Get to know your Woovebox and music production, from beginner to expert level.

Learning the Woovebox

You don't have to know much about music or music theory to start using your Woovebox effectively. And learning how to operate the Woovebox is - as you will see - surprisingly easy, quick and intuitive. Your Woovebox is, however, an extremely deep device with massive sonic production potential, should you choose to tap it (but you don't have to of course!). If you do though, it's a great way to develop your own signature sound and style, while keeping Gear Acquisition Syndrome ("GAS") at bay.

Gear Acquisition Syndrome ("GAS")-stopper

Your Woovebox is not a one-trick-pony; it was built to give you a lot of headroom to grow along with and experiment with. Your Woovebox covers a lot of the capabilities of other gear and "budget" boxes, many of which are typically sold piecemeal or have been artificially limited to achieve a particular price point / feature set. With the Woovebox however, you have everything at your fingertips to make an album (and perform it live!) if you so choose. Your Woovebox is a studio in a tiny box. It is not a "gateway" device or cut-down version of a more expensive "bigger brother".

Tweak the presets

Before resorting to, for example, the vast Teenage Engineering OP-1 / OP-Z sample library, delving into the Woovebox' synthesis engine is highly recommended. But even if you're not experimentally inclined or are simply not interested in learning the basics of synthesis, try tweaking the presets or use the patch randomization function to find a unique sound. It's the gateway to making a track "your own" and developing your own style and sound. Your Woovebox can perform in virtually all genres of music. If you do decide to use samples however, then learn how to use these samples as the basis of your own sounds (rather than using them as-is). You can also transform them using the creative real-time pitch-shifting and time-stretching.

The learning will never stop. Sorry. (not sorry)

Music and sound design are open-ended topics. There are always new things to discover; new sounds, new techniques, new genres. Your Woovebox is a tool to help you discover and explore these, rather than confining you to one specific use case, genre, instrument or function.

The very basics

No patience? Just take note of the following, and you may well be able to figure out your Woovebox on your own. If you learn better by 'doing', please also see the quick start guide and video.

Booting up

Switch on your Woovebox without touching the write or play touch buttons (as their sensitivity is calibrated during power-on). A short wake-up sequence follows.

The length of the full boot sequence may vary depending on the amount of housekeeping your device needs to do, but should be in the range of ~2 seconds for normal operation. Boot-up after a firmware update/reset may take longer. In longer cases (up to 2 minutes), the letters "W O O V E B O X" will scroll past until the device is done.

A number of special boot modes are available by holding special 1-16 key combinations during power-on; please see "boot modes".

Basic interface navigation

Physical controls

Your Woovebox comes with 19 pressable buttons;

•16 keys labelled 1-16
•a value knob that can be turned, as well as pressed in
•two touch-sensitive shoulder buttons/areas labelled write and play.

The value knob

The value knob is an infinite rotary encoder and can be turned left or right. The speed with which you turn the knob often has an effect on how quickly a value, setting, or page selection changes. This allows for very fine control by turning slowly, and fast, coarse control by turning quickly.

However, when using the value knob to set values on the different track pages (hold 1-16 corresponding to the parameter you want to change, and turn the value knob), it can be quicker and less tiresome to instead hold 1-16 corresponding to the parameter you want to change, hold the value knob pressed in, and then turn. This will skip much larger values without having to turn fast.

The write and play capacitive shoulder touch buttons

The write and play buttons are touch-sensitive (capacitive) areas. They are located at the top left and right edge of your Woovebox respectively. These buttons take the form of touch sensitive areas on the surface of your Woovebox.

Touch sensitivity of these buttons is re-calibrated every time you turn on your Woovebox. Therefore, please make sure you are not touching these buttons at that time.

The write and play touch buttons are calibrated to require full, deliberate covering of the entire area by a finger or thumb. Partial touches or coverings are likely to be rejected. In the case of the play button, if using your thumb, having your thumb along side the base of the encoder, touching it, is a good guide.

If, despite these tips, you find the capactive play and write buttons do not reliably register your touch (for example, because your have very dry fingers/thumbs or because you have callused fingers/thumbs), you can boot (e.g. turn on) the device while holding 6/Sn to make the buttons more sensitive.

Long presses and short presses

To access some functions or behaviors, a distinction exists between how long you press a button. A short press is performed by holding down a button no longer than one second, while a long press is performed by holding down a button longer than one second.

Button combinations

The Woovebox is a small device and some functions require a combination of two controls to be used. The amount of button combinations used are, however, kept to a minimum and are used in the same way across the UI. For example, changing a parameter usually requires holding down one of the 1-16 keys while turning the value knob.

4x4 LED grid

The 4x4 LED grid (in the form of LEDs placed above each of the 1-16 keys) indicates different aspects, depending on the mode or page you are on. The LEDs may indicate that notes are assigned to steps 1-16 (on the 'Seq' page), that presets are available (on the 'PAch' page), or may in other cases indicate that a parameter may be accessed by holding down the 1-16 key and turning the value knob.

When playing back a pattern or song, a virtual "playhead" (blinking LED) runs from left to right, top to bottom to indicate the step being played.

Context menu

A menu with context-specific options to what you are doing (can be mode or page dependent) is available, by holding write for the duration you wish to use the menu, and short pressing the value knob. Short pressing the value knob again (while still holding write) will cycle to the next item in the menu. To action a menu item you selected, perform a long press on the value knob.

Accessing extra / advanced options like this through the context menu, is a universal mechanic throughout the Woovebox interface.

Behavior and location consistency

You do not have to memorize endless obscure button combinations to get around your Woovebox. Neither is there much menu-diving involved. Helpfully, similar functions or parameters tend to use similar locations, layouts or control combinations.

Some examples;

•Setting a step length ("note duration"), whether it is in Track edit mode, Song mode, or in the Sampler, is done through holding write and turning the value knob.•Editing the two oscillators per voice (the "Osc1" and "Osc2" Track pages), identical 1-16 locations for each parameter are used.•When editing LFOs, the waveform ("wave") is always selected using the "first" (1, 5, 9, 13) column, depth ("dpth") always selected using the "second" (2, 6, 10, 14) column, rate ("rate") is always selected using the "third" column (3, 7, 11, 15), and hold ("hold") is always selected using the fourth column.•Modification, deletion or transformation of notes and samples (either one-by-one or multi-select), generally involves the write button.•Non-destructive gestures (e.g. selection of patterns, songs, sample kits, playing things) usually involve the play button.

Auto-save

Any modifications you made are automatically saved when;

•Playback starts.

or

•When 8 seconds have elapsed, during which no other modifications were made.

Any previous save state is moved up to become the "undo" state. This "undo" state can be recalled by actioning the "undo" context menu item, which appears in the Song mode's "GLob" page (the same page the device drops you in upon boot).

Please do not turn off your Woovebox when an auto save is scheduled. To force-save, simply press play.

Auto-save can be turned off with a special boot mode (see boot modes).

16 x 16 x 16 x 16

Your Woovebox holds 16 songs. Each song has 16 tracks. Each track has 16 patterns. Each pattern is made up of 16 steps.

While just 16 patterns x 16 steps (= 256 steps max.) for each track per song seems very limiting at first glance, you will quickly come to learn that what appears to be a limitation, is actually one of the Woovebox' core strengths;

That is because, amazingly, even just a single 16-step pattern for each track is enough to create a full, complex-sounding song.

Songs

Once the device has booted up, it will start you off in Song Mode ("SG") with the last used song loaded ("01"-"16"). Song Mode is where you can select the song you wish to work on, where you can change global settings specific to the song (such as tempo, or multi-FX settings), transfer songs into and out of your Woovebox, and arrange songs by chaining patterns. You can always return to this mode by holding down the value button and then performing a short press (a short tap) on the 16/A8/Song key.

Your Woovebox can hold 16 user songs to work on. To select a song to work on, hold play and press 1-16 to select Song 1-16. The song number you selected will be reflected in the top display.

Before you continue, you may wish to change the volume in your headphones to a comfortable level. To do so, hold play and turn the value knob. This level is remembered next time you turn on your Woovebox. Playing the "keyboard" by pressing 1-16 will sound the instrument of the last track selected at different pitches. If you just booted up the device, this track will be the chord ("Cd") track by default.

If the song you selected is not empty, you can press play to hear the song being played back as it was arranged. Though this Getting Started guide will not go into arranging song fragments just yet, turning the value knob to the right (without holding anything else down), will let you start arranging the song, cycling through song fragments. Turning the value knob to the left (again, without holding anything else down), will ultimately return you to the global song settings we started off at.

Tracks

Your Woovebox allows you to work with 16 tracks per song. A track can be thought of as a member of a band or orchestra. This "member" will be in charge of one of 16 instruments/synthesizers (for example a bass or synthesizer lead), or in charge of a sample kit (for example a drum kit, or a number of pre-defined vocal chant samples, etc.). With one exception, all tracks are monophonic (meaning they can only sound one note at a time) or paraphonic (meaning they can sound multiple notes at a time, starting at the same time).

The one exception is the chord ("Cd") track. It is the only track that is 4-voice polyphonic, allowing for complex chords. The 16 tracks of your Woovebox are helpfully labeled on the front of the device, to the left to each 1-16 key. Their fixed designations are;

1"Cd" / "chord"; must be used for chord progressions, and is the only track that is 4-voice polyphonic
2"bs" / "bass"; suggested use for basslines3"Ld" / "lead"; suggested use for lead melodies4"Ar" / "arpeggio"; suggested use for arpeggios5"Ki" / "kick"; suggested use for synthesized kickdrums6"Sn" / "snare"; suggested use for synthesized snares7"hh" / "hi-hat"; suggested use for synthesized hi-hats8"Pc" / "percussion"; suggested use for general percussion such as a crash cymbal or synthesized clap9"A1" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 1"; anything extra you might need in your song10"A2" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 2"; anything extra you might need in your song11"A3" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 3"; anything extra you might need in your song12"A4" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 4"; anything extra you might need in your song13"A5" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 5"; anything extra you might need in your song14"A6" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 6"; anything extra you might need in your song15"A7" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 7"; anything extra you might need in your song16"A8" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 8"; anything extra you might need in your song

With the exception of the Cd track, all tracks are interchangeable and their behavior or role in your song can be re-assigned. Or in other words, the designations for all tracks (except Cd) are merely "serving suggestions"; you do not have to put a hi-hat on the hh track if you don't want to, and you can reconfigure the track's behavior if needed. So, if you wish, you can put a bass or arpeggio on the hh track instead.

Selecting track 1 through 16 (Cd through A8) for editing, is done by holding down the value knob and performing a long press on the desired button corresponding to the track. Alternatively, for selecting track 1 through 13 (Cd through A5) a short press can be used as well (note that a short press on A6, A7, or A8 invokes the Sampler, Live Mode or Song Mode respectively, rather than switching to the A6/A7/A8 tracks, therefore A6/A7/A8 are only accessible via a long-press).

Tracks may be configured to play real-time synthesized sounds, play samples, modify incoming audio, modify the delay buffers, or may be silent altogether (for example when driving other external music gear through MIDI).

If you have prior experience with music gear such as trackers like M8, you may be interested in the multi-instrument mode for tracks. This way of working may be a bit closer to what you are used to on those devices.

Lastly, please note that DSP resource limitations may start to apply if A6, A7 and A8 have audio playing at the same time as Cd through A5.

Pages

Each track has multiple pages, where different aspects of the track can be modified. These pages are accessed by turning the value knob left or right. Turning the value knob to the right will scroll through the other pages, covering everything from sound design to side chaining and patch presets.

