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Found a typo? Is something confusing, or wrong? Please contact us at squarp.net/contact This manual was updated on May 23, 2022. Latest firmware at the time of writing: hapaxOS 1.04, released on May 2, 2022 Copyright Squarp Instruments 2022...
Hapax will quickly boot and be ready to use. 1.2. Sequencer workflow Projects Hapax can load and play two projects (proA, proB) simultaneously. Each project has 16 tracks. Tracks Each track has its own inputs & outputs, its own FX rack and a set of 8 patterns.
1.3. Working with projects Projects proA and proB are accessible directly through their dedicated button. Each of them contains 16 tracks and can be played at the same time. For smooth transitions you can seamlessly load a project on proB while proA is running for never ending live sets! Press to select a project.
The active track is indicated by a bright steady white light on the corresponding pad. 1.5. Connecting a synthesizer Connect a MIDI cable between the input of your favorite hardware synth and one of Hapax's output. Hold the active to enter Track settings menu.
1.6. Tweak parameters The group of 8 encoders always controls the left screen parameters, and the menu encoder controls the right screen: Hold an encoder to reset a parameter to its default value. Tip Hold and rotate encoders to scroll faster. 2ND ...
This setting is always active, even when the track is not selected. 1.8. Quick tour of the 4 modes Hapax is designed around 4 main modes : mode : use the 128 pads as a live ...
1.9. Step mode essentials Press to enter the Step mode. st ep Press any matrix pad to enter a note. Press it again to delete the note. Left screen parameters contains the default values for a note. Any newly added note will inherit those values: The upper-left parameter is the note displayed on the pad matrix's bottom row.
2. Basics 2.1. Main modes Hapax offers four different interfaces, called modes, for playing and editing your compositions : live Turn the pads into a MIDI keyboard. st ep Program your melodies and rhythms and view them on the piano roll.
2.3. Step mode basics Press any matrix pad to enter a note. Press it again to delete the note. Left screen parameters contains the default values for a note. Any newly added note will inherit those values: The upper-left parameter is the note displayed on the pad matrix's bottom row. By rotating the corresponding encoder, you can scroll up and down in the piano roll view.
2.5. Setting the length of a pattern Hold a to enter its settings: t rack Change the length of the active track Pattern with the corresponding encoder. When in Live or Step mode, Hold to quickly double or halve 2ND + ...
2.7. Mute tracks Hold and Press one or more buttons. mut e t rack Selected Tracks start to flash: they form a mute group. Release to apply the mute state on selected tracks. mut e Track status on leds : 2.8.
mode is a grid of eight zones, one for each lane, divided into 16th velocity live levels. Use it to record and add nuances to your beats. mode is a drum-oriented step sequencer, in which you can edit your drum st ep ...
2.10. Project scale One major feature of Hapax is the ability to set a global scale for each project, which will constrain all notes to the selected pScale. It provides a simpler interface without “wrong” notes. Hold , enable pScale with encoder ① and select your favorite scale proA ...
FX parameter of your choosing :Press one of the 8 encoders and select the destination. Each track has its own set of 8x assignments. Perfect for using Hapax as a midi controller, or doing automation knob-recording with midi messages.
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100.50%: track 01 is slightly faster and will slowly drift out of phase with the other tracks. Phasing is the main concept used in "Steve Reich - Piano Phase". In Hapax, time elasticity is a way to achieve polyrhythms (two rhythms being played concurrently).
2.16. Connectivity: MIDI/Cv outputs Hapax can simultaneously send MIDI to all 16 channels of each of its 6 outputs : A, B, C, D, usb host (usually a controller), usb device (usually a computer).
3.1. Overview mode is the best place to start composing a track. live This mode turns Hapax into a MIDI controller that you can use to experiment and record your music using the built-in pad matrix or an external keyboard.
set t ings PUNCH IN ON OFF Press to arm your track. If punch-in is enabled, Hapax will wait for the first incoming note to automatically start recording.
LOOPER AUT O LENG T H OFF This option provides a way to capture your performances as if you were using a looper pedal. The length of your track is not predefined, and will be determined by the final length of your recording. First, Press rec to start recording a loop.
Tweak this parameter to taste to find the balance between straight and swung feel in your tracks. 3.4. Accross live and step mode Any note recorded in mode can be seen and edited in mode. live st ep Moreover, all notes and chords played on an external controller or using the live mode keypads are captured in step mode and displayed on the left screen under LEARN.
4. Livemode Scale 4.1. Overview In this mode, the pad matrix are forming an isomorphic keyboard. This leverages the property of transpositional invariance , very useful for playing chords in various keys: Any given sequence and/or combination of musical intervals has the same shape when transposed to another key.
