Format: Eurorack
Width: 36HP
Depth: 38mm
Current: 270mA @ + 12V, 50mA @ -12V
Manual PDF (English)
Frap Tools Usta is a 4-channel x 4-track Eurorack sequencer. The duration of each stage can be freely adjusted; it's not limited to a 1:1 ratio (e.g., one stage per clock impulse), but can be set individually relative to the clock. Each stage can generate and store up to four control voltages, consisting of two CVs and two gates . Tracks, composed of 2CVs/2Gates, allow for setting the dwell time of each stage in clock units.
In USTA, 16 stages make up a pattern, 16 patterns make up a track, and 4 tracks make up a project. Each stage contained within each track has two CVs and two gates, and each output has a value called "layer" and a playback method called "color." Because each stage has its own encoder, quick and intuitive editing is possible. In addition, 16 LED rings arranged around each of the 16 encoders in an oval shape, along with RGB LEDs for each stage, provide visual feedback on the playback method.
You can continuously change patterns endlessly by recalling patterns, mixing patterns, and setting custom loop points. Furthermore, for more complex and definitive sequences, you can use song mode to continuously play or loop patterns.
Each track can be quantized to a scale set for that track . You can also create up to four custom scales if needed. In addition to the 12-tone scale, you can set scales with 15, 19, 22, or 24 notes, or even create your own temperament.
Each track can not only have its own clock division settings, but also its own clock speed settings and external clock ON/OFF settings.
The USTA is designed to perform without looking at the display. The 16 rotary encoders set the value for each stage, and the modifier buttons allow you to control the transpose and adjustment range.
There are many ways to non-destructively modulate a sequence in the USTA.Both internal variations and external CVs can be used.It is also possible to save the resulting sequence created in this way as a new pattern and use it as a starting point for further modulation.
Each CV and gate value on the stage has one of three colors, and the interpretation of the CV/Gate value on the stage changes depending on the color. Blue indicates the output CV value or musical scale , or the length of the gate . Green means that the output CV changes continuously from the CV of the previous stage to the CV value on the current stage , and the gate represents the number of ratchets . Red means that the CV and gate values are skipped, and the values from the previous stage are retained.
The sequence can be modulated using an external CV. The assignment destinations for the two CV inputs are as follows.
After installing Usta and turning on the system, the display will show a startup screen with the Frap Tools logo, followed by various information about the project you are trying to create.Track 1 and its CVA are selected and you can start editing immediately.
As you turn the 16 encoders, the LEDs that surround them gradually light up, while the lower left corner of the display shows a scale change that indicates the pitch of the selected stage.This is the content of the sequence, which is output from the CV A jack on track 1.You can check the sequence by patching the output signal to the oscillator's 1V / Oct input and pressing the Play button at the bottom right of the module.
Then press the GT A button to access the gate channel and turn the encoder as you did for CV.This independently defines a gate-high time for each of the 16 notes you enter.By patching the Gate A output of track 1 to the VCA or the envelope that controls the filter, a 16-note sequence of the same length is completed.
Usta's structure is designed to provide a wide range of composition tools without sacrificing user convenience, such as working in full polyphony, mixing fast / slow sequences, changing note lengths, playing. For musical sequences such as creating a specific note that changes each time it is played, keeping the selected key, creating a random ratchet at any stage, creating a loop of sections in a song structure, and so on. Implement the various feature sets required for creation.
The clock for each track in USTA is realized through two concepts: "time unit" and "time ratio." The "unit " is the shortest duration of the stage, and the " ratio" defines the length of the unit interval relative to the clock tempo.
In Usta, it is possible to set 16 different ratios, 8 is a unit longer than a clock impulse because it is a clock division, and 7 is a unit shorter than a clock impulse because it is a clock multiplication, 1 Since one is equivalent to the clock period, it is a unit of length equal to the clock impulse.Below is a list of configurable ratio values, with the number of clocks on the left and the number of units on the right.
The duration of time spent on each stage can be set from 0 to 16 units, with each stage having a different length ; setting it to 0 means the stage has no length and is skipped . This combination of time ratios and units creates a highly flexible sequence of stage settings in Usta. For example, to create the melody shown in the image below (a), a standard step sequencer with a regular clock (b) would require 16 steps and 4 gates, whereas Usta requires only 4 stages, each with its own associated duration and gate for each musical event (note) (c).
Sequence editing in Usta is done both with the navigation menu and with the combination of buttons and encoders.Similarly, visual feedback is a combination of color-coded LEDs and information provided on the basic screen of the display, called the "dashboard."
Settings related to Usta's general operation are accessed from the project menu and track menu, but all musical content data such as data for each stage is set with a dedicated encoder and button, so menu operation Is unnecessary.
On the first launch, Usta will automatically create an empty project called NONAME and make it editable.All edits are saved in volatile memory, but you can export and save your project to SD card to prevent data loss.To access the project menus that perform these tasks, press and hold the navigation encoder for about 3 seconds and make sure the Menu LED on the right side is lit red.Once in the menu, turn the encoder to navigate the item and click to select the one you want.In the project menu, you can perform the following operations related to the project.
When you run the Load, Delete, Rename task, a new window will open listing all the projects.Turn the navigation encoder to select the desired project and click to perform the desired task.When you save a new project or rename an existing project, a new window opens for you to enter the project name.The "<" after the last letter of the name you type is the Delete symbol, which you can click on the encoder to remove a letter or number.To enter a character, turn the encoder to select the desired character, click it, and repeat.When you have finished entering the name, press the Play button to save or the Reset button to cancel the operation.
TIP: These operations are not designed for live use, so if you save your project while Usta is playing, the module will momentarily freeze at the current step but will quickly return to normal playback. If you load a project while playback is in progress, Usta will not stop, but all UI elements such as LEDs, screens, RGB LEDs, and Stage Arc will be momentarily disabled for about half a second.
You can store many projects on the microSD card, but only the first 128 projects in alphabetical order will be used / recalled.When you have finished editing the project, press the Esc button to return to the dashboard.The selected project name is displayed.
In Usta, you can edit one track at a time. Track 1 is selected by default, but you can select other tracks by clicking any of the four Track buttons .
To set the clock, click the navigation encoder to access the track menu. First, you can choose whether the track's clock follows the internal clock or the external clock. If you choose internal clock control, you set the internal tempo by editing the Int BPM parameter.
Whether using an internal or external clock, you can select the time ratio used to calculate the step units with the Ratio parameter. If you want to apply the same track menu settings to all tracks, hold down the Set All button and click the navigation encoder to save the settings. When you're finished, click the Esc button to exit the track menu and return to the dashboard.
Usta's default playback mode is Pattern mode, which plays a loop of patterns (the order can be changed in Song mode below).When you create a new project, only the first pattern will loop in Pattern mode. Pattern mode works in one of two submodes called Edit and Performance. Edit and Performance modes can be switched via the Pencil button, and the selected mode is indicated by a pencil-shaped LED (Edit = red, Performance = green).
