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1. BASS LINE SvNTHESIZER USER MANUAL Get the latest version of this manual at http www xOxsource com manual pdf Get additional help at the xOxbOx forum http forums ladvada net index php2c 2 Note This manual is for version 1 9 1 of the SokkOS firmware Other firmwares have important differences Copyright 2009 x0x Source Copyright 2005 Limor Fried Some rights reserved This vvork is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike Li cense To view a copy of this license visit http creativecommons org licenses by sa 2 0 or send a letter to Creative Commons 559 Nathan Abbott VVay Stan ford California 94305 USA TABLE OF LONTENTS INTRODUCTION FEATURE OVERVIEW SECTION I SWITCHES KNOBS AND 1 0 SECTION METHODS OF OPERATION KEYBOARD MODE MIDI PLAY PATTERN EDIT MODE SELECTING THE PATTERN BANK AND LOCATION EDITING PATTERNS IN RUN WRITE MODE EDITING PATTERNS IN STEP WRITE MODE PATTERN PLAY SELECTING SINGLE PATTERNS TO PLAY CHAINING PATTERNS USING SYNC USING MIDI SYNC USING DINSYNG PITCH SHIFTING REST ACCENT amp SLIDE TRACK EDIT SELECTING THE TRACK STEP WRITE MODE TRACK PLAY SELECTING SINGLE TRACKS TO PLAY CHAINING TRACKS USING SYNC USING EXTERNAL SYNC PITGH SHIFTING REST ACCENT amp SLIDE CONTROL SOFTWARE UPDATING FIRMWARE DEVELOPING ADVANCED 12 13 14 15 16 16 17 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 24 24 25 26 27 27 2
2. Existing File s e In the new dialog box select all c and h files For convenience use ctrl click and sort by file type e Save the new AVR Studio Project to the source code directorv The project file will be called xOxbOx aps Open the project file in AVR Studio Go to Build menu gt Rebuild Verifv that build completes successfullv Check that vou can program the new x xb x hex file See previous in structions Make changes to the source code and see if they work 37
3. continues or bends the previous note instead of plucking the string Use SLTDE to cre ate longer notes REST deletes note data and inserts a pause a skipped note If the DONE LED is lit the current note is the last note in the pat tern If NEXT is pressed the note location vvill be reset back to 1 To add notes to the pattern press one of the notekeys The active pattern can be rotated note 1 becomes note 2 note 2 becomes note 3 and the last note becomes note 1 Hold PREV and press NEXT to rotate one step forvvard Hold NEXT and press PREV to rotate one step backvvard To save the scratch pad into permanent memorv at the current bank location and exit step vvrite mode the DONE key must be pressed tvvice on the last note of the pattern For example if the pattern is 4 notes long the DONE key must be pressed when the LED 4 is lit You can save to a different bank location by pressing DONE once selecting the bank using the BANK knob selecting the location using a numbered key and pressing DONE agaln to save to that bank location To listen to the pattern in the scratch pad press R S to enter run write mode Save the scratch pad before doing this or it will be erased Pressing CHAIN doesn t do anything in step write mode Pressing the NEXT key while in run write mode will allow you to edit in step write mode while the sequencer continues to play in the background EDITING PATTERNS IN RUN WRITE MODE Run w
4. send a MIDI Stop message DINSYNG Older pre MIDI synths and drum machines such as the Roland TR 606 808 909 used a proprietary sync signal that made use of a DIN connector and MIDI like cables The DINSYNC port can both output and input tempo and pattern start stop information PITCH SHIFTING Pitch shifting allows the current pattern to be played at a higher or lower scale than was originally programmed in The pitch can be shifted in either direction in 1 2 note increments up to one octave Pitch shifting is available in all three modes To shift the pitch up hold down the UP key The current pitch shift is displayed as a blinking light on the note keys A pitch shift of O is displayed as low a pitch shift of 1 2 note is dis played as C A pitch shift of 1 octave is displayed as high C If no LEDs light the current pitch shift is negative To select a new pitch shift press a note key while the UP key is held down The new pitch shift value will light up solid and will become effective at the start of the next pattern To shift the pitch down hold down the DOWN key The current pitch shift is displayed as a blinking light on the note keys A pitch shift of is displayed as high a pitch shift of 1 2 note is displayed as B etc If no LEDs light the current pitch shift is positive To select a new pitch shift press a note key while the DOWN key is held down The new pitch shift value will light solid and will becom
