1010music Bitbox User manual

P. 1Bitbox User Manual
v. 1.0 ©1010music 2016
Bitbox User’s Manual
Welcome to bitbox. Bitbox is a very useful tool for capturing and playing back
samples. This manual will walk you through all of the features of bitbox. If you
want to start playing right away, please consult the Quick Start Guide found
in the box. The Quick Start Guide and this manual are also available on the
1010music.com Support page.

P. 1Bitbox User Manual
v. 1.0 ©1010music 2016
Table of Contents
Overview 2!
The MicroSD Card 3!
Working with Clips 3!
Playing(a(Clip( 3!
Clip(Information( 3!
Clip(Actions( 4!
More(Clip(Information( 5!
Load(clip(files(from(a(microSD(card( 6!
Record(a(clip( 6!
Synchronize(Clips(with(CLOCKS(or(MIDI(Inputs( 7!
Modulating(Cells( 7!
Working with Presets and Saving Your Work 8!
Working with Tracks 8!
Export a Set to Ableton Live 9!
Switch to a New MicroSD Card While Operating Bitbox 10!
Demonstration Videos and Latest Docs 10!
Contact Us 10!

P. 2Bitbox User Manual
v. 1.0 ©1010music 2016
Overview
The diagram below identifies the components of bitbox. This manual will refer to the controls and inputs of the
module using the labels shown.
Bitbox is equipped with a touchscreen. You can touch cells in the grid on the screen to select them, and touch
on-screen buttons to take an action.
The INFO and HOME buttons at the top of the front panel of bitbox are used to navigate the screens. Press
INFO to view the information screen for the current selection. In some cases, you can press INFO more than
once to get to deeper information. The HOME button generally takes you back a screen. If you get lost, you
can press HOME until you get back to the Main screen.
The Control Knobs are used to cycle through options on the screen. When there are several parameters on
the screen, use the Control Knob closest to a parameter to set its value.

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The MicroSD Card
Bitbox uses a MicroSD card to store clips and clip parameter information. A MicroSD card must be inserted into
the MicroSD slot on the front panel of the bitbox during operation of the module. A MicroSD card loaded with
some sample clips is included with bitbox. Insert the MicroSD card with the notched edge down.
Working with Clips
When you first start bitbox, you will see the Main screen. Each
square or cell represents a clip that can be played back. Clips can
be loaded from the MicroSD Card or recorded from inputs. The
MicroSD card provided with the module has several Preset banks of
clips to get you started.
The pink square indicates which cell is selected. You can change the
selection two ways: by touching the cell or by turning any of the
Control Knobs.
Playing a Clip
There are three ways to trigger playback of a clip:
1. Touch a cell to play the corresponding clip. The light grey colored cells in the grid hold clips. The name of
the clip appears in the cell after it is loaded. Blank cells are empty.
2. Plug a trigger source into one of the CV Trigger jacks. The CV Trigger jacks are mapped to the clip cells
on the touchscreen. The clip that corresponds to the used CV Trigger jack will now be triggered by the
CV Trigger input.
3. Plug a MIDI controller source into the MIDI input jack.
Note:
•The MIDI input uses a TRS connection compatible with the Arturia BeatStep Pro. Be sure to use a
TRS cable.
•Bitbox responds to MIDI inputs on MIDI Channel 10, which is the default channel
for the drum part on the BeatStep Pro.
•MIDI inputs for notes 36 to 51 are mapped to the clips in the grid as shown in the
diagram to the right. The modulators are assigned notes 52 to 55.
Clip Information
To adjust the selected clip’s parameters, press the INFO button. Cells
with text in them already have a clip loaded. When you press INFO
with a loaded cell selected, you will see the Clip Info screen
shown to the right.
48
49
50
51
55
44
45
46
47
54
40
41
42
43
53
36
37
38
39
52

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On this screen you can adjust each of the four parameters by turning the Control Knob closest to the
parameter on the screen:
Start Together with Length, controls what portion of the sample will play. Start is expressed
as a percentage of the entire sample length and designates the position in the clip where
playback will begin.
Length Together with Start, controls what portion of the sample will play. Length is expressed
in percentage of the entire sample length and designates what percentage of the clip after
the Start position will be played. The Length parameter also controls the loop length.
See the Loop parameter on the More Clip Info screen.
Mode This parameter determines how the sample will playback with four different settings:
Trigger Activate the clip by touching the cell, through a CV Trigger, or through
MIDI note on. Bitbox will start playback of the clip according to the Quant
Size (see More Clip Information below) and play through to completion. The
release has no effect.
Gate Begin the clip playback in the same manner as Trigger mode. But in Gate
mode, playback will stop when you release the touch, the CV Trigger gate
goes low, or the MIDI note is released.
Toggle Begin the clip playback in the same manner as Trigger mode. When these
events happen again, the playback will stop.
Repeat Begin the cell playback in the same manner as Trigger mode. The playback
will restart at the Quant Size interval while the cell is held down or
activated. Releasing or deactivating the cell allows playback to continue to
completion of the clip.
Level This parameter sets the gain for the cell and ranges from -96dB to +12dB. At the default
value of 0dB the volume remains unchanged.
Clip Actions
The Clip Info screen has several action buttons across the top. Touching these on-screen buttons will do
the following:
Del Delete this sample from this cell. The file on the MicroSD card remains. This particular cell
will now be empty. Pressing this button will return you to the Main screen
More View additional parameters for this clip on the More Clip Info screen. Pressing
INFO will do the same thing.
Play Trigger the clip playback just like touching the cell on the Main screen does.

