ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual
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ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual

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S2400
User Manual
Copyright © 2020-2022 ISLA Instruments
Revised February 24, 2022
The most up to date version can be downloaded from
https://islainstruments.com/docs-downloads/

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  • Page 1 S2400 User Manual Copyright © 2020-2022 ISLA Instruments Revised February 24, 2022 The most up to date version can be downloaded from https://islainstruments.com/docs-downloads/...

  • Page 2: Foreword

    First and foremost, if you’re reading this user manual then the likelihood is that you have either already purchased an S2400 or are perhaps considering doing so. If you have, then thank you. I’ve had a serious drum machine fetish for about 25 years now. The first machine I bought was a broken MXR-185 for cheaps at a local thrift store circa 1996.

  • Page 3: Acknowledgements

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual A A c c k k n n o o w w l l e e d d g g e e m m e e n n t t s s Vision/Design: Brad Holland...

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual C C o o n n t t e e n n t t s s Foreword ............................2 Acknowledgements ......................... 3 Contents ............................4 Introduction............................. 5 Front Panel ............................6 Rear Panel............................8 Instant Gratification ........................9 User Interface Elements ........................

  • Page 5: Introduction

    WAV files or record them to your DAW using the analog outputs or USB audio interface. We have designed the S2400 to be the centrepiece in a modern studio. Create songs entirely in the S2400, if that's your jam, or sync it up with your other sequencers, DAW, modular synths, etc., using MIDI or analog clock.

  • Page 6: Front Panel

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual F F r r o o n n t t P P a a n n e e l l Song: Switches between Song and Pattern modes. Shift: Shift is used in conjunction with other controls for additional features.
  • Page 7 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Mute & Solo: A pair of illuminated buttons to mute/solo a track. They double as step buttons in TR Mode. Pad: Velocity sensitive, RGB illuminated pads for playing and recording sounds. Phones: Volume control for the headphones.

  • Page 8: Rear Panel

    SD-Card: SD-Card slot for saving samples and projects. Clock Out: 3.5mm clock out jack clocking external hardware or modules. Clock In: 3.5mm clock in jack for clocking the S2400 from external hardware or modules. MIDI In: MIDI DIN jack for controlling the S2400 via MIDI.

  • Page 9: Instant Gratification

    I I n n s s t t a a n n t t G G r r a a t t i i f f i i c c a a t t i i o o n n You just got your S2400 and you want to make some beats now! Make Some Sounds Connect the Mix Out jacks on the back to an amp, mixer, or audio interface.

  • Page 10: User Interface Elements

    Shift+Key means hold the Shift key, then press another key. Shifted keys are used all over. The keys across the top of the S2400 are all dual function, except Song. Press the key to access the function written under the key, and press Shift+ the key to access the function written above it.
  • Page 11 Double Clicking Some of the keys across the top of the S2400 can be double clicked (rapidly pressed twice) to quickly access the most common feature, or toggle the most common setting, for the associated menu, without having to navigate through the menu and click on the option.
  • Page 12 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Editing a Numeric Field Arrows/Encoder: Increments/decrements the number. For settings with a range of 99 or more, arrow key autorepeat or encoder fast turn changes the number by 10 instead of 1. Shift+Arrows/Encoder: For any field with a decimal point, hold Shift to change the fractional part of the number.
  • Page 13 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Editing a Text Field F1: Delete the character to the right of the cursor. If the cursor is at the end of the text, F1 is backspace. Shift+F1: Backspace, deletes the character to the left of the cursor.
  • Page 14 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual In Character Select Mode Arrows/Encoder: Highlight the next/previous character Shift+Arrows/Encoder: Move the highlight up/down one row Enter/Encoder Press: Insert the highlighted character into the text at the cursor position. The  “SP” character inserts a space. The character toggles upper/lower case.
  • Page 15 Browsing Files and Folders The S2400 has a file browser that is used for selecting sounds, kits, and projects to load, and for selecting the folder where a new sample will be saved. The SD card and internal samples can also be browsed by selecting Browse Files from the File menu.