5. to be entered While still holding down the CHAIN key select the patterns to be put in the chain by pressing the 8 numbered keys one at a time The patterns will be entered in order of selection The same pat tern can be entered multiple times Chains can be 1 to 32 pat terns long Patterns in the chain will light up solid as they are se lected Once the chain has been decided on release the CHAIN key The chain will start playing at the end of the next pattern While a chain is playing the patterns in the chain will light up solid the current pattern playing will be blinking Essentially selecting a single pattern is the same as creating a 1 pattern long chain USING SYNC OUT When using Pattern Play sync out the tempo is created by the xOxbOx using either the TEMPO knob or tap tempo Whenever the tempo is changed it is displayed via the TEMPO LED Turning the TEMPO knob clockwise increases the tempo by 1 BPM per click Turning the TEMPO knob counter clockwise decreases the tempo by 1 BPM per click Tap tempo allows the tempo to be set by measuring the time be tween button presses To set the tempo via tap tempo press the TEMPO knob two or more times The tempo will be set by mea suring the delay between the last two knob presses In sync out mode the x xb x can be used to control other syn thesizers via MIDI out or DINSYNC by generating clocking signals By default the sync rate is 24 DINSYNC pulses a
6. 6 F G AS N 3 r N C3 Z Z V PREV NEXT pH DONE B r O N X M AS 7 7 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SEQUENCER CONTROLS The great thing about the xOxbOx is that it s not just a synthesiz er it also has a sequencer Most of the buttons except the seven analog potentiometers are dedicated to interfacing vvith the se quencer In fact the sequencer cannot read or control the analog sound parameters such as resonance cutoff and env mod This means that although the xOxbOx plays pre recorded patterns it is a live musical instrument PATTERN SYNG OUT PATTERN DINSYNG PATTERN MIDISYNG PATTERN EDIT USERA TRACK SYNC OUT BOOTLOAD TRACK DINSYNG TRACK MIDISYNG TRACK EDIT COMPUTER CONTROL FUNCTION KNOB The function knob sets the mode of the syn thesizer It s functionality is the same in every mode the xOxbOx is in the mode indicated by the knob If the knob is changed the current mode will be exited and all modifications such as unsaved patterns or tracks chains pitch shifts etc will be discarded The only exception to this rule is Bootload Mode which is only active if the xOxbOx is powered on with the function knob in this position Each mode is described in detail in section II BANK KNOB The bank knob has manv uses Its primarv use is to select between banks of memorv when writing or reading patterns and tracks When addressing p
7. 8 29 29 30 31 33 34 INTRODUCTION This manual is intended to teach you the various functions of the synthesizer The manual is divided up into 3 sections The first sec tion describes all of the buttons switches and ports individually You should at least skim this section first so you know what we mean when we refer to the bank knob The second section is divided up by function and describes each function in detail and also provides examples for how to peform common tasks The third section de scribes how to use the optional control software Since the xOxbOx is a living project there may be new versions of this document describing new functions Be sure to check that this manual corresponds to the hardware firmware and software version you have The hardware version is written on the mainboard PCB The firmware and software version can be verified through the com puter control software This manual is written for x xb x 1 0 Hardware SokkOS 1 9 1 Firmware x xb x 1 0 Software No manual is perfect but we can strive for completeness If you feel like there s something amiss whether it be poor spelling obfuscated language or confusing pictures send your suggestions and correc tions to supportOxOxsource com Chances are you re not the only one We hope you enjoy using your xOxbOx to make hardcore acid tracks FEATURE OVERVIEW Svnthesizer capabilites e Monophonic 4 octave VCO e Saw and square wa
8. atterns there are 16 banks and so all positions address a seperate bank When addressing tracks however there are 8 banks Therefore bank position 9 16 are equivalent to positions 1 8 respectivelv Another use of the bank knob is to change the MIDI address of the device in MIDI Plav or Kev board mode TEMPO TEMPO KNOB amp LED The tempo knob is a rotary encoder not a poten tiometer This means that tempo is adjusted by turning it left down or right up but that the particular location of the knob is irrelevant That is turning the knob while the xOxbOx is powered off will not affect the tempo The tempo is stored in internal memory on the microcontroller and can be precisely set using the xOxbOx control software The tempo is incremented or decremented one BPM per detent The minimum tempo is 20BPM the maximum is 300BPM The current tempo is indicated by the tempo LED which sits above the tempo knob It is also used as the tap tempo button in pattern play and track play modes The tempo knob is not functional when syncing with external signals such as DINSYNC or MIDI Sync However the tempo LED will always indi cate the current tempo even when sync d to an external signal PREV NEXT KEYS amp LEDS The next key and prev key are used in the track edit and pattern edit modes to index through pat terns and tracks In addition the next key is used to start step write editing method in both pattern e
