User's Manual

11
Make Some Noise!
By now you’ve already played the instrument and tweaked the controls. Now let’s take a quick
tour of some of the main features.
To get started, press the Home button. This will exit any page and take the Hydrasynth to the
top level of the patch.
Select Patches
There are several ways to explore the patch
banks inside the Hydrasynth. The simplest way
is to turn the Patch knob (the big one in the
middle), or use the left and right arrow buttons
above the Home button. This will move you
through the bank one patch at a time. You’ll
see the patch name, bank, and number in the
Left display.
You can also hold [SHIFT] and skip through
the bank by 10 patches at a time, which can
save a lot of scrolling if you know what you’re
looking for.
The Browse button opens the patch browser
in the Right display. You’ll want to read the
section Using the Browser (p.80) to learn
about things like Categories, Favorites, and
other search techniques.
Octave shift
If you want to hear a sound in a higher or
lower range than the keys or pads currently
reach, you can shift the range quickly by one
or more octaves. The Hydrasynth keyboard has
dedicated buttons above the wheels that ash
faster as the range moves further from center;
at maximum shift the buttons are lit solid. To
reset the range, press both buttons.
For the Hydrasynth desktop, hold [SHIFT] and
press the rst two pads in the top row ([Oct -]
/ [Oct +]). As the octave range moves further
from center the selected pad glows brighter.
You can see if the pads are transposed by
pressing [SHIFT] when on the Home page. To
reset the octave range, hold [SHIFT] and press
both pads.
Arpeggiator basics
Arpeggiators can turn a great sound into a whole performance! So when you’re ready, press
the Arpeggiator [ON] button to activate the arpeggiator. Then hold down two or more keys or
pads while experimenting with the other controls in the Arpeggiator section. Here’s a quick
description of each.
Arpeggiator: Both units
Control Function
Mode Determines the arpeggiator direction and other behaviors.
Octave Sets the range of the arpeggiator.
Division Selects the basic time division of the arpeggiator relative to the tempo.
Swing Eight settings allow you to add a certain amount of “shue feel” to the arpeggio.
On This toggles the arpeggiator on and o. Use it with [SHIFT] to enter Edit mode.
Latch Lets you to take your ngers o the keys or pads and use both hands to adjust
parameters.
Triplet Subdivides the selected Division setting into triplets.
Tap Tempo Tap several times to set the tempo.
There are words in orange letters under two of the buttons: EDIT and SUSTAIN. These are used
with the [SHIFT] button to access their secondary functions. We’ll describe those and the other
arpeggiator features in The Arpeggiator Section (p.66).