ALESIS SR-18 Portable Drum Machine - Manual (Page 39)

39
RECORDING A SONG IN REAL-TIME
To record a sequence of Patterns in real-time, follow the steps below:
1. Switch to Pattern Mode (the display should say PATTERN ) and select the first Pattern
which you would like to use in your Song. Remember to specify A, B or FILL sub-
pattern as well.
2. Press the PATTERN / SONG button again to
switch back to Song Mode (the display should
show
SONG ).
3. Press the REC button to enable Record
Mode (the REC LED will illuminate). Now
press the PLAY button to begin recording the
Song. The Pattern which you selected above
will begin to play and you will see the screen
shown on the right.
4. To select the Pattern which should be played
next, use the INC / DEC buttons.
Alternatively, you can use the VALUE dial or
you can enter the Pattern number with the
number keys. You can also specify which
sub-pattern should be played by pressing the
A, B or FILL button. The screen will change
to display
NEXT and the cued Pattern number
on the bottom line. The Pattern will begin
playing as soon as the current Pattern plays
through its end, and will be entered as the
next Song step.
5. Continue to select the rest of the Patterns for
your Song.
6. When finished, press STOP.
NOTES:
If you enter a new Pattern number (Preset or User, A or B) while the first Pattern is playing,
the new Pattern will begin playing after the first Pattern has finished and be stored as
another Song step in the Song. If you let the original Pattern keep playing, it will add a new
Song step with its Pattern number every time it repeats. In addition to selecting different
Patterns, you can press FILL at any time. The SR18 will remember where you pressed FILL.
As in Pattern mode, pressing FILL will automatically transition to the B Pattern if the A
Pattern is currently playing (and vice versa), or will continue playing the same Pattern if the
FILL button is held past the end of the Fill.
A Fill can transition into any Pattern number, A or B, by specifying the Pattern before the end
of the Fill and releasing FILL before the Fill has finished playing. If you hold FILL past the
end of the Fill, the associated Main Pattern will continue playing and any Pattern you may
have previously specified for the next Step will be forgotten. When recording a Song, the
Count/A/B/Fill footswitch duplicates the FILL button function.
IMPORTANT:
If you have already recorded material in a Song, pressing REC and PLAY will not allow
recording until after the last Song step. However, you can overdub Fills at any time, and
these will be recorded in the Song where played. Under these conditions, holding FILL past
the downbeat doesn't make any difference; the Patterns used in Song steps are not altered.