9. d to extend the range of the single octave kevboard In pat tern edit and keyboard mode pressing the dovvn key will lower the octave no lower than the lovv est octave and pressing the up kev will raise the octave no higher than the 3rd octave The LEDs will also indicate which octave is in use lowest octave second octave third octave In track edit and track play mode the up dovvn keys are used to transpose patterns and tracks Patterns can be transposed either up one oc tave or down one octave Pressing the relavent button vvill display the amount of transpose in that direction on the note keys the LEDs will also indicate if the pattern track is transposed and in which direction REST ACCENT SLIDE KEYS amp LEDS m O m mi 2 D u D transposed down no transpose transposed up The rest kev accent kev and slide kev and leds are used to applv and indicate mute ac centing and portamento Since thev are often used as a group thev are sometimes referred to as the RAS kevs and leds While thev have dif ferent effects in each mode the overall meaning of their use is the same In pattern edit mode thev are use to create rest notes accented notes and slides between notes In track edit mode thev are used to mute pat terns accent entire patterns and portamento entire patterns In pattern plav and track plav mode thev pro vide instantanous temporarv over riding mute acce
10. dit and track edit in which case the next LED will be lit RUN STOP KEV amp LED The run stop key is used to start and stop the sequencer In pattern edit and track edit modes pressing run stop will start or stop either run or run edit In pattern play and track play with sync out it will start or stop playing the selected pat terns and tracks The R S LED indicates when the sequencer is running In pattern play and track play modes with exter nal sync such as MIDI clock or DINSYNC the button doesn t do anything but the R S LED will still light up when the sequencer receives the proper external start command CHAIN KEY amp LED The chain key is primarily used to create pattern i and track chains in pattern plav and track plav CHAIN the button is held down while the desired chain is entered It is also used to create random patterns in pat tern edit mode BANK LEDS 1 The strip of 16 numbered LEDs is used as visual feedback in of the different xOxbOx modes In general it is used to indicate the currentiv se lected bank or the current position in a pattern or track In MIDI Plav and Kevboard mode it indicates the current MIDI address NUMBERED KEYS AND LEDS The 8 white kevs as a group are some times referred to as the numbered kevs These kevs are also used and re ferred to as note kevs when used as a
11. e effective at the start of the next pattern Pitch shifts are cleared when a new chain is started REST ACCENT amp SLIDE The REST ACCENT and SLIDE keys can be used to turn on all rest treat all notes as rests all accent accent all notes and all slide slide all notes To turn on all rest press and hold the REST key The REST LED will light up and no new notes will be gated while the REST key is pressed To turn on all accent press and hold the ACCENT key The AC CENT LED will light up and all notes will be accented while the ACCENT key is pressed To turn all slide press and hold the SLIDE kev The SLIDE LED will light up and all notes will be slid while the SLIDE kev is pressed SWING TIMING Swing timing creates an inconsistent syncopated tempo Some notes are delaved while others played too soon Press NEXT or PREV vvhile the pattern is playing to increment or decrement the amount of svving There are five levels of svving available The swing tempo is output on DINSYNC and MIDI and will cause other svnthesizers to swing NOTE NUDGE While a pattern is plaving a note mav be nudged so that it is skipped or repeated To skip a step hold PREV and press NEXT To repeat a step hold NEXT and press PREV CONTROL SOFTWARE INTRODUCTION The cOntrOl software is available on the supplied CD The cOntrOl software is used mainly for updating the firmware It can also back up patterns and do a fe
12. e times The tempo will be set by mea suring the delay between the last two knob presses In sync out mode the xOxbOx can be used to control other syn thesizers via MIDI out or DINSYNC by generating clocking sig nals By default the sync rate is 24 DINSYNC pulses and 24 MIDI clocks per quarter note Start signals MIDI start and DINSYNC start line high are generated when the pattern starts playing by pressing the RUN STOP key and stop signals MIDI stop and DINSYNC start line low are generated when the pattern stops pressing RUN STOP again or changing out of pattern play To start playing patterns press the RUN STOP key The pattern will always start playing at note step 1 This will also send DIN SYNC and MIDI start signals The pattern s will continue playing until the RUN STOP key is pressed again or the FUNCTION knob is changed to a different function This will also send DINSYNC and MIDI stop signals USING MIDI SYNC MIDI sync allows the xOxbOx tempo start stop and pattern selec tion to be controlled via another computer or synthesizer Make sure the MIDI cable is plugged into the MIDI IN jack The xOxbOx listens for MIDI Start MIDI Continue MIDI Stop and MIDI Clock messages These messages do not use the MIDI address specification To start playing the current pattern send a MIDI Start message There should be 24 MIDI Clock messages per quarter note To stop playing the current pattern