In Edit sub-mode , you can change any parameter. As mentioned earlier, you can also play the sequence while editing, and the current stage during playback is visually indicated by a blue-green RGB LED called the playhead . The playhead is only displayed when the selected pattern is playing. For example, if you are editing pattern 2, the playhead will be displayed if pattern 2 is playing, but it will not be displayed if pattern 1 is playing.
In Performance sub-mode , where the Pencil LED is green , the displayed pattern will always be the one currently playing depending on the track. While pattern editing is disabled in this mode, other operations are still possible (see below). The third row of the dashboard displays all information about the pattern currently being edited or played. " See " indicates the pattern selected for editing.
To select a pattern, ensure you are in Edit sub-mode and rotate the navigation encoder. You will see the value of "see" change as you rotate the encoder. " play " indicates the pattern currently playing. The two numbers separated by a slash that follow indicate the start and end points of the pattern structure. These are set to "01/01" by default, meaning that the pattern loop is limited to only the first pattern. You can edit other patterns while pattern 1 is playing, but you will not see the results unless the newly edited pattern is included in the pattern loop.
To extend a loop in a pattern, enter the Performance submode and hold down the Set All button while turning the navigation encoder to set the first pattern in the loop structure, or hold down the Shift All button and operate the navigation encoder. And set the final pattern.This causes Usta to loop through all the patterns contained in these two, including them.Note that in Pattern mode, the playhead moves from one pattern to another in numerical order, so the last pattern must be larger (or the same) than the first.To play in a different pattern order, see the Song Mode section.
Another way to edit pattern loops is through button combinations. When Usta is in Performance mode, all editing options are disabled. The 16 stage encoders are linked to the first 16 patterns, and while holding down the Shift All button, they are linked to the last 16 patterns (17 through 32). These can be clicked to manually recall a specific pattern , but they can also be used to instantly define a pattern loop. While holding down the Set All button, click the encoders corresponding to the first and last patterns to set a new endpoint for the pattern loop. Patterns 17 through 32 can also be set using the Shift All button. If you want to apply the same pattern loop settings to all tracks simultaneously, double-click the Shift All button while in Performance sub-mode. See reference technique videos 1 , 2.
Edit each stage to change the contents of the pattern.Each stage can store its own stage length, expressed as a unit, as well as information on two CVs and two gates.To access and make changes to these data, select the desired channel with the four Channel or Length buttons and change the values in their respective stage encoders.Each encoder corresponds to a particular stage and is numbered clockwise from the top right stage.
16 yellow LEDs formed around the stage encoderStage ArcShows the value of the selected channel for each stage.
Initially, each pattern has a sequence of 1 stages of equal length per unit, the speed of which depends on the clock and the ratio selected.
First, let's edit the length of each stage.
In the Length section, which can be accessed by clicking the Length button, the length of each stage is determined by "Units / Units (see above)".The initial value for each stage length is 1 unit, and to increase the value, turn the corresponding encoder clockwise.The stage length increases by 1 unit for each step of turning the encoder, and it is possible to increase it to the maximum value of 16.The Stage Arc lights up in response to the operation, indicating the exact number of units per stage. You can also operate the encoder counterclockwise until the Stage Arc goes off, in which case the stage length will be 0 and this stage will be skipped during playback.
The total pattern length is displayed on the right side of the second line from the top, along with the letter "L". This value is useful when you want to edit two stage lengths without changing the total pattern length. See reference technique videos 1 and 2.
During playback, it's convenient to edit the stage length while keeping the pattern length fixed . If you change the stage length while holding down the Coarse button, the lengths of adjacent stages will be automatically adjusted to compensate so that the pattern length does not change.
Both the CV and GATE channels have two additional data layers related to randomness, in addition to the Value of each main parameter: Variation Index (rate of variation of random values) and Variation Range ( range of variation of random values ). You can cycle through these layers by repeatedly clicking the Channel button. The selected layer is indicated by the color of the LED located above each Channel button: red → green → blue.
The first layer, indicated by a red LED, determines the actual CV value , while the second and third layers, indicated by green and blue LEDs respectively, manage the probability and range of random variations in the CV . You set the values for each layer for each stage by changing layers and then manipulating the encoders for each stage. If you do not want to include random elements, you only need to set the CV value in the default red layer.
RED CV layer: Value
When you select a channel, a red primary layer is displayed by default. This layer stores data about the stage values, which are the actual voltages that Usta outputs. These values can be quantized pitch CVs or raw CVs displayed as voltages . In the default settings, CV A is the pitch and can be used to generate melody lines. CV B is the raw CV and can be used for modulation purposes. You can also change the track settings to have both CVs be raw or quantized.
To edit this value, operate the encoder that corresponds to the stage you want to edit.Each time you edit a stage value, the fourth line of the dashboard updates to show information about that stage in that pattern in the track.In pitch mode, Stage Arc also shows exactly the scale you have selected.Twelve LEDs counting from the left correspond to the chromatic scale of the note value, such as C when the light is off, C # / D ♭ when one is on, and B when 4 are on.The remaining four LEDs indicate the octave from right to left.
By default, Usta operates using 12-semitone equal temperament, dividing an octave into 12 equally spaced notes. However, you can change this setting in the track settings to enable more complex octave divisions, such as 15, 19, 22, or 24 notes .
In the Raw CV channel (initial state CV B, etc.), turning the encoder clockwise increases the stage's CV value in steps of 0.05V or 50mV. In this mode, Coarse and Fine editing is possible; holding down the Coarse button while turning the encoder results in 0.5V (500mV) steps, while holding down both Esc and Coarse results in 0.001V (1mV) steps. Visual feedback of the value is provided by the 16 LEDs on each Stage Arc, each scaled to 0.625V. (See reference technique video 1)
GREEN CV Layer: Variation Index
The green secondary layer, accessed by clicking the Channel button twice, controls the probability that Usta will shift the value of the primary layer up or down any way.By default, the value is 2, which means that Stage Arc is completely off.This means that there is no chance that the note value or voltage value will change, and Usta will not make any changes to the values assigned in the primary layer.Turning the stage encoder clockwise increases the probability that the note will be replaced by another note (Variation Index).This index information (Index) is selected from the values in the range defined in the third layer (blue) in the next section. If 2 of the 1 LEDs of Stage Arc are lit, whether or not the set value is played will be the same for 0 minutes and 1 minutes.
BLUE CV layer: Variation Range
The blue tertiary layer, accessed by clicking the Channel button three times, defines the range of values referenced by the Variation Index. In the 3rd layer, you can select a range of polar values that Usta can choose after tossing a coin.In other words, Usta gradually expands the range of random values according to the player's instructions.
Each stage can be played in three different ways called " Stage Colors ," which can be accessed by repeatedly clicking the stage encoder . The relationship between "Layers" and "Stage Colors" mentioned earlier can be interpreted as follows: Layers affect the content, i.e., the values that each stage plays, while Colors affect the form, i.e., how those values are played.
The first stage color, called " Flat, " which is selected by default when either the CV A or CV B channel is selected, is indicated by a blue Stage LED. This setting, which simply outputs the CV values of the stage while on the stage, is typical behavior found in classic sequencers.
