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Arpie 

MIDI 

ARPEGGIATOR 

 

 

User Guide  

Firmware V6 

September 2019 

 

 

 

 

Summary of Contents for Arpie

Page 1: ...Arpie MIDI ARPEGGIATOR User Guide Firmware V6 September 2019...

Page 2: ...is a lot more to it than that but it s a good basic description Despite its simple construction and appearance Arpie is fully featured with various chord arpeggiation tempo synchronisation and standa...

Page 3: ...licking pressing and releasing the menu button and the second function is selected by holding it down for a longer period of time The data LEDs change to show the settings for that second long press f...

Page 4: ...generally from a controller keyboard The aux midi input accepts MIDI clock messages only via a standard 5 pin DIN connector This input can be used to accept a MIDI clock from a different device to tha...

Page 5: ...The programming header is used to load new firmware on to the Arpie processor using a suitable USB programmer Diagnostic LED 1 is connected to the main ATMega328P microcontroller Arpie s brain When th...

Page 6: ...pitch descending pitch ascending then descending pitch randomised order etc MODE function The final step in building the sequence is an option to extend the sequence further by repeating certain note...

Page 7: ...s then up by 3 semitones Chromatic transposing may change the musical key of the arpeggio and sound out of tune If you want to transpose the arpeggio but remain key Arpie has a force to scale mode Lon...

Page 8: ...g press MODE allows the sequence to advance only on active steps so no notes are skipped Starting from the right the other options are The accent layer causes the note to play with accented MIDI veloc...

Page 9: ...ngth Pressing the PLEN button selects the active length of the trig pattern between 1 and 16 steps Press the button below the required step position to change the length of the trig pattern During pla...

Page 10: ...access it s second function T1 T2 Long Press Time OFF OFF 0 25 seconds OFF ON 0 5 seconds ON OFF 1 second ON ON 1 5 seconds L1 and L2 LED Profile set the how the 16 data LEDs are controlled Different...

Page 11: ...ys the notes of a chord in a random order which is re shuffled each time the arpeggio sequence completes as played plays the notes of the chord in the order they are received on the MIDI input poly ga...

Page 12: ...ion of HOLD is MIDI lock When the LED is ON the second function is transpose by MIDI input See long press HOLD for a description skip on rest controls what happens when there is a rest LED off at the...

Page 13: ...on the TRAN menu button SHFT Scale Root Note This option works with Force to Scale Mode long press SPAN to set the root note of the musical scale into which notes are forced For example if force to sc...

Page 14: ...peggios while playing as the note intervals within the chord change to keep it in key The scales are set based on a music mode i e the type of scale together with a root note Musical modes have names...

Page 15: ...As well as changing musical mode Arpie s force to scale function lets us select the root note long press SHFT and control how out of scale notes are corrected To the right of the musical modes are a...

Page 16: ...te time at least in 4 4 time is one sixteenth of a beat so for example selecting 1 8 will play notes half the speed for a given BPM dot means represent dotted time one and a half times normal note dur...

Page 17: ...locity as it was played on the controller keyboard To switch to this mode press the first data button mute twice To switch back to selected velocity mode press any velocity button including zero This...

Page 18: ...step in fifteen increments or you can tie notes together with the legato setting legato means that a note is held until the next note is started with the MIDI note off message being sent after the nex...

Page 19: ...s 3f 1b staggers the arpeggio sequence and introduces repetition of notes by playing forward three places then moving back one place and continuing 4f 2b staggers the arpeggio sequence by moving forwa...

Page 20: ...g press of the INST button takes you to the manual chord insertion screen Here you can play a chord by simply pressing buttons to toggle notes on and off The HOLD function engages automatically once y...

Page 21: ...t which can be used to synchronize other MIDI devices Conversely a MIDI stop command is sent when the Send function is switched off The display depends on the selected clock source For internal clock...

Page 22: ...le Arpie is running from an external clock the rightmost 3 buttons can be used to override the external transport This is particularly useful if you want to start Arpie playing without having to send...

Page 23: ...ugh to Arpie s MIDI output thru other chan controls whether non note channel messages CC bend etc for other channels will be passed through to Arpie s MIDI output ext clock midi in determines whether...

Page 24: ...ocity note on message to silence notes this allows more efficient use of the MIDI bandwidth via running status However some older synths might need a real note off message to stop notes playing Enabli...

Page 25: ...nel You can select The MIDI input channel via a long press to the CHAN button By default Arpie will accept input from any MIDI channel OMNI mode but you can also select a specific channel OMNI mode is...

Page 26: ...eatures Create a transpose sequence by holding the TRAN button down while pressing a sequence of the interval buttons The sequence will play back with each transposition step effective for the PLEN se...

Page 27: ...MODE These are described below MIDI Lock This function can be used to lock the arpeggiator engine and start passing MIDI notes from input to output This allows you to hold an arpeggio and then play ov...

Page 28: ...nd an unlit LED being a 0 The digits from 0 9 are represented as follows LED1 LED2 LED3 LED3 Digit 0 ON 1 ON 2 ON ON 3 ON 4 ON ON 5 ON ON 6 ON ON ON 7 ON 8 ON ON 9 For example the following is how ver...

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Page 30: ...the Arpie The six connector pins fit into the hack header and the tab is held firmly in place by passing through it the two rows of connection pins from the top board Here is how the CV tab fits in th...

Page 31: ...appropriate button release the HOLD button to let the Arpie start up You should see your selection highlighted briefly before normal operation begins This selection remains active until you change it...

Page 32: ...in 18 which can support interrupt on pin change PCINT12 PC0 this is Arduino analog input 0 It is also a general purpose digital input or output Arduino digital pin 14 which can support interrupt on pi...

Page 33: ...esponding POT input on the hack header as shown in the diagram above right The switch should short the SWITCH input to GND when pressed The actual functions for each potentiometer and switch are selec...

Page 34: ...el2 Mapped to Function OFF OFF None OFF ON MIDI CC 1 Mod Wheel ON OFF Transpose ON ON MIDI CC 18 Note Currently the only way to change the CC numbers from their defaults 16 17 18 is by changing them i...

Page 35: ...rnal clock mode and there is no incoming MIDI clock the external pulse clock input will function as a single step advance with one pulse advancing one step regardless of RATE setting etc The pulses do...

Page 36: ...supports 1V oct and Hz V The Gate output is a 10V V Trigger Clock output is 10V CV Tab includes the Memo Tab functionality allowing 16 patches i e saved Arpie states to be stored This is described in...

Page 37: ...scale compensation 0 127 map to 63 0 63 64 is no compensation 71 Set offset compensation 0 127 map to 63 0 63 64 is no compensation 72 Set CV output to test value MIDI note number 0 127 73 Save calib...

Page 38: ...tomatically be engaged when the patch is loaded so that the chord saved with the patch is not lost You can press HOLD again to exit hold mode and clear the chord To exit from the slot status display w...

Page 39: ...pie kit is the Silicon Labs CP2102 You can download drivers here http www silabs com products mcu Pages USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers aspx You will need to download and install the free Arduino environmen...

Page 40: ...during programming Open the firmware file in Arduino you will get prompted that the code has been placed automatically in an Arpie folder In the Arduino environment select the COM port for the program...

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