13. ep hold NEXT and press PREV HALF TEMPO For a currently playing pattern the tempo can be halved by hold ing DONE and pressing the TEMPO knob This will keep everything in sync and will affect the whole pattern Hold DONE and press the TEMPO knob again to return to the normal tempo TRACK EDIT 26 INTRODUCTION Tracks are composed of patterns Once you have written a few patterns you like you can string them together into patterns There are 16 different tracks and each track can be 16 patterns long Tracks like patterns are stored in the EEPROM Each pattern in a track also has associated with it a rest flag an accent flag a slide flag and 5 bits of pitch shift These allow the pattern to be completely muted accented slid or shifted up or down a little more than an octave To enter track edit mode turn the Function knob to Track Edit Like Pattern Edit mode tracks are loaded from EEPROM into a scratch pad which is then modified by the user When you feel like the scratch pad contains the track you want it can be saved back into the EEPROM Mode Inputs Sound on Mix In Mode Outputs Sound on Mix Out and Headphone CV Gate analog information on CV and Gate SELECTING THE TRACK VVhile not in step vvrite or run mode one can select the track to be edited Make sure vou re not in run or step vvrite mode the R S and STEP LEDs should not be lit The current track being edited 21 16 i
14. hen UP LED is flashing The lowest note is 32 7 Hz C and the highest is 523 Hz C Notes can be accented by pressing the ACCENT key When accent is on the accent LED will be lit Every time a notekey is pressed a corresponding MIDI Note On signal is sent Every time a notekey is released the correspond ing Note Off message is sent Accented notes have the maxi mum MIDI velocity value The current MIDI address 1 through 15 is displayed on the strip of 16 LEDs You can change the MIDI address by turning the bank knob Whenever the xOxbOx is generating sound its CV and Gate out puts are active Use them to drive an analog synth like the SH 101 The CV voltage can be tuned with TM6 although TM5 and TM4 will then have to be retuned MIDI PLAv MODE INTRODUCTION MIDI Play mode is the most common way to connect the xOxbOx to a computer or external sequencer The xOxbOx is a monophonic synthesizer so it can only play MIDI tracks created with that in mind Tracks with overlapping notes will sound incorrect This mode doesn t allow playing patterns or tracks while sync d to MIDI Instead use Pattern Play MIDISYNC or Track Play MIDI SYNC modes Mode Inputs Sound on Mix In MIDI information on MIDI In and MIDI Thru Mode Outputs Sound on Mix Out and Headphone MIDI information on MIDI Out Tempo information on DINSYNC CV Gate analog information on CV and Gate 16 USING MIDI To enter MIDI plav mode t
15. ire EEPROM patterns amp tracks cut paste pat terns rotate etc To load a pattern select the bank location in the drop down menus To edit the loaded pattern set the length vvith the drop down menu then click on the top boxes and type in a note a b c d e f g h and A C D F G for sharps click on the note symbol to change to a rest and add accent A slide S and transpose up dovvn U D Save a pattern by clicking on Save Pattern 35 DEVELOPING ADVANCED 36 INTRODUCTION The x xb x firmware is responsible for all of the digital function ality driving LEDs reading switches gating notes to the analog synthesizer running the sequencer etc The firmware is essen tially a compiled program that is burned into the microcontroller chip in this case the ATmega162 The xOxbOx firmware is writ ten in C and can be re compiled using the ubiquitous and free avr gcc compiler You are encouraged to add functionality to the x0xbOx fix any bugs etc and exchange firmware updates with others You may eventually decide that you want to write firmware modi fications for the xOxbOx Since xOxbOx is an open source platform and the code is written using free tools in a well known language it s pretty easy to get started with writing new code Normally upgrading the firmware is performed by placing the mi crocontroller into a special device that programs it However to make it easier to upload new firmware the microco
16. nd 24 MIDI clocks per quarter note Start signals MIDI start and DINSYNC start line high are generated when the pattern starts playing by press ing the RUN STOP key and stop signals MIDI stop and DINSYNC start line low are generated when the pattern stops pressing RUN STOP again or changing out of pattern play To start playing patterns press the RUN STOP key The pattern will always start playing at note step 1 This will also send DIN SYNC and MIDI start signals The pattern s will continue playing until the RUN STOP key is pressed again or the FUNCTION knob is changed to a different function This will also send DINSYNC and MIDI stop signals USING MIDI SYNC MIDI sync allows the xOxbOx tempo start stop and pattern selec tion to be controlled via another computer or synthesizer Make sure the MIDI cable is plugged into the MIDI IN jack The xOxbOx listens for MIDI Start MIDI Continue MIDI Stop and MIDI Clock messages These messages do not use the MIDI address specification To start playing the current pattern send a MIDI Start message There should be 24 MIDI Clock messages per quarter note To stop playing the current pattern send a MIDI Stop message 23 DINSYNG Older pre MIDI synths and drum machines such as the Roland TR 606 808 909 used a proprietary sync signal that made use of a DIN connector and MIDI like cables The DINSYNC port can both output and input tempo and pattern
