Can someone please explain Actions Strings 2 - Skip and Repeat?

AMD

Hi everyone.

1) In the manual it says Skip: Determines whether steps within a rest will be ignored for the note order and the respective pitch will sound at the next active module.

Can someone please explain in plain terms what skip does, because that doesn't make any sense to me. Enabling/disabling it seems to have no affect on anything.

2) How do I get the repeat function to work? Switching it on doesn't do anything. The sequences just play normally.

Thanks.

Anthony H

Hi

Ok, so let's just start with establishing that you're working in ARPEGGIATOR mode here. This means that the instrument will cycle through the notes every time there is a new trigger, following the pattern you choose (UP, DOWN, ZIG ZAG, etc.).

So if you hold down 2 notes, say C and E, with the pattern set to UP, it will move between those two notes, first C then E, following the rhythm you've programmed until you let go. If you set the pattern to DOWN, it will reverse the order, E C E C etc.

If your phrase contains a REST, this interrupts the pattern and question is which note does it play when the next trigger hits. The DEFAULT mode is that the rest will still move through one of the notes. SKIP will tell the arp to 'ignore' the rest, so far as the note sequence goes. Consider the following "phrase":

NOTE NOTE REST NOTE | NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE | NOTE NOTE REST REST | NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE |

Now imagine you're holding a Cmajor triad, C E and G, with an UP pattern. The arpeggiator would cycle through C E and G and any rest would be silent, but the cycle is unaffected. The result would be this:

C E G C | E G C E | G C E G | C E G C |. See how the C E G continues, but notes on a rest are not heard?

In SKIP mode, the arp ignores the rest and "pauses" cycling through notes til the next note arrives. The result would be this:

C E - G | C E G C | E G - - | C E G C |

Skip mode is a way to get more melodic results out of your arp, where default mode is very loopy and can get a bit chaotic (which maybe is what you want?)

Repeat is simple - and it's not a switch but an editing tool. When editing your phrase, the highlighted section is simply copied immediately to the next available position. It's a quick way to make loops, like the duplicate function in most DAWS.

Hope this helps!

Anthony H

Hi

Ok, so let's just start with establishing that you're working in ARPEGGIATOR mode here. This means that the instrument will cycle through the notes every time there is a new trigger, following the pattern you choose (UP, DOWN, ZIG ZAG, etc.).

So if you hold down 2 notes, say C and E, with the pattern set to UP, it will move between those two notes, first C then E, following the rhythm you've programmed until you let go. If you set the pattern to DOWN, it will reverse the order, E C E C etc.

If your phrase contains a REST, this interrupts the pattern and question is which note does it play when the next trigger hits. The DEFAULT mode is that the rest will still move through one of the notes. SKIP will tell the arp to 'ignore' the rest, so far as the note sequence goes. Consider the following "phrase":

NOTE NOTE REST NOTE | NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE | NOTE NOTE REST REST | NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE |

Now imagine you're holding a Cmajor triad, C E and G, with an UP pattern. The arpeggiator would cycle through C E and G and any rest would be silent, but the cycle is unaffected. The result would be this:

C E G C | E G C E | G C E G | C E G C |. See how the C E G continues, but notes on a rest are not heard?

In SKIP mode, the arp ignores the rest and "pauses" cycling through notes til the next note arrives. The result would be this:

C E - G | C E G C | E G - - | C E G C |

Skip mode is a way to get more melodic results out of your arp, where default mode is very loopy and can get a bit chaotic (which maybe is what you want?)

Repeat is simple - and it's not a switch but an editing tool. When editing your phrase, the highlighted section is simply copied immediately to the next available position. It's a quick way to make loops, like the duplicate function in most DAWS.

Hope this helps!

AMD

Hello Anthony H and many thanks for your reply.

I'm not sure what I'm missing, but I'm still really confused by the Skip function.

Just to be clear, is Skip ENABLED when I click it and it appears white, as in the attached screenshot?

Anyway, focussing on the High Ensemble in the attached screenshot:

With Skip DISABLED (Skip letters not white) and the arp set to Up Mode, holding down a C major chord plays the following sequence:

1st time: C E G C | E G C E

2nd time: G C E C | C E G C E

Why does it play differently the 2nd time around? Shouldn't it go: G C E G | C E G C E the 2nd time?

With Skip ENABLED (Skip in white letters), the sequence plays like this:

1st time: C E G C | E G C E

2nd time: G C E G | C E G C E

Regarding my question about Repeat, I was referring to the Repeat 0x circled in the screenshot. It works now, but it definitely didn't work the dozen times I tried it before. Who knows what I was doing wrong there.

I hope you can point out what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks.