Enter a four-note phrase at the cursor, then record a phrase against the moving beat. These use different entry modes, so first check which position will receive your notes.
3.1Choose how notes enter
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Pencil button | In FULL or COMPACT, tapping a value opens its editor. Tapping an empty note field also inserts and auditions a note. With pencil off, taps only select. |
| WRITE in the tracker header | Keys, Pads and MIDI enter notes at the cursor. It also enables ZOOM's note inspector. With WRITE and recording off, played notes only audition. |
| Transport Record | While playback runs, input is recorded at the playhead, including the held note length. This takes precedence over cursor entry. |
WRITE starts off when the app launches. It is not a lock on all editing: direct cell edits, clear, transpose and Pattern Builder can change the pattern with WRITE off.
3.2Enter four notes
Use the starter's tone track, T03, or another loaded melodic sound. Stop playback and choose the first pattern.
- Tap the + beside the pattern selector to create a blank pattern. Tap LEN, then 16 ROWS to make this exercise one bar at four rows per beat.
- Turn WRITE on. TRACKER and KEYS open together. Set ADVANCE to 4 ROWS using its plus or minus buttons.
- Select row
000. In KEYS choose Keys, Chromatic, and Oct 3 so the pitches are easy to find. - Press
C-3,E-3,G-3, thenE-3. They appear at000,004,008and012; the cursor wraps to000. - Turn WRITE off and press Play. Stop when you have heard the phrase.
ADVANCE OFF means zero rows of movement. In OVERDUB, use it to build a chord one note at a time on the same row. It is separate from the OFF command that releases notes.
Check If the notes stack on one row, check ADVANCE. If each note replaces the previous pitch there, open the top-right ... > SETTINGS > RECORDING and select OVERDUB.
3.3Use Repeat, Chord and Pads
Turn WRITE on, select a note and tap REPEAT on the right rail. It repeats that note or chord at the cursor, then advances. When the cursor is empty, it uses the last entered note or chord available on that track. This is a single entry per tap.
The KEYS panel's Chord view chooses a chord and root. Write chord writes it at the cursor, even with WRITE off. In WRITE, releasing a held chord also writes it. Chord mode does not capture the held chord as a live take.
On a sliced sampler, Pads plays slices at C-3. A sampler with several samples also offers Samples, whose pads choose and play bank samples. Check the selected track and pad label before entering a hit.
3.4Record with the playhead
Use a new empty pattern for this take. Keep Keys selected; stop playback and turn WRITE off.
- Open ... > SETTINGS > RECORDING. Choose OVERDUB to add notes or REPLACE to replace notes on rows you play into. Choose KEEP TIMING or QUANTIZE, then close Settings.
- Tap the red Record button in the transport. Playback and recording begin immediately, without a count-in.
- Play a short phrase. Notes land at the playhead; releasing each key records its held length, up to 16 beats.
- Tap Record again to finish recording while playback continues. Listen to the result, then stop.
Replace clears a row's notes on the first hit into that row during the pass. Keep Timing retains small offsets from the nearest row; Quantize places onsets on the rows. The sampler's Gate or One shot setting still determines how it responds to a recorded gate.
3.5Select and refine
FULL shows the fields across tracks. COMPACT fits more tracks by reducing detail. ZOOM shows one track and a larger selected-row inspector. All three edit the same pattern; no notes are copied when you switch views.
To copy a block, use FULL with the pencil off. Turn WRITE on, select its first cell, tap SELECT, then tap its last cell. Hold the last selected cell and choose Selection actions. Tap COPY, close the sheet, then turn SELECT off. Select the destination, hold it and choose Selection actions > PASTE to replace the steps there. Use Undo if the result covers wanted notes.
The track header's ... > FILL PATTERN... opens Pattern Builder. Adjust the preview, then APPLY PATTERN to write it. Save the phrase you want to keep before trying another variation. The shortcut reference lists faster selection and editing actions.