17. nt and slide In kevboard mode oniv accent is used sliding between notes occurs automaticallv when mul tiple kevs are pressed Lit RAS LEDs indicate that the effect is currentiv active 1 1 SEGTION l METHODS OF OPERATION PATTERN SYNC OUT MIDI PLAY f PATTERN DINSYNC RANDOM ra PATTERN MIDISYNC KEYBOARD ae PATTERN EDIT USER A TRACK SYNC OUT USERB ee TRACK DINSVNC USER C TRACK MIDISVNC BOOTLOAD TRAGK COMPUTER CONTROL 12 KEYBOARD MODE INTRODUCTION Keyboard mode is the quickest way to get sound out of the xOx bOx In kevboard mode the xOxbOx acts like a monophonic MIDI kev board Use it to trv out pattern ideas or to test the electronics Mode Inputs Sound on Mix In Mode Outputs Sound on Mix Out and Headphone MIDI information on MIDI Out CV Gate analog information on CV and Gate 13 14 PLAYING THE KEYBOARD To enter keyboard mode turn the function knob to Keyboard Play notes by using the 13 notekeys Each notekey s LED will turn on when the key is pressed You can slide between notes by pressing a new notekey without releasing the old one You can change octaves by pressing the UP or DOWN keys The x0xbOx is capable of four octaves The first octave is active when the DOWN LED is lit The second is active when no LEDs are lit the default octave The third when UP LED is lit The fourth w
18. ntroller that ships with the xOxbOx contains a bootloader The bootloader is a small piece of code 5K that is separate from the main firm ware and is executed first The bootloader checks to see if the FUNCTION knob is turned to Bootload mode If it is it proceeds to download the new firmware and if it isn t it executes the rest of the firmware See previous section of the manual The maxi mum size of user firmware is 15 5KB Check avr gcc output for size INSTALLING DEV TOOLS The AVR microcontroller has a wide variety of development tools available On Windows AVR Studio is the free easy to use IDE Download and install Studio This includes avr gcc Download the latest xOxbOx firmware source code distri bution from SourceForge Or the source code to an al ternate communitv firmware such as SokkOS Unzip the code The xOxbOx source code does not come with an AVR Stu dio project file but includes a WinAVR makefile To create a project from the makefile e Open AVR Studio e Create New Project e Project tvpe AVR GCC e Project name xOxbOx e Uncheck create initial file e Change Location to the folder containing the source code e Click Finish e Go to Project menu gt Configuration Options e Check Use External Makefile and select Makefile txt in the source code directory e Click OK e Right click on xOxbOx default in main project treevievv on the lefthand side e Select Add
19. one bank can be chained together in arbitrary or der up to 32 tracks in a row In this way repetitions of tracks can be programmed to make a full song Press and hold down the CHAIN key The CHAIN LED will light up and the numbered key LEDs will be cleared showing that a new chain is ready to be entered While still holding down the CHAIN key select the tracks to be put in the chain by pressing the 8 numbered keys one at a time The tracks will be entered in order of selection The same track can be entered multiple times Chains can be 1 to 32 tracks long Tracks in the chain will light up solid as they are selected Once the chain has been decided on release the CHAIN key The chain will start playing at the end of the next track While a chain is playing the tracks in the chain will light up solid the current track playing will be blinking Essentially selecting a single track is the same as creating a 1 track long chain USING SYNC OUT When using Pattern Play sync out the tempo is created by the xOxbOx using either the TEMPO knob or tap tempo Whenever the tempo is changed it is displayed via the TEMPO LED Turning the TEMPO knob clockwise increases the tempo by 1 BPM per click Turning the TEMPO knob counter clockwise decreases the tempo by 1 BPM per click Tap tempo allows the tempo to be set by measuring the time be tween button presses To set the tempo via tap tempo press the TEMPO knob two or mor
20. one octave kevboard The numbered kevs are used to address MA 2 pe patterns and tracks in a bank while play ing and editing The LEDs indicate the current pattern or track selected In pattern play and track play modes a blinking LED indicates the currently playing pattern or track and lit LEDs indicate patterns and tracks wait ing to be played NOTE KEYS AND LEDs C m These 13 keys as a group are referred to E NM as the note keys They are also some 6 times individuallv referred to bv their label i e press the C kev The note 1 1 1 1 kevs are used to enter musical informa 3 4 5 6 7 tion In pattern edit mode thev are used to edit notes in a pattern 10 DONE NC IN M c O In track edit and track pattern play mode they are also used to enter in the desired pitch shift In keyboard mode they are used as a one octave keyboard In some case the octave can be changed vvith the Up and Dovvn keys DONE KEY amp LED The done key is used to save tracks and pat terns in pattern edit and track edit mode The done LED often indicates the end of a pat tern or track in pattern edit and track edit mode or that a pattern or track is empty in pat tern play and track play modes DOwN UP KEYS c LEDS The up key and dovvn key are use
