Handbook — encoders, touch pads, transport.
Every gesture you can make on the device. Read this once and you will recognise every encoder card later in the book.
Each rotary encoder has three primitive actions: turn, short press, and long press. The firmware also recognises chords: two encoders pressed at the same time (long-long, short-short, etc.). Their function changes per screen, but their position on the panel never moves, so it is worth memorising:
"Where" — the row / voice / lane selector in most contexts. Short press tends to mute that lane; long press is part of chords like full clear.
"Layer" — secondary navigation. Page flips, per-row volume rides, mute overlay, value entry on menu pages.
"Sound" — the fast-filter macro from the grid; transport (play/pause) on short press; alternate values on menu pages.
"When" — the column / time selector and the primary menu navigator. Short press toggles notes on the grid or enters a menu page; long press opens the per-step note editor.
Each encoder has a full-colour RGB ring — it isn't tied to a fixed colour. Instead the ring re-tints itself to mirror what is currently under your finger: the voice colour when you are on a voice lane, the page tint inside filters, white for binary toggles, off when the encoder isn't used by the current screen. The row 1 hint strip on the matrix mirrors the same colour above each encoder, so you can glance between panel and grid without losing your place.
Three capacitive pads are wired to the firmware. Touch 1 (L) and touch 2 (R) sit in the thin strip between the matrix and the encoders, one under each half of the grid. Touch 3 lives on the top edge of the chassis. They are not as overloaded as the encoders, but they trigger key navigation:
| Gesture | Action | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Hold L or R from the grid | Opens the menu | Anywhere in draw, single, paint, unpaint. |
| Tap left-first, both pads together | Opens the sample browser on sample voices 1–8 | Sample channels only. |
| Tap right-first, both pads together | Opens filters on FX-capable channels | Both sample and synth voices. |
| Single tap on BPM screen | Tap tempo | Repeats average into the live BPM number. |
| Touch 2 tap inside filters | Flips to the next filter page | Inside any filter page. |
| Hold touch 3 in the sample browser | Jumps into record mode | Sample browser only. |
There is no dedicated play button. The sequencer transport lives on encoder 3 short press from the grid (and on encoder 2 long press in a few filter pages so you can audition without leaving the editor). Pressing again stops; the matrix stops moving and the playhead disappears.
Transport state is global: when you open the menu while playing, your loop keeps running underneath the menu overlay so you can adjust BPM, send/receive MIDI, or load a new pattern on the fly. The only places that suspend playback are heavy I/O operations (loading a fresh sample pack, a full reset, or generating a large new pattern).
A handful of important actions need two encoders pressed at the same time. The firmware deliberately requires a chord on destructive operations so you can't trigger them accidentally with one finger. They all happen from the grid:
| Gesture | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Encoder 4 short | Toggle note at the cursor | Draw / single grid. |
| Encoder 4 long | Open the per-step note editor | On top of an existing note. |
| Encoder 2 short (cursor on page row, single mode) | Enter note-shift | Single mode, page row. |
| Encoder 2 long | Transient mute overlay (release to return) | Any grid mode. |
| Encoder 1 short (cursor on page row, single mode) | Clear page on the focused voice | Single mode, page row. |
| Encoder 1 long | Context action — randomize on the page row, unpaint elsewhere | Single mode / paint. |
| Encoder 1 + Encoder 4 both long | Clear page — every voice in draw, just the focused voice in single | Anywhere on the grid. |