The second color mode, " Slide ," accessed by a single click on the stage encoder, is indicated by a green Stage LED. In this mode, instead of playing a defined stage value, it automatically generates a ramp waveform voltage that transitions linearly from the previous stage value to the new value. This results in a "glide" effect on pitch.
The third color, called " Skip, " is accessed by double-clicking the stage encoder and is indicated by a red Stage LED. This colored stage continues outputting the value generated in the previous stage. Clicking the stage encoder again returns to "Flat." (See reference technique videos 1 and 2)
The other two output jacks on each track output the gate signal. Like the CV channel, each stageYou can set 3 different layers and 3 different gate colors.The primary layer determines the number of gates Usta will play on each stage, and the secondary and tertiary layers add various variations to the values of the primary layer, similar to the CV layer.
Red Gate Layer: Value
By default, the primary layer is active and indicated by a red RGB LED. This primary layer sets the " gate value ." The gate value indicates the gate length when the stage color is blue, and the gate number ( ratchet ) during the stage when the stage color is green . To edit the gate number, rotate the desired stage encoder clockwise to select a value from 1 to 16 indicated by the Stage Arc surrounding the encoder. It is also possible to set the gate number to 0, in which case no gates are generated, and the output remains low along the entire length of the stage.
Green Gate Layer: Variation Index
The second Gate layer, indicated by a green LED, accessed by clicking the Channel button twice, controls the probability that Usta will randomly change the gate value based on the range set in the tertiary layer. .. The Gate Variation Index, like the CV Variation Index in the CV layer, increases the probability that Usta will change the value selected in the primary layer by manipulating the stage encoder clockwise.
Blue Gate Layer: Variation Range
The tertiary layer, indicated by the blue LED, accessed by clicking the Channel button three times, determines the range of possible gate values.This layer is valid when the probability of the secondary layer is higher than 3.
Even at the gate, you can set the playback method of the gate called "Stage Colors" for each stage.
The first stage color, indicated by the blue Stage LED, is called " Gate Length " and is available by default when Gate A or Gate B is selected. In this mode, you set the gate length using the encoder. The gate length is the length of the portion of the stage that is gate-high. There are 17 selectable lengths, indicated by Stage Arc. If Arc is not lit, the gate length is zero for the entire length of the stage, resulting in a rest. Turning the encoder clockwise gradually increases the gate length, and at the maximum value, the gate remains gate-high throughout the stage and is connected to the gate of the next stage. When this blue stage color is selected, the Variation parameter set in the 2nd and 3rd layers modifies the gate length.
The second stage color, called " Gate number ," is accessible by clicking the stage encoder once and is indicated by a green Stage LED. In this mode, you set the number of gates generated between stages using the encoder. Since Usta divides the ratchet based on the stage length set by the Length parameter, if the number of gates is 2, each gate will have different spacing and length depending on the stage length. Selecting this green stage color will change the number of gates using the Variation parameter set in the 2nd and 3rd layers, creating a different number of gates. See reference technique videos 1 , 2
In the case of Gate Number, the gate length is 50%, and this setting can be changed under the Gate Width % option in the Track menu mentioned earlier. The third stage color, called " Skip ," is accessed by double-clicking the stage encoder and is indicated by a red Stage LED. In this mode, Usta does not generate a gate signal for the entire duration of that stage, so it is treated like a rest. The same effect can be achieved by setting the gate value to 0 with a blue or green stage color, but this mode is useful, for example, when you want to temporarily disable a specific stage while maintaining a particular gate value during a performance.
Usta includes several features to assist with music composition, which are accessed via three light gray " Mod " buttons located on the left side of the display.
Set All & Shift All
In Edit mode, you can edit multiple stages simultaneously by pressing one of the two buttons mentioned above while operating the stage encoder . The stages to be edited are either all stages (all) or all stages from the stage of the pressed encoder onwards (from). You can change which option you choose from the All Edits option in the Project menu.
The " Set All " button allows you to set the values of all stage encoders at once by pressing and holding it while rotating the encoder. This can be used for batch editing of CV, Gate, and Length values, or when editing stage colors. Additionally, if you hold down the Set All button while setting options in the Track menu, the settings will be applied simultaneously to all four tracks.
The second button, labeled " Shift All, " functions similarly, but instead of setting values for multiple stages at once, it shifts them all at once by the amount the encoder has been turned. Like "Set All," this button also works for both values and colors.
Coarse and Fine
In the primary CV layer, you can edit the stage value in 1-volt increments . To do this, press and hold the Coarse button while operating the stage encoder.
Additionally, the " Fine " mode, accessible by holding down both the Esc and Coarse buttons , allows for fine-tuning of the Pitch and Raw voltages. This enables you to change the values in semitone cents in Pitch mode and in millivolts in Raw mode using the stage encoder.
By using the Coarse/Fine button in combination with the Set All and Shift All buttons, you can perform tasks such as transposing the entire pattern one octave at a time or applying fine adjustments to all stages simultaneously. (See reference technique videos 1 and 2)
These transport controls required for the sequence, such as play, pause, and reset, depend on the Master-Slave relationship between each track and are deeply linked.
A Master track is a track that other tracks refer to for play, pause, and reset. The Master / Slave relationship is limited to these three operations, and all other parameter settings such as tempo and time ratio are independent for each track. There will be only one Master track for every project loaded into Usta. Select the Master track in the Master Track option of the Project menu.By default, the Master track is set to track 3.
To make a track subordinate to the Master track, go to the Track menu, scroll down to the Reset on option and set it to Master.By default, all tracks are Slave to the Master track, and the Master and Slave tracks are collectively referred to as the "master track group".It is also possible to separate any track from the Mater track, and with this setting commands such as play and reset performed within the Master Track Group will not work on this track.
If multiple tracks are separated from the Master track, all the separated tracks will be affected each time a command such as play or reset is executed on these tracks.To separate the tracks from the Master track, select either Local or Instant in the Reset on option for each track.
The Play / Pause button used to play / pause a sequence is set to function as a global control by default, and you can press it while playing one or more tracks to pause that track, all tracks. Press during playback to pause all tracks, or press when all tracks are paused to play all tracks.
You can also play/pause only the selected track by holding down the Esc button and pressing the Play/Pause button . The Play/Pause button can also be used in combination with the Set All or Shift All buttons for auxiliary operations. If the selected track belongs to a Master Track Group, pressing the Shift All button while pressing the Play/Pause button will play/pause all tracks in the group. If at least one track is paused, this combination will pause all other tracks in the group.
Holding down Set All sets all tracks in the Master Track Group to play like the currently selected track: paused tracks if paused, and playing tracks if playing. These adjustments are made after the Master track's current stage ends. If the selected track does not belong to the Master Track Group, pressing Shift All while pressing the Play/Pause button will play/pause all tracks detached from the Master track. If at least one track is paused, this combination will pause all other tracks outside the group. Holding down Set All sets all tracks except the master track to play like the currently selected track. These adjustments are made according to the reset setting of the currently selected track: after the current stage of the selected track ends if set to " Local ," and immediately if set to " Instant ." The current status of the selected track is indicated by the Play/Pause LED: green when playing, red when paused.