21. rite mode allows you to listen to the pattern and modify it as it plays New notes cannot be added in run write mode nor can the pattern be shortened The tempo at which the pattern is run is set by the tempo knob no other syncs are available To enter run write mode press R S The R S key should light up Unsaved scratch pad data will be erased T 20 The pattern will now loop in time with the tempo Each note tion out of 16 is indicated on the light strip The current note data rest accent slide octave note is indicated using the LEDs The current note data can be changed by pressing REST turns note into a rest note ACCENT amp SLIDE toggles accent and slide on that note octave UP raises note one octave no higher than high octave octave DOWN lovvers note one octave no lower than low octave or any of the 13 note keys changing to the note in the same octave as the previous The active pattern can be rotated backvvard or forvvard one step at a time Hold PREV and press NEXT to rotate one step forvvard Hold NEXT and press PREV to rotate one step backvvard To erase the pattern in the scratch pad hold CHAIN and press the TEMPO knob To erase the pattern from permanent memory the novv empty scratch pad should be saved using the DONE key Pressing the DONE key tvvice at any time saves the entire scratch pad back into permanent memory in the original bank location effectively replacing
22. s displayed on the strip of 16 LEDs by a blinking LED To change the track turn the Bank knob This will throw out the current scratch pad and load the newly selected track from EE PROM STEP WRITE MODE Unlike pattern edit mode there is no run write method to modi fying tracks Therefore you must use step write mode which goes through the 16 patterns in a track and individually select the pattern pitch shift and RAS flags To begin step write press the NEXT button you can do this from track selection or run mode The current location 1 16 in the track is indicated by a blinking light in the light strip The bank and location of the current pattern in the track location is indicated by a solid light in the light strip and a solid light in the numbered keys The current pattern will also play in a loop To set the pattern in the current track location turn the BANK knob to set the bank and press the one of the numbered keys to set the location in the bank To set the all rest all accent or all slilde flags for that track loca tion press any of the RAS keys The current flag status is dis played by the LED above the corresponding button To shift the pitch up hold down the UP key The current pitch shift is displayed as a blinking light on the note keys A pitch shift of 0 is displayed as low C a pitch shift of 1 2 note is dis played as C A pitch shift of 1 octave is displayed as high C If no LEDs ligh
23. s or drum machines In MIDISYNC the tempo comes from MIDI Clock messages on the MIDI IN port In DINSYNC the tempo comes from the DINSYNC port Otherwise all three modes have the same functionality Mode Inputs Sound on Mix In MIDI tempo information on MIDI In and MIDI Thru Tempo information on DINSYNC Mode Outputs Sound on Mix Out and Headphone MIDI information on MIDI Out Tempo information on DINSYNC CV Gate analog information on CV and Gate 29 30 SELECTING SINGLE TRACKS TO PLAY There are 8 banks and 8 locations per bank for storing tracks for a total of 64 total possible tracks to play Tracks are selected this way for all three modes In addition tracks can be chained to gether as described later To select the track bank turn the track BANK knob to the desired bank Since there are only 8 banks the knob will repeat twice e g bank 13 is the same as 5 The track location will be set to 1 by default To select the track location press one of the 8 numbered keys If the xOxbOx is not playing a track the selected track location LED will be lit and this track will be immediately played when it receives a start signal from internal or external sync If the xOxbOx is playing a track the newly selected track location LED will start blinking and this track will be played after the cur rent track is finished To play multiple track use track changing described below GHAINING TRACKS Tracks within
24. se all three modes have the same functionality Mode Inputs Sound on Mix In MIDI tempo information on MIDI In and MIDI Thru Tempo information on DINSYNC Mode Outputs Sound on Mix Out and Headphone MIDI information on MIDI Out Tempo information on DINSYNC CV Gate analog information on CV and Gate 22 SELECTING SINGLE PATTERNS TO PLAY There are 16 banks and 8 sub banks for storing patterns for a total of 128 total possible patterns to play To select the pattern bank turn the pattern BANK knob to the de sired bank The pattern location will be set to 1 by default To select the pattern location press one of the 8 numbered keys If the xOxbOx is not playing a pattern the selected pattern loca tion LED will be lit and this pattern will be immediately played when it receives a start signal from internal or external sync If the xOxb x is playing a pattern the newly selected pattern lo cation LED will start blinking and this pattern will be played after the current pattern is finished To play multiple patterns use pattern chaning descibed below CHAINING PATTERNS Patterns within one bank can be chained together in arbitrary order up to 32 patterns in a row In this way repetitions of pat terns can be programmed either for playing or for trying out pos sible tracks Press and hold down the CHAIN key The CHAIN LED will light up and the numbered key LEDs will be cleared showing that a new chain is ready