4.3. Scales COLORS Hapax comes with 72 factory scales, sorted by families called colors. Scales of the same color are sharing the same third and/or seventh degree, so that you can replace a scale by another of the same color without radically changing the feel of you track.
The number between brackets is the inversion index of this chord. For example, when you play (C - E - G), Hapax recognizes a Cmaj, as well as a second chord name : Em6 in second inversion:...
5. Livemode Chord 5.1. Overview This mode gives you access to a large variety of chords, harmonized to the currently selected scale, and can be used to generate complex harmonies for your tracks. The interface is meant to be played with both hands. The left side is focused on inversion, spread, drop, alter, and general enrichments.
RIGHT HAND Press some of the bottom pads to input your initial chord. LEFT HAND Press a pad of the left part of the pad matrix . A modifier will be added to the modifiers list. You can stack up to 8 modifiers per track to enrich and perfect your chord.
5.3. Left hand (voicing) The chords that are generated by pressing the bottom pads are in their common root position. If you want to spice things up, it's time to add some modifiers. You can stack up to 8 modifiers for a chord. Their order in the list have an influence on the processing order, and thus on the output.
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Voicings Voicings refers to the placement of the notes in the chord structure. How a musician will rotate, spread and double notes. Spread up & down: applies spread up and spread down at the same time Wider Interval Down: rotate chord until wider interval is in the lowest part of the chord.
5.4. Auto inversion It's purpose is to enable a well known pianist skill. From one chord to another, move as few fingers as possible. Auto inversion is listed as a modifier: enable it by pressing the red modifier pad.
6. Livemode Drum 6.1. Overview Drum tracks are specially intended for drum machines, grooveboxes and samplers. In livemode drum, the pad matrix is divided in 8 zones, corresponding to the 8 drum lanes of the track. Hold and Rotate the main encoder to switch the track type to drum. st ep ...
st ep machines. Hapax a 128 pad matrix to program your step-by-step rhythms and melodies effortlessly and efficiently. You are free to extend the length of your track up to 32 bars.
The pad matrix always displays the current page, depending on the current zoom and track length settings: The lower-left pad always represents the note set in the upper-left corner of the right screen. In case you are lost in the piano roll, a simple Press on will automatically st ep ...
Hold a pad of the matrix to override the global parameters with the ones Tip contained in this pad. 7.4. Note parameters Each note event includes its own set of 8 parameters : Note & Octave, Velocity, Length, μTime, Chance, Roll, Math. Step parameters are visible on the left screen.
ROLL 1/8 1/256 Note will throughout its length (ratcheting) MAT H /SYNC SYNC, /PREV PREV /1ST 1ST ... Conditional trigs allow you to set a condition to a note to be played. Here are some examples : 1:2 — note plays the 1st time, every 2 loops 2:3 —...
MULTIPLE SELECTION Hold a pad on the piano roll, then Hold another pad to select multiple notes. You can now edit the parameters of all the notes contained in your selection. You can Hold to select all events, or Hold a to select a single row of all ...
ZOOM Press to zoom in or out. + - Press at the same time to Toggle between binary and ternary zooms. + - NAVIGATION A page is what you can see on the matrix pads , represented by the grayed out area on the pianoroll screen, called viewport.
7.8. Project scale (pScale) Hold to enter the project settings. proA proB Rotate pScale param to ON to enable pScale on this project. When a global pScale is enabled, the matrix pads only show the notes of the selected scale: There are never more than 8 notes in a scale, so the 8 rows will always show the same note.
7.9. Note learn All notes and chords played on an external controller or using the live mode keypads are captured in step mode and displayed on the left screen under LEARN. Those learned notes can be added with a single press of a pad in mode.
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ON=0: note plays only if no other notes are played. ON<2: note plays if less than 2 notes are played. ON<3: note plays if less than 3 notes are played. ON<4: note plays if less than 4 notes are played. ON<5: note plays if less than 5 notes are played.
The MPE per-note expression controls can't yet be visualized and edited, but they are contained in the note pads of Hapax. This means you can move notes around, use copy,paste and every other tool at your disposal for editing your MPE recordings.
9. Drum Tracks 9.1. Overview The drum track type is particularly suited for drum machines, grooveboxes and samplers. Once in step mode, Hold and Rotate the menu encoder to set the track type st ep to drum, and enter the drum step mode. In drum step mode, each percussive element, along with its events, corresponds to a drum lane.