Press the Reset button to return the playhead to the first stage of the pattern.You can also set whether to return the playhead to the beginning of the current pattern (Reset Stage) or to the first stage of the first pattern (Reset Stage & Pattern).To change this parameter, enter the Track menu, scroll to the Reset What option and select either Stage or Stage & Pa.You can also select the Nothing option to disable the Reset button.Each track can respond to the Reset command in four different ways, the first two depending on the relationship between the track and the Master track.
To enable these two options, go into the Track menu, scroll down to the Reset On option and set it to Master.This option is useful, for example, if you are playing multiple tracks at different tempos and time ratios and you need to force them to reset at the same time.If you want to reset a single track independently, you can choose two more settings from the Reset On option: Local and Instant.
The reset function can also be performed via an external trigger.
TIP: If Pattern Shift is enabled for a track, pressing the Reset button will return the sequence to the pattern number determined by adding the pattern shift value determined by the CV offset to the original pattern.
In addition to the above options, this unit allows you to specify specific parts of the pattern structure on a stage-by-stage basis via the Stage Loop option, and loop each track individually.
The loop function only works in Pattern mode and is automatically disabled when Song mode is enabled. Three variables are used to control the loop operation: FROM (the stage/pattern in which the loop starts), LEN (length: the number of stages included in the loop), and FOR (the number of times to loop). These are displayed at the bottom of the dashboard.
To define the FROM for the Stage Loop, hold down the Set All button and operate the navigation encoder.The first number is the stage number and the second is the pattern number. To define the LEN, hold down the Shift All button and operate the navigation encoder. Since length is expressed as the number of stages, the resulting length depends on the stage length value from 2 to 1 for each stage. To define a FOR, hold down the Coarse button and operate the navigation encoder. The FOR parameter indicates how many times these stages will be looped until the end of this loop.Values range from 16 to 0, with 16 leading to no loops.
To turn Stage Loop on / off, double-click the Set All button. When the Stage Loop is enabled, the Stage Loop LED will light up.If the playhead has not reached the Stage Loop section, the LED will be red, and if the playhead is already in the Loop section, it will be green.
When Stage Loop is enabled, the loop section starts when the playhead reaches the FROM point, plays the stages in the Stage Loop a defined number of times, and then returns to the original sequence. In the example when FROM is set to [02/03], LEN is set to [04], and FOR is set to [02], pattern 3 will be played as follows. Inside [] is the Stage Loop. :
1 2 3 4 5 [2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5] 6 7 ....
If you set the FOR value to 0, the Stage Loop will loop indefinitely once activated . To exit the infinite loop, double-click the Set All button to disable the Stage Loop. See reference technique video 1.
In Song mode, you can arrange the track patterns in any order you like . This is an alternative mode to the default Pattern mode, so you cannot have both Song and Pattern modes active at the same time, but you can choose which one Usta follows during playback using the options in the Track menu.
Song mode is a series of patterns arranged in "Slot". Up to 1 16-slot pages can be set for a song, for a total of 4 slots, and one song can be used per track. If more than one pattern is configured in a track, Song mode allows you to arrange each pattern in one or more slots in any order.Each slot can be repeated up to 64 times before moving on to the next slot.
Songs can be created while Usta is playing in Pattern mode.To do this, click the Pencil button to enter Edit mode, then hold down the Esc button and click the Pencil button again to enter Edit Song mode.This will turn the guitar-shaped Song LED red and the Pattern LED green.This means that you are editing the song in Pattern mode.
This setting edits the slot of the selected page by performing two operations through the 16 stage encoders. The first is the selection of the pattern to play in the desired slot, and the second is the selection of the number of times to play that pattern (2 to 1).To change the page, simply operate the navigation encoder. When entering Edit Song mode, all five parameter LEDs will turn red, indicating that Usta is editing the pattern number for each slot.
Operate each encoder to select the pattern (1 to 32) to be played. Stage Arc shows the selected pattern number.To edit the number of times the pattern repeats for each slot, click one of the Channel buttons to access the Repetition parameter.All RGB LEDs on the layer will be green.
In this mode, each encoder sets the number of iterations from 0 to 16.The Stage Arc will light up accordingly. To switch from Pattern mode to Song mode, enter the Track menu, scroll to the Track Mode option, and change the setting from Pattern to Song.When you exit the menu, you can see the different layouts of the LEDs.
This indicates that the selected track is currently in Edit mode (Pencil = red), Song mode (Guitar = green), and the pattern is visible / editing (Pattern LED = red). increase.Once you have decided on the composition of the song, click the Play / Pause button to start playing.During playback, the playhead display and operation will differ depending on the selected mode.
If the track is in Edit Song mode, the Stage LED will look like this:
In the example below, slots 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 16 are set to repeat, the song is playing slot 3, and stage 9 is playing in that pattern.
If the track is in Edit Pattern mode, the playhead will follow the rules of this mode as described above and will only be displayed when Usta is playing the pattern you are currently editing. When Usta is set to Performance Pattern mode, the playhead moves every step of every pattern according to the structure determined by the song. When Song mode is enabled, the Dashboard Loop display changes to "Rep" followed by two numbers.These mean "Repetition" and indicate the number of iterations in the current pattern or the number of iterations set in that slot.
In Usta, you can change modes during playback without stopping playback and while maintaining synchronization. This change is made via the Track Mode option in the Track menu. The selected mode takes effect at the end of the pattern. See the reference technique video 1.
When Usta is set to Performance submode and either Pattern or Song mode, all editing options are disabled. The 16 stage encoders are associated with the first 16 patterns, and by pressing the Shift All button, they are associated with the following 16 patterns (17 to 32).These act only as buttons, and you can instantly recall any pattern by pressing the button.This temporarily bypasses the Pattern Loop rules set above and the sequence of patterns expected in Song mode.When the selected pattern is recalled and played, it reverts to the original sequence with different results depending on the playback mode in use and the Pattern Loop selected. Usta only remembers one value, so if you press two encoders in this mode, only the latter value will be valid.In addition, Usta has two options: the default Full Pattern Recall and the Pattern Mix available by pressing the Coarse button before pressing the encoder.These call options only affect the selected track.
In Full Pattern Recall, Usta waits for the active pattern to reach its end point, then presses the stage encoder to play the selected pattern.If the selected pattern is in the Pattern Loop, Usta will continue to play the pattern that follows the selected pattern.For example, if you call pattern 1 while Pattern Loop is in pattern 10 with a setting from 2 to 6, the sequence will be 2, 6, 7 ...If the selected pattern is outside the Pattern Loop, Usta will play the pattern once, followed by the previous pattern.If you call pattern 15 in the same example as above, the sequence would look like 2, 15, 3, 4 ...
