next time Note a sequence can be longer than 16 steps see the next section When this is true you may see the enabled Step buttons cha...

Page 30: ...ssing the and buttons at the same time The buttons should be dark Here s what to do next Hold the LST STEP button Press the button once A white LED will appear above the number 32 Press Step button 16 technically it s button 32 now It will turn green Release the LST STEP button Step 32 has now been defined as the last step in the sequence Now press and at the same time to enter Sequence Follow mod...

Page 31: ...nput Scales which are described in section 4 3 3 To select one hold the SHIFT button and press one of those pads Remember the Input Scale doesn t change notes that already exist in the sequence It chooses a certain set of notes that an encoder can select if you edit the Pitch of a step The default selection for this parameter is the Chromatic Scale The User Scale can be defined using the MIDI Cont...

Page 32: ...tures are described in greater detail in section 6 5 but it is important to know that each sequencer can have its own settings for these parameters To try this press the CURRENT TRACK button After this any changes to the Randomness and Probability settings will affect only the current sequence Then you can select the other sequencers and edit their settings for these parameters as well To make all...

Page 33: ...uence You can also copy a sequence from one location within the sequencer to another even if no edits have been made To do this simply follow the same steps described above in section 4 4 and select a new location number instead of the original number 4 6 Copying a sequence from one sequencer to the other The two Sequencer 1 and 2 allow you to copy sequences from one to the other Use Save Sequence...

Page 34: ...p Pro in Drum mode If you aren t sure press the DRUM button 5 2 1 Recording a Pattern To record a pattern hold the Record button and press the Play button If the pattern is already playing just press the Record button When both are lit and the unit is running it is in Record mode If it isn t running check the Sync settings see chapter 8 Now play one or more pads Whatever you play will be captured ...

Page 35: ...e the KNOBS button to cycle through the following editing options for the encoders 5 2 4 1 Shift The encoders can be used to shift the timing of Drum events forward or backward in relation to the beat This can help add a human feel to your drum patterns 5 2 4 2 Velocity If a drum event in the pattern is too loud or soft you can edit its velocity using the encoders Just select the drum in question ...

Page 36: ...en return to steps 1 16 and so on When LEDs are Pattern Follow mode is Dark ON Lit OFF Remember the playback of the pattern itself is not affected when Pattern Follow mode is enabled This only affects what you are seeing which should make it easier to edit particular sections of the pattern 5 2 6 2 Lengths 16 steps To make your pattern longer than 16 steps will involve the LST STEP button the butt...

Page 37: ...f signals only to the Drum Gates on the rear panel The pads also have secondary functions which are accessed by holding SHIFT and pressing one of the pads These combinations allow you to specify the following pattern parameters 5 2 7 1 Playback mode The first three buttons on the bottom row of pads are used with the SHIFT button to select the Playback mode i e the playback direction Here s what ea...

Page 38: ... as well To disable the independent settings and force all three sequencers to use the same Randomness and Probability settings simply toggle the button off The default setting is 0 for each parameter Note the CURRENT TRACK button is disabled in Control Mode but the global Randomness and Probability settings can still be used 5 3 Saving a pattern It s important to know that if you switch to anothe...

Page 39: ... pattern You can also copy a pattern from one location within the Drum sequencer to another even if no edits have been made To do this simply follow the same steps described in section 5 3 and select a new location number instead of the original number ...

Page 40: ...hold the PROJECT button and press the Step button that corresponds to the number of the Project you want to load Be sure you have saved your current Project somewhere before you do this Projects can also be loading during performance while the sequences are running Note There s a preference in the MIDI Control Center where you can specify whether the new Project should be loaded instantly or wait ...

Page 41: ...the TAP METRO button All you have to do is tap the button at the desired rate and the tempo will change to match your rhythm Note Tap tempo will not function when the BeatStep Pro is set to one of the external sync sources You can set the number of taps it takes to set the Tempo using the MIDI Control Center 6 4 Swing The Swing setting can shift the timing of the notes in a sequence to lengthen th...

Page 42: ...rize how the Randomness and Probability parameters interact The Randomness value determines how much Randomness will occur The Probability value determines how often the Randomness will occur You can specify how much these features will affect the sequencers As their levels are increased the following aspects of the sequenced notes will be affected The playback order The rhythmic pattern Steps on ...

Page 43: ...ay as normal For example if the Probability value is at 10 then only 10 of the time something random might happen And if the value is increased to 50 then random variations might happen half of the time 6 5 3 Current Track button Each sequencer can have an independent setting for both the Randomness and Probability parameters To experiment with this press the CURRENT TRACK button any changes to th...

