future.retro RE-777 User manual

FUlIRE.?elTO
operabor's manual

Written and produced by Jered Flickinger
Copyright 2000
Future Retro Synthesizers

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
2. Welcome
Power
Care
Memory backup
Fuse
Warranty
Support
Getting Started
3. Hear it now
Basic system set up
Connections
4. Back panel connections
Analog section
5. Introduction to analog synthesis
6. Analog signal routing
7. Oscillators and other audio sources
8. Frequency modulation
9. Filter
10. Filter modulation
11
.
Amplifier and tone
12. Blank sound patch sheet
Sequencer
13. Sequencer controls diagram
14. Using the sequencer
Playing patterns
Selecting patterns
Multiple pattern cueing
15. Editing patterns
Entering notes
16. Clearing notes
Changing a note's pitch
Recording and clearing accents
Recording and clearing glides
17. Selecting atime signature
Setting and clearing the loop point
Setting the tempo
Transposing patterns
18. Shifting patterns
Copy and paste patterns
Blank pattern sheet
19. Selecting songs
Playing songs
Editing songs
Selecting patterns for asong step
Transposing asong step
20. Setting the loop point for asong
Setting asong's tempo
Advanced song editing
21. Blank song sheet
MIDI Modes
22. Using the 777 as amaster clock
23. Syncing the 777 to an external clock
24. Playing the 777 with an external controller
25. Playing aMIDI sound module with the 777's
sequencer
System Exclusive
26. Using sysex to dump patterns and songs
27. Sysex information
Specifications
28. Analog section
29. Sequencer Demo sound patch
30.TB303 patch sheet

INTRODUCTION
Thank you for purchasing the FR-777!
Hello and welcome to the expanding world of Future Retro and the 777 synthesizers. The 777 was developed from
adream, that one could have all the controls and features of the original TB-303 bassline, plus the ability to create
analog percussion, lead synth parts, and bizarre sound effects. The 777 does this just as the original with pure old-
school analog synthesis. Every parameter in the analog sound section has it's own dedicated control knob or switch,
allowing users to instantly change the sound in any way possible. Those of you who are familiar to step sequencing
will find the sequencer in the 777 very easy to use. The sequencer provides 16 song locations, and each song is bro-
ken down into one measure parts, called patterns. Each pattern is then divided into 12 or 16 steps depending on it's
time signature. There are 256 programmable patterns in all that can be combined in any fashion to create asong, or
be selected and manipulated in real-time. Each pattern contains the time signature, notes, pitches, accents, glides,
and loop point. The sequencer also includes features like real-time editing and saving of patterns while they are
playing, copy and pasting of patterns, multiple pattern cueing, pattern shifting and much more. In addition, the 777
can be used in conjunction with yesterday's control voltage synthesizers as well as today's midi machines.
Please read through the entire manual for afull understanding of the features and functions the 777 is capable of.
Power
Use only a 12 volt AC/AC 1Amp output power adapter, which is supplied with the 777.
Care
Avoid exposing the 777 to smoke, damp, dusty, or extreme hot and cold environments.
To clean the unit use asoft damp cloth. Do not use any abrasive cleaners!
Memory Backup
The 777 contains an internal 3volt backup battery for the sequencer's RAM. The battery should last for years. If
the memory begins to fail you will want to replace the battery. To replace the battery, remove the four black screws
at the front of the bottom panel, and the four black screws on the rear panel. Now remove all the knobs, and the
nuts on the switches. Next pull the top panel off and locate the battery holder on the sequencer board. Remove the
old battery and replace with a3volt coin type lithium battery. Put the unit back together and off you go.
Fuse
Should the fuse in your 777 need to be replaced, use the same method to open the unit as described in the Memory
Backup procedure for the battery. The fuse is located on the bottom of the analog board near the power switch. Re-
place the fuse with a1Amp fast-blow fuse only.
Product warranty
The 777 comes with a1year limited warranty covering any mechanical or electrical defects. This warranty does not
cover damage due to misuse or neglect of this product. To validate your warranty, fill out the warranty card in-
cluded with your unit and return it within one month of the original purchase date. Should you experience problems
with your machine please contact us by phone or email. You must have an authorization to return aunit for repair.
Our office is open Monday through Friday, 1Oam to 6pm central time.
Phone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Product support
Product support can be found on the world wide web at www.future-retro.com.

