Boss GT-X - Slicer; Section 19 Slicer; What Is the Slicer; Slicing Patterns

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Section19Slicer
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©Copyright2000-2002BarryS.Pearceetal.  91
WhatistheSlicer?
TheSlicerisONLYavailableontheGT-3.
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Asthe Official OwnersManualsays,the Slicerinterrupts
the sound you are playing. It is very similar to a square
wavetremolo,butratherthanjustinterruptitusinganon-
off-on-offpatterntheeffectprovidesanumberofdifferent
patterns.
SlicingPatterns
Each patternconsistsof 12 or 16individual'slices'.Each
slicemaybeonoroff.Eachpresetpatternthatisavailable
defineswhichareonandwhichareoff.Unfortunatelyitis
notpossible todefineyourownpatterns.PatternsP1-P12
use16slices.Theseare4beatpatternsandthereforework
wellwithpiecesthathaveatimesignatureof4/4.Patterns
P13-P20use12slices,andare3beatpatterns,sothesewill
workwellwithtimesignaturesof3/4,6/8oreven3/2.
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Now it should be said that each slice, may not only be
turnedonoroffbutmayalsovaryinvolume.Thepatterns
intheGT-3haveupto8possiblevolumelevelsperslice.
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Nowisprobablyagoodtimetointroducethepatterntable
toyou.Eachpatternisshownbelowalongwiththeslices
that are on/off and the relative amplitudeofthat slice. A
dashmeansthesliceisturnedoffandanumberfrom'1'to
'8'indicatestherelativeamplitudewith8beingfullvolume,
4beinghalfvolumeandsoon.Hereisthetable:
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Pattern Amplitude/Slices
P1
8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
P2
88--88--88--88--
P3
888-888-888-888-
P4
8---8---8---8---
P5
888-8-8-888-8-8-
P6
8---8-8-8---8-8-
P7
8-8-888-8-8-888-
P8
8-4-2-1-8-4-2-1-
P9
8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-
P10
8-6-4-2-1-2-4-6-
P11
8-6-4-2-1-2-4-6-
P12
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-
P13
8--8--8--8--
P14
88-88-88-88-
P15
88--8-88--8-
P16
8---8-8---8-
P17
8-6-4-8-6-4-
P18
8-7-6-5-4-3-
P19
8-6-4-2-4-6-
P20
4-6-8-4-6-8-
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Justbeforewemovetolookattherateparameter,Ishould
saythattheinterruptisn'tperfectlysquare,thereisaslight
rise and decay time, which appear to be 10-20ms and 5-
15msrespectively.
Rate
Rateisselectablebetween0-100,andadditionallyhasBPM
settings. Below I provide two tables showing how rate
affectsthesound.Each'cycle'isasingleexecutionofthe12
or16slices.i.e.1cycle=1fullpattern.

The following 4 beat timings were determined from
observation usingSoundForge asawaveeditor/recorder.
They are for 4 beat patterns (P1-P12). P9 was used to
ascertainthetimings.

Rate CycleTime
inms
Approx
Timein
seconds
SliceTimein
ms
0 3000 3.0 187.50
10 2000 2.00 125.00
20 1500 1.50 93.75
30 1200 1.20 75.00
40 1000 1.00 62.50
50 860  53.75
60 760 0.75 47.50
70 670  41.87
80 600  37.50
90 560  35.00
100 500 0.50 31.25
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The following timings were determined from observation
usingSoundForgeasawaveeditor/recorder.Thereare3
beat patterns (P13-P20). P18 was used to ascertain the
timings.Rates0,50and100weredonefromtimingsand
therest fromcalculations from the 4beattableabove,as
thereisadefinitelinkbetweentheslicetimes.

Rate CycleTime
inms
Approx
Timein
seconds
SliceTimein
ms
0 2250 2.25 187.50
10 1500 1.5 125.00
20 1125  93.75
30 900  75.00
40 750 0.75 62.50
50 645  53.75
60 570  47.50
70 502 0.50 41.87
80 450  37.50
90 420  35.00
100 375  31.25

Now many of you might be thinking that a rate of
375/500msisn'tmuch.Butwhatyouneedtorememberis
that each pattern has 12 or 16 time slices, and the
375/500mscontainsasinglepattern'sfullcycle.Wecansee