Page 44: ... have your finger on the strip at 1 4 the Roller output will be off by an eighth note after that bar 6 6 1 2 Sync settings The Roller will work even when an external sync source is used The results may vary depending on the source though If playback is stopped and no external clock is being received the Roller will output notes at a rate based on the internal clock setting If the Time Division is ...

Page 45: ... There s a preference in the MIDI Control Center that controls the response of the sequencers to the PRST LNK button Absolute or Relative Examples of each response are given in section 12 8 2 5 6 9 Selecting MIDI Channels 6 9 1 Output Channels Each sequencer in the BeatStep Pro can sent to its own output MIDI channel by following these steps Select the sequencer you want to change Press and hold t...

Page 46: ...d the SHIFT button Press and hold the CHAN button Press one of the Step buttons Note that when the SHIFT CHAN buttons are pressed the Step buttons show three different colors The color scheme follows the front panel design Sequencer 1 channel Green Sequencer 2 channel Yellow Drum channel Purple The send and receive channels for each sequencer can be set independently using the MIDI Control Center ...

Page 47: ... the last step for which the Gate will remain unchanged 7 3 Extend a pattern or sequence It s possible to extend a pattern using the SHIFT button and button This is done through a copy and append process that takes up to 16 steps of pattern data and attaches it to the end of the existing pattern Patterns can be extended up to the maximum pattern length of 64 steps To extend a pattern Start in SEQ1...

Page 48: ... between all three sequencers and some are also shared with Control Mode Here s a chart indicating which SHIFT functions are available in which mode MODE SHIFT Function SEQ1 or 2 Pad 1 8 Sets the input scale for the encoders SEQ1 2 or DRUM Pad 9 11 Sets the playback direction of the current SEQ or DRUM pattern SEQ1 2 or DRUM Step button 1 Clears the data in the current SEQ or DRUM pattern Sets eve...

Page 49: ...tch CV output does not send pitch bend data 7 6 Chaining Patterns Hold SHIFT SEQUENCER 1 2 or DRUM This activates pattern chain mode SHIFT can be released but SEQUENCER 1 2 or DRUM button must remain pressed Press the steps in the order that you want them to play in your chain Release the SEQUENCER 1 2 or DRUM button The chain will be created in the order that you built it You can for instance cre...

Page 50: ...cities of the four steps to 127 100 4 50 Now hold SHIFT and turn Knob 1 The display will show you how much offset you applied Turn Knob 1 until you get to a value of 10 The Velocity for the four steps should now be 127 110 14 60 Note Velocity cannot go beyond 127 so when this value is reached turning the knob to the right or adding more offset will have no effect Example 2 Select SEQUENCER 1 set t...

Page 51: ...uence tempo can be set using the TEMPO encoder and the TAP METRO button 8 2 As Slave BeatStep Pro functions as a slave to an external clock when one of the other three SYNC LEDS are lit USB MIDI or CLK When BeatStep Pro is in Slave mode The Tempo controls will not control the internal sequencer while the external source is running The BeatStep Pro transport section will still perform as usual you ...

Page 52: ...plied DIN sync adapters to connect to devices which utilize DIN sync messages Check the owner s manual for your device if you are not sure which sort of sync capabilities it has If you use a TS jack connector the sequencer needs to be armed before it can start when it receives a clock signal You must press Play to arm the sequencer Ex PLAY with No clock received It will wait for a clock signal and...

Page 53: ...hrough the CV Gate connectors just like the pads would However the pads can t play the CV Gate connectors while the unit is in Control Mode You can start the sequencers though and they will play the attached devices while you control your DAW and play your MIDI devices from Control Mode 9 1 2 Can my DAW send CV Gate signals It s possible to send note data from a couple of MIDI tracks on your DAW t...

Page 54: ...voltage o S trigger negative or short The MIDI Control Center allows each of these settings to be configured independently for SEQ1 and SEQ2 9 2 Drum Gates 9 2 1 How do they work When DRUM is selected the notes you play on pads 1 8 are translated immediately into Gate signals and sent to the Drum Gate connectors on the back panel Two voltages are sent for each note one for Gate open and one for Ga...