The Pattern Mix function is similar to Full Pattern Recall, but the main difference lies in the timing of the pattern change. This function is achieved by pressing down the Coarse button (or Shift All for selecting patterns 17 through 32) before selecting a pattern with the stage encoder. When you press the encoder to select a new pattern, the playhead waits for the currently playing stage to finish and then plays the consecutive stages with the selected pattern, rather than the current pattern. For example, if you select the fifth pattern while playing stage 7 of the second pattern, Usta will wait for stage 7 to finish, move to stage 8 of pattern 5, and mix them together. See reference technique video 1.
Usta has two levels of mute, "Mute Track" and "Mute Channel", which are useful for live performances.
Mute track
This feature temporarily disables all output for muted tracks.To do this, hold down the Esc button and click the Track button for the track you want to mute.Mute tracks are indicated by the letters TRACK MUTED on the current stage portion of the dashboard.
dead channel
Mute Channel mutes one or more channel outputs of each track individually at a more specific level.This option is also useful if you're controlling different sources using different channels on the same track, for example Gate A for kick drums, Gate B for snares, and so on.To mute a channel, hold down the Esc button and click any Channel button.
You can also use the hold function to freeze the current channel value within a specific track . To do this, press and hold the Set All button while pressing any of the Channel buttons. Usta will then hold the value being played at that particular moment until the button is released.
For situations where you need to work with longer polyphonic sequences or cross multiple patterns across multiple tracks, and you want to compose a song while the module is stopped, Usta provides an asynchronous voltage monitoring system called Composition mode. To enter Composition mode, when Usta is paused in Edit Pattern mode (Play/Pause LED=red), select the CV layer you want to edit and double-click the desired Track button. This will bring Gate A and Gate B high, and the blue-green playhead of the last played stage will light up. If the last played stage is in a different pattern than the one you selected, the first stage of the selected pattern will light up blue-green and its gate will open. You can cross the playhead between different stages by moving the navigation encoder back and forth. This allows you to manually scan the sequence to check and edit the current stage settings. This parameter works bidirectionally with various patterns, like an analog open-reel recorder. After reaching the 16th stage, turning the navigation encoder further clockwise moves the playhead to the first stage of the subsequent pattern, while turning it counterclockwise moves the playhead past the first stage of a different pattern and to the last stage of the previous pattern. The display automatically updates the stage data (CV A, CV B, Gate A, Gate B, Length) depending on the selected stage. When you have finished editing, double-click the selected track again. This will return Usta to the original sequence and start playback from the last played stage. If you want to review the sequence from the beginning, simply press the Reset button. Pressing the Play/Pause button in Composition mode will play the sequence after the currently selected one. This feature is useful when you want to partially review the sequence from a stage other than the first stage. Composition mode is not available when the Track menu is open, ignores the green or red CV/GATE stage colors, and the gate of that track is always high, and the CVs always accurately reproduce the values of the selected stage. Reference Technique Video 1
To compose a sequence using an external keyboard or any 1V/Oct controller, stop the current track (Play/Pause LED=red) and enter Composition mode. Connect the keyboard's Gate output to the Usta's Auxiliary Gate input and the keyboard's CV output to the Usta's CV A input. This will override the defined note values of the highlighted stage in Composition mode when you press a key on the keyboard, and the keyboard's gate output moving the playhead to the next stage when you release the key. This method only inputs pitch values, regardless of stage length. For setting rhythm, refer to the Length setting mentioned above. Note that when Composition mode is enabled, the main function of the Auxiliary Gate input is bypassed to use the Composition mode of the external keyboard. See Reference Technique Video 1
If you want to perform a non-deterministic composition method, for example, you can use the green and blue layers to make gradual changes during playback of the sequence, or use the CV to add external modulation until you find the perfect combination. increase. Usta saves the last played values of the pattern so you can recall and reproduce them. Each time the Usta plays a stage, it saves its value in volatile memory and holds it until the playhead passes through it again and overwrites it.This allows for an array of 16 elements that are constantly updated, one for each stage and each track, allowing you to move to any pattern at any time.The data saved for each stage played last is the values of all channels (CV A, CV B, Gate A, Gate B) and the stage length, and the data related to Variation Index, Rage, Stage Color is saved. not.There are two save modes, Last Full Pattern and Last Played, the difference between which the former updates the entire array at the end of the pattern, while the latter updates the old array element each time a new stage is played. The point is to update the array while erasing it.To access the saved values, select the track with the stage you want to copy via the layer button and make sure you are in Edit mode.Select the desired pattern with the navigation encoder and double-click the Shift All button for Last Full Pattern or the Coarse button for Last Played to reflect the result in the desired pattern.These operations can be performed even when Usta is stopped, and are used when you want to dump multiple layer values or increase the copy of the pattern.Also, all values are associated with the corresponding stage and will only be dumped to that stage.
TIP: When the module starts, all values will be 0. If you overwrite the current pattern, all previous data related to Variation (green and blue layers) will be executed by Usta unaffected, so the copied and resulting sequences may differ. If you want to check the last played sequence, set Variation Index and Variation Range to 0. Apply the same method to CV modulation that may be in use. For example, if you perform a dump in the middle of a pattern with a length of 0 in stages 8-16, or if you perform a store immediately after startup, the dump values for stages that have not been played will be 0.
When improvising with unpredictable elements, you may find that even if you end up with a perfect sequence, it's off by one or two stages.To solve these problems, Usta allows you to rotate the pattern to fit other tracks so that the starting points of the sequences found in this way can be placed correctly.
To rotate the pattern, hold down the Track button and operate the navigation encoder in any direction.You can see the 16 stages rotate in response to the operation, and if the sequence is playing, you can hear the result immediately.This feature shifts the pattern length, channel values, and layers at the same time.
All data for a particular stage can be cloned to another stage with the same pattern.This replaces all layers of the target stage with the data contained in the source.To do this, hold down the Esc button, press the Set All button, and release both buttons.
The Clone Stage menu will appear on the display as shown in the image above.First, press the corresponding stage encoder and enter the source stage, and the display will show the stage number (stage 12 in the example below).
From here, clone the source data by pressing any stage encoder.This operation can be repeated as many times as you like, and one stage can be cloned into multiple stages.
The last cloned target is updated on the display as shown above. You can exit from the Clone Stage menu at any time by pressing the Esc button.
Stage structures (STRUCTs) such as layers, patterns, and tracks can also be cloned, and layers and patterns can only be cloned within that track.To clone these structures, hold down the Esc button and press the Shift All button, then release the two.
The display shows the Clone Struct menu, showing all the structures that can be cloned. You can exit the Clone Struct feature at any time by pressing the Esc button.
Layer cloning
To clone a layer of a pattern such as CV A, CV B, Length, Gate A, Gate B, hold down the button of the layer you want to duplicate and press the stage encoder to define the source pattern (Pattern 1 is Encoder 1, Pattern). 2 is encoder 2, etc.).To access patterns 17 to 32, press and hold the Shift All button at the same time.After that, pressing another stage encoder will clone the selected layer of the source pattern to the target.In the above example, the data of Gate A of pattern 12 of the selected track is cloned.If you press another pattern encoder, cloning to multiple targets will be repeated without having to redo the procedure.
