Files — load & save
FILE is the pattern slot screen — the only place your work is durably committed. This chapter covers the screen itself, the sidecar text-file mechanism, what autosave does and does not protect, and how patterns relate to sample packs.
FILE — pattern slots
Open FILE from the root menu. Each slot is one numbered file on the SD card holding all 16 pages, all 16 voices, every per-step value and every tone setting — effectively the whole session except the chosen sample pack.
Existing slot: large green file number and a confident green load icon on row 1.
1 Encoder 1
| Short | Load | Reads the file into RAM and immediately becomes the live pattern. The big number turns bright green while it loads; brightness reflects whether the file actually exists. |
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2 Encoder 2
| Short | Save | Writes the live pattern into the chosen slot, overwriting any existing file at that number. No second confirmation — be sure of the slot before pressing. |
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3 Encoder 3
| Short | Sidecar toggle | Switches between "load pattern only" and "load pattern + sidecar". When sidecar is on (icon brightens), opening a pattern also pulls in extra settings stored next to the file — see below. |
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4 Encoder 4
| Turn | Slot number (1–999) | Spins through file numbers. Existing slots are shown in bright green, empty slots in dim blue. |
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| Short | Back to grid | Leaves FILE without acting on the highlighted slot. |
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Read brightness as a status light: the slot number's intensity tells you instantly whether the slot is occupied (bright green) or empty (dim blue) — no need to "try a load" and see what happens.
Sidecar files (.txt next to .dat)
Every pattern file on the card can have an optional companion text file at the same number — for example patterns/042.dat next to patterns/042.txt. The sidecar is plain text and stores things that don't belong inside the binary pattern: a preferred MIDI sync offset, a colour palette, a pack hint, performance notes you typed on a computer.
When the sidecar icon (encoder 3) is on, loading a pattern also reads the sidecar and applies the settings inside it. When it is off, only the binary pattern is loaded — useful when you want to keep your current global settings and just hot-swap notes.
Use case: most patterns in the starter bank include a sidecar that points at the matching sample pack, so a fresh load gives you the intended sound right away.
Autosave — what it does and doesn't protect
The firmware autosaves the current pattern at a handful of natural moments:
- after a successful sample load in the sample browser,
- after a clean power-down through the right-side switch,
- and on a small set of menu actions that change persistent global state.
The autosave target is the last-used FILE slot. That means autosave protects you from "the battery died" within one session, but it does not protect you from "I loaded the wrong FILE slot and then made changes" — the next autosave will overwrite the slot you accidentally loaded.
Treat FILE save as the only commit you can trust between sessions. If the battery dies between two autosave checkpoints you lose what's in RAM after the last checkpoint. Save when you finish an idea.
How patterns relate to packs
A pattern saved from FILE carries notes, velocities, probabilities, every tone control, and per-voice tuning — but not the loaded sample audio. The audio is provided by the active sample pack. So loading the same pattern with two different packs sounds different.
- If you want a pattern to come back exactly as you left it next session, also save your pack choice from the PACK screen, or rely on the sidecar mechanism (above) to recall it for you.
- If you intentionally want to remix old notes with new sounds, swap packs first and then load the pattern — the notes will replay through whatever audio is on the voice rows now.