Editing & Writing Arpeggiator Patterns - Novation SuperNova II User Manual

Editing & writing Arpeggio patterns is a bit like "Step" sequencing. It is not immediate & requires understanding of all the parame-
ters necessary to create a Arpeggio pattern that performs how you want. To fully understand this guide it is necessary to have a
good understanding of all the standard Arpeggiator's parameters.
The first thing to do is select a Program you want to use with an Arpeggiation. Use the Program, Bank & Keypad to make your
selection. Next, turn on the Arpeggiator if not already on with the Arp On/Off button. Now assign a "User" pattern to the arpeggiator
with the "Pattern Bank" Parameter in page 1 of the Arpeggiator Menu button pages. You now have to decide what type of Pattern
you wish to create.
There are two basic types of Arpeggio patterns available. These are Monophonic, i.e. a chord is played on the master keyboard &
single notes are played from that chord sequentially at a speed determined by the "Speed" knob & Polyphonic, i.e. a chord is
played on the master keyboard & all the notes are played simultaneously, but may be transposed, at a speed determined by the
"Speed" knob. To make a Monophonic pattern select a "User" pattern in page 1 of the Arpeggiator Menu button pages. Select a
pattern between 000 & 063 ( these are Monophonic ) & make a note of the pattern number you have selected. For reasons that
become clear below we suggest that for the purposes of learning initially set the "Sync" parameter to a low value. i.e. 8ths & the
"Fill In" parameter to "Off". Both of these parameters are on page 4 of the Arpeggiator Menu button pages. Go to the Global Mode
by pressing the Global Button. Go to page 7 & switch the Memory Protect parameter to Off. Go to page 18 & select the same pat-
tern you assigned to the Arpeggiator in the Program. You are now ready to start creating a Pattern. The procedures for editing
Monophonic & Polyphonic patterns are slightly different.
Monophonic Patterns
A Monophonic pattern can be 1 step long, although there would not be much point in this except for recreating effects like LFO trig-
gered basslines, to 64 steps long. Bear in mind that this can be also thought of as the "Resolution" of the pattern as the pattern can
be "Synchronised" at differing time signatures. i.e. a 16 Step pattern synchronised at 16th's would be the same time duration as a
32 step pattern synchronised at 32nds. Decide on the number of steps you want to use & set the "No of Steps" parameter on page
18 of the global mode to suit. We suggest that for the purposes of learning initially set this to a low value. i.e. 8, this will mean that
The Arpeggiator is synchronised to 8ths & the Number of steps you have assigned to the Pattern is 8. So this is a 1 bar pattern.
In a Monophonic pattern you decide which "Order" the individual "notes" within the "chord" you play are played. Imagine you are
playing the notes shown below:
There are 4 notes being played C, E, G & A# creating a C 7 Chord. Supernova II Rack scans the master keyboard & "labels" each
of the played notes with a note number, starting with the lowest (if the "Fill in" parameter is set to "Off-Up" or "On-Up") . In this case
C = 1, E = 2, G = 3 & A# = 4. If a D was played instead of the E the numbering would be as follows C = 1, D = 2, G = 3 & A# = 4.
If a D was played instead of the C the numbering would be as follows D = 1, E = 2, G = 3 & A# = 4. It is important to understand
this relationship to understand the next step.
As you remember there are 8 steps in the assigned pattern. You can edit each step individually by selecting the step you wish to
edit with the "Step" parameter on Page 19 of the Global mode & similarly altering the "Note" number assigned to that step on the
same page with the "Note" parameter.
NOTE:
NOTE:
A "Gate" of "Norm" or "Glide" must be assigned to the currently selected step on this page for the "Note" parameter on this page to
become available.
For example to create a simple Up/Down pattern program the following:
Step 1 = Note 1, Step 2 = Note 2, Step 3 = Note 3, Step 4 = Note 4, Step 5 = Note 4, Step 6 = Note 3, Step 7 = Note 2, Step 8 =
Note 1. The sequence of notes played is 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 etc. etc.
NOTE:
NOTE:
If more or less notes are played than you have programmed, the pattern will not play as expected. In the above example if 6 notes
were played the 5th & 6th notes played would not sound. In the above example if 2 notes were played the following would occur:
Step 1 = Note 1, Step 2 = Note 2, Step 3 = Note 2, Step 4 = Note 2, Step 5 = Note 2, Step 6 = Note 2, Step 7 = Note 2, Step 8 =
Note 1.
The sequence of notes played is 1,2,2,2,2,2,2,1 etc. etc. This is why the "Fill In" parameter is there. It should be currently in the
EDITING & WRITING ARPEGGIATOR PATTERNS
C E G A#
(1) (2) (3) (4)
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