Page 55: ...locity data for all 16 pads the Drum Gates are only intended to trigger sounds and shut them off 9 2 4 How should I route the signals Typically the Drum Gate output is connected to a Voltage Controlled Amplifier VCA But you can send those signals to any parameters that will accept them For example they can be used to trigger a synthesizer such as one from our MiniBrute or MicroBrute series 9 2 5 D...

Page 56: ...formance controls on the left side of the front panel will control the same features in Control Mode unless configured otherwise with the MIDI Control Center There are some slight variations though which we ll point out as we go through them 10 2 1Tempo The RATE FINE encoder works exactly the same in all modes Its functions are described in section 6 3 10 2 2Metronome Tap Tempo The Metronome Tap T...

Page 57: ...That event will be repeated at the time division you selected with your finger For more information about the Roller strip see section 6 6 1 10 2 6Transport The Transport section works the same way in Control Mode as it does in the other modes unless instructed otherwise by the MIDI Control Center The functions of the Transport section are described in section 2 2 1 10 2 7Disabled features There a...

Page 58: ...lation and location After downloading the appropriate MIDI Control Center installer for your computer from the Arturia website double click on the file Then all you have to do is start the installer and follow the instructions The process should be trouble free The installer puts MIDI Control Center with the other Arturia applications you have In Windows check the Start menu In Mac OS X you ll fin...

Page 59: ... introduction to the MIDI Control Center describing each section of the software window and defining important terms you will need to know while using the MIDI Control Center such as Working Memory and Template The next chapter explains how to use the MIDI Control Center software to configure the BeatStep Pro presets so they match your system and enhance your workflow ...

Page 60: ... sequencers the Control Mode settings and the Project level settings for Swing etc Each of these features is given its own Tab in the middle of the MIDI Control Center application We ll cover the Tabs in section 12 4 12 1 2Project list The left side of the MIDI Control Center window shows a list containing the Working Memory and Projects 1 16 When one of the Projects is selected from the list the ...

Page 61: ...lates are the ones you have recalled from the BeatStep Pro using the MIDI Control Center See section 12 3 to learn how to do this The Project Browser window A Template in the MIDI Control Center is the same thing as a Project inside your BeatStep Pro it contains the Project level settings the Control Mode settings and the patterns from all three sequencers Here s an expanded view of the contents o...

Page 62: ...transferred from the BeatStep Pro automatically Then you can give it a new name if you like 12 2 2Revise a Template If you d like to modify a Template you can drag it from the Project Browser and drop it on the Working Memory area This will also send the selected Project directly into the BeatStep Pro edit buffers Important This process will overwrite the Working Memory and the edit buffers of the...

Page 63: ...Control Center sends a pattern to BeatStep Pro it will overwrite the pattern in that memory location Be sure this is what you want to do before you transfer one of these files 12 3 Store To Recall From 12 3 1Store the Working Memory to the BeatStep Pro The upper left hand section of the MIDI Control Center has a button called Store To Right above that is a list that allows you to specify which of ...

Page 64: ...I Control Center For example if you want to back up Project 3 from the internal memory simply select it in the Device Projects window and click Recall From Project 3 will show up in the Project Browser with a time date stamp as a name You can rename it if you like Important When you recall the selected Project it will replace the current Project in the Working Memory and the BeatStep Pro Be sure t...

Page 65: ... will take effect See sections 6 4 1 and 6 5 3 for more information about that 12 4 2SEQ1 SEQ2 The tabs for SEQ1 and SEQ2 are identical We ll cover them in section 12 5 but there is one feature we d like to point out here pattern selection Look for the second set of tabs right below the 5 mode tabs These allow you to select the patterns within each Sequencer Note If you re using a laptop with a sm...

Page 66: ...pattern selection feature here Look for the second set of tabs right below the 5 mode tabs These allow you to select the individual patterns within the Drum sequencer The DRUM tab 12 4 4Controller Map The Controller Map tab shows the entire set of BeatStep Pro controls From here you can select one of the 16 encoders Step buttons or Pads and map them to the MIDI parameters you need to control your ...

Page 67: ... 1Scroll If you have a scroll wheel you can move the piano roll view up and down Place the cursor in the piano roll field first not over the keyboard graphic If you hold the Shift key on your computer keyboard the piano roll will move sideways You can also click drag the scroll bars at the edge and bottom of the window to reposition the sequence view Scroll bar locations ...

Page 68: ...of these parameters have been covered in chapter 4 Front panel parameters for SEQ1 and SEQ2 The exception is the Transpose parameter See section 12 5 2 1 for information on that To edit Swing for example click and drag the knob graphic or double click in the value field and enter a new value Editing a knob value To edit a parameter such as Playback Direction click its pull down menu and make a sel...

