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Chapter 14 Ultrabeat 380
MIDI control of Ultrabeat’s step sequencer
Pattern performance can be inuenced by incoming MIDI notes. This enables spontaneous
interaction with the step sequencer, making Ultrabeat an excellent live performance instrument.
The way Ultrabeat reacts to MIDI control is determined by the chosen pattern, playback, and
voice mute mode options.
Pattern Mode button Voice Mute Mode buttonPlayback Mode menu
MIDI control parameters
•
Pattern Mode (On/O) button: Allows you to choose and start patterns with MIDI note
messages. The Transport button turns blue to indicate that Ultrabeat is ready to receive
incoming control commands.
MIDI notes C-1 to B0 switch between patterns: C-1 selects pattern 1, C#-1 selects pattern 2,
and so on up to pattern 24 (selected when MIDI note B0 is received).
•
Playback Mode pop-up menu: Determines pattern playback behavior when an incoming MIDI
note is received. You can choose one of the following options:
•
One-Shot Trig(ger): The reception of a MIDI note starts the pattern, which plays once through
its cycle, then stops. If the next note is received before the pattern has reached its nal
step, the new note stops playback of the rst pattern and the next pattern begins playing
immediately—this can be a dierent pattern or the same pattern, depending on the MIDI
note received. Note-o events are ignored.
•
Sustain: The reception of a MIDI note starts the pattern and it continues playing in an innite
loop until the corresponding MIDI note is released (a note-o event is received).
•
Toggle: The reception of a MIDI note starts the pattern and it continues playing in an innite
loop until the next note is received. If it is the same note, the pattern stops immediately. If it
is a dierent note, the sequencer immediately switches to the new pattern.
Toggle mode allows you to switch between patterns in the middle of a bar—the sequencer
stays in time and automatically jumps to the corresponding beat of the new pattern. This isn’t
the case in One-Shot Trig mode, which starts the new pattern from the beginning as soon as
you play a MIDI note.
•
Toggle on Step 1: The behavior is the same as Toggle mode except that the pattern change or
stop occurs the next time beat 1 is reached—at the beginning of the next pattern cycle.
•
Voice Mute Mode button: Playing MIDI note C1 and above mutes the corresponding sound in
the Ultrabeat mixer. A subsequent MIDI note of the same pitch unmutes it. This is ideal for
spontaneous rearranging of patterns and/or muting single elements of a pattern without
deleting them. This is especially useful in a live performance or remixing situation.
All the creative pattern switching options discussed in this section are achieved with MIDI note
messages and can be recorded, edited, arranged, and automated in Logic Pro.