The last cloned target is updated on the display as shown above (14 in the example).
Cross-clone layer
It is also possible to clone a layer to a different CV or Gate channel than the original layer.For example, you can clone the value of CV A in pattern 1 to CV B in pattern 3 and the Variation Index of Gate B in pattern 15 to Gate A in pattern 22.To do this, press the target's CV or Gate button in the same way as duplicating a layer, then press the target's pattern encoder.
Pattern cloning
To clone a pattern, press the stage encoder of the source pattern when the Clone Struct menu is displayed (Pattern 1 is Encoder 1, Pattern 2 is Encoder 2, etc.).To access patterns 17 to 32, hold down the Shift All button.
After that, by pressing another encoder, the data of the source pattern will be cloned to the desired target.In the above example, pattern 12 of the selected track is cloned.You can then clone to multiple targets by pressing the encoder and selecting a pattern without having to redo the steps.
The last cloned target will be updated to the display as shown above (14 in the example).
Truck cloning
To clone a track, press the corresponding Track button while the Clone Struct menu is displayed and select the source track.
After that, you can clone the data of the source track to any track by clicking on any track.In the above example, track 1 is cloned.
By clicking on the track in succession, you can clone to multiple targets without having to redo the steps.The last cloned target will be updated to the display as above.Note that all cloning features are destructive edits, similar to stage edits using each encoder.
Composing is a task that involves a certain amount of trial and error.When you're not happy with what you've created, Usta allows you to erase the contents of your tracks at any time, without having to manually interact with them or start a new project from scratch.To initialize a track, select the track you want, make sure you're in Edit Pattern mode, and then press and hold the Pencil button for 3 seconds.This restores the selected track to its original state without affecting the other three tracks.
If you want to quickly arrange the patterns in a new order, you can initialize the song as well.To run, select a track and enter Edit Song mode.Then press and hold the Pencil button for 3 seconds to restore the slot value of all songs to 0.
The four jacks at the top of the Usta's front panel are dedicated to external modulation, with two designed for receiving external triggers or gates, and two for receiving external CVs. The external gate jack can be routed to an external clock input and Play/Pause or Reset, while the CV input can be individually routed to four different modulations per track called Varishift, Stage Shift, Gate Shift, Root Shift, and Pitch Shift . These four modulations are called shifts because they all increase or decrease the stage setting value by referencing the incoming voltage. All of these modulations are applied at the end of the stage, with the exception of Pitch Shift, which is performed in real time during the stage duration.
To use an external clock source, patch the signal to Clock Input and select External in the Clock Source option of the Track menu.When using an external clock, the Swing and Ratio options are always available, but the quality of the effect depends on a stable external clock as they are calculated for each new stage at the median of the previous impulse. .. If you don't need a Swing and Ratio other than 1: 1, you can animate the sequence with random or manual triggers.
Usta has a preliminary input for the external gate, allowing you to choose the effect depending on the internal routing parameters.By default, this input resets the sequence, but it can also be used to receive a Run signal to synchronize Usta with other hardware.This setting is global and can be set from the Aux Target in the Project menu.
Reset
When Aux Target is set to Reset, the gate patched to the AUX input performs a function similar to the Reset button in the manual, "Reset What (Stage or Pattern)" and "Reset On (Master, Local or Instant)". Affects the track according to the setting of ".
Run
The four Run options in the Aux Target menu are for controlling Usta with other devices while using an external clock.Here, the gate patched to the AUX input has three functions: Play, Stop, and Reset.Because each device has different sync behavior, Usta offers three different options:
Usta features two external inputs that can be used for modulation, and the destination of the modulation is determined via specific menu settings. It's possible to assign multiple modulation options to a single input. To enable external CV modulation for a specific track, enter the Track menu and scroll down to the Shift section. Available options are Pitch Shift A, Pitch Shift B, Root Shift, Gate Shift A, Gate Shift B, Stage Shift, Vari Shift, Phase Shift, and Pattern Shift . Select a destination and press the encoder to choose a source from None, Ext CV A, or Ext CV B.
Pitch shift
This option allows you to perform a pitch shift on the CV layer in Pitch mode.In this mode, the input is continuously sampled and scaled to the narrowest interval available on the selected scale (default is a semitone, mutable).Each time the quantize value changes, the modulated track will perform a pitch shift accordingly, even during stage playback. If Variation Layers (Index and Range) are used to change the stage values, this is taken into account by Usta at the start of the stage, before the pitch shift, and these variations even if an external pitch shift changes the value. Will not run again during the stage.The resulting value is quantized with reference to the Scale, Root, and Quantization Direction in use. In the C major example, the normal note value for a stage with a Variation Range value of 2 (± 4 semitones) is D. The variation range coin toss specifies a +2 semitone, and the note value is E.If the pitch shift is 0 at the start of the stage, Usta will play E. If the CV is modulated from 0V to 0.5V (+6 semitones) in the middle of the stage, the resulting pitch shift will change from E + 6 semitones to A # and will be quantized to B or A according to the Quantization Direction setting. You cannot perform Pitch Shift when using Raw CV mode.For example, it makes more sense to add up unquantized voltages outside of Usta using the 333 module.
Root Shift
At this CV assignment destination, you can change the Scale / Mode route selected in Dynamic Quantization (described later).For example, if Locrian is selected, the incoming CV will reroute and create a different Locrian to quantize the ongoing melody.This is very useful for creating small pieces of mode with CV automation, and routing the same CV to both Root Shift and Pitch Shift will result in an accurate transpose.Of course, if the selected scale is chromatic, Root Shift will not have a noticeable effect.
Gate Shift
This parameter increases or decreases the gate value that Usta plays on a particular stage using the incoming CV.Again, the minimum / maximum values are 0 and 16, and if the stage's gate definition is 0 (counted as a rest), the negative electrode offset has no auditory effect and the stage's gate. It means that the same applies when the offset of the positive electrode is received when the definition value of is 16.You can also use this modulation to set the gate value to 0 and mute a specific stage by sending a negative electrode offset.
Stage Shift
This modulation shifts the stage values of the four channels of the track while preserving the original stage length defined in the sequence.In other words, while the playhead maintains its rhythmic structure, the content of the melody changes according to other stage values further down the pattern. If Stage Shift is enabled and one of the four channels is selected, the turquoise playhead will show the target stage, that is, the shifted stage, and if the Length parameter is selected, it is normal. Displays the sequence of stages in.Example: Stages 4 to 4 have a stage length of 1 unit and stages 8 to 1 have a stage length of 9 units.In normal operation for loop playback, stages 16 to 0 are played back to stage 1.The generated CVs and gates are the values set in those stages. Stage Shift does not change the individual stage lengths, but replaces each CV value and gate value with one of the target stages, which is determined by the incoming CV offset.In this case, the detection of a stable offset with a value of 8 will result in a pattern length of stage 1 to 1, but a stage value of 2 to 1. Stage Shift does not span patterns, so whenever the result of a shift is greater than 8, the number repeats from Stage 3. Stage Shift is calculated based on stage changes, so you can get a shift or a sequence of quirky stages of any kind without affecting the rhythmic structure you create. To enable Stage Shift mode, select the desired track, enter the menu, navigate to Stage Shift and select the CV channel you want to use as the source of the shift.