P. 5Bitbox User Manual
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More Clip Information
To see additional parameters from the Clip Info screen, touch the on-
screen More button or press the INFO button. You will then see the
More Clip Info screen shown on the right.
On the More Clip Info screen you can adjust each of the four
parameters by turning the Control Knob closest to the parameter on the
screen:
Loop Mode With Loop Mode ON, playback will continue to repeat the portion of the sample
specified by the Start and Length parameters on the Clip Info screen.
Pitch This parameter adjusts the tone and the playback speed of the sample--unless you are
using slicing. It is expressed in semitones and ranges from -24 semitones (down two
octaves) to +24 semitones (up two octaves).
Quant Size This parameter enables you to quantize when the playback starts and stops. It has the
following values available:
●None - always start and stop immediately
●1/16 - quantize to the next sixteenth note time
●1/8 - eighth note
●1/4 - quarter note
●1/2 - half note
●1 bar - a whole note assuming 4/4 time
●2 bars
●4 bars
●8 bars
Example: With the quant time set to 1 bar, samples will start and stop when the next bar
or measure begins. You can see the current bar and beat in the upper left of most
screens.
Slice Size When this parameter is enabled, bitbox will subdivide the sample into pieces that will
play in sync with the clock. The available values are the same units as the Quant
Size. For drum samples, small values like 1/8 or 1/16 work best. For drones or pads,
larger numbers like 1 bar may sound best. This parameter is only valid when Quant
Size is something besides None.

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Load clip files from a microSD card
You can use the microSD card to load clips into bitbox from other sources.
1. Use your laptop or other device to load clips in WAV format into the root folder of a microSD card.
2. Insert the microSD card into the MICRO SD slot, notched edge down.
3. Press HOME until you get to the Main screen.
4. Touch an empty, light colored cell in the grid on the touchscreen to select it.
5. Press the INFO button to display the Clip Info screen and then touch the
on-screen Load button. A list of clips on the MicroSD card will be displayed,
similar to the screen on the right.
6. Use any of the Control Knobs to select a WAV file from the list that appears on
the touchscreen. To cancel, press the HOME button.
7. Touch Load again. You will see the Main screen with the selected clip loaded into the selected cell.
Record a clip
You can use the IN1 and IN2 input jacks to record in mono or stereo.
1. Press HOME until you get to the Main screen.
2. Touch an empty, light colored cell in the grid on the touchscreen to select it. You can delete a clip (see
Clip Actions above) to create an empty cell if needed.
3. Press the INFO button to display the Record screen shown to the right.
4. Plug the recording source into the IN1or IN2jack.
5. The source will play through the corresponding output jack, OUT1 or OUT2.
6. Turn the Control Knob closest to each of the following parameters to select a
value:
Input This parameter lets you select stereo or mono recording. The available values are as
follows:
●In 1/2 Record in Stereo from input jacks IN1 and IN2.
●In 1 Record mono from input jack IN1.
●In 2 Record mono from input jack IN2.
Rec Quant This parameter lets you quantize the recording starting and stopping for making loops.
The available values are:
●None - always start and stop immediately
●1/16 - quantize to the next sixteenth note time
●1/8 - eighth note
●1/4 - quarter note
●1/2 - half note
●1 bar - a whole note assuming 4/4 time
●2 bars
●4 bars
●8 bars

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The In1 and In2 values display the levels of each of the input signals. For best results leave some
room (a few dB) between your loudest level and the max allowed, which is 0dB.
7. Touch the on-screen Rec button. Bitbox will start recording. The timing of the recording can be
synchronized with other modules by using the Rec Quant parameter setting with a MIDI or CLOCK
input. (See Synchronize Clips with CLOCKS or MIDI Inputs below.)
8. Touch the on-screen Stop button. The recording will end.
9. Press the HOME button to return to the Main screen.
Synchronize Clips with CLOCKS or MIDI Inputs
To synchronize the playback of clips with a clock signal, a MIDI clock source or the internal clock, follow these
steps:
1. Use the Clip Info and More Clip Info screens to set the Triggerand other parameters for
the cell. Bitbox synchronizes clips when Quant Size is set to something other than None, such as
Quant Size: 1 bar.
2. Plug a clock source into the CLOCK jack or a MIDI clock source into the MIDI jack. You should hear all
clips play synchronized with the CLOCK input or MIDI signal, according to the parameters set up for each
clip.
Note:
!The Clock input must use 4 pulses per quarter (PPQs), or a pulse per 16th note.
!If MIDI and CLOCK inputs are used together, Bitbox will select the highest priority clock based on
the following order of priority: 1.) CLOCK Input; 2.) MIDI Input; 3.) Internal Clock.
Modulating Cells
The dark gray cells on the rightmost column of the Main screen work differently from
the other 16 cells. These cells are used to control modulation of the row of cells to the
right of the modulation cell. These modulation cells work with the CV Modulator
input jacks below the screen. To adjust modulation, select a dark gray cell and press
INFO to display the Mod Cell screen shown to the right.
Use the Control Knobs to adjust the three parameters on the Mod Cell screen:
Mod This selects the type of modulation for the corresponding row of cells. The values include:
Scene Trig Triggering this modulation with the CV Modulator input will trigger the
entire row of cells at once. This is similar to the Scene Triggers in Ableton Live.

