MUSICAL FEATURES
An expander module that adds independent gate and trigger outputs as well as MIDI input capabilities to each channel of the Bard Quartet. With MIDI input, you can also control scales via MIDI, or use the Bard Quartet as a MIDI to CV/GATE conversion device.
HOW TO USE
Bard Quartet Firmware
Bard Quartet Expand will only work with modules installed with firmware v1.1 or higher.Modules with lot numbers A12 or higher are shipped with the corresponding firmware installed.
If you are unsure if your Bard Quartet has the latest firmware installed,ARPGWith a buttonµTUNEbutton at the same time. If the two buttons blink alternately, you have v2 or higher installed.
The latest firmware is ' www.shakmat.com/support ' can be downloaded from.
use an expander
To enable or disable the Expander feature of the corresponding Bard Quartet, do the following:
- 1. At power onEDITPress and hold the button. The four channel buttons flash sequentially.Also, the ARPG button will flash.
- 2. Activate the expander by pressing the D# key.Press the C# key to disable the expander feature.
- 3. Press the flashing ARPG button to confirm your selection.
Independent gate input
By using an expander, the Bard Quartet can get independent gate inputs for each channel.In this case, the Gate Input on the Bard Quartet itself is dedicated to Channel 1, and the Gate Input functions of Channels 2, 3 and 4 are tied to the corresponding inputs ' GT IN2 '' GT IN3 '' GT IN4 ' on the expander.
The Shift Register algorithm requires a single clock signal to the Gate input of the Bard Quartet body to associate information to all channels.
Independent trigger output
As with the gate inputs, the trigger output functions for channels 2, 3 and 4 are tied to the corresponding outputs ' T OUT2 '' T OUT3 '' T OUT4 ' on the expander.
MIDI quantize control
You can use the MIDI quantize control function to control the scale with MIDI signals.To activate a channel's functionality, select it in the Bard Quartet and press the expander's MIDI button.This will light up the MIDI button for that channel.
MIDI channels 1 through 4 control Bard Quartet channels 1 through 4 respectively.Grouped channels follow the same scale that incoming MIDI on the lowest channel sets.Note that MIDI only controls the notes of the scale and does not affect other features of the Bard Quartet.
With this function,
- MIDI channels can run in parallel, so all four channels can be programmed at the same time.
- You can quickly create scale progressions by playing chords while scanning Harmony parameters.
- You can control the scale of the quantizer in real time using an external MIDI keyboard.
To return to scale editing with the Bard Quartet keyboard, press the MIDI button to disable MIDI input.
MIDI to CV/GATE conversion
Bard Quartet Expand allows you to use any channel of Bard Quartet as a 'MIDI to CV/GATE converter'.Select a specific channel, press and hold the MIDI button on the expander, and the MIDI button for that channel will flash slowly.
When a channel is in this mode scale editing is not possible, but functions such as octave and gate input, trigger output and transpose can still be edited.In this mode, MIDI channels 1-4 control channels 1-4 of the module, similar to setting scales using MIDI.
Pressing a MIDI button while a channel is in this mode causes the MIDI button to flash faster, enabling scale editing for that channel.This mode allows quantization of external MIDI sequences based on the scale selected in Bard Quartet.
NOTE: Bard Quartet has many layers and features.Questions about the MIDI implementation used for sample and hold, normalization, shift registers, arpeggiators, etc.www.shakmat.com/supportSee the MIDI implementation guide for
