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Summary of Contents for Tubbutec Brainstep
- Page 1 User Guide rev. 1.0 for firmware version 1.0...
- Page 2 Introduction Brainstep is a sequencer, arpeggiator, envelope and modulation generator, live performance tool, sample player, clock distributor, MIDI interface, and more. The brain of a eurorack system. Some features: Four independent tracks, each with the following features: • Step sequencer with multiple patterns, song mode and probability per step.
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
About this manual..........................5 Quick start............................6 Connecting modules........................6 Turning it on............................ 6 Your first sequence...........................6 Playing the sequence........................7 What else?............................7 Brainstep architecture........................... 8 User interface........................... 8 Encoder............................8 SHIFT............................8 Button overview.......................... 9 Inputs and Outputs......................... 10 Modes and views..........................11 Global indicators..........................11 Clocking............................12... - Page 4 Quickly START / STOP tracks......................36 CV control............................37 List of CV controllable parameters................... 38 Overview Screen..........................38 MIDI control............................39 Playing Brainstep via MIDI......................39 Keyboard input MIDI channel....................39 Monophonic and Polyphonic assignment................. 39 Monophonic MIDI........................39 Polyphonic MIDI........................40 Voice assignment modes.......................41 Velocity, Aftertouch and CC74 mapping..................41...
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Page 5: About This Manual
Channel independent sysex wrapper....................60 About this manual This is the user manual for the Brainstep Eurorack module. If you are new to Brainstep, it is best to read and try the Quick start tutorial first. Then proceed to read the following chapters, especially Brainstep architecture, Sequencer architecture and Navigating Brainstep as these provide insight into the Brainstep philosophy and general approach. -
Page 6: Quick Start
Finally, connect the output of the VCO to the audio input of your filter and the filter output to your mixer. After a reset, Brainstep outputs pitch CV via the PITCH output and an ADSR envelope via CV A. Turning it on After turning on Brainstep, it starts in Normal mode. -
Page 7: Playing The Sequence
Playing the sequence Now press the PLAY button. You can see the display now shows PLAY, but the sequence is in fact not playing. This is because Brainstep does not receive a clock yet! Press the button to start the main clock, and the sequence will start and play in a loop. -
Page 8: Brainstep Architecture
Brainstep architecture Brainstep features a layered architecture with four completely independent tracks. At any moment, you can switch to a different track and tweak the settings of that particular track. The other tracks will continue to function: play normally on track 1, use an arpeggiator on track 2, run a sequencer on track 3, and play drums on track 4, for example. -
Page 9: Button Overview
Button overview Here is a quick overview of the user interface buttons. Their functions are explained in more detail in the chapters below. Functions of a normally pressed button are written as FUNCTION and shifted functions as FUNCTION. Start/Stop: The button controls the internal main clock. -
Page 10: Inputs And Outputs
• MIDI IN and MIDI OUT: TRS MIDI type A inputs and outputs • USB: USB C connection for USB Midi. Brainstep can be used as host or device. The host/device detection is automatic. • CV1 – CV4: CV-inputs to control various functions via control voltages. -
Page 11: Modes And Views
Normal, play, arpeggiator, pattern edit, song edit, quick song, pattern copy/paste and more Presses on the keyboard or buttons on Brainstep are handled by the current view. This means that it is possible to edit patterns or songs while a sequencer or arpeggiator is running. -
Page 12: Clocking
Clock dividers can even be controlled via MIDI CC or CV. Swing Brainstep features a swing / shuffle setting. Swing will delay every 2nd 16th note by an adjustable amount between 0% and 99%. Swing can be applied with any type of clock source: internal clock, analog-Sync, MIDI Clock, and trigger. -
Page 13: Notes And Note Modifiers
Notes and note modifiers In Brainstep, each note has a pitch, one or more modifiers, a specific gate length, and A and B levels. The pitch is given in the notation form N(#/b)O, where N is the note name (C, D, E, F..), followed by # or b if it applies. -
Page 14: Note Range