  • Page 16: Files And Sd Card

    SD card can be formatted by the S2400 with the format option in the Settings menu. File and Folder Names The S2400 can only read valid FAT32 file and folder names. A square character (□) in a file or folder name indicates an untranslatable Unicode character. It also means that it is an invalid FAT32 name, and the S2400 cannot open that file/folder.
  • Page 17 The original folder and its contents are not changed. Global Settings File Global settings are saved in a file called S2400.SET in the root of the SD card. The file contains all settings found in the Global Settings, Sync, Input Monitor, and Metronome menus, plus the sampling settings.
  • Page 18 The SD card can be edited on a computer, either by inserting it into an SD card slot on the computer, or with a USB SD card reader, or by leaving the card in the S2400 and enabling MSC mode from the File menu.

  • Page 19: Assigning Sounds To Tracks

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual A A s s s s i i g g n n i i n n g g S S o o u u n n d d s s t t o o T T r r a a c c k k s s There are four ways to assign sounds to tracks.

  • Page 20: Pattern Mode

    Banks, Tracks, Pads The S2400 holds 32 samples at a time, organized into four banks of eight tracks each. The sample banks are referred to by letters A through D. Individual tracks are referred to by their bank letter plus their pad number, e.g.
  • Page 21 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Shift+Run/Stop is a context-specific override. When stopped, Shift+Run/Stop continues playing from the point at which the pattern was stopped. When running, Shift+Run/Stop restarts the pattern at the beginning. If the pattern number has been changed, but the current pattern is still playing, Shift+Run/Stop immediately starts the new pattern.
  • Page 22 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Pattern Mode Keys F2: Add pattern to song F4: Toggle Live Looping on/off. The F4 key will be illuminated when Live Looping is active. F5: Play only one measure. Press F5 while during playback to make the current measure repeat.
  • Page 23 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Undo There is one level of undo. When recording or editing starts, an undo point is created. Press Copy+Back (hold the Copy key, then press the Back key) to undo all changes made since the undo point was created.

  • Page 24: Fader Modes

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual F F a a d d e e r r M M o o d d e e s s The row of keys on the left (Level, Pitch, Envelope, and Loop/Slice) set the fader mode, that is, which parameter the faders control.
  • Page 25 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Override and Overwrite A: In all fader modes except mixer mode, pressing the A button during playback, toggles Parameter Playback Override on or off for the current mode. During recording it toggles Live Parameter Record Overwrite for the current mode.
  • Page 26 Synthesizers have oscillators which are always running. In a synthesizer the envelope parts are actual times. Increase any of them and the whole sound plays for more time. In the S2400, the envelope parts are percentages of the total sample length. For example, if the sustain hold is set to 50.0 and the decay to 50.0, with all other parts being zero, then the sound will begin to decay...
  • Page 27 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual HiFi Envelopes as Modulators Envelopes can modulate pitch and/or filter cutoff. Either parameter can be modulated by either or both HiFi envelopes, even if a Classic volume envelope is used. At the top of the HiFi Envelope Editor screen are pitch modulation amount and filter modulation amount.
  • Page 28 When looping is on, the sound plays once from the start point to the end point, then plays repeatedly from the loop point to the end point. When assigning a sound to a track, the S2400 reads the loop point data from the WAV file. It reads the "smpl" data chunk, which is different from cue or marker points.
  • Page 29 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Waveform Editor The waveform editor is for precise editing of slices and loops. It is displayed after recording a new sample, or after pressing the B button for a track when in Loop/Slice fader mode.
  • Page 30 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual F5: Force selected point to zero crossing, long-press to force all points to zero crossing. F6: Shift slice right. In multi-mode, F6 sets the end to the next slice's start. F7: Reverse slice, long-press to undo. (see below for details).
  • Page 31 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Normalize Press the Level key to normalize the sample to a specific dB level. The sample’s peak dB is displayed. The normalize setting number is an absolute number that is not relative to the sample’s peak.
  • Page 32 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Name: The name of the file. Defaults to Sample plus a sequential three-digit number which is automatically set. Select the name to edit the file name. Assign to Track: After saving, the new file can be assigned to a track. Select the desired track from the list, or press a pad to fill in the track.

  • Page 33: Multi Mode

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual M M u u l l t t i i M M o o d d e e With the normal fader modes, the eight pads/faders/knobs control eight tracks (one bank). Multi Mode takes a single track and spreads eight different values of one parameter (level, pitch, envelope, loop/slice) across the pads/faders/knobs.