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Pitch Use the CV Modulator input to modulate the pitch of the Destination cell
specified in the Dest parameter.
Start Modulate the initial play position in the sample for the Destination cell.
Length Modulate the playback length for the Destination cell.
Dest This parameter specifies the destination cell that is the target of the
Pitch, Start, and Length modulation. It is expressed in Row,
Column format as shown to the right. Note that 1,1 is in the lower left
corner, and 4,4 is in the upper right.
Working with Presets and Saving Your Work
Bitbox allows you to store multiple configurations of clips and parameter settings as
Presets. You can save up to 12 different banks of Presets. When you first start
using bitbox, you are using Preset 1. The MicroSD card that comes with bitbox has
7 Presets pre-loaded.
To switch to using a different Preset, press the HOME button repeatedly until you
get to the Menu screen shown on the right.
To load a Preset, touch the Presets button. This will lead to the Presets screen shown below.
To load a Preset, press the number of the Preset you would like to load.
You will then be taken to the Main screen. This will load the following
information that was previously saved for this Preset:
For each clip cell the sample assignment and all parameters
For each modulation cell the parameters and destination cell
For each track all track parameters
Presets are automatically saved on the microSD card as you work. If you change to a different card, you will
have a different set of Presets.When you switch to a different Preset, all previous settings will be
replaced with the settings of the newly selected Preset, which may be blank.
NOTE
•Presets are saved automatically in the background. You don’t need to worry about saving your
changes whenever you adjust something.
•It can take up to 10 seconds for the most current state to be written to the microSD card.
Working with Tracks
To access the Track Properties screen, press the HOME button
repeatedly to return to the Menu screen and press Tracks. You will see the
Track Selection screen shown to the right.
4,1
4,2
4,3
4,4
3,1
3,2
3,3
3,4
2,1
2,2
2,3
2,4
1,1
1,2
1,3
1,4

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Select the active Track by touching the column on the screen. The pink column indicates the selected
Track. A Track is a vertical column of clip cells on the Main screen. The cells in each Track share certain
parameters. To adjust these parameters, press the INFO button to see the Track Info screen for the
selected track:
Turn the Control Knob next to each of the following Track parameters to select a setting:
Exclusive This mode ensures that only one cell in a Track can play back at the same time. If this
is set to ON, when you start a second cell on a track, the first one will stop. When this
mode is ON, tracks behave like they do in Ableton Live.
Level This gain control affects the entire Track.
Output This parameter determines which output the Track will play through. The available
options are:
Out 1/2 Plays to output jacks OUT1 and OUT2
FX 1 Plays to output jack FX1
FX 2 Plays to output jack FX2
NOTE
The FX outputs are a convenient way to apply different effects to different Tracks.
Export a Set to Ableton Live
Bitbox files are compatible with Ableton Live. Follow these steps to export them:
1. Press HOME until you see the Menu screen containing three buttons: Main, Presets and
Tracks.
2. Touch the on-screen Preset button. You will see a 4x3 grid of numbers 1 through 12 representing the
presets.
3. Touch one of the on-screen Preset number buttons to load the Preset. You will now see the
Main screen with the selected preset loaded. This will ensure that your files are saved to the MicroSD
card.
4. Remove the microSD card and connect it to your computer.

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5. Double click or open the SE000001.als and similar files to open your set in Ableton Live.
6. For best results, use the Save As option as well as the Collect and Save menu item to migrate the
relevant WAV files onto your machine and into the customary Ableton directory structure.
Switch to a New MicroSD Card While Operating Bitbox
You can switch to a different microSD card while operating bitbox. Simply remove the current card and
new one, then follow the steps in
Working with Presets above to select a Preset bank from the new card.
Demonstration Videos and Latest Docs
You can find video demonstrations of bitbox on our website at http://1010music.com/support. You can also look
there for updated versions of this user manual.
Contact Us
Are you loving bitbox? Have questions? You can contact us through our website at
http://1010music.com/contact-us.