CV out range keyboard range Brainstep can handle a range of 128 notes spanning over 10 octaves. This range is identical to the range of MIDI notes. The lowest note is C0 (MIDI note 0) and the highest note is G10 (MIDI note 127). -
Page 15: Modulators And Sounds
➔ ➔ Accent ADSR envelopes Brainstep features eight ADRS-type envelopes. Each envelope has amount, delay, attack, decay, sustain, and release parameters. The time-based parameters range from 0ms to 11s in 128 logarithmic steps. The envelopes can also be looped and the release toggled between linear and exponential behavior. -
Page 16: Lfos
LFOs Brainstep features eight LFOs (low frequency oscillators). The LFO frequency has a wide range from a 20-second period all the way up to 1kHz. This allows modulations in the audio range to create interesting filter modulation effects, for example. -
Page 17: Samples
A python script to do so can be found on our website. Metronome Brainstep's built in metronome outputs metronome audio samples on a B output. It is clocked by the main clock and uses two of the drum samples. One is played at the start of a bar, the other is played every quarter note. -
Page 18: Sequencer Architecture
Sequencer architecture Steps The Brainstep sequencer is step-based. This means each note is aligned to a fixed grid set by the clock divider setting. Notes will always start at the beginning of the grid but can have four different gate lengths. By using the tie note modifier, it is also possible to tie notes next to each other to create longer notes. -
Page 19: Sets
Sets A set includes all patterns and song data. It also includes modulation parameters and several settings. Sets can be saved and loaded via the SD card (See Menu ➔ Set). Sets can also be transferred via MIDI sysex. (See Sending and receiving Set data) Each set inludes: •... -
Page 20: Navigating Brainstep
Navigating Brainstep Highlighted buttons are accessed by pressing SHIFT + button) The PLAY, EDIT, ARP, REC, SONG EUCLID buttons are used to switch between modes and views. Pressing PLAY will switch to sequencer view. If the sequencer was not previously running, this will also switch the mode to sequencer mode and start the sequencer at the beginning of the next bar. -
Page 21: Normal Mode
Normal mode In normal mode, you can play Brainstep normally with the keyboard, MIDI, or CV/gate. Brainstep remembers the order in which keys are pressed and features a ‘last’ style key priority scheme. Several options concerning monophonic playing are given: •... -
Page 22: Pattern Editor
Pattern Editor The pattern editor can be used to edit notes of a pattern. You can add, delete, copy paste and insert notes. You can also modify existing notes in pitch, edit note modifiers or the gate length. Select pattern to edit Press and hold EDIT. -
Page 23: Editor Preview Modes
With SHIFT + turning the encoder, you can rotate a pattern left or right. When rotating right, all notes are moved one step to the right, and the last step is moved into the first step. When rotating left, this is reversed. All notes are moved to the left, and the first note is placed into the last note. To modify the A level, press and hold the ACC A button and turn the encoder. -
Page 24: Probability
Brainstep features probability control of gate and modifiers of each note. There are essentially 4 different levels you can set: • 0% (always off) • Low (33% probability by default) • High (66% by default) • 100% (always on) When a sequence is played, these probabilities will be taken into account. -
Page 25: Sequencer
Sequencer lay view Starting and stopping When the sequencer is stopped, press PLAY to start it. You may select one or more patterns to play while holding PLAY (see Quick song recording). The sequencer will start playing in sync with the start of the next bar. If the main clock is stopped while pressing PLAY, the sequencer will start with the start of the main clock. -
Page 26: Play Directions
Play Directions The sequencer features seven play directions. These can be selected using SHIFT combined with buttons: SHIFT + : Forward. Plays the sequencer in a normal forward direction SHIFT + : UP/DOWN: Plays the sequence forward, the next sequence backwards and so on: In this mode, the first and last notes of a sequence are repeated to make sure the total step length is twice that of the pattern. -
Page 27: Song
Song Patterns can be chained into a Song. A song is a sequence of patterns with a maximum length of 64. A song can contain a single pattern multiple times. For example, a song containing four patterns might play patterns in the following order: pF1, pG#2, pF1, pF#1 When a pattern in a song is finished playing, the sequencer will switch to the next pattern in the song. -
Page 28: Song Editor
Song Editor The song editor works similarly to the pattern editor. Here the current song can be edited. The display shows the current pattern in the middle, the previous pattern on the song on the left and the next pattern in the song on the right. For the current pattern, the length in steps is shown as well. -