A drum note as the same parameters as any other note: Velocity, Length, µTime, Chance, Roll and Math. The principal difference is that instead of pitch & octave parameters, a drum note has a midi note and a midi channel, defining which drum element the lane will trig. 9.2.
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To change the midi note & channel output of a lane, Hold a to select the lane, row then rotate encoders ① and ② : not e 0 ... 127 Sets the note played by this lane. By default, this parameter sets both the note that will be outputed by the lane and the note that the lane will listen to (the trigger note).
9.4. Velocity view To enter velocity view mode, Hold and Press a to select the lane you 2ND row want to edit. In this submode of DRUM, the matrix pads show the note velocities of the selected drum lane. Press a pad to change the velocity of an existing note. To exit velocity view, simply press st ep ...
10. Automation mode 10.1. Overview mode enables you to record and draw automation curves into aut omat ion lanes. Automation lanes can emit CC messages, control the effect parameters of their track, and even output control voltages. Each track can hold an unlimited number of automation lanes, and each pattern of a track can have different automation events.
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Once the automation lane is created, simply Press some pads on the matrix add or remove automation points (events). Hold and Press a pad to put an event at the very end of the step for 2ND Tip sharp transient: In the example below, 6 automation lanes are created on the current track: cc8 has events cc14 is locked...
10.3. Editing an automation lane To modify the parameters of an existing automation point, Hold a pad filled with an event. Its value will be displayed on left screen and the pad color will change. Scroll the associated encoder to fine-tune displayed value (e.g. 0 to 127 for a midi CC message).
10.5. Interpolation When this parameter is active, you can quickly draw lines and curves using very few automation events. This saves memory and time, and can be easier for drawing certain shapes. Upon disabling this parameter, the sequencing becomes stepped, meaning that values will be held until the next change.
10.6. Default value Encoder ⑥ allows you to define a default value that will be used when the automation lane is empty. Automation events are stored per pattern. Default values are useful to send fixed values, without the need of creating any automation event.
Deletes the lane from the entire track. All events in all patterns will be deleted as well. CHANGE DESTINATION Changes the destination of a lane, without altering the events. Data definition might change, depending on source and destination types : Note ...
Hold an encoder while "+ ADD" is highlighted to open a different context menu. INSERT Equivalent to clicking on "+ ADD". PASTE In coordination with "copy", this pastes an entire automation. PASTE TO... Same as "paste", with the added option of choosing the destination of the pasted events.
11. Pattern mode 11.1. Overview Once your tracks are created, the mode enables you to play with your pat t ern 128 patterns and to arrange them into a song. Each Pattern is a loop that contains polyphonic or monophonics notes and automation.
From any mode : Hold + any matrix pad to quickly select (and pat t ern Tip instantly launch) the pattern you want to edit. Pattern mode has two playback types that you can choose from, using encoder ① : PERF —...
11.4. Synchronized pattern changes In order to ensure proper musical timing in regard to pattern changes, pattern mode has a "SYNC" option. This allows you to schedule a change, for it to occur perfectly on the next beat, the next bar, or whichever time division you choose. Rotate encoder ②...
Lengt h 1 st e p ... 32 bars Sets the duration of the pattern, in 16th notes (encoder ⑥ can be held while choosing the length for precise increments). PC (LSB, MSB) Program change midi messages to be sent when transitioning to this pattern. Optional extended PC logic with MSB/LSB.
12. Sections & songs 12.1. Sections While the pads are very convenient to perform patterns by hand and following your instincts, you might want more control using written “sections”. A section is a precise arrangement of patterns. Let's see some examples: We need a section called "Intro", with track 1 to track 4 playing pattern 2, and other tracks playing pattern 1.
12.2. Creating & launching sections Sections and songs configuration options are displayed on the right screen of the mode : pat t ern Creating a section To create a new section, first use the grid to choose the desired arrangement of patterns for the section.
12.3. Editing a section To edit a section, Hold + Press the main encoder to open the section context 2ND menu, which offers the following options: LAUNCH> Resets the song cursor to this section. OVERRIDE Replaces the previous pattern arrangement with the current one. RENAME...
12.5. Creating a song First, Press once to enter the song tab. pat t ern You need to create at least one section to start creating a song. Note Then, to add a section, scroll to the desired position and Pressthe main encoder. You will be prompted to choose the section to add, and its desired duration at this point in the song.
When a song is playing, itʼs possible to set the mode to PERF : the song playback Tip will be paused, allowing you to do live improvisation, manual pattern change, ... Then you can go back to SONG PLAY or SONG LOOP to continue the song playback.
