Copyright 1010music LLC 2023
Page 36 of 97
Page 37 of 97
Copyright 1010music LLC 2023
Bitbox MK2 2.1 User Manual
Mar 1, 2023
Bitbox MK2 2.1 User Manual
Mar 1, 2023
Set Up a Slicer Cell
Slicer Mode is useful when a single WAV file has multiple sections that you want to
trigger independently. For example, if you have a drum riff you may want to trigger
different drum hits within the drum riff independently. Or if you have a recording of a
vocal track, you may get an interesting effect if you skip around to playback different
words or phrases over time.
In order to use Slicer mode effectively, you will need to
configure the Slicer related parameters and identify slices
within the WAV file. Bitbox mk2 can automatically detect
the slice points within the wave file, and you can
manually add or remove slice points. The WAV file
\SoundtrackLoops\SL Trance\Y L Pad 2 130 B.wav is a
good example to try with slicer mode.
The parameters with unique behaviors for Slicer mode
are listed below.
Pos Parameters
Slicer Cell Pos
Parameters Page
Parameter Description
Range of Values
Mod
Target?
Loop Mode
Controls whether the slice playback is
looped. This does not work with Launch
Mode of Trigger. Use Launch Mode of Gate
or Toggle if you want to loop slices.
ON
,
OFF
No
PlayThru
Controls whether or not playback continues
through the end of the slice.
ON
– playback will continue past
the end of the slice to the end of
the file.
OFF
– playback will stop at the
end of the triggered slice.
No
Beat Count
Enter the number of beats in the clip file to
give bitbox mk2more information to work with
when synchronizing playback to the current
song BPM. If set to Auto, bitbox mk2 will
attempt to detect the beat count
automatically. Only used when Sync is set to
ON.
Auto
,
1
to
512
No
Let’s talk some more about Quant Size and Sync. When a Quant Size other than None
is selected, the playback of the wave file will be delayed until the next selected unit of
music as specified in Quant Size. This will ensure that your playback “snaps to the grid”
of the beats established by your clock. Sometimes, the WAV file you are playing is
longer than one beat. For example, the WAV file might contain a 2 bar drum riff. For a
clip pad, bitbox mk2 will make some assumptions about where the beats in your file
occur. In Clip mode, the module will play the whole 2 bar riff when the note is triggered.
But the beats in the WAV file might not be playing at the same tempo as the clock
speed. If you leave Sync set to None, the WAV file will play in its entirety and will get out
of sync with your clock. If your WAV file tempo is faster than your clock tempo, it will
sound like the beats are running ahead of the rest of the music. If your WAV file tempo
is slower than your clock tempo, it will sound like your drums are lagging. If you want to
fix that, then choose the value for Sync that identifies how tightly you want to snap to
the clock while the WAV file is playing in response to a single sustained note trigger.
While the note is playing, the sync will cause the playback of the WAV file to jump to the
next selected sync increment in the file when the corresponding clock time has passed.
So if the WAV was a little faster than your clock, the playback position will jump
backwards to move the playback of the WAV to the selected clock increment. If the WAV
is slower than your clock, the playback position will jump ahead to the selected clock
increment. This will work well if the difference between the BPM of your WAV file and
the BPM of your clock is small. It will sound like a stutter if the difference is large.
Note:
► Bitbox mk2 assumes your clips use 4:4 time. If you are using other time
signatures or polyrhythms, the module will have trouble synchronizing the clip.
Tips for Synchronizing Clips:
■ Make sure your WAV file starts at the beginning of a measure and ends at end of
a measure. There should be no blank space at either end and it should loop
cleanly at full length.
■ Help bitbox mk2 determine the beat count. Bitbox mk2 will use the following
methods in this order to identify the beat count:
▪
Look at the BeatCount parameter when it is not Auto
▪
Look for a valid ACID Tag in the WAV file that includes the beat count
▪
Try to calculate it using the following assumptions:
◦
the time signature is 4:4
◦
the beat count is a power of two (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, …)
◦
the clip tempo is close to the current clock tempo