25. slide slide all notes To turn on all rest press and hold the REST key The REST LED will light up and no new notes will be gated while the REST key is pressed To turn on all accent press and hold the ACCENT key The AC CENT LED will light up and all notes will be accented while the ACCENT key is pressed To turn all slide press and hold the SLIDE kev The SLIDE LED will light up and all notes will be slid while the SLIDE kev is pressed SWING TIMING Swing timing creates an inconsistent syncopated tempo Some notes are delaved while others played too soon Press NEXT or PREV vvhile the pattern is playing to increment or decrement the amount of svving There are five levels of svving available The swing tempo is output on DINSYNC and MIDI and will cause other svnthesizers to swing LOOP MODE Loop mode allows a portion of a patern to be repeated indefinite ly To enter loop mode hold the DONE key and choose the start and end points of the loop using the 13 note keys and the three RAS keys together these represent the 16 notes in the pattern Re lease DONE To exit loop mode press and release DONE Loop mode can be used to play a pattern backwards by choosing a later note first To restart a loop from the first step hold CHAIN and press PREV NOTE NUDGE While a pattern is playing a note may be nudged so that it is skipped or repeated To skip a step hold PREV and press NEXT To repeat a st
26. start stop information PITCH SHIFTING Pitch shifting allows the current pattern to be played at a higher or lower scale than was originally programmed in The pitch can be shifted in either direction in 1 2 note increments up to one octave Pitch shifting is available in all three modes To shift the pitch up hold down the UP key The current pitch shift is displayed as a blinking light on the note keys A pitch shift of O is displayed as low a pitch shift of 1 2 note is dis played as C A pitch shift of 1 octave is displayed as high C If no LEDs light the current pitch shift is negative To select a new pitch shift press a note key while the UP key is held down The new pitch shift value will light up solid and will become effective at the start of the next pattern To shift the pitch down hold down the DOWN key The current pitch shift is displayed as a blinking light on the note keys A pitch shift of is displayed as high a pitch shift of 1 2 note is displayed as B etc If no LEDs light the current pitch shift is positive To select a new pitch shift press a note key while the DOWN key is held down The new pitch shift value will light solid and will become effective at the start of the next pattern Pitch shifts are cleared when a new chain is started REST ACCENT amp SLIDE The REST ACCENT and SLIDE keys can be used to turn on all rest treat all notes as rests all accent accent all notes and all
27. t the current pitch shift is negative To select a new pitch shift press a note key while the UP key is held down The new pitch shift value will start blinking 277 To shift the pitch down hold down the DOWN The current pitch shift is displaved as a blinking light on the note kevs A pitch shift of 0 is displayed as high a pitch shift of 1 2 note is displayed as B A pitch shift of 1 octave is displaved as low If no LEDs light the current pitch shift is positive To select a new pitch shift press a note key while the DOWN key is held down The new pitch shift value will start blinking To advance to the next track location press the NEXT kev To save the track to EEPROM press the DONE kev while at the last location of the track This will also exit step write mode TRACK PLAV INTRODUCTION Track play mode is used to play various tracks programmed into the xOxbOx memory in an arbitrary order Theres a lot of func tionality in track play mode allowing for multiple tracks to be looped together changing pitch tap tempo different syncs all rest all slide and all accent modes etc There are 3 different pattern play modes SYNC OUT MIDISYNC and DINSYNC The difference between the modes is the tempo In SYNCOUT mode the tempo is internally generated by the mi crocontroller and adjusted by the tempo knob or by tap tempo and MIDI sync amp DINSYNC signals are sent out to control other synthesizer
28. the previous pattern To save into a differ ent bank location press DONE once and use the BANK knob and numbered keys to choose the bank and location Press DONE again to save it to that bank location The DONE LED should blink and the pattern vvill continue looping To leave run vvrite mode retaining the scratch pad data but not saving it to permanent memory press the key again at any time Run vvrite mode outputs MIDI note data vvhile playing Pressing CHAIN during run write mode will reshuffle the current pattern in the scratch pad in the follovving vvay 123456789 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 gt 789 12 13 14 15 1623456110 11 PATTERN PLAY MODE INTRODUCTION Pattern play mode is used to play various patterns programmed into the xOxbOx memory in an arbitrary order Theres a lot of functionality in pattern play mode allowing for looping multiple patterns together changing pitch tap tempo different syncs all rest all slide and all accent modes etc There are 3 different pattern play modes SYNC OUT MIDISYNC and DINSYNC The difference between the modes is the tempo In SYNCOUT mode the tempo is internally generated by the mi crocontroller and adjusted by the tempo knob or by tap tempo and MIDI sync amp DINSYNC signals are sent out to control other synthesizers or drum machines In MIDISYNC the tempo comes from MIDI Clock messages on the MIDI IN port In DINSYNC the tempo comes from the DINSYNC port Otherwi