GETTING STARTED
IWANT TO HEAR IT NOW!
Iknow, you just got this cool new toy and don't want to read the entire manual before you at least get to hear what
it sounds like, right?
To play the 777 follow these directions in order.
1
.
Connect the 777 to an audio system as shown below.
2. Set the analog control section up as shown in the TB-303 patch sheet, located in the back of this manual.
3. Turn the power on by pressing the power switch located on the back panel of the 777. The display will light up
showing that power is on. The display shows the current pattern bank selected, and keys 1-16 are used to select one
of the 16 patterns in each of the 16 banks, when the BANK key indicator is on.
4. Press the RUN/STOP key and the pattern currently selected will start playing. You can select patterns by press-
ing step keys 1-16. To change the pattern bank you are selecting patterns from, use the UP/DOWN keys.
5. You can change the tempo patterns are currently playing at by pressing and holding the TEMPO key, and using
the UP/DOWN keys to change the tempo setting. When the TEMPO key is pressed the display shows the currently
selected tempo setting.
6. Go ahead and tweak the knobs as described in the TB-303 patch sheet.
7. Press the RUN/STOP key again to stop playback.
Always turn the power off before making or changing any
connection. The power switch is located on the back
panel of the 777. When this switch is pressed in the power
will be ON, and when in the outermost position, OFF.
To hear the 777 you will need an audio mixer and power
amplifier. First, connect the 777's output to one of the
mixers input channels. Next, connect the output of the
mixer to apower amplifier, and connect your speakers to
the power amplifier.
When turning your system on you should follow this
order: 777, mixer, then power amplifier. When turning the
power off, do just the opposite of the previous order. This
will prevent any power surges to your amplifier and
speakers.
OUTPUT
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INTRODUCTION TO ANALOG
The 777 contains acomplete analog synthesizer section, which is capable of producing an almost infinite amount of
sound textures. All the elements of asound can be changed instantly by the control knobs and switches on the front
panel.
For those who have never been exposed to analog synthesizers, or how sounds are created, all that is needed is a
simple understanding and before you know it, just about any sound you can imagine will be coming out of your
speakers.
All sounds can be broke down into three basic elements which are frequency (pitch), harmonic content (tone),
and amplitude (volume).
Frequency is measured in Hertz (abbreviated as Hz). Hz is the amount of cycles an oscillator produces within one
second. For example the range of human hearing is from approximately 20Hz to 20,000Hz. To better understand, a
frequency of 100Hz would be perceived as having alow pitch in the bass range, while afrequency of 10,000Hz
would be perceived as a very high pitch. The frequency of the oscillators on the 777 can be controlled by the input
of different notes into the sequencer, by the oscillator's FREQUENCY control knob, the FREQUENCY MODU-
LATION section, as well as any external control voltage from to +5.33 volts.
Harmonic content refers to the amount of frequencies contained within asound. The most dominant, or perceived
pitch in asound is called the fundamental frequency. All other frequencies in the sound are the harmonics of the
fundamental frequency. The shape of an oscillator's waveform is relative to it's harmonic content. Asine wave for
instance is the most basic waveform, having only afundamental frequency and no additional harmonics. Sine waves
sound very thin and pure. Asquare wave is more complex than asine wave, and contains not only afundamental
frequency, but also all odd harmonics of that frequency. Square waves sound rather hollow, but are more full
sounding than asine wave. Asawtooth wave is one of the most complex waveforms, which contains afundamental
frequency and all harmonics of that frequency. Sawtooth waves are very full sounding and have aunique raspy
quality to them. Each oscillator in the 777 is continuously variable from sawtooth to square wave, allowing the abil-
ity to change the harmonic content instantly and create rather odd complex waveforms. For even more control, you
can mix all of the oscillators together in any way you desire. This is aform of what is called additive synthesis. The
777 is also capable of subtractive synthesis, where the harmonics of asound are taken away rather than being added
together. This is done by use of the filter section. The lowpass filter starts with the high frequencies of awaveform
and reduces their volume until all that is heard is the remaining lower frequencies. You can manually adjust the cut-
off point of the filter with the cutoff knob or let the filter modulation sources control the cutoff automatically. You
can use both methods at the same time. The highpass knob is used to do just the opposite of the lowpass filter, by
removing all the lower frequencies until all that is heard is the higher frequencies remaining in the sound.
Amplitude is aterm used to describe the level of awaveform, or it's overall volume. All sounds have their own
unique shape of volume. This shape is known as the volumes envelope. In the 777 there are three envelopes, but
only one is used to control the level in the amplifier section. This envelope has an adjustable decay only, so when a
note is played it starts out at full volume and then dies away until no sound is heard. This is most useful when cre-
ating percussion type sounds. You may also select agate to control the level in the amplifier section instead of the
envelope. The gate simply turns the amplifier on to full volume for the duration anote is played. When that note is
finished playing the amplifier will shut off.
Keeping these three elements in mind when creating sounds should help your work go much faster, and you will
have abetter chance of accurately creating the sounds you wish. For abetter understanding, read over the ANA-
LOG CONTROLS section that follows.