Sequencer

The "left-most" page is always the Sequencer ("Seq") page, where you can edit the steps of the currently selected pattern. This is the most important page where a pattern's steps can be modified in detail. This page shows which steps currently have notes assigned to them via the LED grid, whereas most other pages show which 1-16 buttons have parameters behind them that you can modify.

Note that in pages other than the Sequencer ("Seq") pages, holding down write temporarily reveals which steps currently have notes assigned to them, as if you were on the Sequencer ("Seq") page. Letting go of write will once again show which 1-16 buttons have parameters behind them that you can modify.

Patch (and selecting presets)

The "right-most" page is the Patch ("Pach") page, where you can select preset patches and perform things like backing up patches, or copying them to other tracks. Holding any 1-15 button that have their LED lit up, will load a preset. Holding button 16 will revert back to the patch that was loaded when you entered the "Pach" page in case you changed your mind. Note that the available presets on the "Pach" page are dependent on the sound category ('kick', 'bass', 'lead', etc.) assigned to the current track.

Auditioning

Where applicable, pressing the 1-16 buttons will sound the instrument of the current (or last) selected track. For example, if the current (or last) selected track was the lead (Ld) track, pressing 1-16 will allow you to play the lead sound. You can audition tracks like this in track editing mode, as well as in Song mode.

However, note that there is a subtle, but important difference in the way the sound is triggered, depending on what you are editing in the interface. The difference is the following;

•If you are on the Sequencer page ("Seq") of a track, notes will sound immediately as soon as you press 1-16. As soon as you release the pressed 1-16 key, the note will stop sounding. This behavior is much like pressing the key on a piano, and is the best way to jam along with your song or come up with riffs, melodies and motifs. This behavior is also identical to playing in Live mode.
•Everywhere else, notes will only sound once you release (let go) of 1-16, and will play for the duration of the programming note length (set by holding write and turning the value knob). This behavior may feel "laggy" when trying to jam along with your composition, but is useful when combined with changing parameters when, for example, sound designing a patch. Note also, that if you have the programming note length set to "0.St" (zero length), then any patch that has an attack and decay level of 0 will not sound anything at all (as the step/note length is applied to the sustain component only).

TIP: While editing a track, you can quickly switch between the Sequencer page ("Seq") and another page by pressing the value knob.

Patterns

If a Track is the member of a band or orchestra, then a pattern is a page of sheet music that each member is reading. Each track can play up to 16 unique patterns, and patterns may be chained if needed. A pattern itself is made up of a maximum of 16 steps. When a pattern plays (press the play button to start or stop playing), each track steps through these steps

While playing, you will see a blinking "play head" to indicate the position, running from left to right, top to bottom. As your Woovebox steps through the pattern, any steps that the play head encounters that contain notes (lit up) are played. Any steps that do not contain a note (not lit up) are ignored at that moment in time.

By default most tracks step through their patterns at a speed of 16 steps (e.g. 4 beats, or one bar) per pattern. The overall speed is determined by the "BPM" setting in the Song settings. However it is possible to modify this speed (see "b.div"/"BPM div" parameter on the "Pttn" page) on a per-pattern basis.

Note that, by default, the Chord track is the only exception; the default settings cause the pattern to be stepped through at a slower pace (there "b.div"/"BPM div" is set to divisor of 4 instead of 1, so that a a pattern now takes 4x as long to be stepped through, compared to the other tracks.

It is also possible to change the length of a pattern to something smaller than 16 steps (see "Pt.Ln"/"Ptrn Len" parameter) on a per-pattern basis. Changing the length of a pattern can create complex and interesting sounding polymeters, and can even allow for different time signatures within one song.

At first glance, 16 patterns with only 16 steps each per track may appear to be extremely limiting. However, as you will discover, the Woovebox is all about doing more with less; your device comes with a vast arsenal to quickly transform riffs and motifs into complex and interesting arrangements. In fact, it is possible (and common) to create full, complex sounding songs with just one pattern per track.

Steps

Programming notes into steps

Play the note you wish to record and let it go, then hold write. If you are not on the Sequencer ("Seq") page of the track, the LED grid will change temporarily to show the steps as if you were on the Sequencer ("Seq") page until you let go of the Write again. Now press 1-16 to put the note you played into step 1-16

You can set multiple steps this way to the same note, as long as you hold write. Any step you program will blink for the duration you hold write.

Note that you can further make already existing steps with notes blink as well. As long as you are holding write, any steps that are blinking can be edited in more detail; while still holding Write, press the Value button to cycle through a number of editable step attributes. The attributes can, while still holding the write key, be modified by turning the value knob. For non-chord tracks (e.g. anything that is not the "Cd" track) the editable attributes are;

•'Note'; the pitch at which the note or sample should play.•'SlcE'; slice - the slice number 1-16 of a sample kit. Note that this option is only available if "bEhv"/"trak BEhv" (Track Behavior) on the track's "Glob" page is set to "SmPK" (sample kit).
•'LEn'; length - the length of the note in steps.•'VELo'; velocity - how loud the note should play. Default velocities are 100 out of 127, where 0 is silent.
•'WhEn'; when - a condition that needs to be met before this step plays.
•'do'; do - a special way the note or slice should be played when the 'WhEn' condition is met.
•'ShFt'; shift - a micro-timing value from 0 to 99, indicating how late the note should play from 0 (no shift) to 99 (nearly at the same time next step begins), with 50 being right in between the current step and next step.

For the "Cd" track-only, the editable attributes are;

•'Root'; the chord's root note
•'LEn'; the length of the chord in steps.•'VELo'; velocity - how loud the chord should play. Default velocities are 100 out of 127, where 0 is completely silent.•'Chrd'; chord - the type of chord
•'Inv'; inversion - what, if any, chord inversion should be played
•'ShFt'; shift - a micro-timing value from 0 to 99, indicating how late the note should play from 0 (no shift) to 99 (can be considered playing the next note "early"), with 50 being right in between the current note and next note.

Modifying one or more steps

On the Sequencer ("Seq") page of the track, hold the step you wish to modify until it starts to blink. While still holding the step, press the Value button to cycle through a number of editable step attributes. The attributes can, while still holding the write key, be modified by turning the value knob.

It is also possible to select multiple steps for modification; while still holding the first step, hold Write, then let go of the step; the step will keep blinking. The interface will now behave as if you just programmed a new note, and any other steps can be selected via the same mechanism under "Programming notes into steps".

Note once again that modifying steps this way only works on the Sequencer ("Seq") page of the track; selection on other track pages is not possible.

Deleting notes from steps

To delete a step's note, hold write and press 1-16 for any step that has a note assigned to it (e.g. is lit up).The step will no longer be lit and the note data for this step erased. You can do this for multiple steps for the duration you hold write.

Real-time recording notes to steps

It is possible to real-time record a performance into the Woovebox. Simply hold the write button and press play to start recording.

The recording will be automatically quantized, meaning the notes you play will be automatically "pulled" towards the nearest step so that minor timing issues in your playing are eliminated.

Regular step editing is also still available during playback and recording, so notes recorded in real-time can be edited in real-time as well. Note that note modification (through holding the Write key) will cause the current pattern to loop, allowing you to better gauge the modifications you made in context of the entire pattern being played across all tracks.

TIP: You can chain multiple patterns together with "ch.ne"/"chn.next" parameter to record more than 16 steps at once.

Changing a setting or parameter

Your Woovebox is a deeply powerful device with many settings, controls and parameters for you to tweak.

Each 1-16 key corresponds to one of sixteen parameters, controls or settings. As such, you can access up to sixteen parameters, controls or settings at once (e.g. per page).

The nature and amount of parameters accessible to you, depend on the mode (Track, Sampler, Live, Song) and the selected page ("GLob", "Osc1", "Osc2", etc.). For example, a track's "GLob" (for Global) page gives you access to 16 parameters, all pertaining to the currently selected track.

Not all pages have 16 parameters; on most pages, a 1-16 key that has an accessible parameter underneath, has its corresponding LED lit up.

•To learn the current value of a setting, control or parameter, simply perform a short-press on 1-16. For example, while in Song mode and on the "GLob" page, pressing 1/Cd will show you the current tempo in Beats Per Minute (BPM).
•To get a longer eight-character description of the parameter, perform a long-press on 1-16.•To change a parameter or setting, hold down 1-16 and turn the Value knob left or right.

In most modes and on most mode pages, short-pressing 1-16 will also audition the currently active track as soon as you let go of 1-16. This will quickly help you determine how your parameter tweak may have changed the sound. If this is undesirable, perform a long-press on 1-16, waiting until the eight-character description comes up. Then tweak your parameter after the eight-character description has come up, to avoid auditioning the sound.

Workflow

Generally, a workflow will look like;

1Select a song to work on2Select a track to work on3Select a pattern to work on4Record, edit notes5Audition your track's pattern, in the context of other patterns, in the context of a live performance (in live mode), or in the context of your song (in song mode)6Go to 2

Once you are happy with your patterns, you can optionally create full songs out of them by chaining them, or create "scenes" out of them in live mode for live performances.

Finally, you can export any songs you made as .WAV audio files via Wooveconnect.

Refer to the quick start tutorial for a super quick introduction to making your first song.

Quick start guide and video

This is a super quick guide to making your first song, without going too deep just yet.

Boot up

Turn on your Woovebox without touching the write or play touch buttons (as their sensitivity is calibrated during power-on). Waking up the device takes up approximately two seconds. If you performed a firmware update, or if you performed a factory reset, this may take up to 2 minutes.

Once your Woovebox has booted up, you will be dropped into Song ("SG") mode in song 01. The chord (Cd) track will play a note, to let you know boot up has completed and to give you an audible identifier of the song that is loaded (as you may recognize the timbre of the instrument).

Note that you can return to Song mode at any time, by holding the value button down and then short-pressing (meaning, holding down for less than one second) 16/A8/SONG.

Set output volume

Hold play and turn the value knob left or right to set the output volume to a comfortable level. Press 1-16 to audition a sound to help you hear the difference in output levels. Your preferred output level will be saved on the next auto save event.

Select and initialize a song

If you wish to select a different song to work on, you can do so by holding play and pressing 1-16 to select song 1 through 16.

If you wish to start over with the currently selected song by resetting and clearing it, you can do so through the context menu;

•Hold write and short-press (a quick press no longer than one second) the value knob to cycle through the options until you find the "InIt SonG" menu item.•Once found, long-press (a long press, longer than three seconds) the Value knob to action the item. The song will be cleared and your Woovebox will report "InIt oK".•Release write to exit the context menu.•All patterns are cleared, and tracks are initialized with random (but appropriate) presets to get you started quickly.

Note that these context menus are available in a number of different places around the Woovebox UI, and they all work in the same way.

Set song BPM

Set your new song's tempo (in beats-per-minute or "BPM"). In this case, the BPM setting lives under the 1/Cd button in Song (Global/"Glob") mode. To change a parameter or setting like "BPM";

•Hold the button 1-16 that corresponds to the parameter or setting.•Turn the value knob left or right to change the parameter or setting's value.

To discover more parameters and settings and the values they are set to, simply short-press any of the 1-16 buttons that have their corresponding LED lit. Any buttons that do not have their LED lit do not have a setting or parameter associated with them. To get a longer, 8-character description of a parameter or setting, long-press the button.

For now, it is enough to know that your BPM setting flows through to the tempo of many things, from LFO speed divisors to the delay effects and even auto-time stretching of samples (if you so choose); a change in BPM will never throw off any tempo-based aspects of your song.

Switch to the kick drum track

Let's program our first sounds.

Hold the value button and short-press the 5/Ki button. This switches to the kick drum (Ki) track. In the same way, you can switch to other tracks (1/Cd-13/A5), back to Song mode, to Live mode, or switch to the Sampler.