Variation Shift (Variation Shift)
One of the available destinations for external CVs is the CV A and CV B variations, which are manually set in the blue layer.This option can automatically increase or decrease the range of values that Usta can select if the probability parameter of the CV Variation is greater than 1.As mentioned in the Blue Gate Layer section above, the Variation Range is bipolar, with the positive CV increasing the stage value up and down and the negative CV decreasing it. If CV Variation Chance is set to 0, this modulation has no effect.
Pattern Shift
The default order of patterns in Pattern mode can be temporarily changed via Pattern Recall or Pattern Mix, or a different structure can be defined in Song mode, but other patterns are automatically automated via Pattern Shift. It is also possible to call with.This feature uses an external CV to modify the original pattern that follows the current pattern, and cannot call patterns outside the defined Pattern Loop.For the same reason, Pattern Shift is not designed to work in Song Mode.By default, Usta in Pattern mode advances in one pattern at a time. Pattern Shift adds an offset to the default +1 behavior.For example, if an offset corresponding to the value 1 is applied, Usta will skip one of the two patterns (1 to 2 and 1 to 1).Also, if the pattern loop contains only three patterns, Usta skips from pattern 3 to 3, then back to 5, and then back to 3, 1, 3.If the pattern contains 2 patterns and an offset of 1 is applied, the new offset will always return the loop, so Usta will behave as if it keeps looping only the pattern where the pattern shift started. When Pattern Shift is enabled, the Reset button's functionality changes accordingly.Instead of resetting the loop to the first pattern, it resets to the first pattern and the pattern with the number defined by Pattern Shift.
Phase shift
Usta allows you to use external CV to shift the phase of a track, i.e., its position relative to its expected timing. A positive voltage shifts the track "behind the beat" by half a time unit, creating effects similar to rubato or delay. A major advantage of Phase Shift is that it doesn't affect the clock, even if the track feels slower. If the incoming CV resets to zero or the cable is disconnected, the track instantly returns to its normal position. Applying manual offsets, envelopes, and clocked random voltages can produce interesting effects. See reference technique videos 1 , 2 , 3.
In addition to the previous operations, the following options for more detailed editing are accessed from the Project menu or Track menu.
CV A and CV B for each track can be independently configured to operate in Pitch mode or Raw mode.These two modes are designed to meet all your needs, depending on where the control voltage is sent.Pitch mode is suitable for other applications that respond to CVs or V / Oct for the pitch of the oscillator, and Raw mode is suitable for other applications.By default, CV A is set to operate in Pitch mode and CV B is set to operate in Raw mode.To change these, select the track you want, press the navigation encoder to enter the Track menu, and scroll to CV A Mode or CV B Mode.Press the encoder again to select the desired mode, press the encoder again to confirm, and press the Esc button to exit the menu. When CV A or CV B is set to Pitch mode, the dashboard shows the scale, and in Raw mode it shows the voltage in millivolts.
Usta offers the option to individually configure each CV output per track to operate unipolar (single pole / 0V to 10V) or bipolar (bipolar / ± 5V).This setting can be done regardless of whether the CV output is in Pitch mode or Raw mode.The reason this option is needed is that when tuning the oscillator to 440Hz, it may be useful to apply the negative value for low notes, while the positive is used to control the filter cutoff, for example. This is because it may be useful to apply a CV that works only with the value of.By default, all parameters are set to operate at unipolar width.This setting is 100% software dependent, so you can set different settings for each track's channel and save or recall each project.To set the width of the track's CV output, press the navigation encoder to access the Track menu and scroll to CV A Range or CV B Range. Select any output width from 0 / 10V or-/ + 5V, press the encoder again to confirm, and press the Esc button to exit the menu.If you need to trim a particular CV output, please refer to the manual.
By default, when the gate color is green, the gate width (gate = time to stay high) is 2% between the rising edges of two consecutive gates.This percentage can be changed individually for Gates A and B on each track.To do this, select gtA% Width or gtB% Width from the Track menu and set it to any value.The width that can be set is 50% to 10%.
In Usta, you can set the swing independently for each track via the Swing option. Traditionally, swing is a rhythmic style that modifies the standard eighth-note pattern by playing the strong beat notes longer than the weak beat notes, creating a kind of "bouncy" feel. While commonly played in blues and jazz styles, it's also an effective tool for adding groove to electronic music. There are no specific rules that determine the swing ratio, that is, the relationship between the first and second elements of two eighth notes played in swing. Generally, swing ranges from 1:1 (no swing) to 3:1 (first note is a dotted eighth note, second is a sixteenth note), but the most common ratio is around 2:1, resulting in a groove like an eighth-note triplet with the first note being a quarter note and the second an eighth note. In Usta, swing is implemented by delaying the second note of each pair. The amount of delay is displayed as a percentage of the note length. For example, at a 50% setting, the second note is delayed by half its own length, the first note is 50% longer, and the swing ratio is 3:1. The maximum setting is 75%, resulting in an extreme ratio of 7:1. This goes far beyond the conventional swing styles mentioned above, allowing for more experimental rhythmic structures. The Swing parameter operates between two units. If the length of each of the two stages is one unit, the effect is noticeable. If the length is 2, the effect is not noticeable because theoretically the swing occurs within the stage. If the length is 3, the swing occurs between the last unit of the first stage and the first unit of the second stage. In other words, the swing can only be observed if the length of at least one of the two stages is an odd number of units. If the number of stages in the selected pattern is even, the swing pattern will be consistently repeated between different loops. If the number of stages in a pattern is odd, Usta interprets the last stage as the first element of a pair of notes, the second element as the first element of the subsequent pattern, and as the first note of the same pattern when looping. In this last assumption, all weak and strong beats are reversed in the second loop, resulting in alternating rhythms within the same pattern.
In Pattern or Song Performance mode, you can set the fifth row of the dashboard to show in real time the five channels of the stage that the playhead is playing instead of the last edited stage.To enable this option, enter the Project menu, scroll to Show In Play and select Yes (it may slow down, so it defaults to No). increase).
In Pitch mode, when a scale is selected, it defines how semitones are quantized based on 1V/Oct relative to the root note (in Raw mode, the selected root note and scale are ignored, and no quantization is performed). To set the root note of a track, click any Track button, then press the navigation encoder once to enter the Track menu. Then scroll down to the Root item in the menu and press the encoder again to check the options. Select the root note of the scale and press the encoder to confirm. Next, scroll down to the Scale item in the menu and press the encoder to check the scale options. Select any scale and press the encoder to confirm. You can also select one of four types of Quantization Directions , and the quantization value of the input voltage will be determined as follows, in the order of within the selected basic scale (e.g., 12-tone equal temperament) and within a specific scale type (e.g., major pentatonic 1):
To configure the settings, scroll down to the Quantize section in the menu, press the encoder, and review the options. Select your desired option and press the encoder again to confirm. All generated notes will be quantized according to these four rules. Additionally, in stages where Variation Range is enabled, there is a convenient feature that sends the variation results to the quantizer, outputting a scale that consistently matches the selected quantization setting. See reference technique video 1.