BACK PANEL CONNECTIONS
Always remember to turn the power off before making new connections.
12V AC
This is the power jack for the AC wall adapter. Use only the 12 volt AC adapter supplied with
this unit. Should you lose the adapter, replace only with a 12 volt AC output rated at 1Amp
adapter
OUTPUT
Connect the output (using a1/4" mono cable) to amixer's input channel. The output signal will
be that which is created in the analog sound section.
ACCENT OUT
When an accented note is played by the sequencer, a+5 volt gate will be transmitted from this
jack. Use this to trigger various analog equipment.
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GATE OUT
When notes are played by the sequencer, a+5 volt gate signal will be transmitted for the dura-
tion of each note. Use this to trigger various analog equipment.
CVOUT
When the sequencer is playing notes, their pitches will be equal to 1volt per octave. The con-
trol voltage output can range from to +5.33 volts, depending on notes played. Use this when
you want to control the pitch of an external analog synth's oscillators.
FILTER IN
Here you may route any external audio signal to the filter's input and then through the ampli-
fier section. Avoid plugging direct voltages into this jack. When acable is inserted into this
jack the SUBA/EX LEVEL control will adjust the amount of external signal fed to the filter.
ACCENT IN
Connect any +5 volt gate signal when you want to trigger accented notes from an external de-
vice.
GATE IN
Connect any +5 volt gate signal when you want to control the note-on and duration of anote
from an external device.
CVIN
Connect any control voltage source from to +5.33 volts, to control the internal oscillators
pitch when external is selected for that oscillator. This voltage will be routed to the filter's cut-
off frequency where you can use the CVTYPE switch in the filter modulation section to deter-
mine how the external CV affects the filter. DO NOT INPUT NEGATIVE VOLTAGES OR
ANYTHING HIGHER THAN +5.33 VOLTS!
MIDI OUT
Use amidi cable to connect the 777's MIDI OUT to other MIDI equipment's MIDI IN. This
allows the 777 to control other MIDI equipment.
MIDI IN
Use aMIDI cable to connect the 777's MIDI IN to other equipment's MIDI OUT. This allows
other MIDI equipment to control the 777.

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ANALOG CONTROLS
This section describes the function of each knob and switch in the analog control section.
OSCILLATOR A&BOscillator Aand Bhave identi-
cal controls and ranges for these controls.
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CV INTERNAL/EXTERNAL SWITCH >When set to IN-
TERNAL, the oscillators will follow the pitches programmed
into the sequencer. When set to EXTERNAL, the oscillators
will follow any external control voltage from to +5.33 volts, that is plugged into the CV IN jack on the back
panel. NOTE: Ifnothing is plugged into the CVINjack and external is selected, the oscillators will continue to
play the internal pitches programmed into the sequencer. The oscillators in the 777 follow a1volt per octave stan-
dard, which means you can achieve more than 5octaves in range with an external source. WARNING: NEVER
USE AN EXTERNAL SOURCE WITH NEGATIVE VOLTAGES OR VOLTAGES ABOVE +5.33. FAIL-
URE TO DO SO MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE INTERNAL ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS.
FREQUENCY >The FREQUENCY knob adjusts the oscillator's pitch over arange that is approximately 1.66
octaves. This allows you to tune the oscillators to other instruments, or to detune them when used together to
achieve those fat analog sounds everyone loves. When this knob is set to the middle position the oscillator will play
the same pitch as notes programmed into the sequencer.
WAVEFORM >The WAVEFORM knob is used to continuously vary the harmonic content of the oscillator from
having all harmonics (sawtooth), to having only odd harmonics (square).
LEVEL >The LEVEL knob controls the amount of signal generated by the oscillator to go to the filter's input. In
the left most position no signal will be heard, and when turned to the right the full signal will be sent to the filter.
SUB BSUB Bis asub frequency of OSCILLATOR B. It's frequency is exactly one octave lower
than that of OSCILLATOR B. It's waveform is asquare wave.
LEVEL >The SUB BLEVEL knob adjusts the amount of SUB Bsignal to be sent to the filter's
input.
SUB A/EX This section actually has two functions. When an external audio source is plugged into
the FILTER IN jack, this will control the amount of signal that goes to the filter. When nothing is
plugged into the FILTER IN jack, this section works as aSUB A. In other words, it works just like
SUB Bexcept it's frequency is 1octave lower than that set by the FREQUENCY knob of OSCILLA-
TOR A. It's waveform is square wave.
LEVEL >The SUB A/EX LEVEL knob adjusts the amount of either the SUB A frequency, or the external audio
source to be sent to the filter.
NOISE This is awhite noise source which contains an even amount of frequencies throughout the
audio spectrum.
LEVEL >The NOISE LEVEL knob adjusts the amount of white noise to go to the filter.