Page 69: ...nside the piano roll to enter a note To delete notes select a note with a single click or drag a box around several notes Then press the Delete key on your computer keyboard 12 5 4 2Move notes To move an existing note click and hold the middle of note The cursor will become a hand icon Then drag the note up or down to place it anywhere within the MIDI note range You can also drag it to the left or...

Page 70: ... new notes will have the same velocity and gate time values as the original notes 12 5 4 4Note velocity If you click on the top of a note box you will see the cursor become a vertical arrow icon Drag the cursor up and down to change the velocity of that note to a value between 1 and 127 The color of the selected note will change to indicate the velocity value white is the lowest velocity value and...

Page 71: ...ger note you can keep dragging the cursor until the second note s length value also becomes TIE and so on When the lengths of multiple notes are edited at the same time they will all change to the same value 12 6 Drum window 12 6 1Navigation 12 6 1 1Scroll If you have a scroll wheel you can move the sequence view horizontally Place the cursor in the sequence field not over the pad names then hold ...

Page 72: ... wheel to adjust the view 12 6 2Front panel parameters Most of these parameters have been covered in chapter 5 Front panel parameters for the Drum tab To edit Swing for example click and drag the knob graphic or double click in the value field and enter a new value Editing a knob value To edit a parameter such as Playback Direction click its pull down menu and make a selection Selecting a pull dow...

Page 73: ...event To delete events select one event with a single click or drag a box around several events Then press the Delete key on your computer keyboard 12 6 4 2Move events To move an existing event to a different drum click and hold the middle of that event The cursor will become a hand icon Then drag the event up or down to place it in the drum track you want You can also drag the event to the left o...

Page 74: ...4Event velocity If you click on the top of an event you will see the cursor become a vertical arrow icon Drag the cursor up and down to change the velocity of that event to a value between 1 and 127 The color of the selected event will change to indicate the velocity value white is the lowest velocity value and red is the highest velocity value When the velocities of multiple events are edited at ...

Page 75: ...troller window Here are some examples of what you can assign a BeatStep Pro control to do using the MIDI Control Center Configure pads to transmit MIDI notes Set a pad to switch between two values of any MIDI CC each time it is played Assign an encoder to control any MIDI CC and define its operational range We ll take you through two examples of those scenarios in this chapter For more detailed in...

Page 76: ...a pad can also be assigned to CC The options of each field are different for each control type However there are two fields that are always available for each control MIDI Port and MIDI Channel 12 7 1 1MIDI Port There is an option that allows you to choose whether the MIDI data for each control will be sent out of the physical MIDI port the USB connection to your computer or both ...

Page 77: ...l you can choose whether they will be locked to a particular MIDI channel or will float with the Control Mode MIDI channel Now let s go through a couple of real world examples of MIDI control assignments 12 7 2Toggle MIDI CC values with a pad One popular musical effect is to take an audio loop filter it heavily for one section of a song and switch it back to the full open sound later You can confi...

Page 78: ... There are a couple of MIDI CC numbers that have been assigned the task of controlling filter brightness CC 74 or harmonic content CC 71 We ll use CC 74 for this example Click on the MIDI CC number field and select the Brightness controller number as shown Next we ll set some minimum and maximum values that might work adjust them to suit the audio source ...

Page 79: ...ield is set to Absolute which means it will transmit in a linear fashion from fully counter clockwise to fully clockwise The CC number field shows CC 76 the MIDI CC that has been assigned to control Vibrato Rate The MIDI Port setting means the data will be sent to both the physical MIDI port and to your computer via the USB port The Acceleration field allows you to set the controller response to o...

Page 80: ... Use the pull down menus to select the User MIDI Channel for BeatStep Pro This is the same parameter as the Control Mode MIDI Channel that you can set from the front panel Changing the User Channel is a quick way to reassign many controls at once There are also separate Send and Receive MIDI Channels for each sequencer 12 8 2Transposition The top four parameters affect the way the BeatStep Pro wil...

Page 81: ...ut port Use this to tell the BeatStep Pro which MIDI port will receive the transposition request 12 8 2 4Center pitch The Center pitch decides which incoming note means don t transpose The default value is MIDI note 60 or middle C C3 So for example an incoming C3 won t transpose the sequence but an incoming D3 will transpose the sequence 2 etc 12 8 2 5Seq Link The fifth parameter determines how th...

