Timing, velocity and choke
These settings control when a pad starts and stops, how it responds to how hard you hit it, and how pads cut each other off. You’ll find them in the inspector’s PLAY and SOUND sections.
Launch quantize
Section titled “Launch quantize”While the song plays, a pad can wait for the next grid step before it starts, so your hits land in time. Each pad’s Quant box offers:
- Global (the default): follows the rack-wide Pad Quantize, shown in the box as, for example, “Global (1/16)”.
- Off: starts at once.
- 1/32T, 1/32, 1/16T, 1/16, 1/8T, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, Bar or 2 Bars: waits for the next step of that length. Bar follows the song’s bars and time signature.
The Pad Quantize box above the pads (shown as “Quantize: 1/16”, its default) sets the step for every pad on Global, so one control retimes the whole rack. It’s a host parameter, so you can automate it or MIDI-learn it.
A pad pulses while it waits. Waiting pads follow tempo changes and song jumps, and fire at once if the transport stops. When the song is stopped, pads start immediately.
Late hits
Section titled “Late hits”A press that lands just after a grid line still belongs to that line: up to 30 ms or 1/64 beat late (whichever is longer, and never more than a quarter of the step). The pad starts at once and the shape catches up by the late amount, so a slightly late finger doesn’t have to wait a whole step.
Quantized release
Section titled “Quantized release”The Rel lamp beside Quant quantizes the stop as well as the start. With it on, while the song plays, a Gate release or a second Latch press waits for the next step of the pad’s Quant. A release just after a grid line stops at once, like a late hit.
Pressing again before the stop happens takes it back (Latch) or replaces it with the new press (Gate). Rel only applies to Gate and Latch pads, so it’s greyed out for Trigger.
Velocity
Section titled “Velocity”Two knobs in the SOUND section set how a pad responds to velocity:
| Control | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vel Lvl | 0 to 100% | 50% | How much a soft hit lowers the level. At 100%, the softest hit plays 24 dB quieter. |
| Vel Spd | 0 to 100% | 25% | Shape pads only. How much a soft hit slows the shape. At 100%, the softest hit slows the shape to a standstill. |
Velocity changes only the level of one-shots.
When you click a pad with the mouse, the click position sets the velocity: full at the centre, falling to 25% at the corners.
Choke groups
Section titled “Choke groups”The Choke switch puts a pad in group 1, 2, 3 or 4, or Off (the default). Pads in the same group cut each other off: starting one stops any other pad in its group, wherever it plays (on a deck, on its own voice or on the Platter). A choked one-shot cuts at once, ignoring its envelope release.
Only Shape and One-shot pads can be in a choke group. The group shows as a chip (C1 to C4) on the pad face. What a deck does after a choke is set by After a cut in the Feel window.
Pitch, Level and Rate
Section titled “Pitch, Level and Rate”| Control | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitch | -12 to +12 semitones | 0 | For a shape, its playback speed, on top of the deck’s when it plays the deck’s sample. For a one-shot, its note, without changing its tempo. |
| Level | 0 to 200% (up to +6 dB) | 100% | The pad’s volume. |
| Rate | .25x, .5x, 1x, 2x, 4x | 1x | Shape pads only. Plays the shape at a fraction or multiple of its own speed; a slower rate takes longer. |
Pitch and Level follow their knobs, automation and MIDI while the pad plays. A level change glides smoothly. A shape playing once takes a new pitch straight away without the needle jumping; a looping shape takes it at its next cycle.
Double-click Level or Rate to reset it. One-shots also have a Speed knob; see One-shots.