13. Tracks 13.1. Overview The 16 tracks of a project hold 8 patterns each. They also have a type (POLY, by default) and several parameters which define their input and output channels, runmodes, ... Each project contains 16 tracks. Press one of the 1..16 buttons to select a track.
13.2. Track settings Out put Midi A/B/C/D USB De vice /Host Cv/G at e 1/2/3/4 Cv 1/2/3/4 G at e 1/2/3/4 Sets the MIDI port for the track output. When possible, we recommend to use a separate MIDI output port for tracks Tip ...
Lengt h 1 st e p ... 32 bars Sets the length of the pattern in steps (1 step = 16th notes). Hold and Rotate encoder ⑥ for finer resolution. Tip Run -- re ve rse ping-pong random bar random be at random 1/16 Sets the pattern playback mode.
track to follow the project scale. This setting is disabled if pScale is not project enabled. T rack Name Allows renaming your track. 13.4. Rearranging tracks Hold a track button, then Press either , to swap existing tracks. < > The transpose channel is originally track 16, changing its position will not change its role.
14. Projects 14.1. Overview Hapax can handle two projects (proA, proB) simultaneously. Each project contain 16 tracks. Here is an overview of the general structure of Hapax : are directly accessible through their dedicated buttons. Each of proA proB them contains 16 tracks and can be played at the same time.
(LOAD). 14.3. Project transitions Hapax is a polychronic sequencer, meaning that it can process two different projects simultaneously and independently. Saving, loading and mixing projects won't get you out of sync: perfect for live performances.
Itʼs a great way to mix projectʼs tracks and enhance your song transitions. 14.4. Setting a project scale (pScale) One major feature of Hapax is the ability to set a global scale for each project, which will constrain all notes to the selected pScale. It provides a simpler interface without “wrong”...
With pScale enabled, only in-scale notes can be added with the matrix pads. Note The piano roll navigation is based on octave increments. 14.5. Time signatures Each project can hold its own time signature. By default, the TS is 4/4 common time, but you can easily and drastically change your songs grooves by using other signatures.
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Hold + Rotate the encoder ③ to set the lower numeral (note value that represents one beat) Upper numeral When a project to 7/4, each bar is made of 7 subdivisions (7), each being a quarter note (4). Representation on the pianoroll leds will adapt accordingly: One bar of 4/4 is displayed on 16 steps.
14.6. Transpose (pTRSP) Hold to enter the project settings. proA proB Rotate encoder ⑦ to enable 16 as the transpose leader for all the tracks in t rack the project. 16 will start to blink. t rack The notes contained in 16 be used as reference for transposing all other t rack ...
15. Effects 15.1. Overview You can add up to 8 real-time effects per track. Notes played live and recorded in a pattern are processed and sent to the outputs in real-time by the effect engines. All the effects are non-destructive, and polyphonic capable. The position of an effect in the chain is very important: an Harmonizer placed after an Arpeggiator will not sound like an Arpeggiator placed after an Harmonizer.
Use left screen and Rotate the 8x encoders to play with the selected effect parameters. Hold encoder param to reset the value. Tip 15.3. Advanced operations Select an effect and Press menu encoder : a context menu will appear, allowing you to : toggle the effect (mute/unmute it) delete it...
15.5. ModMatrix The modMatrix is always the first effect in the rack and can't be deleted. It allows you to patch sources (encoder ①) to destinations (encoder ⑤) in order to modulate an effect parameter (or a midi output message, or a cv output) with an incoming signal. With the associated encoders you can configure each of the 4 modMatrix parameters Depth : amplify, attenuate or invert the input signal Offset : Set the modulation central value...
GAT E 1% ... 200% Pattern note lengths, depends on the rate. HUMAN 0% ... 100% Adds some randomness to the velocity and gate length. OCT AVE -5 ... 0 ... +5 To create octaves progression. If OCTAVE=1 the arpeggiator will play the original pattern, followed by the same pattern one octave higher.
played. If ”99%”, the note will almost always be played. If ”VELOCITY,” the note will have the same probability of being played as its velocity. Very handy for programming different per note probability. LOT -- BAR 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 When OFF, each note will "roll a die"...
RAT E 1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 1/6 1/8 1/12 1/16 1/24 1/32 1/64 Determine the clock rate of the internal euclidian sequencer. ST EPS 1 ... 32 Sets the amount of steps in the full cycle. PULSES 1 ... 32 Sets the amount of pulses (filled steps) on which to play notes.
next effect. AFT ERT -- DROP When set to DROP, will drop all aftertouch messages and not forward them to the next effect. 15.10. Harmonizer ORIGIN ON OFF When ON, will let incoming MIDI notes through, and output harmonized version of these notes.