ANALOG CONTROLS
GLIDE The GLIDE section is used to adjust the portamento effect on anote's pitch.
TIME >The GLIDE TIME knob adjusts the amount of time it takes for one note's pitch to smoothly
transition to another note's pitch, when aglide is programmed for that step in the sequencer. In the
left most position notes will reach their new pitch much faster than if the knob is turned to the right.
FREQUENCY MODULATION In this section you can adjust each oscillator to modulate the other oscil-
lator's frequency, for cross-modulation effects. Adecay envelope is also available to sweep OSCILLATOR B's
frequency.
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WAVE B>The WAVE Bknob is used to adjust the shape of OSCILLATOR Bto modulate OSCILLATOR A's
frequency. The shape is continuously variable from sawtooth to square wave.
AMOUNT A>The AMOUNT Aknob is used to adjust the amount of affect OSCILLATOR Bhas on the pitch of
OSCILLATOR A. At the left most position there will be no modulation. As the knob is turned right, the modulation
amount will increase.
WAVE A>The WAVE Aknob is used to adjust the shape of OSCILLATOR Ato modulate OSCILLATOR B's
frequency. The shape is continuously variable from sawtooth to square wave.
AMOUNT B>The AMOUNT Bknob adjusts the amount of affect OSCILLATOR Ahas on the pitch of OSCIL-
LATOR B. At the left most position there will be no modulation. As the knob is turned right, the modulation
amount will increase.
ENV DECAY >The ENVELOPE DECAY knob adjusts the decay time for the envelope. The decay time will be
shortest in the leftmost position and increase as the knob is turned to the right.
ENV AMOUNT >The ENVELOPE AMOUNT knob adjusts the amount of affect the envelope has on OSCILLA-
TOR B's frequency.

ANALOG CONTROLS
FILTER The filter section contains aselectable 3or 7pole lowpass filter with resonance, and an adjustable high-
pass filter. Use this section to remove unwanted frequencies from the oscillator waveforms, or any external audio
signal.
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GAIN >The GAIN knob adjusts the prefilter gain stage used to overdrive the input of the filter. This is useful to
warm up and fatten asound. NOTE: Overdriving the input hard may cause the filter's resonance to become less
noticeable. You can make up for this with the RES MAX control.
SLOPE >The SLOPE switch selects the roll off characteristics of the lowpass filter. Select from either 3pole
(18db) or 7pole (42db). For every octave above the cutoff frequency, the high frequencies will be reduced by ei-
ther 18db or 42db. NOTE; The 7pole filter can reduce the high frequencies so drastically that it may be more suit-
able for sounds containing very little high frequency content.
CUTOFF >The CUTOFF knob adjusts the point at which high frequencies begin to be reduced. When this knob is
turned to the right most position, as many high frequencies as possible will be allowed to pass through the filter.
When turned to the left most position the high frequency content of asound will be reduced.
RESONANCE >The RESONANCE knob is used to increase the frequencies closest to the cutoff point of the fil-
ter, set by the CUTOFF knob. When this knob is turned full left no resonance will be heard. When turned to the
right, sounds will tend to become thin sounding and sometimes watery.
RES MAX >The RESONANCE MAXIMUM knob adjusts the maximum amount of resonance the filter has when
the RESONANCE knob is turned to it's right most position. Here the filter may be set to self oscillate by turning
the RES MAX knob all the way right, producing asine wave.
ACCENT >This ACCENT knob adjusts the amount of affect accent has on the filter's cutoff frequency. An accent
causes the filter's cutoff frequency to sweep up allowing higher frequencies to pass, when an accent is programmed
into the sequencer, or agate signal is inserted in the ACCENT IN jack.
HIGH PASS >The HIGH PASS knob is the only adjustment there is for the high pass filter. Turn this knob to the
right to remove unwanted low frequencies from asound.

