Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of the Arturia KeyStep Pro!
This fantastic keyboard controller gives you everything you need to quickly and easily
control up to four devices at once: virtual instruments, hardware synthesizers, modular
synthesizers or drum machines. Its standalone design means that you can use it with
or without a computer and its four powerful sequencers/arpeggiators are sure to spark
interesting musical ideas and capture your best performances.
All the essential features of a professional keyboard controller are here, including aftertouch,
pitch and modulation touch-strips, and clearly labeled buttons and knobs that are sensibly
laid out for fast, intuitive access. The Slimkey keyboard features great-feeling keys that are
smaller than standard piano keys but still large enough to allow for maximum playability
across multiple octaves. These keys make the product smaller and more portable but—make
no mistake—KeyStep Pro is built like a tank so that it can be taken on tour with confidence.
We hope the four polyphonic sequencers will unleash your most interesting musical ideas.
The RGB LED indicators above each key give you immediate visual feedback of exactly
what each sequencer is doing. You can specify the exact pitch, length, velocity, timing and
randomness of a sequence step through touch-sensitive knobs with surrounding indicator
LED rings. The dedicated note tie, transposition, overdubbing and hold buttons bring
immediacy and power to the sequencers. You can even set independent lengths for each of
the four sequencers for amazing polyrhythmic fun! Breath new life in your sequences by
playing them in a different key. Transposition is handled intelligently; sequences remain in
key as they are transposed. Invert them, shift them forward or backward in time, then send
it all out on the four Voices to your Modular system.
The arpeggiators have many inspiring modes of operation beyond the basic up/down
modes. The HOLD function lets you easily create complex arpeggiations with up to 32
notes (!) and the step timing can be manipulated in real time. Experiment with Arpeggiators
like you've never done before! Create and mix the output of three arpeggiators playing
simultaneously. Mix arpeggios playing at different speeds. Finally, the scale quantization
and chord memory features will make you seem like even more of a musical monster than
you already are!
Use the Drum track to create complex polyrhythms; rhythms of different lengths playing on
24 channels. Or use the first 8 channels to trigger drum units on your modular system. Use
the control track to control filters envelope stages, or reverb times on your external synths.
All of its features are one SHIFT/CLICK away. There's no menu-diving. If you need to change
settings there's a configuration menu, but it's a set-and-forget thing. The real stuff that
makes your music come to life is always at your fingertips. And what features they are!
Four sequencers, that can play huge stacked chords in every step. Advanced step editing;
take the chord stored in a step and change only the notes you want to change in that chord.
In addition to the standard MIDI ports, there is a second MIDI port that you can use to
control more gear or a DMX light controller.
KeyStep Pro has a massive number of uses thanks to its simultaneous USB, MIDI, CV/Gate
connections. Each of the its four tracks can output on USB, MIDI or CV/Gate simultaneously.
Each track on KeyStep Pro has control voltage (CV) outputs for Pitch, Gate and an extra
"modulation" CV output that allows for more creative sound design by letting you control
things like controlling velocity, filter cutoff, or any other parameter of your choosing. The first
track of KeyStep Pro can be set to function as a drum or "trigger" sequencer with 8 separate
CV gate outputs that you can use with analog drum machines or your modular synthesizer.
The powerful synchronization features let you use KeyStep Pro as a master clock source or
to have it synchronize itself to incoming USB, MIDI or CV synchronization signals. KeyStep
Pro can send and receive clock signals and even has a separate clock reset CV output jack
so that your external analog gear always remains firmly synchronized in both tempo
and
phase (loops and sequences always start on the "one" together).