Usta allows you to choose an octave division of microtonal music that is different from the standard 12-EDO (Equal Division of Octave) for more experimental composers, 12-EDO, 15 -EDO, 19-EDO, 22-EDO are available.To select a different octave split, open the Track menu and scroll down to the Tones Per Oct section.The initial value is "24EDO", which is a standard Western equal temperament.In this setting, the Scale and Root options determine the quantize as described above.If you select another option, the scale and root will be obtained from the following menu items, depending on the number of notes per octave you need.For example, if Tones Per Oct is set to 4EDO, the options set in Root 12 and Scale 19 (Root 19, Scale 19, Root 15, Scale 15, Root 19, Scale 19, Root 22, Scale 22) will cause the scale. Each route is determined. Usta offers a variety of preset scales, but you can also define up to four custom scales for each octave split. The content set in Quantization Direction is applied to all selected octave divisions. Choosing 24 or more octave splits will change Stage Arc's visual feedback system accordingly.After reaching the 24th note by operating the encoder and turning on the 4th LED of Stage Arc, until the last note (12th, 11, 11, 1th note) is reached, turn off the leftmost LED to the next The interval is shown.Then another LED lights up on the right side and the next octave starts from the beginning. If you hold down the Coarse button, the encoder will always shift the stage value by one octave per click, and if you hold down the Fine button, it will always shift the pitch in cents.
TIP: Increasing the EDO setting does not change the total number of notes that Usta can play, but it will narrow the octave range. For example, if you select 24EDO, Usta's range will be 5 octaves instead of 10.
External pitch shift is possible, but the 1V / Oct standard does not apply.In these microtonal modes, regardless of octave division,1 / 12V corresponds to one scale.In other words, if you perform a pitch shift with a standard V / Oct keyboard, the melody of one microtonal pitch will shift if it is a semitone above. If you select 1EDO, two octaves on the keyboard correspond to one octave on the Usta.This 1 / 24V interval is also available in Composition mode via an external controller, where you enter microtonal with each key on a standard V / Oct keyboard.
TIP: If you change the octave division after creating a melody in 12EDO settings, the entered melody will remain valid, but it will be scaled to the first 12 notes of the new scale. To see the original melody, simply revert to the original 12EDO settings.
Usta allows you to create custom scales that can be used for quantizing in addition to the built-in scales.You can create up to 4 scales for each octave division, for a total of 20 original scales.This operation requires the creation of a .csv file to be written to the SD card, so it must be performed on the computer. A flexible text editor like Atom is recommended for creating .csv files, which other text editors and word processors cannot read, such as text formatting. This is because it may add the required data to the file. The .csv file should be created with 1 lines, 4 line for each custom scale.Each line consists of consecutive digits, only 0s and 1s, and must be separated by a semicolon (;).The numbers represent semitones and can be either valid (1) or bypassed (2) during the quantize process.The digits are 12 digits on a 12-tone scale, 15 digits on a 15-tone scale, and up to a 24-note scale.Do not enter a space between the number and the semicolon, and do not enter a semicolon after the last digit.The image below is an example of creating a .csv file with four custom 4-tone scales, the first scale is chromatic, the second is major, the third is minor, and the fourth is chromatic.
The file must be completed in 4 lines for Usta to read the file correctly.If you want to create less than four custom scales, configure all the extra lines with 4s, specify chromatics, and so on.If there is no interval at the end of each line, it is replaced with 1 and the value after the last digit is ignored.When the file is complete, save it as follows.
Copy the properly saved file to the root of the SD card and insert the card into the slot on the back of the Usta.When you turn it on, Usta will automatically load the file and the scale you create will be available at the bottom of the Track menu, in the Scale section of each octave section, as User 1, User 2. If the .csv file is not found in the SD card, or the loaded file cannot be read, the four user scales will be replaced with Usta's initial chromatic scale.
Traditionally, the standard 0V for V / Oct tracking is assumed to be C. The V / Oct standard is relative rather than absolute, and its voltage reference depends on the tuning frequency of the oscillator used at 0V, so 0V = C may or A may be preferred. ..For this reason, Usta allows you to define a reference tone from the Project menu for each project.This setting is just a visual reference, but you can create and arrange it in any environment.Changing the setting will only change the note values that CV A or CV B will show on the display for tracks that use CV A or CV B in Pitch mode, the last edited stage and the stage being played.To set the reference tone, open the Project menu, scroll to "0V is" and select C or A.
By default, Usta divides the octave into equal temperament.That is, the intervals between pitches are uniform across the scale, regardless of the number of pitches per octave.With this unit, you can create custom tunings and fine-tune the intervals of specific scales to obtain a more "perfect" temperament, such as 3 degrees or 5 degrees.The procedure requires a .csv file for each octave split (12, 15, 19, 22, 24 intervals), similar to the custom scale setup procedure, and custom scale is available as an option in the Tones Per Oct section of the menu. Will be.By default, no files are loaded on the SD card and these menu items are copies of the corresponding EDO settings. The .csv file should be created with 1 lines, 4 line for each custom setting, each line should be represented by a series of numbers in cents representing the tuning offset from the EDO, with values from -50 to + It will be between 50.The numbers must be separated by a semicolon (;), which is 12 on a 12-tone scale, 15 on a 15-tone scale, and up to a 24-note scale.No spaces are used between the number and the semicolon, and no semicolon is entered after the last value.
TIP: In Composition mode, these are replaced by the default EDO and therefore cannot be seen. To see the effect, set Usta to Edit or Playback mode.
The example below shows one line in a .csv file with a custom temperament of 12 tones.
In this example, the major second is up 2 cents, the major third is down 5 cents, the major third is up 3 cents, and the major third is down 7 cents. The file must be completed in 5 lines for Usta to read the file correctly.If you want to create less than four custom temperaments, you can use 4 for all the remaining lines.If there is no number at the end of each line, it is replaced with 0 and the extra value is ignored.When the file is complete, save it as follows.
Make sure the file is saved correctly and copy it to the SD card.When you insert the card into the slot on the back of Usta and start Usta, the file is automatically loaded and the custom temperament you created is 12User1, 12User2, 12User3, 12User4, 15User1, 15User2 .. in the Tones Per Oct section of the Track menu. Will be available as.
After defining any tuning, you can choose how Usta calculates the quantize.There are two options to choose from, the first being absolute based on the 2V note value and the second being relative to the root note selected in each octave split.This is provided because certain temperaments may be required for different songs with different keys.To set this option, enter the Project menu, scroll down to the Temperament section and select Relative or Absolute as the default behavior.This setting is also global and does not belong solely to a particular project.
TIP: The .csv files you create for scales and temperaments are global parameters. This means they are loaded every time, not saved for each project. If you need specific scales or temperaments for each project, do not replace them with .csv files.