Playing key 1-16 will now sound variations of the currently selected (default) kick drum patch.

If you don't like the current kick drums, you can either select another preset, randomize a preset ("rand Pach" in the Pach page context menu) or sound-design your own.

Program a kick drum

Turn the value knob to the left until the lower display reads "Seq". You are now on the "sequencer" page of the kickdrum track. The sequencer page is where steps (notes, chords, sample triggers) are added, edited or deleted.

There is also a convenient shortcut to the "Seq" page; on any other page than the "Seq" page, short-press the value knob. Short-press the value knob again to quickly go back to the page you came from. This short-cut allows you to quickly flip back and forth between the "Seq" page and some other page. Give it a try.

Press play to start playing our empty kick drum track pattern. While playing, you will see a blinking "play head" to indicate the position, running from left to right, top to bottom. As your Woovebox steps through the pattern, any steps that the play head encounters that contain programmed kickdrum (lit up) are played back. Any steps that do not contain a kick drum (not lit up) are ignored at that moment in time. Press play again to stop playback.

Right now, no kick drums are recorded at all, so playing the pattern back will not produce any sound; let's change that. Program a simple four-to-the floor pattern like so;

•Press any of the 1-16 keys to audition the kick drum (currently default). Depending on the selected kick drum patch, the kick drum may sound different depending on the key you press.•Once you auditioned a kick drum you like;•hold write and short-press key 1•still holding write, short-press key 5•still holding write, short-press key 9•and still holding write, short-press key 13.

You have now programmed your chosen kick drum sound onto steps 1, 5, 9 and 13; a standard "four-to-the-floor" pattern.

If you made a mistake and wish to delete a kick drum from a step, simply hold write and short-press the key corresponding to the step (LED lit up) you wish to clear (LED no longer lit up). You may also edit one or multiple programmed steps in-depth by holding a step (see manual for more information).

Now press play to hear your kick drum pattern being played back to you. Press Play again to stop the playback. You may have also noticed that pressing play caused your song to be automatically saved.

Feel free, of course, to add or remove kick drums as you please. Conditional triggering (for example on every 4th playthrough), off-step triggering (later or early than precisely one step), as well as swing are also possible (see manual).

You may also try different presets; turn the value knob to the right until the lower display reads "Pach". You are now on the "patch" page of the kickdrum track. The patch page is where you can find presets for your track (in this case a number of kick sounds/"patches"), and where you can perform a number of other operations through the context menu (such as resetting the current patch, sending the current patch to a connected computer, etc.).

To select a preset hold any of the 1-15 keys that have their LED lit. Use the 16 key to revert to the patch as it was when you entered the "Pach" page (e.g. "undo").

Using the randomizer

If you lack inspiration or need to get something going quickly, your Woovebox comes with an "intelligent" randomization feature. On the "Seq" page, choose and action the "rand Pttn" option. Your Woovebox will now create a random pattern that fits the intended behavior ("bEhv" under 7/hh on the track's "Glob" page) of the track. In this case it will provide you with a plausible kick pattern, but in case of other tracks it will provide you with melodies, basslines, etc. as appropriate. For more information, see the randomization section.

Switch to the chord track

Just like we did for the kick drum, hold the value button and short-press the 1/Cd button to switch to the chord (Cd) track.

The use of the chord track is not strictly mandatory, however strongly recommended to make the most of your Woovebox' capabilities; not in the least because it is a very quick, easy and versatile way of creating a professional sounding song. As you get to know your Woovebox better, you are encouraged to learn more about chords and how to relate to music production on your Woovebox.

You don't need to know any music theory however, to start using the chord track; all its functions work just as well if you play or produce music solely "by ear". If you are new to music production, then all you need to know is that a chord progression (cycling between two or more chords) tells a story; it creates tension and resolution over time, creating a strong interest and evoking emotions with your audience. The sort of story you want to tell and the types of emotions (happy, sad, mysterious, etc.) you wish to evoke, are controllable by the chord types, as well as the key your song is in. Many pop songs use 4 chords, some use only 2. There are no set rules, however there are some guidelines that may help.

Like the BPM (tempo) setting, the chords that are playing, flow through to many other aspects, from the way your bass lines and arpeggios play, to sound design and chord lock effects.

Set the root note and scale (optional)

If scales and keys are not something you wish to bother with at this time, it is enough to know for now that your song will be in the C major/A minor key by default (e.g. if you imagine a piano keyboard, all "good sounding" notes will be the white notes). If, however, you wish to set up a custom scale/key for your song, you can do so through the following;

•Switch to Song mode (hold value knob and short-press 16/A8/SONG).
•The root note can be set by changing the parameter under key 2/bs. Changing the parameter works in exactly the same way we changed the song's tempo (BPM); hold the key, and turn the value knob.
•The scale or mode can be set by changing the parameter under key 3/Ld.

For an in-depth look at scales and modes, and how they relate to music production on your Woovebox, please see the scales and modes section.

Program a chord progression

Just like we did for the kick drum, make sure you are on the "sequencer" ("SEq") page of the chord track. Switching between tracks will usually keep the page you are on the same. So if you were on the "sequencer" page for the kick drum track, switching to the chord track will also immediately put you on the "sequencer" page for the chord track.

The chord track is the only "special" track that works a little different to all the other (2/bs-16/A8) tracks. Whereas you normally record single notes, hits or sample triggers to all the other tracks, the chord track records chords (e.g. multiple notes at once that sound harmonically interesting). The chord track is the only track that is truly polyphonic, meaning it is the only track that can play multiple, complex voices at the same time (your Woovebox is also capable of reproducing some limited paraphonic sounds/chords on the other tracks however).

Unique to the chord track, rather than single notes, two sets ("types") of 7 chords are laid out across the 1-16 keyboard;

•Press key 1, 2, 3, (but not 4), 5, 6, 7, 8 to hear the different chords at your disposal for chord type 1.•Press key 9, 10, 11, (but not 12), 13, 14, 15, 16 to hear the different chords at your disposal for chord type 2.•Key 4/CdHi and 12/CdLo cycle through the different types of chords available for chord type 1 and 2 respectively.

Get a feel for how the chords work and sound, and how you can cycle through the different types. Doing so, you may already find a chord progression (say a sequence of four chords) you really like.

For your convenience (or if you are not that familiar with the different types of chords and how they sound), the chord track's two sets of of chord types start off in "diatonic" modes (unless you are using a more exotic key/scale that does not permit this). Without delving too deeply into music theory, it is enough to know that the seven diatonic chords form the harmonic foundation of Western music, providing the basis for creating progressions and harmonies that sound cohesive within the key. Just playing key 1, 2, 3, (but not 4), 5, 6, 7, and 8, you will notice that you can construct most popular chord progressions with just those seven keys.

As with our kick drum track, the pattern starts off empty. So playing the pattern back will not produce any chord sounds yet; let's change that. Assuming you wish to program a 4-chord progression;

•Play your first chord.•Hold write and short-press key 1. The chord you played is now programmed to play when the play head encounters step 1; the LED at step 1 is now lit up.•Play your second chord.•Hold write and short-press key 5. The chord you played is now programmed to play when the play head encounters step 5; the LED at step 5 is now lit up.•Play your third chord.•Hold write and short-press key 9. The chord you played is now programmed to play when the play head encounters step 9; the LED at step 9 is now lit up..•Play your fourth chord.•Hold write and short-press key 13. The chord you played is now programmed to play when the play head encounters step 13; the LED at step 13 is now lit up.

Just like with the kick drum track, if you made a mistake and wish to delete a chord from a step, simply hold write and short-press the key corresponding to the step you wish to clear. You may also edit one or multiple programmed steps in-depth by holding a step (see manual for more information).

If you cannot find immediately find a chord progression you like, you can also have your Woovebox generate a random one for you by choosing this option from the SEq page's context menu;

•Hold write and short-press (a quick press no longer than one second) the value knob to cycle through the options until you find the "rand Pttn" ("Randomize Pattern") menu item.•Once found, long-press (a long press, longer than three seconds) the value knob to action the item. A random pattern will be generated for you (your Woovebox will report 'rand OK').
•Release write to exit the context menu.

Press play to hear your chord progression being played back to you. Press Play again to stop the playback. Your chord progression is now in place. You may again notice that pressing play caused your song to be automatically saved.

If you wish to temporarily solo the track you are working on, hold the value knob and short-press key 1-16 corresponding to the track you are already on. This is the same gesture as selecting a track, except selecting the track you are already on invokes the soloing functionality. Perform the gesture again to turn off soloing. Muting of tracks is also possible by selecting tracks you wish to mute/unmute in Live mode and switching back to the track you wish to edit with a long-press.

As mentioned earlier, besides playing chords on the chord track ("Cd"), chords may also be played on other tracks by configuring a patch and track to become paraphonic (some limitations apply however, and the played chords will always be instructed by the chord track).

All tracks can be transposed any number of semitones. So if you feel any track or instrument sounds better in your song at a lower or higher octave after recording/programm it, simply transpose the track by 12 semitones up or down. You can do so by scrolling to the the 'GLob' page, and changing the 'trSP' parameter under the 2/bS key; e.g. hold down key 2/bs key and turn the value knob left or right (note that you can instead also change any programmed notes individually to play at a lower octave, or use the coarse detune setting for the oscillators - 3/Ld/'det.C' on the 'Osc1'/'Osc2' pages - to play an octave lower).

To change the octave of the 1-16 keyboard as you play it, hold write, then also hold play and turn the value knob to change octaves up or down.

Program a bassline

Switch to the bass track (2/bS) and use the value knob to scroll to the "GLob" page. Press key 4 to verify the state of the "FLW.C" ("FLLW Chrd") parameter is set to "root". If it is not set to "root", change it to "root" by holding down key 4 and turning the value knob.

We just made sure that any bass notes that we will be programming, will be adapted to the chord being played. Specifically, any bass notes we will be programming, will be automatically transposed to the nearest root note of the chord that is being played (other adaptations are also available via the "FLW.C" parameter, see manual).

We can verify this behavior by scrolling to the sequencer ("Seq") page and playing the currently selected bass patch by pressing the 1-16 keys. You should hear the bass keeps playing the same note, with only the octave changing at most. The screen verifies this as well; you should see the same note being played, with only the number (indicating the octave) changing.

You may also notice the chord track faintly playing in the background every time you hit a bass note on the 1-16 keys. It is playing the last played chord and helps with giving you some harmonic context when programming more complex patterns or chains of patterns. If you wish to just hear the bass by itself, you can solo a track by "switching" to the track you are already on. In other words, hold value and short-press the 2/bS track. The screen will display "Solo on". Perform the action again to cancel the soloing.

Please note that, if you wish, you can override the ("follow chord") setting on a per-pattern basis on the pattern ('Pttn') page. So if you need to deviate from the global "FLW.C" ("FLLW Chrd") setting we just made/verified for just one or two patterns, then you can do so.

Program some notes like we did for the kick drum. If you don't have anything particular in mind, even some random locations will do, to get you started; thanks to the "FLW.C" setting we chose, your Woovebox will transpose the notes to always sound good. To quickly generate a random pattern, you can use the context menu on the sequencer ("Seq") page to generate a random pattern;

•Hold write and short-press (a quick press no longer than one second) the value knob to cycle through the options until you find the "rand Pttn" ("Randomize Pattern") menu item.•Once found, long-press (a long press, longer than three seconds) the Value knob to action the item. A random pattern will be generated for you.
•Release write to exit the context menu.

