Table of Contents
Advertisement
Quick Links
Advertisement
Table of Contents
Related Manuals for 4ms Company Catalyst Sequencer
Summary of Contents for 4ms Company Catalyst Sequencer
- Page 1 Catalyst Sequencer 4ms Company Clock In Phase CV Reset Dir. Phase Range Transpose Start Length BPM/Clock Div Random Phase Scrub Fine Copy Shift Tempo Reset Glide Chan. (Ratchet) Quantize Pages (Gate) Catalyst Sequencer User Manual 1.0 — February 16, 2024...
-
Page 2: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents Overview ....................4 Channels Knobs Crossfader Changing Channels Pages and Steps Viewing/Editing a Page Playing Page Jump Tempo Phase-based and Clock-driven Sequencing .........8 Phase CV Crossfader Clock In Phase and Clock at the Same Time Channel Modes: CV or Gate ............11 CV Mode Gate Mode Step Parameters ................12... - Page 3 Start Phase Phase vs. Start Direction Transpose Tempo: BPM/ClockDiv Random Channel Parameters / Overrides ...........20 Channel Overrides Range Page Features .................22 Randomize Transpose Phase Direction Navigating Pages and Songs ............24 Page Jump (Start at page) Page List (Song Mode) Other Features ................26 Copy/Paste Live View Clearing a Channel and Factory Reset...
-
Page 4: Overview
Overview The Catalyst Sequencer is simultaneously a traditional clocked step-sequencer and an advanced phase-based sequencer. Eight precision CV/gate channels can be driven by a clock, the crossfader or Phase CV. • Sequences range from 1 to 64 steps, grouped into eight pages of eight steps each •... -
Page 5: Channels
Transpose Glide Green=Gates Chan. Clock In Phase CV (Ratchet) Quantize Pages Crossfader (Gate) Copy Shift Catalyst Sequencer Start Length BPM/Clock Div Random The crossfader lets you “scrub” or Reset Tempo Reset Glide Chan. move through the sequence, even (Ratchet) Quantize... -
Page 6: Pages And Steps
Chan. (Ratchet) Quantize will flash rapidly, and you can use Pages (Gate) Catalyst Sequencer the knobs to view and edit that Page select: solid = playing page’s steps. flashing = viewing/editing If you press the flashing Page button again, it will stop flashing and the page that’s currently playing will turn solid. -
Page 7: Playing
can make it difficult to edit a particular step since the page will change every time the sequence moves eight steps, so pressing a Page button to “lock” to that page is a good idea before turning knobs. Playing Pressing Play starts/pauses the clock-based sequencer. Shift + Play resets the clock: if the slider is all the way left and you are not applying Phase CV or adjusting the Phase parameter, then the sequence will reset to step 1. -
Page 8: Phase-Based And Clock-Driven Sequencing
Phase-based and Clock-driven Sequencing Phase CV The Catalyst Sequencer is a phase-based sequencer, meaning that the flow of the sequence can be controlled by CV. The voltage on the Phase CV jack selects which step of the sequence is active. A CV value of 0V corresponds to the first step, and 5V corresponds to the last step. -
Page 9: Clock In
The slope of the CV controls the tempo at each moment. Varying the slope, by using a sine wave instead of a ramp- 1 2 3 412341234 up for instance, will vary the amount of time spent on each step. Adding a little bit of low-frequency noise to a ramp-up will introduce “jitter”... -
Page 10: Phase And Clock At The Same Time
additionally resets the sequence to the “first step”. The “first step” is typically the step selected by the slider, but if there is a signal on the Phase CV jack, or the channel has a Phase parameter set (see page 17), then the “first step” could be something else. Phase and Clock at the Same Time The crossfader’s position, the Phase CV, the channel’s Phase parameter, and the number of clocks received in play mode as of the... -
Page 11: Channel Modes: Cv Or Gate
Channel Modes: CV or Gate Each of the eight channels can be set to output CV or gates. CV Mode By default, each channel will output CV from -5V to +10V, with an option to quantize the outputs to a scale. Hold down Chan/Quantize and notice that all the knob lights change to dim grey (by default). -
Page 12: Step Parameters
Step Parameters CV Mode: Voltage level When a channel is in CV mode, adjusting the knob for a step changes the voltage for that step. Each click of the knob changes it by 1/12th of a volt (a semitone). If you hold down Fine while turning the knob, it will change the value by 4 cents (about 3mV). -
Page 13: Gate Mode: Swing
Gate Mode: Swing Holding down Fine and adjusting a step will change the swing for that step. Turning the knob clockwise will cause the gate to fire late (after other channels have already changed their value). Turning the knob counter- clockwise will cause the gate to fire early (before other steps). -
Page 14: Gate Mode: Ratchet
Gate Mode: Ratchet Changing Glide(Ratchet) for a channel in Gate mode will add multiple gates for that step. While holding down the Glide(Ratchet) button, the step lights will turn red to indicate no ratcheting (one gate output only), dark pink to indicate two pulses, light pink to indicate three pulses, and white to indicate four pulses. -
Page 15: Global Parameters
Random amount is set to +/-2 semitones, then each time that step is played there is a 1 in 4 chance that a note between C2 and E2 (+/-2 semitones) will be played. If the channel is quantized to a scale then it will be one of the notes in the scale in that range, but if the channel is not quantized then it will be any voltage in that range. -