  • Page 34: Pattern Functions And Settings

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual P P a a t t t t e e r r n n F F u u n n c c t t i i o o n n s s a a n n d d S S e e t t t t i i n n g g s s When in pattern mode, the top row of keys gives quick access to the most common pattern functions and settings.
  • Page 35 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Swing Swing, also known as shuffle or groove, adds rhythmic variation to the pattern, giving it a more human feel. Each pattern has its own swing setting. There are also separate swing settings for each track. If a track’s swing is set to “pattern”, then its swing setting will be the same as the swing setting for the pattern that is playing.
  • Page 36 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Copy Source: Patterns can be copied from memory, or from a previously saved project on the SD card. Project: If the source is SD Card, then the source project must be selected. Clicking on this setting displays the file browser.
  • Page 37 In written music, time signatures are sometimes used to indicate tempo. For example, 6/8 time would be played faster than 3/4 time. In the S2400, the tempo is a separate setting, so both of those time signatures equate to the same measure length, because 6 eighth notes and 3 quarter notes take the same amount of time to play.
  • Page 38 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Quantize Quantization is sometimes called auto-correct. It forces recorded pad hits to be in time. With quantization turned on, a pad can be pressed slightly before or after the quantize note, and its timing will be rounded to the nearest note. For example, if quantization is set to sixteenth notes, every note recorded will be accurately timed to a sixteenth note.

  • Page 39: Step Program

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual S S t t e e p p P P r r o o g g r r a a m m The Step Program key is the far-right key on the top row. Step Program mode is an alternative method of creating and editing patterns. The screen displays a pattern in a DAW-like grid.
  • Page 40 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Enter / Encoder Press: Edit the parameters for events at the cursor position. See Edit Step Parameters. If an event exists in the pattern off of the current quantize grid, it will appear as a single dot.
  • Page 41 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Paste Press F7 to paste the clipboard into the current pattern at the current cursor position. Events can be pasted into the same pattern they were copied from, a different pattern(s), or even a different project because the clipboard is retained when a different project is loaded.
  • Page 42 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Erase The erase screen uses the same method of choosing tracks as the paste screen described above. Only chosen tracks will be erased. Cut to Clipboard: Erases the events and also copies them to the clipboard. Otherwise, the clipboard is unaffected by the erase function.
  • Page 43 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual TR Mode TR mode allows editing a pattern in style of a TR-x0x step sequencer. The 16 mute and solo buttons become step buttons. The step numbers are printed below the buttons. The buttons light up to show that there is an event for that track on that step. In TR mode, only sixteenth notes can be inserted or removed.
  • Page 44 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Edit Step Parameters In this mode the recorded parameters can be changed for any pattern event. The changed parameters can be previewed by pressing the pad. If the pattern is running, the changed parameters will be played when that event is played in the pattern.
  • Page 45 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Numeric View The step parameters are presented numerically for precise editing. MIDI tracks parameters are always presented numerically. Some parameters can only be edited numerically, such as gate length. Edit Step Parameters Keys These keys are common to Edit Step Parameters graphical and numeric views.

  • Page 46: Playback Features

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual P P l l a a y y b b a a c c k k F F e e a a t t u u r r e e s s Mute/Solo In modes other than Step Program TR mode, the rectangular buttons above the pads control mute and solo.

  • Page 47: Record Features

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual R R e e c c o o r r d d F F e e a a t t u u r r e e s s Live Parameter Record Overwrite The filter, level, pitch, envelope, and loop/slice parameter values that are recorded into the pattern can be selectively changed on the fly.

  • Page 48: Live Looping

    L L i i v v e e L L o o o o p p i i n n g g The S2400 can operate like an 8-track looper pedal, while still playing and recording patterns. Press F4 in Pattern mode to enable Live Looping. The tracks in Bank D become Live Loops. Any sounds previously assigned to those tracks will not play, but the machine will remember all of the track data.
  • Page 49 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Live Loop Settings Press Shift+Pad to display the Live Loop settings and functions for each Live Loop. Output The output that the loop will play through. Divisions A Live Loop can be the full length of the pattern (one division), or it can be a fraction of the pattern length.
  • Page 50 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Save Live Loop as a Sample If the selected Live Loop has sound recorded in it, the sound can be saved to a WAV file. The save screen has the following fields: Save To: The destination for the file. Options are project folder, or any selected folder.