Once you have some bass notes, hit play. You will now notice how the bassline is automatically adapted to the chord that is playing. Indeed, if you completely change the chords, the bassline will still sound "good" and coherent. Your Woovebox is able to do this with all parts; basslines, melodies, arpeggios etc. It is even able to pitch-quantize LFOs. It is one of the reasons why creating complex songs and sounds on the Woovebox is so quick and immediately rewarding.

Program an arpeggio

Switch to the arpeggio (4/Ar) track and use the value knob to scroll to the "Glob" page. Press key 4 to verify the state of the "FLW.C" ("FLLW CHRD") parameter is set to "CLS.A". If it is not set to "CLS.A", change it to "CLS.A" by holding down key 4 and turning the value knob.

Similar to what we did to the bassline, we just made sure that any arpeggio track notes will be adapted to the chord being played. However rather than adapting the notes to the root note of the playing chord, the notes will be "pulled" to the closest note that the chord consists of.

Arpeggios are short runs and are typically not as long as full patterns (e.g. they are typically not as long as, say, our bassline pattern). Use the value knob to scroll to the "Pttn" page. Change the "Pt.Ln" ("Ptrn Len" / pattern length) parameter under the 2 key. It is likely set to 16 (playing all of the 16 steps of the pattern). However, for an arpeggio, typically short runs are more suitable. Set "Pt.Ln" to, for example, 5 or 7.

Switch to the Sequencer page (use the value knob to scroll to it, or use the shortcut by pressing the value knob). Press play. You should now see the play head cycle between the first few steps, rather than all 16 for this track.

All we need to do now, is add some notes. Again, some random notes will do for now, if you wish. You will notice you are not able to program notes past the reduced pattern length; the device will respond with ("Chng Len"; aka "please change pattern length first!").

Press play to hear your newly created arpeggio. Once again you will notice the arpeggio is automatically adapted to the chord being played.

Feel free to experiment with different lengths. You will likely notice that prime numbered lengths (for example lengths of 3, 5, 7 or 11) produce the most interesting, intricate and complex arpeggio runs (think IDM, Trance), while numbers that are divisible by two or three (2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 etc.) sound more conventional (think 80s pop, Synthwave).

Arpeggio tracks are perfect for conditional triggering and modification (see manual), allowing you to create incredibly intricate arpeggiated runs.

Build up your song with more elements

Now that you have familiarized with programming notes and patterns, you can start building up your track.

For example, put a hi-hat (7/hh) on the off-beat (steps 3, 7, 11, 15) add a snare (6/Sn) or clap on steps 5 and 13.

Conditional triggering and modification

An essential part of creating songs on your Woovebox that sound polished, is conditional triggering and modification.

As the name implies, conditional triggering and modification allows you to trigger and modify notes and samples under certain conditions.

Using conditional triggering and modification, you can create complex, changing patterns from just 16 steps that keep your listener's interest. Some common examples include;

•Complex arpeggios
•Drum fills•Hi-hat ratchets•Snare rolls
•Bass or lead slides•Crash cymbal triggering on every nth pattern playthrough•Note pitch changes

To demonstrate, let's add a crash cymbal that only plays once every 4 pattern playthroughs on the 'Pc' ("percussion") track;

Switch to the 'Pc' track by holding the value knob and pressing 8/Pc. If not already on the sequencer page ('Seq') turn the value knob until the sequencer page is selected. You can also use the shortcut that continuously toggles between the 'Seq' page and any other page that was selected - in that case simply press the value key to toggle to the 'Seq' page.

By default, the 'Pc' track should be initialized with a crash cymbal (you can of course also select something else from the 'Pach' preset page).

Just like programming the other tracks, audition the note or slice you wish to use, and then hold write and press key 1-16 corresponding to the step you wish to program the note or slice on. Usually a crash cymbal sounds on the first beat, so let's program it onto step 1.

Keep holding the write button (or if you already let get, hold the step you just programmed until it starts blinking). While the step is blinking, press the value knob to cycle through the various step parameters you can change. The two parameters that are relevant to conditional triggering are 'when' and 'do'.

The 'when' parameter specifies the condition that needs to be satisfied. By default that condition is 'awys' (always), meaning that your Woovebox will always trigger the step. For our crash cymbal we would like the 'when' condition to something that only triggers once every four playthroughs. With the 'when' parameter selected, turn the value knob until you have found the '1of4' condition.

You can now let go of the step and/or write button you were holding. Press play to hear the crash cymbal play just once and remain silent for the following three other playthroughs.

You are, of course, not just limited to simple playback triggering. The 'do' parameter allows for a great number of modifications that can be made conditionally. We won't list them all here, however it is useful to note that there are generally two versions of each conditional modification. The ones with a dot at the end (for example "SldE." vs "SldE") won't playback at all unless the condition is met. The ones without the dot at the end will play back normally if the condition is not met, and will play back the step modified if the condition is met.

Chaining patterns

The Woovebox is all about "doing more with less". As such you are highly encouraged to prioritize creating variation through chord sequences, conditionals and using Song mode, rather than using more patterns.

However, in cases where a single 16-step pattern is too limiting (for example if you wish to record a long solo or melody), you can chain up to 16 patterns to create longer patterns, up to one long sequence of 256 steps per track.

You can change the current pattern by holding play and pressing 1-16 to change to pattern 1-16.

To chain the current pattern to another, use the value knob to switch to the "Pattern" ("Pttn") page. Change the "Chain next" ("Ch.ne") parameter under the 3/Ld key to reflect the pattern number that should play next after the current pattern. "SELF" means that the next pattern to be played should be the current pattern itself, which is the default behavior.

If you wish to repeat a pattern in a chain a few times before it switches to the next pattern, you can specify how many times the pattern should be repeated by changing the "chain repeat" ("Ch.rP") parameter under the 4/Ar key to reflect the amount of times you wish to loop the pattern before it switches to the next.

Via the context menu on the pattern ("Pttn") page of every track, you can also automate all this. You can quickly chain the next pattern ("Chn Next"), the next three patterns ("Chn 4"), the next seven patterns ("Chn 8") or chain all sixteen patterns ("Chn All").

Create a melody

Many producers can struggle with melodies and motifs. This can particularly be the case, if playing a keyboard or music theory is not your forte.

Many instruments and grooveboxes offer scale-dependent keyboard layouts. This makes sure that whichever note you strike always sounds "good" in the context of the song that is playing. So does your Woovebox;

•Switch to the lead (3/Ld) track.•Scroll to the 'GLob' page.•Press key 4 to verify set the state of the "FLW.C" ("FLLW Chrd") is set to "LGL" or modify the setting so that it is.•Switch back to the "Seq" page.•Press play.

Now jam along with your song. You will notice whichever key you strike tends to sound "good" in the context of the song. That is because "FLLW Chrd" is set to allow all notes that the key/scale permits. This helps you play "in key" no matter what.

However, your Woovebox can take this one step further and assist with finding melodies and motifs even quicker;

Because it knows which chords are playing at which moment in time, the device can dynamically modify the keyboard to play different notes at different times in your song's playback when you press them. It can do so in a way that fits the chord that is currently playing. To engage this mode, set "FLW.C" one of the "trs" modes.

This opens up a new way of playing and improvising melodies; improvisation and playing becomes rhythm and timing-based rather than having to know and anticipate the chords that are playing. Indeed, it is possible to create a complex melody from an "island" of just a few 1-16 keys. A very welcome bonus is that this way of playing is uniquely suited to live playing a small device like the Woovebox with just a few buttons.

To get a feel for how this works, set FLW.C to one of the trS modes, and then keep playing the same one or two (or more) keys while playing back your song. Find keys that sound good to you. As soon as the chord changes, you should notice the keys playing entirely different notes that similarly also tend to sound "good".

Recording live

If you have found a melody and wish to record it live while playing, rather than programming the notes, you can do so by holding write and pressing play.

Your Woovebox will start playing the current pattern chain, and any keys you press will be recorded. Any notes recorded will be automatically quantized to the nearest step.

There are two live recording modes available; overdub ("dub") and erase ("rec");

•Overdub keeps any steps intact as the playhead moves over them, only erasing previous step entries if they are being replaced.•Erase starts erasing every step the playhead moves over, but only starts doing that once your play the first note. It is particularly useful for re-doing takes or portions thereof.

Create a final track with Song mode

If you wish to use your Woovebox for full song production, the device comes with a powerful dedicated Song mode. It is so powerful in fact, that even with just a single 16-step pattern per track, you can create an entire compelling song that keeps the listener's attention start-to-finish.

Once you have created one or more patterns elements and motifs across multiple tracks, you can sequence build-ups of these by switching to Song mode (hold value knob and short-press 16/Song).

Once in Song mode, turn the value knob to the right until the screen reads "Fr.01". You can now create and edit the first fragment (fragment 01) of your song.

When your song plays, the Woovebox steps through a number of fragments. Fragments have a length (specify length by holding write and turning value knob) for which they play and/or effect the tracks you specify. No length (e.g. length equals zero) and no tracks enabled (e.g. all LEDs are off), means that song playback should end at that fragment.

For example, to start fragment 01 off with the kickdrum and the bassline, hold write and short-press 5/Ki and then, while still holding write, short-press 2/bS.

The kick and bass tracks now light up, indicating that they will play for the duration of this fragment.

Much like editing notes on tracks, in a Song mode fragment you can hold an active (e.g. "lit up") track and edit a number of settings. These settings include;

•Behavior ("Behv") (play, mute, fade in/out, and various filter, pitch and stutter effects)•The pattern ("Pttn") that the track should play (note that chains are still respected)•Chord lock ("CdLk") determines whether the track should respond to chord changes
•Retrigger Pattern ("retr.Pt") applies a special step retriggering pattern, allowing for retrigger-based variations - useful for fills and stutters or more radical transformations of notes

Use the context menu to insert, delete or clone fragments.

More

This short tutorial only scratches the surface of your Woovebox' capabilities. Please see the rest of the support and documentation to get to know your Woovebox and music production.

Your Woovebox comes with everything to create full, mastered, rich-sounding compositions that are club or radio-ready.

Tempo and BPM

Your song's BPM setting (1/Cd on the Song's GLob page) flows through to the tempo of many things, from LFO speed divisors to the delay effects; a change in BPM will never throw off any tempo-based aspects of your song.

Everything syncs up throughout the synthesis engine, pattern playback and song mode. This makes your songs sound like well-planned, evolving pieces of music. Sync-locked LFOs can help with subtle build-ups, textures and "ear candy".

Settings that govern tempo (such as LFO rates) or length, often have their settings expressed in terms of quarter notes ("qn" or "q") or bars ("b"). A bar is 16 quarter notes.

Pattern length and BPM divisor

By changing the BPM speed divisor and pattern length, you can influence both the speed by which a pattern is played back, as well as change its time signature.

This allows you to have a pattern play back over a longer period than just four beats per pattern, or use different time signatures to the rest of the patterns, tracks or songs.

You can configure the BPM speed divisor ('b.div' under 1/Cd) and pattern length ('Pt.Ln' under 2/bS) on the 'Pttn' page for each of the 16 patterns for each of the 16 tracks.

Changing time signatures and pattern lengths is an incredibly useful tool to spice up track, particularly when leaving the chord track to play 4/4 . For example, try setting pattern length to 12 for a bassline or supplemental lead track. This yields a 12/16 (e.g. 6/8 time signature).

Using other values (particularly prime numbers such 11 and 13) can also yield very interesting, complex and evolving bass lines, melodies or rythm tracks when contrasted with other "regular" 4/4 (e.g. length 16) tracks in your song. You should notice that these tracks will sound complex and interesting, but never quite random. Think more IDM than Avant-garde.

Tracks

Your Woovebox allows you to work with 16 tracks per song. A track plays a single instrument (for example a bass or synthesizer lead) or a "kit" (for example a drum kit, or a number of pre-defined vocal chant samples, etc.).