Page 16: Start
Length knob will display the current length value without making changes. The Page buttons lights show how many pages the sequence spans, and the knob lights show how many steps are in the last page. Each page (except the last) represents 8 steps and each knob represents one step. -
Page 17: Phase
Phase Phase Shift + Phase shifts the sequence forward or backwards by a number of steps. This feature also sets the step that the sequence resets to when you fire a pulse into the Reset jack or press Shift + Reset. By default, this is step 1 (or the lowest numbered step;... -
Page 18: Direction
By changing Start, you can play different “windows” of the larger 64- step sequence. By changing Phase, you can change the position of a sequence relative to other channels, and change where the sequence starts after you fire a reset. Direction The direction of the sequence can be set to forward, backward, ping- pong, or random steps. -
Page 19: Random
nudge the tempo up or down. The knob flashes yellow with the tempo. On the other hand, if you have clock patched into the Clock In jack, then holding Shift while turning BPM/ClockDiv will set a clock divider amount. The first click of the BPM/ClockDiv knob will display the current value without making changes. -
Page 20: Channel Parameters / Overrides
Channel Parameters / Overrides Channel Overrides If you hold down the Chan/Quantize button at the same time as Shift while turning a knob, you can override the global value for the active channel only. Channel values that have an override will not change when the global value changes. -
Page 21: Range
Range Adjusting Range changes the allowed voltage range of a channel. Unlike the other parameters, Range can only be set per channel, not globally. To do this, first select the channel you want to adjust (as described in the Changing Channels Section on page 5), and then hold the Shift + Chan/Quantize buttons while turning the Range knob. -
Page 22: Page Features
Page Features Page features are similar to Global and Channel parameters except they only affect one page (eight steps) on the current channel. Unlike Channel parameters, there is no notion of override when using Page features: they directly change the step values of the page. To use a Page feature, hold down Shift and tap a Page button. -
Page 23: Transpose
Transpose Transpose will shift all values of the current page up or down. For CV channels, each click of the knob moves the values by a semitone, or by about 4mV if you also hold down Fine. For gate channels, this feature will adjust the pulse width, or if you hold down Fine it will adjust swing. -
Page 24: Navigating Pages And Songs
Navigating Pages and Songs Page Jump (Start at page) To do a Page Jump, first press and hold down the Page button you want to jump to, and then tap the Play button. If the sequence is not playing, then it will immediately start playing from the first step of the page you selected. -
Page 25: Page List (Song Mode)
If you just want to make one channel jump pages, then hold down a Page button and the Chan. button while tapping Play. This will change the active channel’s Start parameter, altering a pre-existing channel override, or creating an override if one doesn’t exist already. Page List (Song Mode) You can create a list of multiple pages to play in order. -
Page 26: Other Features
Other Features Copy/Paste You can copy and paste a page (which includes the eight step values and parameters), or an entire sequencer channel (which includes all 64 steps and parameters and all global and channel parameters). Copying and pasting a page is done by pressing the Copy button and a Page button in a particular order. -
Page 27: Live View
Live View Holding Chan and tapping the Page button for the current channel will enter a mode called Live View. In this mode, the knobs will display every channels’ current step, as the sequence is being played. Turning the knobs will have no effect. To exit this mode, change to any channel normally (hold Chan and tap a Page button). -
Page 28: Changing To A Catalyst Controller
The faceplate itself is double-sided, with the sequencer artwork on one side and the controller artwork on the other. You can change your Catalyst Sequencer into a Catalyst Controller by holding down Shift + Tap Tempo + Chan (three buttons on the right side). -
Page 29: Firmware Updates
Firmware Updates To update your firmware, power off and then back on again while holding down Copy and Shift. Once you release these buttons, the Play button will be flashing. Patch an audio cable from a phone or computer to the Clock In jack. Turn the volume up to 100%. - Page 30 Play/ Play a page Play page (one chan.) Reset Clock Pause Shift Chan. Pages Pages Reset Reset Reset Quantize Reset (Gate) Load/Save Seq. Add Page to Song Glide Chan. Quantize (Ratchet) Shift Load: Tap a Page but. Pages (Gate) Reset Save: Long-hold a Page button.
- Page 31 Step Parameters Probability of change CV: Volts CV: Fine Tune CV: Glide Gate: PW Gate: Swing Gate: Ratchet Fine Glide Shift Glide (Ratchet) Copy (Ratchet) Page Parameters Page Parameter Page Params: Transpose Random Phase (Parameter) Shift Pages Channel Parameters Mode: Scale/Gate Global Param.
-
Page 32: Technical Specifications
Technical Specifications Outputs • Range: < -4.950V to > +9.950V • Accuracy: • Post-calibration: +/-0.5mV over entire range • Uncalibrated: +/-12mV over 0-5V range • Precision: • Using knobs without Fine: 83.3mV per knob click • Using knobs and Fine button: 3.3mV per knob click •...