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SYNC ON OFF Choose whether the rate should be tied to the BPM of the project or not. RAT E (unsynced) 1 ... 100 Exponentially increasing frequency, from roughly 0.1 Hz to 1kHz. RAT E (synced) 64 bars ... 1 bar 1/2 ... 1/128 Synchronized rate of the LFO.
15.12. Randomizer NOT E– / NOT E+ 0 ... 12 Increase the random pitch range downwards and upwards respectively. For example, an incoming note of 60 (C5) with NOTE– = 1 and NOTE+ = 4 will be randomly assigned a pitch between 59 (B4) and 64 (E5). OCT AVE–...
15.13. Scaler SCALE pScale Maj ... Oct ave Choose the scale to quantize to. Select the "pScale" value if you want to use the scale defined into project scale. KEY C ... B Choose the root note of the scale. ST ICK ...
15.16. Quantizer The quantizer is located in window and aligns notes to a time 2ND t rack division to improve timing precision. Press to enter secondary tracks settings. 2ND t rack QUANT Z -- 1/64 1/32 1/24 1/16 Quantizer time division (usually 1/16). ST RENGT H ...
16. Algo 16.1. Overview In Hapax, algo (algorithms) are operations that are not performed in real time, but rather applied "offline", directly on the sequences you programmed or recorded. When working in mode, press algo to enter this submode. st ep ...
Pit ch C0 ... G 10 Rotate encoder to change the highest note that can be generated. Hold + Rotate encoder to change the lowest note that can be generated. Densit y 0% ... 100% Rotate encoder to set notes density span in the pattern. Hold + Rotate encoder to change the secondary parameter: Only one note per grid.
Wave Sine T ri Ramp Squa Rand Choose your waveform. Amplit ude 0% ... 100% Waveform amplitude. Rat e x1 ... x8 Number of repeats of your waveform. Dest Set the destination note parameter to modulate: Velocity Ve l Length Le ng ...
16.5. Every N Availability : drum st ep Choose a Grid and create evenly spread notes with accentuation based on the N parameter. This algorithm is very powerfull for Drum sequencing. Grid 1/1 ... 1/64 Grid used for generation. N 1 ...
Hapax will follows an analog gate input, if connected on the CV input 2. CV IN 2 When using CV IN 1 or CV IN 2, Hapax is synchronized in a "step advance" Tip (trigger) style. The setting CV CLOCK DIV let you choose how much ppqn the sequencer will run for one input trig.
ON (CLOCK INPUT ) same input as CLOCK SOURCE, that must be set to an external source). Hapax receives & reacts to midi in start/stop messages. All inputs ON (ANY INPUT ) can receive these messages (even when CLOCK SOURCE is set to internal).
DIN-sync port also send the start/stop message. Gat e play -- G at e 1 ... G at e 4 Selected gate output will be set to high level when Hapax is playing, and low level when Hapax is stopped. Gat e reset ...
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Only applicable if the previous METRONOME setting is set to MIDI. Choose which MIDI output+channel should be used to send the metronome note messages. Met ronome AUDIO VOLUME 10% VOLUME 100% Only applicable if the previous METRONOME setting is set to AUDIO. Choose the metronome audio output level (100% = 10Vpp = eurorack level, 30% = 3Vpp = professional line level).
17.5. CV/Gate + pedal CV IN range -5.0v > +5.0v 0.0v > +5.0v Set the input voltage range Hapax can process, for the 2x CV inputs. CV OUT range -5.0v > +5.0v 0.0v > +5.0v Set the voltage range Hapax can output, for the 4x CV outputs.
the cable, available on mono (single) and stereo (dual) pedals. Pedal cold -- REC PLAY/ST OP PLAY/REST ART Assign a command to execute when using a footswitch. Pedal cold is the ring channel of the cable, available on stereo (dual) pedals. 17.6.
MIDI in > MIDI out A/B/C/D Configure MIDI thru from the MIDI inputs to any selected MIDI output. ON MIDI in > USB device/host Configure MIDI thru from the MIDI inputs to any selected MIDI output. ON USB device >...
(right screen). 17.10. How to calibrate the 4 CV outputs You can fine tune Hapax's 4 analog outputs in order to get a very precise note pitch: Hold encoder ⑦ encoder while powering on Hapax: : "CALIBRATE VOICE 1,...
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At the very end of this procedure, this calibration will be saved in the SD card. Then you can reboot Hapax and start playing with your CV outputs! Hapax outputs -5.00V for a C0 note (midi note 0), -4.00V for a C1 note (midi Tip ...
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