With one exception, all tracks are monophonic (meaning they can only sound one note at a time) or paraphonic (meaning they can sound multiple notes at a time, starting at the same time). The one exception is the chord ("Cd") track. It is the only track that is 5-voice polyphonic, allowing for complex chords. The 16 tracks of your Woovebox are designated;

1"Cd" / "chord"; must be used for chord progressions, and is the only track that is 5-voice polyphonic
2"bs" / "bass"; suggested use for basslines3"Ld" / "lead"; suggested use for lead melodies4"Ar" / "arpeggio"; suggested use for arpeggios5"Ki" / "kick"; suggested use for synthesized kickdrums6"Sn" / "snare"; suggested use for synthesized snares7"hh" / "hi-hat"; suggested use for synthesized hi-hats8"Pc" / "percussion"; suggested use for general percussion such as a crash cymbal or synthesized clap9"A1" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 1"; anything extra you might need in your song10"A2" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 2"; anything extra you might need in your song11"A3" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 3"; anything extra you might need in your song12"A4" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 4"; anything extra you might need in your song13"A5" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 5"; anything extra you might need in your song14"A6" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 6"; anything extra you might need in your song15"A7" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 7"; anything extra you might need in your song16"A8" / "all-purpose/auxiliary 8"; anything extra you might need in your song

With the exception of the Cd track, all tracks are interchangeable and their behavior or role in your song can be re-assigned. Or in other words, the designations for all tracks (except Cd) are merely "serving suggestions"; you do not have to put a hi-hat on the hh track if you don't want to, and you can reconfigure the track's behavior if needed. So, if you wish, you can put a bass or arpeggio on the hh track instead. You can have fifteen sample kits, or fifteen snares if you so desire.

Tracks may further be configured to play real-time synthesized sounds, play samples, modify incoming audio, modify the delay buffers, or may be silent altogether (for example when driving other external music gear through MIDI).

Pages

Each track has a number of pages (use the value knob to scroll through these pages) where different aspects are configured;

•'Seq' (Sequencer); sequencing/editing of notes/steps across sixteen patterns (hold play + press 1-16 to switch pattern).•'Pttn' (Pattern); pattern-specific settings such as length, playback speed and chaining.•'GLob' (Global); global settings for the track, such as volume, FX sends, synthesis algorithm, and transpose options.•'Osc1'/'Osc2' (Oscillator 1 and 2); settings for oscillator 1 and 2.•'AMPL' (Amplitude); amplitude-related settings for oscillator 1 and 2, such as ADSR timings/levels and amplitude LFOs.•'FLtr' (Filter); filter-related settings such as filter selection, cut-off frequency, resonance, ADSR timings/levels and filter frequency LFO.•'Pich' (Pitch); pitch-related settings such as pitch quantization, portamento/glide, and pitch LFOs.•'Pan' (Panning); panning-related settings such as left/right balance, auto panning, auto start position, and pitch-to-stereo spread.•'dyna' (Dynamics); dynamics-related settings such as compressor/limiter, gating and side-chaining.•'Pach' (Patch); patch management-related functionality such as selection of presets, copying and dumping of patches (via context menu).

Note that different context menu options may be available depending on the page.

Glob Gobal page

1. M.voL Master Volume

Specifies the master volume as a value between 0 (silent) and 127 (max).

Please note that two special options in the context menu ('rais MVL1' and 'rais MVL8') are available that reduce the volume of all other tracks by 1 and 8 respectively, so that the current track will sound comparatively louder in the mix.

2. trSP Transpose

Specifies the amount of semitones (12 semitones is one octave) to transpose any recorded notes before they play.

3. ALGo Synthesis Algorithm

Specifies the algorithm by which the oscillators for this track should be combined. Please see the sound design section for more information.

4. FLW.C Follow Chord

Specifies how (if at all) notes (played or sequenced) on this track should be adapted and transformed to follow the currently playing ('Cd' track) chord. The following settings are available;

•'OFF' (off); no adaptation of sequenced notes is performed. Live played notes are adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song.
•'LGL'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common use case is live recorded or improvised leads.•'trS.1'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the root note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common use is generative leads.•'trS.2'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the second note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common useis generative leads.•'trS.3'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the second third of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common use is generative leads.•'CLS.3'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord that is closest in pitch - only the first three notes of the chord are considered. A common use case is arpeggios.
•'CLS.A'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord that is closest in pitch. A common use case is arpeggios.•'root'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to play the root note of the current chord. A common use case is basslines.•'tr.1.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the root note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song, inclusive of the root + 7 semitones("fifth") as a valid note. A common use is generative leads.•'tr.2.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the second note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song, inclusive of the root + 7 semitones("fifth") as a valid note. A common use is generative leads.•'tr.3.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the third note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song, inclusive of the root + 7 semitones("fifth") as a valid note. A common use is generative leads.•'CL.3.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord or root + 7 semitones("fifth") that is closest in pitch - only the first three notes of the chord are considered. A common use case is arpeggios.
•'CL.A.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord or root + 7 semitones ("fifth") that is closest in pitch. A common use case is arpeggios.•'roo.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to play the root note or root + 7 semitones ("fifth") of the current chord. A common use case is Motown-style basslines.

Please note that chord adaptation is ignored if track behavior ('bEhv') is set to "sample kit" ('SMP.K'). The follow chord override option is not available on the chord ('Cd') track itself.

5. QLty Spectral Quality

The Spectral Quality ('Qlty') parameter controls a novel signal processing feature that further optimizes DSP usage, that can also be used for creative effects.

In order to save DSP resources, your Woovebox analyses the precise spectral resolution a sound requires during real-time synthesis of a voice. In cases where a lower spectral resolution can be used without impacting the fidelity of the sound, your Woovebox can automatically do so to free up DSP resources. You can also manually force any track to render at a lower resolution, either to save DSP resources or for creative effects.

When automatically determined ('auto') by your Woovebox, the loss in resolution is not (or barely) audible - a little bit like how MP3s trade storage space for audio fidelity. Any resolution reduction determined by 'auto' will only kick in when DSP usage exceeds 70%.

•'auto'; lets your Woovebox decide the required spectral resolution to faithfully reproduce the track's patch, saving DSP resources where it can. Tracks with 'auto' set will always render at full ('FuLL') quality spectral resolution when exported via Wooveconnect. Any resolution reduction determined by 'auto' will only kick in when DSP usage exceeds 70%.•'FuLL'; forces full spectral resolution allocation for the track, preventing loss of resolution at all times (e.g. even when that loss would not be perceptible).
•'50'; forces 50% spectral resolution allocation for the track. Depending on the patch, the effect may be noticeable in the very high frequencies and when applying filters and saturation. In that case, this mode can also be used as a creative effect. Tracks with '50' set will render precisely as audible (e.g. with reduced spectral resolution allocated) when exported to .WAV via Wooveconnect.•'25'; forces 25% spectral resolution allocation for the track. Depending on the patch the effect may be noticeable in the high and mid frequencies, as well as when applying filters and saturation. In that case, this mode can also be used as a "lo-fi" creative effect (see lo-fi section). Tracks with '25' set will render precisely as audible (e.g. with reduced spectral resolution allocated) when exported to .WAV via Wooveconnect.

Good candidates for aggressive manual spectral quality optimization are usually patches and sounds with little to no high frequencies playing, such as basses and bass drums.

Please note that you can at any time see how many spectral quality-reduced voices are playing by putting 'DSP Info' (Song globals page) into 'Spec Qual' mode (see Understanding DSP Load section).

6. Snd Sound Category

Describes the general "human-identifiable" sound/role that this track plays in the composition.

For example, tracks set to "lead" ('LEad') will offer lead presets to choose from on the Patch ('Pach') page.

The following sound categories are available;

•'Bass' (bass); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a bassline.
•'Lead' (lead); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a lead.•'Arpg' (arpeggio); the primary use of the sound on this track is for an arpeggio.•'Chrd' (chord); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a chord.•'Kick' (kick drum); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a kick drum.
•'Snre' (snare drum); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a snare drum.•'HiHt' (hi hat); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a hi-hat.•'Perc' (percussion); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a percussive element.•'Para' (paraphonic); the primary use of the sound on this track is for a paraphonic chord.•'Efct' (effect); the primary use of the sound on this track is for an effect.

7. bEhv Track Behavior

Track behavior defines how a track should behave in terms of playback, UI, functionality, stem rendering, file management and more.

For example, tracks set to "sample kit" ('SMP.K') will disable chord adaptation and enable a slice number parameter, allowing up to 16 slices to be triggered per track.

The following behavior types are available;

•'Bass' (bass); this track behaves like a bassline.
•'Lead' (lead); this track behaves like a lead.
•'Arpg' (arpeggio); this track behaves like and arpeggio.
•'Kick' (kick); this track behaves like a kick.
•'Snre' (snare); this track behaves like a snare drum.
•'HiHt' (hi-hat); this track behaves like a hi-hat.
•'Perc' (percussion); this track behaves like a percussive instrument.
•'SmpL' (sampled instrument); this track behaves like sampled instrument
•'SmpK' (sample kit); this track behaves like a sample kit
•'Slnt' (silent); this track is silent•'MuIn' (multi-instrument); this track is configured to allow per-step switching between instruments. See also multi-instrument mode.

8. MIdI MIDI channel assign

Specifies the MIDI channel that the track should send its note and controller messages on.

9. SwnG Swing

Specifies the amount of swing that should be applied to notes played on the track.

Swing, also known as shuffle, is a rhythmic feel or groove commonly used in music production. It involves altering the timing and emphasis of notes within a musical phrase, creating a distinctive "swung" or "shuffled" rhythm. The offbeat notes are delayed or played slightly behind the beat, while the downbeat notes are played on the beat.

The SwnG value represents a percentage of travel between the current step and the next step. E.g. a value of 0 will never play any notes belated (swing off), while a value of 50 will play a "swung" note - exactly between two steps.

Swing can greatly influence the overall mood and character of a musical piece. It adds a human touch, injecting a sense of groove, spontaneity, and playfulness into the music. The degree of swing can vary, ranging from a subtle, barely perceptible swing to a pronounced and exaggerated swing feel, depending on the style and context of the music.

Please note that swing is applied on a 4/4 basis, even if your pattern has a non-4/4-compatible length. The result, when applied to polyrythms (for example a bassline with an odd pattern length) can sound be extremely "groovy" yet complex, making the impression a complex bassline was programmed or played live.

10. bt.Cr bit crush

This parameter specifies how many least significant bits should be set ("crushed") to 0, assuming a 16-bit (~96db) nominal dynamic range. Loss of bit-depth will become audible for most humans at around 7 or 8 bits of loss. The effect is typically audible as a quintessential "hiss" in quieter parts of an instrument's decay or release stage, and evokes the quintessential sound of early 80s digital drum machines.

Two types of bit crushing can be selected; pre- or post-filter/clip distortion. Negative values are applied pre-filter/distortion (signified by a 'Pr' prefix). Positive values are applied post-filter/distortion (signified by a 'Po' prefix).

For example, to faithfully emulate the sound of vintage digital audio reproduction circuitry, the bit crushing should be performed right after oscillator synthesis and before filtering, effects, dynamics or mixing.

Please note that bit crushing should not be confused with sample rate reduction (for which your Woovebox provides two other settings/methods).

11. SatU Saturation

Progressively saturates louder parts of the signal, making them sound subtly "warmer" and analog. Please note that this setting interacts with the filter in order to more faithfully emulate analog-style filters (a found in the 303, MS20, etc.) when applied.

