DigiDesign Synchronic, Manual

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Synchronic Plug-in Guide 28
Off Plays the sound slices in their original se-
quence. Each slice increments from the previous
one until the end of the sound is reached, and
then continues to loop from the starting slice.
One Slice Plays back and loops only the selected
Start slice.
Reverse Plays the original sequence of slices in
reverse order. Each slice plays in the specified di-
rection (see “Playback Direction” on page 30),
but order of slices is reversed.
Diverge Plays the Start slice followed by last
slice, followed by the second slice, followed by
the second to last slice, and so on following a di-
vergent order from the Start slice.
Random Plays slices in random order.
Random Swap Randomly selects “sibling” slices
based on a half-note spacing. For example, the
“2 and” of a bar, and the “4 and” of a bar are sib-
lings. Unlike Random, which can sound very
“outside,” Random Swap preserves much of the
original feel of a loop, while simultaneously
adding random variations with each repeat of
the loop.
Step (Step 2–5) Plays slices by stepping over
some number of adjacent slices (2–5). For exam-
ple, selecting Step 2 with a loop containing
eight slices will play back slices 1, 3, 5, 7, 2, 4, 6,
8, and repeat.
Span (Span 2–5) Plays slices by stepping forward
some number of slices (2–5) then skipping back
to play the stepped over slices in order. For ex-
ample, selecting Span 3 with a loop containing
eight slices would play slices 1, 4, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, 6,
5, 4, 7, 6, 5, 8, 7, 6, and so on.
Straddle (Straddle 2–5) Plays slices by stepping
forward then making a small step backward. For
example, selecting Straddle 4 with a loop con-
taining eight slices would play slices 1, 5, 2, 6, 3,
7, 4, 8, and so on.
Playback Duration
Playback Duration determines how long a slice
will play before the next slice starts. In addition
to the predominant pulse (beat or subdivision of
the beat), rhythmic loops usually contain a vari-
ety of durations. Thus, to maintain the charac-
ter of a rhythm at different tempos, the default
value for Duration is for the duration of the
slice. This means that each slice plays for its
original note length (rhythmic value).
Synchronic also lets you override the original
duration of a slice and impose alternate rhyth-
mic patterns on the sliced-up loop. In addition
to the standard note-value durations of eighth
Depending on where you start playback in
the Pro Tools timeline, the start position
will affect the exact sequence of slices when
using Step, Span, or Straddle. Typically, you
will want to be sure to start playback on the
downbeat of a bar, and that the aligns with
the number of bars in the loop.