Rev. 5 – Jun 2020 Page 52 of 91
CV RANGE
USTA offers the option to set each CV output inde-
pendently per track to work in unipolar range (from 0V
to 10V) or in a bipolar range (±5V). This setting is inde-
pendent of the CV output being Pitch or Raw. The reason
for this option is that sometimes it might be useful to have
negative values for lower notes, such as if you want to
tune your oscillators to 440Hz, but some other times it
might be useful to have the CV working only into positive
values, such as to modify the filter cutoff. By default,
every parameter is set to work in a unipolar range.
This setting is 100% software dependent, therefore dif-
ferent settings for each track’s channel can be set, stored
and recalled for each project.
To set the range of a CV output of a track, push the
Navigation Encoder to access the Track Menu (B.14) and
scroll to reach CV A Range or CV B Range, then select the
preferred Range (0/10V or −/+5V). Push again to confirm
and Esc button (B.4) to exit.
If it is necessary to trim a specific CV output, see the
section about output trimming.
GATE WIDTH %
By default, when the Gate Color is green (see above,
§3.4.6) the gate width (i.e. the time it stays high) is the
50% of the time between two consecutive gate rising
edges. It is possible, however, to change this percentage
independently for gates A and B for each track. In the
Track Menu select Gate A % Width or Gate B % Width and
choose the desired value: the selectable range spans from
10% to 90%.
SWING
USTA allows adding a swinging feel to each track inde-
pendently through the Swing option.
Traditionally, swing is a rhythmic style that implies an
alteration of the standard eighth note pattern by playing
the downbeat note longer than the upbeat one, thus
providing a sort of “bouncing” feel. It is commonly
played in blues and jazz styles, but it can be a useful tool
to add some groove to an electronic composition too.
There is no fixed rule to determine the swing ratio, or
the relationship between the first and the second element
of a couple of eighth notes played with a swing feel. Gen-
erally speaking, the swing happens anywhere between 1:1
(no swing at all) and 3:1 (where the first note is a dotted
eighth note and the second one a sixteenth note); the most
common ratio is around 2:1, which sounds like a triplet
of eighth notes where the first one is a quarter note and
the second one is an eighth note.
USTA implements Swing by delaying the second note in
each pair. Delay amount is indicated in percentage of
note length. For instance, a swing setting of 50% means
that the second note will be delayed by half of its length,
making the first one 50% longer, which translates in a
swing ratio of 3:1; a swing setting around 33% or 34%
translates roughly into a swing ratio of 2:1 and so on. The
maximum setting allowed by USTA is 75%, which pro-
vides an extreme ratio of 7:1 – this goes way beyond the
conventional swing styles, and it can be used for more ex-
perimental rhythmic structures.
The Swing parameter operates between couples of units
(see above, §2.2). If two stages have length of 1 unit each,
the effect will be noticeable. If they have length of 2, the
swing theoretically happens within the stages, so it will
not be audible. If they have length of 3, the swing hap-
pens between the last unit of the first stage and the first
unit of the second stage, and so on. In other words, the
swing can be heard only if the length of at least one out
of two stages has an odd number of units.
If the selected pattern has an even number of stages, the
swing pattern will be repeated consistently across differ-
ent loops; if the pattern has an odd number of stages, the
last stage will be read by USTA as the first element of a
pair of notes, whose second element will be the first note
of the following pattern, or the same pattern if it is loop-
ing. This last scenario results in alternating rhythmic var-
iations on the same pattern, because on the second loop
all the upbeats and downbeats will be flipped.
CURRENT STAGE DATA
In Performance Mode, either in Pattern or Song, the fifth row
of the dashboard can be set to display in real time the five
channels (CV A, CV B, Gate A, Gate B) of the stage that is
currently being played by the playhead, instead of the last
edited stage.
To activate this option, enter the Project Menu, scroll un-
til the ShowInPLay item, and select Yes (by default, this op-
tion is set to No, as it could happen that it may slow down
USTA).
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