12. dist Distortion

Specifies one of two types of distortion and an amount;

•Positive amounts specify a traditional clipping distortion; the signal is multiplied by 2^value ("two to the power of the value") and any signal above a threshold is truncated to that threshold. These values are indicated by a 'CL' prefix.
•Negative amounts specify a fold back distortion; the signal is multiplied by 2^value ("two to the power of the value") and any signal above a threshold is folded back to below the threshold. These values are indicated by a 'Fo' prefix.

13. rEvb Reverb Send

Specifies the amount of signal to send to the reverb unit.

14. chor Chorus Send

Specifies the amount of signal to send to the chorus unit.

15. dely Delay Send

Specifies the amount of signal to send to the primary delay unit.

16. dly2 Delay 2 Send

Specifies the amount of signal to send to the secondary delay unit.

Please note that having this parameter set to non-zero in any of your tracks, will activate the secondary delay unit, incurring a modest DSP resource penalty.

Context menu

The following context menu options are available on a track's 'GLob' page;

•'raiS MVL1' (raise master volume by one) raises the master volume perceptually by reducing the master volume ('M.VoL'/'MStr VoL' under the 1/Cd key) of all other tracks by one. Use this feature if you need to raise the volume of one track beyond 127 (max). Please note that the attenuation is an absolute value, and as a result some tracks may have their volume reduced to 0 and become inaudible.•'raiS MVL8' (raise master volume by eight) raises the master volume perceptually by reducing the master volume ('M.VoL'/'MStr VoL' under the 1/Cd key) of all other tracks by eight. Use this feature if you need to raise the volume of one track beyond 127 (max). Please note that the attenuation is an absolute value, and as a result some tracks may have their volume reduced to 0 and become inaudible.

Patterns / Pttn page

If a Track is the member of a band or orchestra, then a pattern is a page of sheet music that each member is reading. Each track can play up to 16 unique patterns, and patterns may be chained if needed. A pattern itself is made up of a maximum of 16 steps. When a pattern plays (press the play button to start or stop playing), each track steps through these steps

By default most tracks step through their patterns at a speed of 16 step (e.g. 4 beats, or one bar) per pattern. The overall speed is determined by the "BPM" setting in the Song settings. However it is possible to modify this speed (see "b.div"/"BPM div" parameter on the "Pttn" page) on a per-pattern basis. Note that, by default, the Chord track is the only exception; the default settings cause the pattern to be stepped through at a slower pace (there "b.div"/"BPM div" is set to divisor of 4 instead of 1, so that a a pattern now takes 4x as long to be stepped through, compared to the other tracks.

It is also possible to change the length of a pattern to something smaller than 16 steps (see "Pt.Ln"/"Ptrn Len" parameter) on a per-pattern basis. Changing the length of a pattern can create complex and interesting sounding polymeters, and can even allow for different time signatures within one song.

Pattern playback can further be influenced by mute/unmute cycling (MU.Ln/UM.Ln/M.U.OF); this can make a a track's playback cut in and out rhythmically. Song mode fragments can further influence how a pattern is played back by applying re-triggering effects and automation.

Given the vast amount of ways patterns and their constituent steps can be modified and transformed, it is possible (and common) to create full, complex sounding songs with just one pattern per track.

1. b.div BPM Divisor

Governs the speed at which the track steps through this pattern. The specified value is a divider, meaning that the default speed (as determined by the "BPM" setting in the Song settings) of is divided by the value; a divisor of 1 yields the default speed, a divisor of 2 doubles the time it takes for the pattern to be played, a divisor of 4 quadruples the time it takes for the pattern to be played and so on.

2. Pt.Ln Pattern Length

Sets the pattern length in steps. Changing the length of a pattern can create complex and interesting sounding polymeters, and allow for different time signatures within one song. Note that changing this setting to below 16, will cause the higher-numbered steps to become unavailable for programming and modification. Trying to program or modify these steps will result in a "ChnG Len" error message, asking you to change the Pt.Ln setting first.

3. Ch.ne Chain Next

Specifies the pattern number that should be played after playing this pattern. A pattern number of "Self" will just keep playing the current pattern into infinity.

4. Ch.rP Chain Repeat

Specifies how many times the current pattern should play before switching to the next pattern (as specified by Ch.nE).

5. Mu.Ln Mute length

Specifies how long the pattern should mute for. If 'Mu.Ln' + 'UM.Ln' does not the equal pattern length (Pt.Ln), interesting polymeters can eventuate. Muting starts when the pattern starts playing, but this position can be offset by the 'Mu.Of' (mute offset parameter) to be later or earlier.

6. UM.Ln Unmute length

Specifies how long the pattern should unmute for. If 'Mu.Ln' + 'UM.Ln' does not the equal pattern length (Pt.Ln), interesting polymeters can eventuate. Unmuting happens after the amount of muting steps specified by 'Mu.Ln' have elapsed.

Note that the time when 'Mu.Ln' begins, can be offset to occur later or earlier using the 'Mu.Of' (mute offset) parameter. This means that it is possible to change 'Mu.Of' in such a way that a pattern starts off unmuted instead; simply set 'Mu.Of' equal to negative 'Mu.Ln'.

7. M.U.OF Mute unmute offset

Unmute shifts/'offsets' the time when the 'Mu.Ln' period begins (later or earlier). This, for example, means that it is possible to change 'Mu.Of' in such a way that a pattern starts off unmuted instead; simply set 'Mu.Of' equal to negative 'Mu.Ln'.

8. Pt.rS Playthrough Counter Reset Behavior

Specifies how playthroughs should be counted for conditional behavior upon triggering of this pattern number (for example in a fragment or scene). The following options are available;

•'AUdb' (audible); playthrough counters are only reset if the fragment or scene was not explicitly playing this pattern number before (for example if the track has now become audible, or if a scene or fragment has a different patter number programmed than the last).
•'Awys ' (always); playthrough counters are always reset when this pattern number is encountered, including as part of a pattern chain. Use this option if you are using repeats (4/Ar/Ch.rP Chain Repeat) and need to make sure that the playthrough counter is reset at the start of the repeats.

9. FLW.C Follow Chord Override

Specifies an optional override of the global ('GLob' page) follow chord (4/FLW.C) behavior.

The same settings are available as for the global "follow chord" parameter with the exception 'GLob' indicating no override (use global setting on 'GLob' page)

•'GLob' (no override); use global setting on 'GLob' page.
•'OFF' (off); no adaptation of sequenced notes is performed. Live played notes are adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song.
•'LGL'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common use case is live recorded or improvised leads.•'trS.1'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the root note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common use is generative leads.•'trS.2'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the second note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common useis generative leads.•'trS.3'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the second third of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song. A common use is generative leads.•'CLS.3'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord that is closest in pitch - only the first three notes of the chord are considered. A common use case is arpeggios.
•'CLS.A'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord that is closest in pitch. A common use case is arpeggios.•'root'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to play the root note of the current chord. A common use case is basslines.•'tr.1.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the root note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song, inclusive of the root + 7 semitones("fifth") as a valid note. A common use is generative leads.•'tr.2.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the second note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song, inclusive of the root + 7 semitones("fifth") as a valid note. A common use is generative leads.•'tr.3.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are transposed by the third note of the chord, and then adapted to always be in the key and scale of the song, inclusive of the root + 7 semitones("fifth") as a valid note. A common use is generative leads.•'CL.3.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord or root + 7 semitones("fifth") that is closest in pitch - only the first three notes of the chord are considered. A common use case is arpeggios.
•'CL.A.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to always play the note of the current chord or root + 7 semitones ("fifth") that is closest in pitch. A common use case is arpeggios.•'roo.5'. Sequenced and live played notes are adapted to play the root note or root + 7 semitones ("fifth") of the current chord. A common use case is Motown-style basslines.

Please note that chord adaptation is ignored if track behavior ('bEhv') is set to "sample kit" ('SMP.K'). The follow chord override option is not available on the chord ('Cd') track itself.

14. Md.Pc MIDI Patch

(firmware 2817+) Selects MIDI Patch change number that should be sent out when this pattern starts playing. Note that the number is 1-based.

15. Md.bM MIDI Patch bank MSB

(firmware 2817+) Selects MIDI Patch bank MSB that should be accompany the patch change that is sent out when this pattern starts playing.

16. Md.bL MIDI Patch bank LSB

(firmware 2817+) Selects MIDI Patch bank LSB that should be accompany the patch change that is sent out when this pattern starts playing.

Context menu

The following options are available on the 'Pttn' page;

•'Chn nEXt' (chain next pattern) chains next pattern to the current pattern (see also chaining patterns in the quick start guide).•'Chn 4' (chain next three patterns) chains the next three patterns to the current pattern for a total chain of four patterns (see also chaining patterns in the quick start guide).•'Chn 8' (chain next seven patterns) chains the next seven patterns to the current pattern for a total chain of eight patterns (see also chaining patterns in the quick start guide).•'Chn ALL' (chain all sixteen patterns) chains the next fifteen patterns to the current pattern for a total chain that comprises the full available sixteen patterns (see also chaining patterns in the quick start guide).•'StEP LEn' (step length in milliseconds) shows how long one step takes on this track in milliseconds. Step length is influenced by the song's BPM setting and the current pattern's BPM divider ('b.div'/'bPM div') under the 'Pttn' page's 1/Cd key. Knowing this value is important for tempo-based sound design and synchronization such as envelope times, hold times, or for timing external gear (for example delay effects, LFO rates, etc.).

Live pattern recording

If you prefer to record your patterns by live playing, you can do so in two ways.

•"dub" (hold write + short press play) keeps steps that were already recorded.
•"Pnch" (hold write + long press play) deletes steps that were already recorded as soon as the play head reaches them, but only after you have recorded your first step, aka "auto punch-in".

The "dub" mode is useful for adding more notes to a pattern or pattern chain.

The "rEc" mode is useful for re-doing parts of a pattern or pattern chain, erasing the previous take (or part of a take).

Any played steps are auto-quantized to the nearest step, meaning that if you were early or late, the recorded note will be pulled forward or backward to the nearest step respectively.

By chaining up to 16 patterns, you can record up to 256 steps at once.

Conditional triggering and modification

An essential part of creating songs on your Woovebox that sound polished and varied, is conditional triggering and modification.

As the name implies, conditional triggering and modification allows you to trigger or affect notes and samples under certain conditions. Using conditional triggering and modification, you can create complex, changing patterns from just 16 steps that keep your listener's interest. Some common examples include;

•Complex arpeggios
•Drum fills•Hi-hat ratchets•Snare rolls
•Bass or lead slides•Crash cymbal triggering on every nth pattern playthrough•Note pitch changes•Strumming chords up and down

Conditional triggers consist of two settings that are set when editing a step. These settings are;

•'when'; specifies the condition that needs to be satisfied. By default that condition is 'awys' (always), meaning that your Woovebox will always trigger the step.
•'do'; specifies the modification that should be made if the condition is satisfied.

Example

Conditional triggering and modification of steps turns a boring, repetitive single-bar pattern into an interesting, evolving tapestry that plays out over many bars.

This example demonstrates a typical use of conditional triggering and modification. Note that this example refrains from demonstrating how pattern playback can further be influenced by chord auto transpose, punch-in/out, and song mode trigger patterns. It is however worth noting that a single 16-step pattern can easily be sufficient for an entire song once combined with forementioned features.

Without conditional triggering

A 16-step (1-bar) pattern with all elements in place.

With conditional triggering and modification

The exact same basic 16-step (1-bar) pattern with all elements being conditionally triggered and modified.

Demonstrated are pitch changes (note and octave), pitch induced timbre modifcations (hi-hat), pitch slides/portamento, ratchets (fast retriggering), conditional muting and prime-numbered intervals.