Page 29: Copy Patterns
Copy patterns Press COPY in any view except the pattern editor to open Pattern copy view. Here, pressing any keyboard key will copy the contents of that pattern. The display shows the currently copied pattern. Press COPY again to exit pattern copy view. Paste patterns Press PASTE in any view except the pattern editor to open Pattern paste view. -
Page 30: Clear Patterns
Clear patterns Press in any view except the pattern or song editor to open pattern clear view. Here you can clear a pattern to a specific number of steps. Clearing to 29 steps, for example, will result in a pattern with 29 breaks. Use the keyboard keys to select the pattern to clear. -
Page 31: Arpeggiator
Arpeggiator The arpeggiator mode can be accessed by pressing ARP. In the arpeggiator view, the display shows the following: • The keyboard on the bottom shows the pressed or held notes • On the left, you can see the indicator for the arpeggiator directions •... -
Page 32: Octaves
Octaves The arpeggiator octave range can be set between 1 and 8. Arpeggiated sequences will repeat in higher octaves for settings higher than 1. Turn the encoder to change the octave range. Transpose To transpose an arpeggio, press SHIFT and turn the encoder. You can transpose 12 semitones up or down. -
Page 33: Recording
If you are recording into the pattern that is currently playing, the recording will start right away. When recording into any other pattern, Brainstep will give you a countdown until the start of the next bar. Recording will start when the countdown has finished. -
Page 34: Record
Record In order to stay in sync, it helps to have the metronome activated or have another sequence or drums already playing. Play on the keyboard or send MIDI to record a sequence. You can use the modifier keys to add accents etc. -
Page 35: Arp Recording
Arp recording You can also record the arpeggiator output directly into a sequence. This is actually a quite powerful tool, as it can also be used to perform live. Setup arp recording There are several ways to access arp recording: •... -
Page 36: Sample And Drum Tracks
Sample and drum tracks Each of the four tracks can be used to program and output drum samples. When output B is set to ‘Sample’ in Menu ➔ IN + OUT ➔ Track, the samples will be played from output B and the track turns into a sample track. -
Page 37: Muting Samples
When started, the sequencer and arp will wait until the next bar start, and then start in sync. When stopped, the sequencer or arp will stop immediately. Brainstep will remember if the sequencer or arpeggiator was last used and start it again. -
Page 38: Cv Control
CV. Brainstep includes an attenuator for each CV-input, so you can fine-tune the control range. To access the CV-in menu, enter the menu by pressing the encoder. Then navigate to CV IN and press the encoder again. -
Page 39: List Of Cv Controllable Parameters
In the config menu, linked parameters will show the CV-link status on the right side of the screen. If a parameter is linked to CV, the incoming CV amount and resulting value will be shown. List of CV controllable parameters •... -
Page 40: Midi Control
MIDI control There are various ways Brainstep can be controlled via MIDI. You can control the notes of individual tracks or play them polyphonically. Using controller messages, you can change all kinds of parameters, such as envelopes and LFOs, but also sequencer/arp parameters, such as clock divider or swing amount. -
Page 41: Polyphonic Midi
Polyphonic MIDI Tracks with the same input channel will be automatically put into a polyphonic group. Multiple such groups are possible. Tracks in a group will be treated as individual polyphonic voices, and the voice assignment mode can be selected. However, whether a track is part of a polyphonic group also depends in the Play mode: If a track is in Normal Mode, it will be included in the Polyphonic group and play according to the selected Voice assignment. -
Page 42: Voice Assignment Modes
➔ MIDI input Pitch bend Brainstep will also react to pitch bend commands. Since the MIDI standard is not quite clear about the MIDI pitch bend range, the range can be adjusted in the config menu. It is not possible to bend... -
Page 43: Midi Mpe Input
CC data. There is, however, a way to independently control the parameters of each track. Brainstep supports a sysex wrapper for CC values that works independently from the MIDI input channels. See Channel independent sysex wrapper. -
Page 44: Midi Output
MIDI Clock MIDI clock input Brainstep can be clocked via MIDI clock if the main clock source is set to 'MIDI'. It will react to START, STOP, CONTINUE, and clock messages. MIDI clock output If desired, Brainstep can output MIDI clock as well. Depending on the selected clock source for the main clock, Brainstep will forward the incoming MIDI clock or convert the internal clock or external DIN24 clock to MIDI clock. -
