Utility actions
A Utility pad doesn’t play a sound. Instead it runs up to four actions on the decks and mixer: start a motor, brake a record, cut the crossfader, switch an effect on, stop other pads, and more. Use utility pads to build performance moves you can fire in time from a controller.
Setting up actions
Section titled “Setting up actions”Set the pad’s mode to Utility. The inspector’s ACTIONS section has four numbered rows. In each row, pick an action from the box, then set its target and options on the same row. Leave a row on None to skip it.
The actions run in order, from row 1 to row 4, at the moment the pad fires (after its quantize wait, if any). Most actions target deck A, B or A+B. Changes to parameters are recorded by your host as automation.
The pad face shows the first action, such as “Motor A+B”, plus “+N” for the others. Utility pads are never stopped by Stop pads and are never part of a choke group.
Actions
Section titled “Actions”| Action | Options | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Motor | Start / Stop / Toggle | Switches the deck’s motor. Toggle on A+B starts both if either is stopped, otherwise stops both. |
| Brake | Stops the record like a record-stop brake, without switching the motor off. Gate and Latch hold the brake while the pad plays; Trigger holds it until a motor is switched on or the transport starts. An armed deck’s Motor jewel turns red while it holds. Brake doesn’t stop a shape playing on the deck; combine it with Stop pads for that. | |
| Sync loop | On / Off / Toggle | Switches Sync Loop. Toggle on A+B switches both on if either is off. |
| Loop length | A Sync Loop length | Sets the deck’s Sync Loop length. |
| Torque | 10 to 2000 ms | Sets the deck’s motor torque: how fast the platter reaches speed. |
| Speed | -50 to +50% | Sets the deck’s Speed. 0 resets it. |
| Re-cue | Drops the needle on the cue. | |
| Capture | A / B | Arms capture on the deck with the current capture length. |
| Clear deck | Removes the deck’s sample. | |
| Crossfader | Cut to A / Centre / Cut to B | Moves the crossfader. It respects Reverse, so Cut to A always leaves deck A audible. |
| Transport | Play / Stop / Toggle | Standalone app only: plays or stops the app’s own transport. In a plugin host it does nothing. |
| Stop all | Disarm / Hold | The emergency stop: stops every pad, shape and audition and parks both platters at once. Disarm (default) also switches both motors off, like the header’s Stop all button. Hold leaves the motors armed and brakes the records; they wait (red light) until a motor is switched on or the transport starts. |
| Stop pads | Which pads, and how | Ends playing and waiting pads without touching the motors or any parameter (see below). |
| FX unit | A unit, On / Off / Toggle | Switches one of the deck’s effect units. |
| FX mix | A unit, 0 to 100% | Sets that unit’s Mix. |
| FX rack | On / Off / Toggle | Switches the deck’s whole effect rack. |
| Echo freeze | On / Off / Toggle | Switches the tape echo’s freeze. |
For the effect actions, Toggle switches on if any target deck has it off.
Stop pads
Section titled “Stop pads”Stop pads has two settings. The box picks which pads stop:
- Deck A, Deck B or A+B: pads driving that deck (Shape pads and one-shots on that deck). Mono, Poly and Platter one-shots keep playing.
- Choke 1 to Choke 4: every pad in that choke group, wherever it plays.
- All: every pad.
The three buttons beside it pick how they stop: Brake (like a Gate pad’s Brake release), Cut (at once, and the record fades back in) or Release (each pad’s own Gate release).
Gate and Latch undo
Section titled “Gate and Latch undo”The play mode decides whether the actions are undone:
- Trigger runs the actions and leaves the changes in place.
- Gate runs them while you hold the pad and undoes them on release.
- Latch runs them on the first press and undoes them on the second.
Undoing puts every changed parameter back to its value from before the press, last action first. Transport puts the previous playing state back. Re-cue, Capture and Clear deck can’t be undone, and Stop all has no undo: a pad that runs it doesn’t stay lit.
For example, a Gate pad with Crossfader: Cut to B and FX unit: Tape Echo, On (target B) cuts to deck B with the echo on while you hold it, and puts the crossfader and echo back as soon as you let go.