ANALOG CONTROLS
FILTER MODULATION The filter modulation section gives the user three sources to modulate the lowpass
filter's cutoff frequency. The three sources include the control voltage produced by the sequencer or CV IN jack,
the frequency of oscillator B, and adecay envelope dedicated to the filter only.
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CV TYPE >The CV TYPE switch selects the type of effect the control voltage produced by the sequencer has on
the filter's cutoff frequency.When set to NORMAL the cutoff frequency will follow the same movement as the
pitches programmed into the sequencer. The lower the pitch programmed into the sequencer, the lower the filter's
cutoff frequency will be. When set to WARP the filter's cutoff reference point moves according to the pitches pro-
grammed into the sequencer (this mode will basically have the opposite effect as NORMAL mode). You will notice
aslight amount of the filter's modulation waveform affecting the filter when using the WARP mode. In WARP
mode the CV AMOUNT knob when in the middle position has the least affect, when turned to the left subtle re-
verse sweeping can be achieved, and when turned right some of the stranger effects occur, but it all depends on the
pitches programmed into the sequencer. When neither of the two modes are desired, place the CV TYPE switch in
it's middle position, turning it's function off.
NOTE: If an external control voltage is inserted into the CV IN jack, the CV TYPE switch will control the way the
external control voltages will affect the filter's cutoff frequency.
CV AMOUNT >The CV AMOUNT knob adjusts the amount of control voltage produced by the sequencer or
external control voltage, to affect the filter's cutoff frequency when either of the two modes are selected with the
CV TYPE switch.
WAVE B>The WAVE Bknob adjusts the shape of oscillator B's frequency to modulate the filter's cutoff fre-
quency. The shape is continuously variable from sawtooth to square wave.
MOD AMOUNT >The MODULATION AMOUNT knob adjusts the amount of affect oscillator Bhas on the fil-
ter's cutoff frequency. In the left most position there will be no modulation. When turned right the modulation
amount will increase.
ENV DECAY >The ENVELOPE DECAY knob adjusts the decay time for the envelope dedicated to the filter.
When this knob is in it's left most position the shortest decay time will be selected. As the knob is turned to the
right the decay time will increase. On accented notes, no matter where the ENV DECAY knob is set, the envelope
will jump to the shortest decay time possible, creating two separate envelope times to modulate the filter.
ENV AMOUNT >The ENVELOPE AMOUNT knob adjusts the amount of affect the filter's envelope has on the
filter's cutoff frequency.When turned to the left most position, there will be no envelope modulation for the filter.
As the knob is turned to right the envelope will have more affect on the filter.
10

ANALOG CONTROLS
AMPLIFIER The amplifier section is used to control the shape of asound's volume. Also contained in this section
is the ability to adjust the overall bass response and the overall distortion amount for sounds.
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ACCENT DECAY >The ACCENT DECAY knob adjusts the decay time for the amplifier when an accent is pro-
grammed into the sequencer, or agate signal is inserted into the ACCENT IN jack. In the left most position, the
shortest decay time possible will be heard if the SHAPE switch is set to ENVELOPE.
ENV DECAY >The ENVELOPE DECAY knob adjusts the decay time for the amplifier when non-accented notes
are programmed into the sequencer, or agate signal is inserted into the GATE IN jack. The total decay time for the
amplifier's envelope is the sum of the accent decay and the envelope decay for non-accented notes. In other words,
as you increase the accent's decay time, the envelope's decay time also increases.
SHAPE >The SHAPE switch selects either the gate or envelope to control the amplifier's output. The envelope
setting is most useful for percussion type sounds, but can have other uses. The gate setting simply turns the ampli-
fier ON and OFF for the duration of anote programmed into the sequencer or gate signal inserted into the GATE
IN jack.
BASS >The BASS switch selects the bass response of asound. When in the NORMAL position, sounds will tend
to have less low frequency content resulting in amore nasal sound. When BOOST is selected, sounds containing
lower frequencies will have an improved bass response, resulting in warm and full sounds.
OD TYPE >The OVERDRIVE TYPE switch selects either NORMAL or a PHASE type of distortion to affect the
sound. NORMAL is more of astandard type of distortion and is adjustable from no distortion to super-crunch.
PHASE has aphasey quality to it and it's sound is not quite as harsh. It's amount is adjustable from very thin (and
possibly no sound), to a nice warm distortion. The PHASE type of distortion characteristics depends not only on
the overdrive knob, but also the level of signal that passes through the filter.
NOTE: Both types ofdistortion will cause an increase in the overall signal output. For best results you may wish
to adjust the volume knob when adjusting the distortion amount.
OVERDRIVE >The OVERDRIVE knob adjusts the amount of effect the distortion has on both types of over-
drive.
ACCENT >The ACCENT knob adjusts how loud accented notes will play compared to those not accented by the
sequencer.
VOLUME >The VOLUME knob adjusts the amount of audio signal sent to the OUTPUT jack on the back panel.
Included on the following page is ablank patch sheet. Photo copy it, and use it to record your settings for aparticu-
lar sound.
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OPERATIONS
Using the sequencer
When using the sequencer there are two main modes for selecting, editing, and playing. The SONG key's indicator
determines which of two modes are selected. When the SONG key's indicator is on, you are in the song mode.
When the SONG key's indicator is off, you are in the pattern mode. To change from one mode to the other, the se-
quencer must first be stopped, then by pressing the SONG key you will change modes.
In the song mode you can do thefollowing:
-Select asong
-Edit asong
-Play asong
-Change asong's tempo
-Change the midi parameters
In the pattern mode you can do thefollowing:
-Select apattern
-Edit apattern
-Play a pattern
-Adjust the global tempo setting for patterns
-Set the global transposition amount to affect all patterns.
Playing patterns
The RUN/STOP key is used to start and stop the playback of patterns and songs. To start the sequencer press the
RUN/STOP key. This key's indicator will come on and be flashing at the tempo the sequencer is playing at. To
stop the sequencer press the RUN/STOP key again. The key's indicator will now be off showing that the sequencer
is stopped.
Selecting patterns
Patterns are arranged in 16 banks of 16 patterns for atotal of 256 patterns in all.
Before selecting apattern, you must first make sure you are in the pattern mode. This is shown by the SONG key's
indicator being off. To enter pattern select mode, press the BANK key so that it's indicator is on. The display will
now show the bank number (1-16) and one of the 16 selector key indicators will be on to show which pattern in that
bank is currently selected. If none of the 16 selector key indicators are on, the current pattern selected is in another
bank. If this is the case, use the UP/DOWN keys to go through the other banks and see what pattern is currently
selected. To select adifferent pattern, use the UP/DOWN keys to select the bank and then press one of the 16 pat-
tern locations for that bank.
Selecting apattern can be done while the sequencer is playing. If one pattern is currently playing and you select
another, the new pattern's key indicator will be on at half the brightness as when usually selected. This shows that
the pattern is waiting until the previous pattern has reached it's loop point before it is to begin playing. You can
change the pattern that is to play next at any time until the previous pattern reaches it's loop point, at that time the
new pattern will begin playing. Each pattern will continuously play until either anew pattern is selected or the se-
quencer is stopped.
Multiple pattern cueing
It is possible to chain up to 16 patterns in abank to create longer looping arrangements while playing patterns in
pattern mode. Enter the pattern select mode as you normally do when selecting patterns. Press and hold the first
pattern you wish to play and then press the last pattern that is to be included in the loop. All the patterns between
these two will then sequentially play from left to right. Once multiple patterns have been cued and are playing, you
can select another group of patterns to play when the first group reaches it's last step. When cueing up asecond
group you can select patterns in any bank and even partially overlapping those currently playing.
14