Page 45: Sending And Receiving Set Data
Brainstep's CLK and R/S sockets can be used to input or output a Sync24 clock (24 PPQN with start/stop, DIN-Sync compatible), If you want to sync Brainstep to a Sync24 clock, just select 'Sync24' as clock source in Menu ➔ Clock. -
Page 46: Micotonal Tunings And Scales
Micotonal Tunings and scales Brainstep can load microtonal tunings and scales from the SD card in Scala .scl format. All tracks have a tuning resolution of 0.73 cents. Scales are centered around C3 / 0V, each note will directly map to a note in the new scale. -
Page 47: Config Menu
Config menu Many settings can be changed in the Brainstep configuration menu (config menu). This includes settings for clock, modulation, MIDI, CV-input and more. The config menu also includes functions for managing sets. All settings except those that are part of a set (Modulations and clock dividers) are saved when exiting the config menu. -
Page 48: Clock
Clock The clock settings page contains the main clock source and track clock dividers. (see Clocking) Src: Main clock source • Internal: The internal clock is used as the main clock. • Clk&Reset: The CLK input is used as per-step trigger source. The R/S input is used to reset the position to the beginning. -
Page 49: Mod
The MOD menu is home to settings for additional modulations like envelopes and LFOs (See Modulators and sounds) The first entry, TR, lets you select the track (1-4). An additional 'ALL' value lets you modify parameters for all tracks at once. The following entries let you adjust parameters for Accent, ADSR, and LFO for both A and B outputs. -
Page 50: Adsr Envelope
ADSR envelope Here, the display shows a preview of the envelope. A pointer marks the current position when a note is played. If looping is activated, the start and end of the loop are shown as well. The envelope display is drawn with a logarithmic time axis. Parameters are: •... -
Page 51: Lfo
These menus let you adjust parameters for the LFOs • The number with % sets the LFO amount between 0% and 100% • Selecting the waveform preview lets you change the waveform. Triangle, Sawtooth, Sawtooth inverted, rectangular, and an S/H random LFO can be selected. •... -
Page 52: Input And Output
• Set MIDI output channels of tracks 1-4 and of Brainstep’s keyboard. • Send clock: If turned on, Brainstep will send a MIDI clock generated from the main clock. • Velo Norm: Defines the velocity level for notes without accent. -
Page 53: Track
Track The track menu contains settings for the inputs and outputs of each track. • Track: defines which track to edit settings for. 'ALL' lets you change settings for all tracks at once. • Out A: Sets the output mode for the A output of this track: ◦... -
Page 54: Sample
Sample Here, you can manage sample packs for the individual tracks and load packs from the SD card. The bottom shows the name of the currently loaded sample pack. • Track: Lets you select the track for which to load samples. •... -
Page 55: Usb
The VID and PID of the connected device • Connected? If 'Yes', Brainstep was able to detect a MIDI USB descriptor on the device and was able to establish a connection. If 'No', a device was detected, but was not detected to be a MIDI USB device. -
Page 56: Tuning Manager
5 min, 10 min, 15 min and 30 min time intervals are available. • Send via SysEx: Sends all set data via MIDI sysex to be captured by another Brainstep or sysex capture tool. The last used set is automatically recalled after starting Brainstep. -
Page 57: Misc
Load Set Tempo: When loading a set, also load its tempo, or maintain the currently used tempo? About Shows info about the Brainstep version and collaborators. Calibration: Calibration for inputs and outputs. Not for the user. Don't change anything here unless you know... -
Page 58: Specifications
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ The most recent version of this manual can be found at tubbutec.de/Brainstep/ All trademarks, service marks and company names are the property of their respective owners. -
Page 59: Appendix I - Midi Cc Values
Appendix I - MIDI CC values Parameter MIDI CC Range Parameter MIDI CC Range B LFO amount 0 – 127 A ADSR decay 0 – 127 B LFO frequency 0 – 127 A ADSR sustain 0 – 127 B LFO shape see table A ADSR release 0 –... -
Page 60: Lfo Midi Mapping
LFO MIDI mapping Midi CC values for the various LFO shapes 0 - 25 26 - 51 52 – 77 78 - 103 104 - 127 Triangle Inverted Saw Square Random Midi CC values for the LFO clock divider in synced mode 0 –... -
Page 61: Adsr Times Midi Mapping
CC data. There is, however, a way to independently control the parameters of each track. Brainstep supports a sysex wrapper for CC values that works independently from the MIDI input channels.
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