Frap Tools CGM - Editing Stages

Rev. 5 – Jun 2020 Page 35 of 91
pattern is played in numeric order. (It is possible to
change this order through the Song Mode, on which see
§5.3) When a new project is created, only the first pattern
is looping in Pattern Mode: let’s focus on this one for now.
Pattern Mode is displayed by the Pattern LED (C.2) when
it’s lit up green.
USTA allows you to perform two main kinds of task
with patterns: editing them and playing them back. These
two operations can be performed separately (in a more
“compositional” approach) or simultaneously (in an im-
provised performance), but always require two different
operating modes, respectively called Edit and Performance.
These modes are accessed through the Pencil button
(B.5), which switches from one to the other, and their sta-
tus is displayed by the pencil-shaped LED: red when in
Edit mode, green when in Performance.
When the pencil LED is red, USTA is in edit mode,
which is also the default setting once a project is created
and a track is selected. In this mode, you can modify
whichever parameter you want.
As said above, it is also possible to play the sequence
while editing: the visual feedback for the current stage
playing is provided by a cyan stage RGB LED, called
playhead. The playhead is displayed only when the se-
lected pattern is playing. For example, when editing pat-
tern 2, if pattern 2 is playing, the playhead is displayed,
but if pattern 1 is playing, no playhead will be displayed.
In performance mode – the pencil RGB LED is green
– the displayed pattern is always the one that is playing,
according to the track: in this mode, it is no longer possi-
ble to edit patterns, but other operations are possible (see
below §5.4).
The third row of the Dashboard (Figure 36, p. 33) dis-
plays all the information concerning the patterns that are
currently being edited or played.
see (F.8) indicates the pattern that is currently selected
for editing purposes. In order to select a pattern, make
sure to be in Edit Mode, then rotate the Navigation Encoder
(B.14). You will see this number changing accordingly.
play (F.9) indicates the pattern that is currently being
played.
The two numbers separated by a slash indicate the be-
ginning (F.10) and the ending point (F.11) of your pattern
structure. By default, they are set to 01/01, which means
that the pattern loop will be limited to the first pattern
only. It is possible to edit any other pattern while pattern
1 is playing, however, the result of such operation will not
be heard unless the newly edited patterns are included
within the pattern loop.
To change the extension of the pattern loop, enter Per-
formance Mode, then hold the Set All button (B.1) and rotate
the Navigation Encoder (B.14) to set the first pattern of your
looping structure, or hold the Shift All button (B.2) while
rotating the Navigation Encoder to set the last one. From
now on, USTA will loop all the patterns contained within
those two, including them.
Please note that the last pattern needs to be higher than
the first pattern (or the same), because in Pattern Mode
the playhead moves from one pattern to the other in nu-
meric order. To obtain different pattern orders, please re-
fer to the Song Mode (§5.3).
Another way of editing the pattern loop is through a
button combination. When USTA is in Performance
mode, every editing option is disabled: the 16 Stage Encod-
ers (A.1) are now associated with the first 16 patterns, and
while holding the Shift All button (B.2) they are associated
with the last 16 patterns (or from the 17th to 32nd). They
can be pushed to manually recall a given pattern (on
which see Pattern Recall, §5.4), but they can also be used to
define the pattern loop on the fly. Push and hold the Set
All button (B.1) and then push the encoders correspond-
ing to the first and last patterns to set the new ends of the
pattern loop: remember to hold also Shift All (B.2) to set
patterns no. 17-32.
If you want to apply the same pattern loop settings (first
and last pattern) to all the tracks at the same time, double
click Shift All when in Performance Mode.
Practice the Pattern Loop with these Tech-
niques:
Edit & Performance Mode
Pattern Loop
EDITING STAGES
In order to modify the content of your pattern, you
need to edit its stages. Each stage can have its own length,
expressed in terms of units.
Furthermore, each stage can store information for two
separate control voltages and two gates, which form each
stage’s channels.
Value
Variation Index
Variation Range
CV
GATE
Table 4: Channel LEDs
To access and modify these data, it is required to select
the desired channel through the four Channel Buttons (B.6,
B.7, B.9, B.10) or the Length Button (B.8) and then modify
its value with the respective stage encoder (A.1). Each en-
coder corresponds to one and only one stage per pattern,
numbered clockwise from the topmost one on the right.
Both CV and Gate channels have three different layers
of data: Value, Variation Index and Variation Range. By