twisted electrons Acid8, User Manual

Page 1: ...User Manual Last update May 10th 2015 Watch the walkthrough video here Thanks Thank you for adopting Acid8 ...

Page 2: ...index 1 Connectivity Power 2 Operation Overview 3 Step Mode 4 Pattern Mode 5 Chain Mode 6 Global functions 7 External Control 8 Firmware Updates 9 Software Editor ...

Page 3: ...wer Acid8 features 1 4 audio output MIDI input output 1 8 gate sync input output and a power socket Acid8 is equipped with a bridge rectifier so can be powered by any AC or DC voltage source of between 7v and 15v 1200mA ...

Page 4: ... consists of 16 steps but up to 15 of these steps can be skipped to form shorter patterns Pattern Mode In pattern mode you can select the pattern that is being played you can also copy paste patterns and add them to a chain Chain Mode When chain mode is active Acid8 will automatically sequence patterns of your choice to form a song 5 chains of up to 8 patterns are available ...

Page 5: ...p is lit At any time you can toggle between Step and Pattern modes by clicking the encoder again Now roll the encoder to cycle through the 16 steps of your pattern and modify to your liking The selected step is indicated on the top row of illuminated dots All parameter changes are automatically stored ...

Page 6: ...ayed on the 13 button keyboard You can also transpose each step across a 3 octave range using the buttons Acid8 can automatically advance to the next step when a note is entered To toggle this feature on and off hold shift then press the encoder ...

Page 7: ...using the respective buttons The illuminated dot above the button indicates their status Rest mutes a step Accent boosts the filter envelope The amount of boost is set by the accent knob When slide is active the pitch will slide up or down to the next pattern ...

Page 8: ...le through the 4 versions of that shape The variation of each shape is indicated above white keys 5 8 By default ACID8 will store the current waveform within the pattern memory This also means that if you change patterns the waveforms will change accordingly If you wish to deactivate waveform storage and loading per pattern hold any waveform button for 3 seconds The row of dots will flash to indic...

Page 9: ...e white keys that represent bits 0 to 7 from left to right Flipped bits are represented by the illuminated dots above the white keys Note bit flipping sounds more pronounced on rounder waveforms like triangle or sine The right most aka most significant bits have the most effect on the signal 3 5 Env Mod Pitch When env mod pitch is active the modulation envelope affects the oscillators pitch result...

Page 10: ... can have 8 levels of swing automatically stored within the pattern Hold shift then press swing white key 7 to enter swing mode While keeping shift held you can now select the level of swing by pressing any of the white keys ...

Page 11: ...ted step is set to skip If you hold shift skip then roll the encoder you can skip unskip multiple steps Counter clockwise enables skip clockwise disables it 3 8 Transpose Pattern by Octave You can transpose the entire pattern up or down one octave at a time within the 3 octave range simply by holding shift whilst pressing buttons 3 9 Clear and Randomize Pattern You can clear the entire pattern by ...

Page 12: ...fect is active the fx knob has two functions Sample Rate Bit Depth reduction at twelve o clock the fx knob has no effect Turning clockwise from twelve reduces sample rate counter clockwise reduces bit depth resulting in distorted signal particularly effective on rounder shapes like triangle and sine Pulse Width When the pw effect is active the fx knob controls the pulse width of the oscillators wa...

Page 13: ...switch patterns on the fly You can also copy paste patterns and store recall favorites Acid8 can store 128 patterns arranged in 8 banks of 16 4 1 Select a Pattern Roll the encoder to cycle through the 16 patterns of a bank Switch banks by pressing any of the white keys ...

Page 14: ...hift then press Warning Pasting a pattern will overwrite the selected pattern 4 3 Favorites You can assign 5 favorite patterns to the white keys for quick access To load a favorite pattern simply press any white key To set a favorite hold shift then press any white key so set it to the respective slot ...

Page 15: ...e feature that has no effect on the actual pattern 4 5 Transpose You can transpose the playback up or down by pressing or The transpose amount in semitones is briefly indicated on the top row of illuminated dots The large center illuminated dot 9 is 0 or no transposition Note This has no effect on the actual pattern and is reset on machine reboot ...

Page 16: ...p to 8 patterns per song 5 1 Activate Deactivate Chain Mode To toggle chain mode on and off simply press the chain button The illuminated dot above the chain button indicates chain mode status Note This function applies to both step and pattern modes ...

Page 17: ...patterns by toggling on and off its steps Hold down chain then press any white key to toggle the respective chain step on or off indicated by the illuminated dot above the step Note This function applies to both step and pattern modes 5 4 Assign Current Pattern to a Chain Step Hold down both shift chain then press any white key to assign the current pattern to a chain step Note This function appli...

Page 18: ...ble Forward Reverse Pendulum and Random To cycle through the play modes in the above order hold shift then press run X amount of times 6 2 Tempo Their are two ways to change the tempo Tap tempo press the tempo button multiple times Dial tempo up down Hold shift and roll en encoder to speed up or down the tempo ...

Page 19: ...otes so you can use the step sequencer to control other midi compatible synths Normal notes are sent velocity 64 accent notes 127 To change the midi output channel hold while powering the unit then roll the encoder to select a channel indicated on the 15 dot row Click the encoder to confirm Note Channel 16 is reserved for the editor and can not be used for notes 7 3 Incoming Midi Clock Acid8 locks...

Page 20: ...trol the amount of fx 7 6 Incoming Midi Program Change Use Program Change messages 1 128 to change pattern at any time 7 7 Gate Sync In Acid8 triggers and advances a step when a 5v pulse is detected on its sync input 7 8 Gate Sync Out Acid8 transmits 5v clock pulses a 1 4 beat resolution ...

Page 21: ...y to receive new firmware During the transfer all leds will flash on and off When transfer is complete ACID will boot normally 8 1 Pc For a windows pc we recommend MIDI OX It is a free and very useful app 1 Launch MIDI OX 2 In the Sysex window choose Command Window Load File and navigate the location where you stored the file 3 Choose Command Window Send Sysex 4 Once the upload is complete approx ...

Page 22: ...ct your MIDI interface in the drop down menu at the top if it s not already selected 3 Drag the MIDI SysEx file from the Finder into the frame of SysEx Librarian if it s not already in there 4 Select it with the mouse 5 Click Play 6 Once the upload is complete approx 30 seconds Acid8 will reboot ...

Page 23: ...ry with the free editor Download the latest version here http twisted electrons com acid8 The editor sends data to ACID8 via midi but it also needs data from ACID8 to function properly 9 1 Setup When launching the app you will first have to define the midi ports then click OK to begin ...

Page 24: ...rt receiving data from Acid8 OUTPUT is the port to Acid8 9 2 Patterns When launching the app you will first have to define the midi ports then click OK to begin Now you can browse ACID8 s patterns and edit them on the fly ...

Page 25: ...9 3 Waveforms To edit a waveform click the WAVEFORM button at the top left of the screen ...

Page 26: ...ape in real time with your mouse These changes are automatically saved to ACID8s memory Use the reset button to restore the factory waveform Note Acid8 automatically switches to the waveform you are drawing so that you can hear the changes as they are being made ...