OPERATIONS
Editing patterns
Pattern edit mode is where 1measure of music can be recorded or edited for each pattern, to later be arranged into
asong. Each pattern records the notes and their pitches, accents, glides, the time signature, and loop point for that
pattern. Every time apattern is edited, the changes are automatically saved by the sequencer. You must make sure
not to change apattern you wish to keep, by doing so you will overwrite the oldpattern with new data. This can be
avoided by using the copy/pastefunctions described later in the manual.
To edit patterns you must first be in the pattern mode (SONG key indicator is off). To edit apattern, select the de-
sired pattern then press the BANK key until it's indicator is off, indicating you are now in pattern edit mode.
All pattern editing can be done while the sequencer is stopped or playing, which allows you to actually hear the
changes you are making, while you make them. In this way you can select apattern, edit it, and then select another
pattern to play or edit while the sequencer continues to play. Instant live improv! Since the sequencer automatically
saves all changes made there is no need to stop the music.
When multiple patterns have been cued and are playing you can enter the pattern edit mode to edit individual pat-
terns. To edit acued pattern, wait until the desired pattern is playing and then enter the pattern edit mode. The cur-
rent pattern will loop by itself so you can hear all the changes you are making. Once the pattern has been changed
as desired, you may exit the pattern edit mode. Now the cued patterns will continue playing sequentially as before.
When the sequencer is playing and apattern is being edited, you will notice that the 16 step key indicators will
blink to show the current step being played. You can use this as aquick way to pin point steps you wish to edit. It
can also be useful to serve as avisual indication of where the loop point is set for that pattern.
Entering notes
When in the pattern edit mode the 16 step key indicators will be used to display where notes are placed in that pat-
tern. The brightness of the indicators will determine where notes start, their duration, and rests.
1
.
Anote on (or where anote begins) will be shown by the key's indicator being on.
2. The sustained portion for anote will be shown by the key's indicator being on, but only half as bright as anote
on.
3. Arest is shown by the key's indicator being off.
To enter notes you must be in pattern edit mode. Placing 16th or 12th notes (depending on which time signature is
selected) is done in the same way. By using the 16step keys, simply press the keys one at atime where you wish
notes to be. The indicators for the notes you enter will now be on in their brightest state.
To place sustained notes, press and hold the step key where the note is to start and while doing so press the step key
(to the right of the one you are holding) that represents the last step you want that note to sustain to. The first step
indicator of asustained note will be on and brightest, while the sustained portion of the notes indicators will be on
at half brightness. For example, place and hold a 16th note and press the first step key to the right of the one being
held. Doing this you just wrote an 8th note. Use this method to create notes of various durations.
Placing rests is actually done by just leaving notes off, or clearing notes that appear in the position you want arest.
Rests will be visually seen as a steps indicator being off.
There is away to write new notes without having to clear previous notes. For instance, if you place anew note in
the sustained portion of anote, the new note will now be in the position you selected. This now shortens the previ-
ous sustained note, and it will sustain until the step the new note was written. The step key indicators for these posi-
tions will also change to show how the previous sustained note was shortened. By writing asustained note over pre-
vious notes, the previous notes will no longer be heard. You can use this method to change asustained note's dura-
tion. Any new notes written over asustained note's note-on will override the entire sustained note, with the excep-
tion that you can't write a16th note over asustained note's note-on. To do this, you must first clear the sustained
note and then write the 16th note.
15