  • Page 51: Song Mode

    Controls Song editing works like most screens on the S2400. Highlight a row with the arrow keys, or by turning the encoder. Press Enter or encoder to edit it. The editable part is highlighted.
  • Page 52 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Event Types Pattern Plays a pattern. Tempo The song starts at its base tempo, which is set at the top of the screen. Tempo changes can be inserted into a song. Any change in tempo stays in effect until another change or the song restarts.
  • Page 53 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Build a Song in Pattern Mode Press F2 in pattern mode to append the current pattern to the end of the current song. The pattern event and any pattern specific tempo, swing, and mute/solo changes are automatically appended to the end of the current song.

  • Page 54: Track Settings

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual T T r r a a c c k k S S e e t t t t i i n n g g s s To edit a track’s settings, press Shift+Pad, or select Track Settings from the Settings menu. Press a different pad to see and edit another track’s settings without exiting or pressing shift.
  • Page 55 The color of the pad can be set to one of nine predefined colors in the list, or can be set to any color using the fader. The pad color can be set to black, however the S2400 uses pad color and brightness to clarify what is going on, and that help is lost if the pads are not lit.
  • Page 56 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Quant. Shift The track-specific quantization shift setting can be set to a specific number of 96 PPQN clock ticks. Using this setting, a track can be quantized, but actually be recorded a few ticks before or after the true note position.

  • Page 57: Pitch Stretching

    From BPM field. From BPM When stretching beats, fill in the tempo of the original sample. The S2400 will fill in the From BPM based on the sample length and Beat Count, but it can be changed. To BPM Fill in the tempo of the resulting stretched sample.

  • Page 58: Time Stretching

    The sound type affects the stretch algorithm. Note When stretching a note, the S2400 will attempt to detect the pitch of the sound and fill in the closest note. If it cannot detect the pitch, the note field will default to C-2. If you know the actual pitch of the sound, you can edit the note field.
  • Page 59 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual The maximum stretch is 400%. This is a limitation of the algorithm. However, an already stretched and saved file can be re-stretched. Granulation The granulation is a relative number from 1 to 100. This number along with the sample rate and BPM or note are used by the stretch algorithm.

  • Page 60: Resampling

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual R R e e s s a a m m p p l l i i n n g g Resampling plays a wave file through the Classic anti-aliasing input filter and rerecords it at 26KHz and 12-bits.

  • Page 61: Bouncing

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual B B o o u u n n c c i i n n g g A pattern, song, or sound can be bounced to a single WAV file. The bounced file will sound just like it does when the original pattern or song is played.

  • Page 62: Settings

    Fader Lock @Start When the S2400 is powered on, faders are either all locked or all unlocked. See the fader lock section for more details on how locking works.
  • Page 63 LEDs, and displays an animation on the pad LEDs. When sleep time is set to zero, the S2400 never sleeps. The S2400 will not enter sleep mode if a pattern or song is playing.
  • Page 64 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Other Settings and Actions Organize Tracks The organize tracks screen lists the 32 sample tracks and allows them to be moved, copied, deleted, and renamed. Quickly double-clicking the Settings key closes the settings menu and displays the organize screen.
  • Page 65 We have even seen some cards that appeared to work, and the S2400 could even read files from them, but it could not save files to the card. Reformatting those cards in the S2400 made them fully functional.

  • Page 66: File

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual F F i i l l e e Display the File menu by pressing Shift+File (the third key from the left in the top row). Please read the Files and SD Card section before this section.
  • Page 67 Puts the S2400 into USB Mass Storage Class mode. The S2400 will appear to a computer as a mass storage device like a USB drive. The SD card in the S2400 can then be viewed and edited on the computer.

  • Page 68: Sync

    These are the settings that determine how the S2400 is controlled over MIDI. Control Port and Channel This is the port and MIDI channel on which the S2400 will listen for control messages. Control messages are machine-wide, and not track specific. They include pattern change messages (discussed below), MIDI CC messages to set channel volume and panning, and NRPN messages to change the parameters of any track.
  • Page 69 If accepting MIDI notes in, also accept the velocity from the note on message. If this option is off, then the level faders on the S2400 control the level. This works much the same way as the dynamic pads option.
  • Page 70 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual MissedTicks=Stop When the clock in jack is selected as the clock source, the S2400 will interpret a number of expected but not received clock pulses as a stop. Set this to zero to disable the function.
  • Page 71 Pitched: The received note number is interpreted as pitch, and the sent note number corresponds to the pitch at which the S2400 is playing the track. Note For Percussion tracks, this is the note number that will be sent when the track is played, and the incoming note number that will play the track.

