Future Retro Orb Owner Manual - Manual (Page 25)

ADDITIONAL NOTES
CREATING A DEFAULT PATTERN
As stated earlier in the sequencer operations section, clearing
patterns only removes Note On and duration information. You
might want to create your own default pattern and save it to a
special pattern location, such as bank 16, pattern 16. This pattern
could then be programmed however you wish, perhaps with all 16
th
notes written at the pitch of C3. Or something that you would
consider a nice starting point for creating your other patterns. This
pattern could then be copied once, and pasted every time you wish
to create a new pattern with the default settings.
SYNCING THE ORB’S PLAYBACK
In the previous MIDI MODE section, we discuss how you can play
external MIDI sound modules and CV/Gate type synthesizers with
the Orb’s sequencer.
In the setups we describe, the Orb is playing these external
devices while using its own internal sequencer settings. You may
also sync the Orb’s sequencer playback to any external MIDI
sequencer while performing these same operations.
RESETTING A SONG TO STEP 1
When in Song mode, you can reset the song to Step 1 or the
beginning of the song by pressing the Shift/Clear key when
playback is stopped. When a song is playing, the Shift/Clear key
(used in conjunction with the Play key) is used to determine the
direction that patterns will play, either forward or backward. If you
are syncing to an external clock while in Song mode, when
playback stops, you may be at some song step location other than
Step 1. If the Orb receives a MIDI continue message, playback will
resume from the current location of the song. However, if you wish
to restart the song from the beginning, or Step 1, you will need to
un-cue the Orb’s playback by pressing the Play key (turning the
Play key indicator off), then press the Shift/Clear key to take you
back to the beginning of the song, and finally re-cue the Orb by
pressing the Play key once again (Play key indicator will be on).
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THE LOGIC OF PLAYING PATTERNS BACKWARD
Most sequencers that allow you to play a pattern forward and
backward will start at Step 1 and play sequentially to Step 16, then
reverse their direction playing Step 16 again and followed by 15, 14,
13, all the way until Step 1 is played again. The problem with this
method is that it creates double hits at a measure’s boundaries, and
can throw off the timing of a pattern’s rhythm.
The Orb is unique in the way that patterns are played backward,
by always playing Step 1 as the first step even when counting
backward. This then allows all the down beats to remain on down
beats, and off beats to remain on off beats. You should find that this
produces a much more pleasing rhythmic experience.
Timing ! * ! * ! * ! *
Forward 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Backward 1 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
The chart above shows the alignment of beats playing forward
compared to how they play backward. The “!” represent quarter
notes, while the “*” represents 8
th
notes. Notice how similar beats
are interchangeable.
REMIXING PATTERNS
When patterns are remixed, if the sustained portion of a note is
selected to play, nothing will be heard. This is because the Orb
stores all of a note’s information in the step that represents the Note
On or beginning of a sustained note. The sustained portion of a note
is there to simply represent the duration of that note. However, if a
sustained note is created by gliding one step’s pitch to another step
with the same pitch value, you can create the same sustaining effect.
When a pattern is remixed and one of these glided notes is selected
to play, it will play and even glide to the pitch of the note that
follows. Remember this when remixing patterns. Both methods will
produce different results, so experiment to find which works best for
your music.
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