OPERATIONS
Clearing notes
There are two ways to clear previous note data that may exist from aprevious pattern. You can either clear all the
notes at once or individual notes one at atime.
To clear all the notes for apattern, press the BANK key and select the pattern you want to clear all the notes from.
While holding that pattern's step key, press the CLEAR key. Now by pressing the BANK key and entering pattern
edit mode, you will see all the step key indicators are off, showing no notes exist in that pattern.
To clear individual notes, press and hold the CLEAR key, then press the step key that represents the note-on for the
note you want to clear, you can clear as many notes as you want while holding the CLEAR key. Once clearing is
done you may release the CLEAR key. All the notes step key indicators you cleared should now be off.
Changing anote's pitch
Once notes exist in apattern, you can change the pitch each one is to play. Select apattern you would like to edit,
and enter the pattern edit mode. When in the pattern edit mode, one of the 16 step key indicators will be on or
flashing showing it is the current note being edited. You can change which note is to be edited by pressing the step
key where that note starts. Notice that by pressing any keys other than where anote starts will write anew note as
described in the previous section. Once anote is selected, the display will show the pitch of that note, ranging from
CI to D#6. Notice that the display will show an =signfor sharp notes. Using the UP/DOWN keys select the de-
sired pitch that the note is to play at.
When the sequencer is playing and you change anotes pitch in this way, each time the pattern reaches this step the
new notes pitch will be played. If you hold a note's step key while you change the note's pitch the new pitch will
not take affect until you release that notes step key. You can use this method to ensure that only the desired pitches
will be heard while the sequencer is running.
Recording accents
To record or place accents for notes, first select the pattern you want to edit and enter the pattern edit mode. One of
the step key indicators will be flashing to show the current note to be edited. Select any note by pressing the step
key where that note starts. When anote is selected the ACCENT key will be on when anote is to be accented, and
off when no accent is to occur. By pressing the ACCENT key you can turn accents on or off for that step.
Placing accents can be done while the sequencer is playing or stopped.
Clearing accents
To clear all the accents in apattern, press and hold the CLEAR key and press the ACCENT key.
Recording glides
To record or place glides for notes, first select the pattern you want to edit and enter the pattern edit mode. One of
the step key indicators will be flashing to show the current note to be edited. Select any note by pressing the step
key where that note starts. When anote is selected the GLIDE key will be on when anote is to glide, and off when
no glide occurs for that note. By pressing the GLIDE key you can turn glides on or off for that step.
Placing glides can be done while the sequencer is playing or stopped.
Clearing glides
To clear all the glides in apattern, press and hold the CLEAR key and press the GLIDE key.
16

