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Controls

Every gesture you can make on the device. Read this once and you will recognise every encoder card later in the book.

The four encoders

Each rotary encoder has three primitive actions: turn, short press, and long press. A few destructive actions also need two encoders held together (see below). Their function changes per screen, but their position on the panel never moves, so it is worth memorising:

Encoder 1 · leftmost

"Where" — the row / voice / lane selector in most contexts. Short press erases the note under the cursor in L+R draw; long press pairs with encoder 4 for clear-page.

Encoder 2

"Layer" — secondary navigation. Page flips, per-row volume rides, mute overlay, value entry on menu pages.

Encoder 3

"Sound" — the fast-filter macro from the grid; transport (play/pause) on short press; alternate values on menu pages.

Encoder 4 · rightmost

"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.


Touch pads

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 right bottom edge of the chassis and is dedicated to recording:

GestureActionWhere it applies
Hold L from the gridToggles single modeAnywhere in draw / single.
Hold R from the gridOpens the menuAnywhere in draw, single, paint, unpaint.
Tap left-first, both pads togetherOpens the sample browser on sample voices 1–8Sample channels only.
Tap right-first, both pads togetherOpens filters on FX-capable channelsBoth sample and synth voices.
Touch 2 tap inside filtersFlips to the next filter pageInside any filter page.
Touch 3 (hold / press)Recording — hold in the sample browser to enter record mode; press/hold on the grid for live/fast-rec (see Record → Live recording)Sample browser and grid.
Touch sensitivity: the pads detect skin contact, not pressure. A loose grip on the chassis can register a phantom touch — keep your palms off them while turning encoders.

Transport (play / pause)

There is no dedicated play button. The sequencer transport lives on encoder 3 short press from the grid. Inside filter mode, use encoder 3 long press instead 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.


Key grid presses

Most grid actions are a single encoder press. A couple of destructive or jump-out actions need two encoders held at once so they are harder to fire by accident. Everything below is from draw / single on the grid:

Page-row tools only fire when the cursor is on row 16 (y==16). The "Where" column below spells this out. If a gesture seems to do nothing, check first whether your cursor is on a voice row or on the page row — delete page, copy/paste, randomize, single-mode clear, and note-shift are locked to the page strip.
GestureWhat it doesWhere
Encoder 1 press (cursor on page row, L+R draw)Delete page under the cursor (unpaint → clear that page’s notes)Draw mode, page row, DRAW = L+R.
Encoder 1 short (cursor on page row, single mode)Clear current edit page on the focused voiceSingle mode, page row (y==16) only.
Encoder 1 long (cursor on page row, single mode)Randomize / scale-aware fill for the focused voiceSingle mode, page row (y==16) only.
Encoder 2 short (cursor on page row, single mode)Enter note-shiftSingle mode, page row (y==16) only.
Encoder 2 longTransient mute overlay (release to return)Any grid mode.
Encoder 3 longOpen filters for the focused voiceDraw / single (FX-capable channels).
Encoder 4 shortToggle note at the cursorDraw / single grid.
Encoder 4 longOpen the per-step note editorOn top of an existing note.
Encoder 1 + Encoder 4 both longClear page — every voice in draw, just the focused voice in singleAnywhere on the grid.
Encoder 2 + Encoder 3 both longJump to the volume / BPM screenDraw / single.
When a gesture needs two encoders at once, take your time — release order doesn't matter, but both must be pressed in the long-press window. Chapters that introduce a two-encoder action spell it out in words ("press encoder 1 long together with encoder 4 long").