'When' conditions

The following 'when' conditions are available;

•'Awys'; Always perform the 'do' modification•'1of2'; Perform the 'do' modification once on the first playthrough of the pattern, then skip the modification one playthrough, and so on•'1of3'; Perform the 'do' modification once on the first playthrough of the pattern, then skip the modification two playthroughs, and so on•'1of4'; Perform the 'do' modification once on the first playthrough of the pattern, then skip the modification three playthroughs, and so on•'1of5'; Perform the 'do' modification once on the first playthrough of the pattern, then skip the modification four playthroughs, and so on•'1of8'; Perform the 'do' modification once on the first playthrough of the pattern, then skip the modification seven playthroughs, and so on•'1o16'; Perform the 'do' modification once on the first playthrough of the pattern, then skip the modification fifteen playthroughs, and so on•'PTh2'; Skip the first playthrough and perform the 'do' modification on the second playthrough, and so on•'PTh3'; Skip the first two playthroughs and perform the 'do' modification on the third playthrough, and so on•'PTh4'; Skip the first three playthroughs and perform the 'do' modification on the fourth playthrough, and so on•'PTh5'; Skip the first four playthroughs and perform the 'do' modification on the fifth playthrough, and so on•'PTh8'; Skip the first seven playthroughs and perform the 'do' modification on the eighth playthrough, and so on•'PT16'; Skip the first fifteen playthroughs and perform the 'do' modification on the sixteenth playthrough, and so on•'1an3'; Perform the 'do' modification on the first and third playthrough of the pattern•'1an4'; Perform the 'do' modification on the first and fourth playthrough of the pattern•'1an5'; Perform the 'do' modification on the first and fifth playthrough of the pattern•'1an8'; Perform the 'do' modification on the first and eighth playthrough of the pattern•'1a16'; Perform the 'do' modification on the first and sixteenth playthrough of the pattern•'Pr25'; There is a random 25% chance the 'do' modification is performed•'Pr50'; There is a random 50% chance the 'do' modification is performed•'Pr75'; There is a random 75% chance the 'do' modification is performed

The used random values for the Pr25, Pt50 and Pr75 conditions can be made to repeat in exactly the same way every time a song is played back. This can be accomplished by setting the random seed parameter ('SEEd') under 7/hh on a song's global page ('GLob') to a number between 1 and 32767. When this parameter is set to 'off', true randomness is used otherwise, and every song playback will be different.

'Do' step modifications

The following 'do' step modifications are available;

•'Play'; Simply play the step.•'SLdE'; Play with 303-style pitch slide from the previous played pitch. Play normally if condition is not satisfied
•'SLdE.'; Play with 303-style pitch slide from the previous played pitch. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Acnt'; Play with 303-style accent (increased velocity, slightly opened up filter). Play normally if condition is not satisfied•'Acnt.'; Play with 303-style accent (increased velocity, slightly opened up filter). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'SlAc'; Combine 'SldE' and 'Acnt'. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'SlAc.'; Combine 'SldE' and 'Acnt'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Up1o'; Play step one octave higher. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Up1o.'; Play step one octave higher. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'SlU1'; Combine 'SldE' and 'Up1o'. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'SlU1.'; Combine 'SldE' and 'Up1o'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'AcU1'; Combine 'Acnt' and 'Up1o'. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'AcU1.'; Combine 'Acnt' and 'Up1o'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'SAU1'; Combine 'SLdE', 'Acnt' and 'Up1o'. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'SAU1.'; Combine 'SLdE', 'Acnt' and 'Up1o'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn1o'; Play step one octave lower. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn1o.'; Play step one octave higher. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Sld1'; Combine 'SldE' and 'Dn1o'. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Sld1.'; Combine 'SldE' and 'Dn1o'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Acd1'; Combine 'Acnt' and 'Dn1o'. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Acd1.'; Combine 'Acnt' and 'Dn1o'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'SAd1'; Combine 'SLdE', 'Acnt' and 'Dn1o'. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'SAd1.'; Combine 'SLdE', 'Acnt' and 'Dn1o'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'TStp'; Tape stop effect (samples only). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'TStp.'; Tape stop effect (samples only). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'TStr'; Tape start effect (samples only). Note that sample remains perfectly synced with BPM. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'TStr.'; Tape start effect (samples only). Note that sample remains perfectly synced with BPM. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Rvse'; Play in reverse (samples only). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Rvse.'; Play in reverse (samples only). Note that sample remains perfectly synced with BPM. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'NoDl'; Play with delay FX send temporarily canceled. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'NoDl.'; Play with delay FX send temporarily canceled. Note that sample remains perfectly synced with BPM. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'PLFO'; Play with pitch LFO engaged. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only has an effect if 'P.L.tr' on the Osc1/Osc2 pages is set to 'Cond'. Can be used for vibrato effects.
•'PLFO.'; Play with pitch LFO engaged. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only has an effect if 'P.L.tr' on the Osc1/Osc2 pages is set to 'Cond'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Can be used for vibrato effects.•'ALFO'; Play with amplitude LFO engaged. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only has an effect if 'A.L.tr' on the Osc1/Osc2 pages is set to 'Cond'. Can be used for tremolo effects.
•'ALFO.'; Play with amplitude LFO engaged. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only has an effect if 'A.L.tr' on the Osc1/Osc2 pages is set to 'Cond'. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Can be used for tremolo effects.•'Up1n'; Modify note pitch up by one note on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Up1n.'; Modify note pitch up by one note on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Up2n'; Modify note pitch up by two notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Up2n.'; Modify note pitch up by two notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Up3n'; Modify note pitch up by three notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Up3n.'; Modify note pitch up by three notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Up4n'; Modify note pitch up by four notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Up4n.'; Modify note pitch up by four notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Up5n'; Modify note pitch up by five notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Up5n.'; Modify note pitch up by five notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Up6n'; Modify note pitch up by six notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Up6n.'; Modify note pitch up by six notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn1n'; Modify note pitch down by one note on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn1n.'; Modify note pitch down by one note on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn2n'; Modify note pitch down by two notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn2n.'; Modify note pitch down by two notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn3n'; Modify note pitch down by three notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn3n.'; Modify note pitch down by three notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn4n'; Modify note pitch down by four notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn4n.'; Modify note pitch down by four notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn5n'; Modify note pitch down by five notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn5n.'; Modify note pitch down by five notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn6n'; Modify note pitch down by six notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'Dn6n.'; Modify note pitch down by six notes on selected scale (before any auto-transpose). Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'X 2'; Play step and re-trigger once more within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'X 2.'; Play step and re-trigger once more within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'X 3'; Play step and re-trigger another two times within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'X 3.'; Play step and re-trigger another two times within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'X 4'; Play step and re-trigger another three times within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'X 4.'; Play step and re-trigger another three times within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'X 5'; Play step and re-trigger another four times within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'X 5.'; Play step and re-trigger another four times within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'X 6'; Play step and re-trigger another five times within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'X 6.'; Play step and re-trigger another five times within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'X 7'; Play step and re-trigger another six times within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'X 7.'; Play step and re-trigger another six times within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'X 8'; Play step and re-trigger another seven times within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied.•'X 8.'; Play step and re-trigger another seven times within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied.•'GUp2'; Play step and re-trigger once more at a higher note (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.
•GUp2.'; Play step and re-trigger once more at a higher note (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp3'; Play step and re-trigger two times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp3.'; Play step and re-trigger two times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp4'; Play step and re-trigger three times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp4.'; Play step and re-trigger three times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp5'; Play step and re-trigger four times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp5.'; Play step and re-trigger four times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp6'; Play step and re-trigger five times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp6.'; Play step and re-trigger five times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp7'; Play step and re-trigger six times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp7.'; Play step and re-trigger six times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp8'; Play step and re-trigger seven times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GUp8.'; Play step and re-trigger seven times more at a ever higher notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•GDn2'; Play step and re-trigger once more at a lower note (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•GDn2.'; Play step and re-trigger once more at a lower note (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn3'; Play step and re-trigger two times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn3.'; Play step and re-trigger two times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn4'; Play step and re-trigger three times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn4.'; Play step and re-trigger three times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn5'; Play step and re-trigger four times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn5.'; Play step and re-trigger four times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn6'; Play step and re-trigger five times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn6.'; Play step and re-trigger five times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn7'; Play step and re-trigger six times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn7.'; Play step and re-trigger six times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn8'; Play step and re-trigger seven times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Play normally if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'GDn8.'; Play step and re-trigger seven times more at a ever lower notes (as determined by "FLW.C") within the same step duration. Do not play step at all if condition is not satisfied. Only available on non-chord tracks.•'StU1'-'StU8'; Strum the notes of a chord track chord up. Only available on chord track. For StUn,the speed between strummed notes in milliseconds is calculated as 3750 / song BPM / n.
•'Std1'-'Std8'; Strum the notes of a chord track chord up. Only available on chord track. For Stdn, the speed between strummed notes in milliseconds is calculated as 3750 / song BPM / n.

Chords

Chords play an important role not just in music in general, but particularly in the way your Woovebox generates notes and plays back your patterns. So much so that your Woovebox has a dedicated chord ('Cd') track.

A chord is a combination of musical notes played simultaneously. It creates a harmonious sound that adds depth and complexity to music.

A chord progression is the order in which chords are played in a piece of music. It's like a roadmap of the harmony in a song. Different chords can create different feelings and emotions, and by arranging them in a specific order, songwriters can guide the listener through a journey of different emotions.

As such, a great way to start off a Woovebox song (besides programming a rhythm), is to program two or more chords to create a chord progression. The Woovebox makes it very easy to come up with chord progressions of your own, or can even provide you with random (but appropriate sounding) progressions.

More importantly for your Woovebox, chords set the tone for the rest of your song's other elements/tracks (such as basslines, melodies, arpeggios, paraphonic parts and even things like "ear candy" and effects). These elements can all be made to react and adapt to the chords being played in various musical ways, for example via the "FLW.C" ("follow chord") parameter on the "GLob" page of any non-chord tracks. It is one of the many ways, your Woovebox does more with less.

The chord track (1/Cd) is the only "special" track that works a little different to all the other (2/bs-16/A8) tracks. Whereas you normally record single notes, hits or sample triggers) to all the other tracks, the chord track records chords (e.g. multiple notes at once that sound harmonically interesting). The chord track is the only track that is truly polyphonic (up to five notes), meaning it is the only track that can play multiple, complex voices at the same time (your Woovebox is also capable of reproducing some more limited paraphonic sounds per track - the chords these tracks play are, however, informed by the 'Cd' track and can only consist of 4 notes max).

Unique to the chord track, rather than single notes, two sets ("types") of seven chords are laid out across the 1-16 keyboard;

•Press key 1, 2, 3, (but not 4), 5, 6, 7, 8 to hear the different chords at your disposal for chord type 1.•Press key 9, 10, 11, (but not 12), 13, 14, 15, 16 to hear the different chords at your disposal for chord type 2.•Key 4/CdHi and 12/CdLo cycle through the different types of chords available for chord type 1 and 2 respectively.

