The Playback Page
The Playback Page defines how patterns are played back. Manipulate swing, humanization, and different sync settings.
Clicking on the Playback tab (at the bottom of the instrument) will open the Playback page. This page contains settings that affect the way the patterns are played back. This page is divided into several sections, each of which is described below.
1. To exclude the Playback settings from Songs or snapshots, click the lock icon on the Playback tab at the bottom of the instrument (see section Locking Parameters When Loading Snapshots or Songs).
The Playback Page
SWING section: Use the Amount knob to set the amount of swing added to each pattern, either on a 8th note or a 16th note basis. A setting of 0% would represent the original state of all patterns.
Note
If the Amount knob doesn't affect the playback, it is very likely that either a triplet pattern is selected, or the timing basis has to be changed from 8th to 16th notes.
HUMANIZE section: Use the Performance knob to set the amount of quantization added to all patterns. At the right position, the original performance (with some human imperfections) will be played unaltered. At the left position, the performance will be fully quantized.
LATCH MODE section: After you've released all keys, the pattern playback will automatically stop within the note duration specified in the LATCH MODE dropdown menu.
Tip
The delayed stopping of the playback enables the engine to perform smooth transitions from one chord to the next, even if the incoming MIDI notes are not played as a seamless legato performance. However, if you want to stop the performance at a specific position in the arrangement, e.g. to perform a break, it is advisable to trigger one of the “ending keys” G#1, A1 or Bb1 at the desired position.
PATTERN SYNC section: Use the drop-down menu to select one of two available sync modes.
Sync to host: With this mode selected, pattern playback will start in sync with your host sequencer. As ELECTRIC SUNBURST is based on two-bar patterns, make sure to start your song on bar one or any other uneven bar number (e.g. bar 3, bar 5, bar 17).
Start on key: With this mode selected, pattern playback will start from the beginning as soon as the first chord is being played, ignoring the current host playback position. As long as the playback does not get interrupted (see description of the LATCH MODE section above), this shifted performance will be retained even if you subsequently play chords.
TIMING section: Use the Offset knob to control the amount of positive or negative lag added to the playback. Positive values, for example, will result in a laid back feel whereas negative values will result in a hasty performance.
TEMPO section: Here, you can select between three tempo ratios 1⁄2 (half time), 1:1 (normal time), or ×2 (double time), which globally affect the pattern playback speed relative to the host tempo. Please note that there is also a local time scaling feature available for each pattern (see section The Info Panel). The individual patterns' tempo factors will each be multiplied by the global tempo factor.
Note
With slow host tempos, switching the global tempo to half time may not work if the actual relative tempo falls below the limit of ca. 65 bpm.