Page 82: ...the encoders will skip a few more values It may take as few as 1 1 2 turns of an encoder to move from minimum to maximum Fast 2 maximum acceleration when turned quickly the encoders will skip even more values Parameter values can change from minimum to maximum in the least number of encoder turns usually only one but there will be less precision when the encoder is turned at a moderate speed Each ...

Page 83: ... you to override the independent Tempo settings of each Project When set to Global each Project will play at the current Tempo value on the front panel 12 8 5 4Wait to Load Project With this parameter you can specify whether a new Project will be loaded as soon as you select it or not This is useful in live performance settings where you may not want to interrupt the flow of the music between Proj...

Page 84: ...st powers up Note select the MIDI note of the metronome sound Port the metronome note can be sent to external MIDI your computer via USB or both Channel choose the MIDI channel of the metronome sound Bar Velocity set the velocity at which the metronome note will play on the downbeat of each bar Beat Velocity set the velocity at which the metronome note will play in the middle of each bar ...

Page 85: ...m Map The Chromatic and Custom drum map templates There are four options for the MIDI note assignments of the pads in Drum mode Chromatic MIDI notes 36 51 are spread evenly across pads 1 16 General MIDI pads 1 16 conform to the General MIDI specification Spark Conforms to the layout of our Spark drum controllers Custom user definable drum mapping Enter a MIDI note value for each pad with its knob ...

Page 86: ... 8 9User Scale To create your own User Scale for the encoders turn each note on or off For example if you wanted to set up a whole tone scale turn off C D F G A and B That way the encoders will only select C D E F G and A when they are turned ...

Page 87: ...er MIDI port USB MIDI USB MIDI USB MIDI Min range 0 127 0 Max range 0 127 127 Loop ON OFF Loop determines if the encoder will stop when it reaches 0 or 127 or loop around Bank LSB MIDI channels USER 1 16 User MIDI port USB MIDI USB MIDI USB MIDI Min range 0 127 0 Max range 0 127 127 Loop ON OFF Loop determines if the encoder will stop when it reaches 0 or 127 or loop around Bank MSB MIDI channels ...

Page 88: ...0 Max velocity range 0 127 127 Play mode GATE TOGGLE Gate Program Change mode Program Change 0 127 Varies MIDI channels USER 1 16 User MIDI port USB MIDI USB MIDI USB MIDI BANK LSB 0 127 0 BANK MSB 0 127 127 NRPN mode NRPN High 0 127 127 NRPN Low 0 127 0 Data 0 127 Varies MIDI channels USER 1 16 User MIDI port USB MIDI USB MIDI USB MIDI 13 1 3Pads Parameter Range Default settings MODE options MIDI...

Page 89: ...ings Item Position left right Type CW CCW Channel Vpot 1 1 Gen purpose 1 1 65 1 Vpot 2 2 Gen Purpose 2 1 65 1 Vpot 3 3 Gen Purpose 3 1 65 1 Vpot 4 4 Gen Purpose 4 1 65 1 Vpot 5 5 Controller 20 1 65 1 Vpot 6 6 Controller 21 1 65 1 Vpot 7 7 Controller 22 1 65 1 Vpot 8 8 Controller 23 1 65 1 Continuous level Position left right Controller Value Max Value Min Channel fader one 1 Pitch Wheel 8176 8192 ...

Page 90: ...he SOFTWARE regardless of the media or form on or in which the original disks or copies may exist The License is not a sale of the original SOFTWARE 2 Grant of License Arturia grants you a non exclusive license for the use of the software according to the terms and conditions of this Agreement You may not lease loan or sub license the software The use of the software within a network is illegal wh...

Page 91: ...his Agreement e g the product activation shall not be possible following the assignment of rights 7 Upgrades and Updates You must have a valid license for the previous or more inferior version of the software in order to be allowed to use an upgrade or update for the software Upon transferring this previous or more inferior version of the software to third parties the right to use the upgrade or u...

Page 92: ...roduct IMPORTANT When connecting this product to accessories and or another product use only high quality shielded cables Cable s supplied with this product MUST be used Follow all installation instructions Failure to follow instructions could void your FFC authorization to use this product in the USA NOTE This product has been tested and found to comply with the limit for a Class B Digital device...

Page 93: ...Equipment Regulation AVIS Cet appareil numérique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du Canada 14 4EUROPE This product complies with the requirements of European Directive 89 336 EEC This product may not work correctly by the influence of electro static discharge if it happens simply restart the product ...

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