29. thod bv which one programs patterns is 1 Load pattern from permanent memorv into a scratch pad 2 Use either step write go though each note one at a time adding or changing notes or run vvrite play the pattern repeatediv and change notes as buttons are pressed mode to modify the scratch pad 3 Save the scratch pad to permanent memory SELECTING THE PATTERN BANK Begin bv rotating the bank knob Note scratchpad memorv will be cleared and unsaved changes will be lost Specify the bank by turning the bank knob Specify the sub bank by pressing one of the notekeys labeled 1 through 8 A corre sponding LED will turn on The scratchpad is now loaded with previously saved data At this point you can start editing the scratch pad using either run write or step write mode EDITING PATTERNS IN STEP WRITE MODE Step write mode is the comprehensive way to write new patterns or edit existing patterns To enter step write mode press the NEXT key The strip of 16 LEDs indicates the current note and the other LEDs display its parameters Press a notekey to change the note s pitch Press NEXT to edit the next note Press PREV to change a previous note this LED doesn t turn on Press DONE twice to save the new pattern Press R S to it plav Each note has a pitch but can also have additional parameters UP and DOWN specifv the octave see Octaves ACCENT creates an accented note see Accent SLIDE
30. urn the Function knob to MIDI plav The current MIDI address 1 15 is displaved on the strip of 16 LEDs To change the MIDI address turn the Bank knob To accent notes make the MIDI velocitv value larger than 100 0x64 decimal PATTERN EDIT MODE INTRODUCTION The xOxbOx contains a sequencer that can play patterns and tracks and drive other synthesizers Patterns are sequences of notes Tracks are sequences of patterns A patterns can contain up to 16 elements Each element is either a note an accented note a rest or a slide There are 16 banks and 8 sub banks per bank allowing the storage of 128 patterns Mode Inputs Sound on Mix In Mode Outputs Sound on Mix Out and Headphone MIDI information on MIDI Out Tempo information on DINSYNC CV Gate analog information on CV and Gate COMPARISON WITH TB 303 The original TB 303 saved patterns in volatile RAM If the internal lithium battery failed the patterns would be lost In the xOxbOx patterns are saved on an EEPROM chip 17 The The Roland TB 303 used a strange method of programming which required entering notes and timebases separatelv It was difficult to use although it would sometimes lead to interesting patterns The xOxbOx sequencer features a simplified pattern entry If one desires interesting patterns one may drink heavily GREATING PATTERNS To enter pattern edit mode turn the Function knob to Pattern Edit The basic me
31. veform e Adjustable cutoff frequencv resonance envelope modulation decav and accent Sequencer capabilites e Easy to use sequencer allows for quick pattern amp track entrv and editing with combined pitch and time e Intuitive track and pattern plav with 2 octaves of pitch shift rest accent and slide override as well dvnamic chaining of up to 16 patterns or tracks e Svncing with MIDI and Roland DIN DINSVNC e MIDI DINSVNC and CV Gate output e EEPROM memorv no lithium batterv e Up to 128 patterns of up to 16 notes each e Up to 64 tracks of up to 16 patterns each e Upgradable firmware additional features possible Input Output interfaces e Headphone output e Line level output 4 e Line level input 4 e MIDI in out thru e DINSVNC in out e CV out 1 Gate out Vs e USB for computer interface and control SECTION SWITCHES KNOBS AND 1 0 DINSYNG MIX IN MIDI IN MIDI THRU MIDI OUT MIX OUT USB EV GATE PHONE SVAG SAW U SQR TUNE CUTOFF RESONANCE ENV MOD DECAY ACCENT PATTERN SYNC OUT MIDI PLAY PATTERN DINSYNG RANDOM PATTERN MIDISYNG KEYBOARD PATTERN EDIT USER A TRACK SYNC OUT USER B TRACK DINSYNG USERG TRALK MIDISYNG TEMPO BOOTLOAD TRACK EDIT COMPUTER CONTROL o o IN 2 VY 2 VY 1 2 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1
32. w other things Drivers for the xOxbOx are built into most operating systems but can also be downloaded here http www ftdichip com Drivers VCP htm cOntrOl is provided as a Windows exe and as a cross platform Python script UPDATING FIRMWARE ON WINDOWS 1 Turn on your xOx in bootload mode 2 Verify that the USB port was found and installed Device Manager File Action View Help m eea IEB YENTHEOGEN 4 Computer Disk drives E Display adapters 22 DVD CD ROM drives Floppy disk controllers Floppy disk drives IDE ATA ATAPI controllers x Keyboards Mice and other pointing devices Monitors 88 Network adapters Ports COM amp LPT Communications Port COM1 F Communications Port COM2 ECP Printer Port LPT1 USB Serial Port COM3 SB Processors FF 98 34 Start cOntrOl software Select the correct port in Serial gt Port in this case COM3 Select xOxbOx gt Upload firmware Do NOT select connect to xOxbOx Select the firmware file press OK Wait for success response quit the software Restart the xOx in non bootload mode BACKING UP PATTERNS ON WINDOWS ee Start cOntrOl software Select the correct port in Serial x Port Select Serial Connect The tempo slider should adjust and turning the tempo knob should change the slider and vice versa You can now read write patterns from memory back up the ent

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