CHAPTER 3: YOUR FIRST SONG

In this chapter you write a short tune on channel 1, then add a second channel.

3.1 Clear the demo

  1. Press CTRL + RIGHT twice. The screen will show the PHRASE screen.
  2. Press CTRL + UP. The screen will show the PROJECT screen.
  3. Move the cursor down to CLEAN.
  4. Press SPACE. The help line will show SPC AGAIN: CONFIRM.
  5. Press SPACE again. The project is now empty.

3.2 Put a chain in the song

  1. Press CTRL + DOWN, then CTRL + LEFT twice. You are on the SONG screen.
  2. Move the cursor to row 00, channel 1 (the first column).
  3. Press SPACE, SPACE. A new chain number appears: 00.
  4. Press CTRL + RIGHT. You are on the CHAIN screen, editing chain 00.

3.3 Put a phrase in the chain

  1. Move the cursor to step 0, in the left column (the phrase column).
  2. Press SPACE, SPACE. A new phrase number appears: 00.
  3. Press CTRL + RIGHT. You are on the PHRASE screen, editing phrase 00.

3.4 Choose a sound

  1. Press CTRL + RIGHT. You are on the INSTR screen, instrument 00.
  2. Move the cursor to PRESET.
  3. Hold SPACE and press RIGHT. Each press loads the next factory sound and plays it.
  4. Hold SPACE and press UP or DOWN to jump to the next or previous group: drums, basses, leads, pads, arps, fx.
  5. Stop at a lead sound, for example 13 PWMLD.
  6. Press CTRL + LEFT to go back to the PHRASE screen.

3.5 Write notes

A phrase has four columns: note, instrument, command and command value.

  1. Move the cursor to step 0, note column.
  2. Press SPACE. The note C-4 appears with instrument 00, and you hear it.
  3. To change the note, hold SPACE and press RIGHT or LEFT (one semitone), UP or DOWN (one octave). Or type a letter A–G for the note name and a digit 0–7 for the octave.
  4. Move down to step 4 and press SPACE. The last note you used appears.
  5. Type E. The note changes to E in the same octave.
  6. Add notes on steps 8 and C the same way.

To erase a note, move the cursor onto it and press C= + SPACE.

To listen, press RETURN. The phrase plays on its channel as part of the song. Press RETURN again to stop.

3.6 Fill the chain

  1. Press CTRL + LEFT. You are on the CHAIN screen.
  2. Move to step 1, phrase column, and press SPACE. Phrase 00 is entered again.
  3. Move to step 2 and press SPACE, SPACE. A new phrase 01 appears.
  4. Press CTRL + RIGHT and write notes in phrase 01.

The right column of the chain is a transpose. To play a phrase higher, move the cursor to its transpose field and hold SPACE + RIGHT (one semitone) or SPACE + UP (one octave).

Chain 00 now plays phrase 00, 00, 01 and starts again.

3.7 Build the song

  1. Press CTRL + LEFT until the status line shows SONG.
  2. Move to row 01, channel 1, and press SPACE. Chain 00 is entered again.
  3. For a bass line, move to row 00, channel 2. Press SPACE, SPACE for a new chain and fill it as above.
  4. On the PHRASE screen of the bass, type a new instrument number, for example 01, in the instrument column. Press CTRL + RIGHT and choose a bass preset.

3.8 Play the song

  1. Go to row 00 of the SONG screen.
  2. Press RETURN.

Each channel plays its chains row by row. When a channel reaches an empty row, it goes back to the first row of its block, so the song repeats.

To play or stop the whole song from any screen, press CTRL + RETURN.

To keep your song, save it to disk (CHAPTER 12).

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