  • Page 72: Midi Control Of Parameters

    CC messages. The S2400 uses the two messages separately. If your DAW or controller needs the full 14-bit number, multiply the track number by 128 and add the CC number. NRPN messages sent to the S2400 must be sent on the control port and channel specified in the Sync menu.

  • Page 73: Sample Mode

    S S a a m m p p l l e e M M o o d d e e Enter Sample Mode by pressing Shift+Sample (the fourth key from the left in the top row). Sample mode is where the S2400 records sounds and saves them to the SD card. Sample Mode Keys Enter/Encoder Press: Tab between setting to edit.
  • Page 74 Line 1&2 and Phono 1 inputs have a hardware gain multiplier which is applied before the gain amplifier knob on the back of the S2400. Gain can be set to ×1 (no extra gain), ×10, or ×100. Line inputs 3&4 and phono 2 have an optional ×10 software gain multiplier.

  • Page 75: Input Monitor

    Display the Input Monitor menu by pressing Shift+InputMon (the sixth key from the left in the top row). The S2400 can monitor any pair of input jacks and send the signal to a pair of outputs or to the headphones only. It can also monitor USB audio input at the same time.

  • Page 76: Pan

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual P P a a n n Display the Pan screen by pressing Shift+Pan (the seventh key from the left in the top row). The pan screen controls how the outputs are mixed into the Mix Out jacks. Some planning is necessary when using stereo samples to ensure that the track’s channels are properly panned,...

  • Page 77: Effects

    Additional effects settings may be added to the Effects menu in the future. Analog Filters The S2400 has the same analog filter circuitry as the Classic machine. The only difference is that in the S2400 the filters can be switched on and off.

  • Page 78: Midi-Only Tracks

    M M I I D D I I - - O O n n l l y y T T r r a a c c k k s s The S2400 can have up to four banks of MIDI-only tracks in addition to the 32 sample tracks. The pad, buttons, knobs, and fader of a MIDI track can be configured to send out notes and MIDI CC messages just like a stand-alone MIDI controller.
  • Page 79 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Note Gated: A note on message will be sent with a specified note number and a velocity of 127 when the pad is pressed, and a note off message will be sent when the pad is released.
  • Page 80 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Record Fader&Knobs: Check this option to record the fader and knob positions into a pattern at the same time as the pad or other buttons. This works the same way that the sample track parameters (level, pitch, filter, etc) are recorded into the pattern.
  • Page 81 An external keyboard, MIDI controller, or computer can be connected to a port, and without changing the MIDI channel, it can control any S2400 MIDI track on any channel. Configure the control port and channel (in the Control Settings section of the Sync menu) to match the controlling device.
  • Page 82 ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual Appendices The following sections have been placed at the end of this manual for easy reference. – 82 –...

  • Page 83: Midi Tracks Map File Format

    127. There are a lot of keys, and a lot of possible values for them. If you would like to edit a map file by hand, the best way is to start by setting some of the parameters on the S2400 then save and edit the map file.

  • Page 84: Sample Tracks Map File Format

    S2400 or created/edited on a computer. If you create a map for a particular controller or software, you can share it with other users in the S2400 file sharing section of the Isla forum. Likewise, you can search the forum for a map before going to the effort of mapping it yourself.

  • Page 85: Sample Track Midi Cc Numbers

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual S S a a m m p p l l e e T T r r a a c c k k M M I I D D I I C C C C N N u u m m b b e e r r s s These messages affect the sample track whose MIDI channel is set to the same channel as the incoming message.

  • Page 86: Global Midi Cc Numbers

    G G l l o o b b a a l l M M I I D D I I C C C C N N u u m m b b e e r r s s These messages must be received on the configured S2400 control port and channel.

  • Page 87: F-Key Quick Reference

    ISLA Instruments S2400 User Manual F F - - K K e e y y Q Q u u i i c c k k R R e e f f e e r r e e n n c c e e...

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