OPERATIONS
Selecting a time signature
There are two time signatures to choose from when writing a pattern, they are 3/4 and 4/4. Each time signature sim-
ply divides the measure of apattern into either 12 equal parts (3/4) or 16 equal parts (4/4). The music bars located
above the 16 step keys represent the two different time signatures. The top bar being 3/4, and the bottom 4/4.
To change the time signature for apattern, select the pattern to be edited and enter pattern edit mode. By holding
the TIME key, the display will show either 3-4 or 4-4. Using the UP/DOWN keys, select the appropriate time sig-
nature. Once the time signature is set you may release the TIME key. You can change apattern's time signature
while the sequencer is playing or stopped
Setting the loop point
Each pattern has it's own loop point that is used to set the number of notes apattern will play before it begins to
repeat itself. With a3/4 time signature there can be as many as 12 steps per pattern, while a4/4 pattern can contain
up to 16 steps per pattern.
To set the loop point, select the pattern you wish to edit and enter the pattern edit mode. Press the step key that rep-
resents the last step you wish the pattern to play. Then by pressing the LOOP key you will place aloop point on
that step. This is shown by the LOOP key's indicator being on. Pressing the LOOP key repeatedly will turn the loop
point on and off for that step.
Apattern may contain more than one loop point, but it will only loop at the first loop point it comes across.
Changes may be made to apattern's loop point while the sequencer is playing or stopped.
Clearing all loop points
To clear all the loop points in apattern, press and hold the CLEAR key and press the LOOP key.
Adjusting the tempo
When in the pattern mode, the tempo setting will determine the rate at which all patterns will be played. To adjust
the tempo, press and hold the TEMPO key. The display will show the current tempo selected. Use the UP/DOWN
keys to adjust the tempo from 20 to 250 beats per minute or B.P.M.. When the tempo is changed and asequence is
playing, the tempo change will have an immediate affect on rate at which it is played. This tempo setting is saved
even when the power is turned off.
Transposing patterns
When playing patterns in the pattern mode, the transpose function has aglobal affect on all the patterns. The trans-
pose function allows you to shift all of apatterns notes up or down 36 half steps from the pitches originally pro-
grammed into that pattern.
To change the transpose setting, first enter the pattern edit mode. Press and hold the XPOSE key, and the display
will show the current value (-36 to 36) of transposition. Use the UP/DOWN keys to change the transpose setting.
This transpose setting will be saved even when the power is turned off. You can clear the transpose setting to 0.
While in the pattern edit mode, hold the CLEAR key and press the XPOSE key.
You can permanently transpose all the notes for apattern. To transpose apattern in this way, first select the desired
pattern to be edited and enter the pattern edit mode. Press and hold the XPOSE key and the display shows the cur-
rent value of transposition. Use the UP/DOWN keys to change the transpose setting. Once you have the transpose
value set, press the TIME key while holding the XPOSE key and the pattern's notes will permanently be rewritten.
This operation can be executed while the sequencer is running.
The global transpose setting in pattern mode has no affect on patterns when they play in asong. The range of
notes the 777 will play is from Cl-D#6. Ifapattern 's notes are transposed beyond this range, the notes will be in-
terpreted as arest.
17

OPERATIONS
Shifting patterns
It is possible to shift all the contents of apattern forwards or backwards in time from where they currently are.
To shift apattern, select the desired pattern to be edited and enter the pattern edit mode. Press and hold the CLEAR
key and then use the UP/DOWN keys to shift the pattern UP/right or DOWN/left. If pattern shifting is done while
the sequencer is stopped you will shift the pattern one step for every key press of either the UP or DOWN key. If
pattern shifting is done while the sequencer is playing, the pattern will shift one step every time anew step position
is reached.
When you shift apattern you are shifting the note duration and pitch along with glides and accents for those notes.
The loop point however will not be shifted. When shifting patterns you should also be aware that all 16 notes possi-
ble are shifted even if the loop point is set to any value less than 16 steps. When apattern has a shorter loop point
set, and you shift that pattern, you will hear new notes start playing in the loop replacing those shifted beyond the
loop point.
Note: By setting apatterns loop point at different steps and then continuously shifting the pattern left or right, the
pattern can play it's notes in acompletely different way. It may seem somewhat random at first but there is logic
behind it, so we will leave it to you to figure it out. Notice how many ways you can play apattern just by changing
it's loop and continuously shifting the pattern. The way notes play for asequence in this manner also depends on
what step you start shifting on. Try setting the loop point on step 1and continuously shifting the pattern right. The
pattern will now be playing backwards. Experiment!
Copying patterns
Before editing any patterns you like, it would be wise to copy them to another location to be edited. Copying pat-
terns can also be useful when creating several patterns with slight variations.
To copy apattern from one location to another, stop the sequencer and enter the pattern select mode. Select the pat-
tern you wish to copy. While holding the pattern's step key, press the COPY key. This places acopy of that pattern
in atemporary memory location, where it will remain until either anew pattern is selected to copy, or the power is
turned off. Since a copy of the pattern is placed in temporary memory, you can now go and play other patterns to
find alocation to paste the pattern in. When you have found alocation, stop the sequencer, hold the pattern's step
key and press the PASTE key. The pattern you had copied will now be written in this location. You can continue
to place the copied pattern in as many locations as you want by selecting each location individually, and pressing
the PASTE key.
Below is ablank pattern sheet that you can photocopy and use to write down the contentsfor apattern.
ITEMM! IE 515. I
"
IBANK IIPATTERNI
LOOP
GLIDE
ACCENT
PITCH
NOTE '"T" —jr-* j- s-» K >
=NOTE ON
=SUSTAIN o
uo
1
1
o
uo
p
J
uo
ubr\
j
o
11bdHj
o
nh h o
1
1
^H^H^K^H^H^HUKI^KHK^KHKHEHEHKflKflf
18