The following chord types can be laid out across the upper and/or lower parts of the keyboard;

•'Ma; major (happy, simple) (3 notes)
•'Mi'; minor (sad, serious) (3 notes)•'s2'; suspended 2 (bright, nervous) (3 notes)•'s4' suspended 4 (bright, nervous) (3 notes)•'au' augmented (anxious, suspenseful) (3 notes)•'di' diminished (tense, unpleasant) (3 notes)•'7' major 7th (thoughtful, soft, "jazzy") (4 notes)•'M7' minor 7th (moody, contemplative) (4 notes)•'o7' dominant 7th (strong, restless, found in jazz and blues, as well as jazz-inspired r&b, hip hop, & EDM) (4 notes)•'a7' augmented 7th (4 notes)•'7a' augmented major 7th (4 notes)•'h7' half-diminished 7th (augmented minor 7th) (4 notes)•'77' minormajor 7th (4 notes)•'d7' diminished 7th (4 notes)•'7d' diminished major 7th (4 notes)•'pw' power chord (3 notes)•'9' major 9th (5 notes)•'M9' minor 7th (5 notes)•'o9' dominant 9th (5 notes)
•'a9' augmented 9th (5 notes)•'9a' augmented major 9th (5 notes)•'h9' half-diminished 9th (5 notes)•'99' minormajor 9th (5 notes)•'d9' diminished 9th (5 notes)•'9d' diminished major 9th (5 notes)•'6' major 6th (4 notes)•'m6' minor 6th (4 notes)

As you can see, the maximum polyphony used up is five notes at a time by these chord types. For triad chords (e.g. chords that use less than four notes at the same time), it is possible to specify what your patch should do with the "left over" fourth note. Specifically, it is possible to instruct the patch to play any "left over" note at a lower octave via the 'bS.tr' (bass transpose) parameter under 4/Ar on the 'Glob' page.

Please note that unless "free chord" ('FrE.C' under 4/Ar on in the Song's 'GLob' page) is set to 'yes' (firmware 2421+) , a chord's root note will always conform to the key/scale you chose for your song upon playback (you may still program an root note that does not fit the scale). For example, with the default C major scale, possible chord root notes are always the white keys of an imaginary piano (e.g. C, D, E, F, G, A, B) but not the black keys. Changing the root note of a chord by editing a step on the chord track, will always sound/play the closest "legal" note of your chosen key/scale/mode. So if you would, for example, choose a root note of C sharp for a song that is in the key of C major, your Woovebox will play a chord with a C root note (closest "legal" note for that scale), and not a C sharp (which is an "illegal" note for that scale).

By holding a programmed step, the programmed chord - in addition to auditioning - will briefly be displayed in the top four characters of the screen.

The conditionals available for the chord track vary slightly; instead of glissando (mostly appropriate for single notes), strumming up and down at various speeds is available as a conditional.

Multi-instrument mode is also available for the chord track, allowing you to "borrow" the sounds of other tracks and play them polyphonically. Switching on multi-instrument mode can be accomplished by changing the 'MuIn' (Mult Inst) parameter under 7/hh on the chord track's 'GLob' page to 'MLti'.

Diatonic mode

For your convenience (or if you are not that familiar with the different types of chords and how they sound), the chord track starts off in "diatonic" mode (unless you are using a more exotic key/scale that does not permit this).

Without delving too deeply into music theory, it is enough to know that the seven diatonic chords form the harmonic foundation of Western music, providing the basis for creating progressions and harmonies that sound cohesive within the key. You will notice that you can construct most popular chord progressions with just those seven chords. The 7th variants of the diatonic chords (e.g. using one note extra) are also available for some different "flavouring".

Diatonic playing is only available if the used scale comprises seven notes (e.g. is "heptatonic").

Inversions

In music theory, a chord inversion refers to a chord where the notes are rearranged in a different order from the original chord. Or in laymen's terms; it's the same chord, but just sounds "different".

Chord inversions refer to the rearrangement of the notes in a chord so that a different note other than the root (the fundamental pitch of the chord) is the lowest sounding note.

For example, in a C major chord, the root is C and the other two notes are E and G. In the first inversion of this chord, E becomes the lowest sounding note and the arrangement of the notes is E-G-C. In the second inversion, G is the lowest sounding note and the arrangement is G-C-E.

Inversions allow for greater harmonic variety and can add more interest and tension to chord progressions in music. They can help turn a boring chord progression into a more interesting one.

You can give any programmed chord on the 'Cd' track a fixed inversion (or even an automated inversion!) by editing the 'Inv' parameter, e.g. on any programmed chord;

•Hold step 1-16 until blinking•Cycle through parameters by pressing value to find the 'Inv' parameter•Turn value to select an inversion type

As with regular notes on other tracks, you can make these inversions conditional (for example, only play the inversion on every second playthrough of the chord progression, etc.).

The following inversions are at your disposal;

•'root'; no special inversion•'1st'; first inversion•'2nd'; second inversion (no effect if chord is a power 'pw' chord)
•'3rd'; third inversion (no effect if a chord is a triad, e.g. only has three notes)•'1st.d'; first inversion, with chord transposed one octave down
•'2nd.d'; second inversion, with chord transposed one octave down (no effect if chord is a power 'pw' chord)
•'3rd.d'; third inversion, with chord transposed one octave down (no effect if a chord is a triad, e.g. only has three notes)•'rand'; pick any of the above inversions at random•'auto'; depending on playthrough, cycle through root, 1st, 2nd (if applicable), 3rd (if applicable), back down to 2nd (if applicable), 1st, root, 3rd one octave down (if applicable), 2nd one octave down (if applicable), 1st one octave down, back up to 2nd one octave down (if applicable), 3rd one octave down (if applicable), and repeat.•'auto2'; cycle through root, 3rd one octave down (if applicable), 2nd one octave down (if applicable), 1st one octave down, back up to 2nd one octave down (if applicable), 3rd one octave down (if applicable), root, 1st, 2nd (if applicable), 3rd (if applicable), back down to 2nd (if applicable), 1st, and repeat.

Example

Chord progression without inversions

Chord progression with random inversions

Popular chords

For some people, using chords come naturally, and the Woovebox make easy to find a chord progression you like. There are no rules.

However, if this is all new to you, here are three progressions (assuming the default C major / A minor scale) that form the basis of many hit songs. The diatonic chord playing mode makes it super easy to play and program these.

I-V-vi-IV ("Axis of Awesome")

In the key of C major, the I-V-vi-IV chord progression would consist of the following chords:

I - C major (C-E-G) V - G major (G-B-D) vi - A minor (A-C-E) IV - F major (F-A-C)

So the chord progression would be C-G-Am-F. This progression is a very popular and widely used chord progression in modern music, and is often referred to as the "Axis of Awesome" progression because it can be used to play dozens of popular songs.

With your Woovebox' song key and scale in C major (which is the default) and the chord track's upper 8 keys in diatonic mode ("diat", also default). You can press the 5/ki key for C major 1/Cd for G major, 2/bs for A minor and 8/Pc for F major.

vi-IV-I-V

In the key of C major, the vi-IV-I-V chord progression would consist of the following chords:

vi - A minor (A-C-E) IV - F major (F-A-C) I - C major (C-E-G) V - G major (G-B-D)

So the chord progression would be Am-F-C-G. This chord progression is also quite common and is often used in pop, rock, and folk music. It is a versatile progression that can be used in a variety of tempos and styles, and is often used as the basis for simple and catchy melodies.

With your Woovebox' song key and scale in C major (which is the default) and the chord track's upper 8 keys in diatonic mode ("diat", also default). You can press the 2/bs for A minor, 8/Pc for F major, 5/ki key for C major, and 1/Cd for G major.

i-bVII-bVI-V ("Andalusian Cadence")

Assuming a key of C major / A minor, the i-bVII-bVI-V chord progression would consist of the following chords:

i - A minor (A-C-E) bVII - G major (G-B-D) bVI - F major (F-A-C) V - E major (E-G#-B)

So the chord progression would be Am-G-F-E. This chord progression is often used in rock and pop music, and has a melancholy, moody feel to it that can be used to evoke emotion in a song. It can be played in a variety of tempos and styles, and has been used in a number of popular songs.

With your Woovebox' song key and scale in C major (which is the default) and the chord track's upper 8 keys in diatonic mode ("diat", also default). You can press the 2/bs for A minor, 1/Cd for G major, 8/Pc for F major, and 7/hh key for E major.

Arpeggios

An arpeggio is a musical technique where the notes of a chord are played in a sequence, rather than all at once. This creates a sweeping, flowing sound that adds movement and interest to the music.

Your Woovebox comes with not one, but two different ways of creating arpeggios.

Method 1

You can to turn any of the sixteen tracks into fully customizable, complex, intricate arpeggiators.

Traditional arpeggiators found in most of today's gear are often inflexible presets that quickly become stale and uninspiring. Fortunately, your Woovebox comes with something much better; conditional triggering, various modes of auto-chord following, and variable pattern lengths, allowing you to turn any of the 16 tracks into fully customizable, complex, intricate arpeggios.

Key to turning a track into an arpeggiator, is to set its track length to something shorter (and preferably a prime number, such as 3, 5 or 7 steps).

Second, the way the track reacts to the current chord being played, determines how any steps are translated into note pitches. It goes without saying that arepggios therefore lean heavily on the chords you programmed on the chord 'Cd' track. Set FLW.C (follow chord) parameter on the 'Glob' (global) page to 'CLS.3' (quantize pitch to the closest notes that make up the first three notes of the chord) or 'CLS.A' (quantize pitch to the closest notes that make up the entire chord).

Now, program some notes of varying pitches. Use conditional triggering and/or modification to make the notes change depending on the playthrough. You will be generating complex arpeggios in no time.

Note that you can apply further tweaks to further give your arpeggios their own unique character, by applying swing (parameter 9/A1 on the 'Glob' page), applying the some delay effects, and/or by having the frequency cutoff LFO (13/A5-16/A8 on the 'Fltr' page) subtly (or not so subtly) modify the the arpeggio over time.

Method 2

While the forementioned way of creating arpeggios tends to be the most flexible and easiest, an alternative technique exists to create arpeggios.

This technique is much more in line with the old school way of creating arpeggios. The technique uses the pitch LFOs ("P.LFO") for modulating the pitch of a note, and quantizing the modulated pitch to a select few frequencies (these frequencies being the notes of our arpeggio). The frequencies are automatically preselected based on the chord that is playing on the 'Cd' track.

On the 'Pich' (Pitch) page, set 'L.1.Md'(LFO1 Mode) and/or 'L.2.Md'(LFO2 Mode) to 'Chrd'(Chord) to quantize the Pitch LFO's output to the nearest note that matches any note form the currently playing chord (regardless of octave). For example, if a sine wave is configured for the Pitch LFO with a depth of 2.0, the pitch will sweep the chord's note over two octaves.

Note that 'L.1.Md'(LFO1 Mode) can be configure to output a quantized version of LFO 2's output instead by setting L.1.Md'(LFO1 Mode) to 'Chd.2'(Chord, use LFO 2 as input). In the same manner, 'L.2.Md'(LFO2 Mode) can be configure to output a quantized version of LFO 1's output instead by setting L.2.Md'(LFO2 Mode) to 'Chd.1'(Chord, use LFO 1 as input).

Advanced use and textures

Because these types of arpeggios only take up one oscillator, it is possible play two arpeggios per voice, or incorporate the arpeggiation as part of sound design and principal synthesis, if an algorithm is selected that combine two oscillators (such as FM, AM, etc.).

This allows for the creation of animated textures and intricate pads.

Use in Chiptune

By further specifying LFO waveform, speed/rate, hold and LFO re-sync/re-trigger, various arpeggios can be accomplished, including the "fake chords" popularized by early 8-bit computer and video game music (aka the "chiptune" genre).

In chiptune music, "fake chords" are a technique used to create the illusion of chords on a monophonic sound chip, such as those found in early video game consoles and home computers. These chips could only play one note at a time, but composers would use arpeggios, fast note progressions, and other tricks to give the impression of multiple notes being played together as a chord. This allowed chiptune composers to create more complex and harmonically rich musical pieces within the limitations of the hardware.

Scales and modes

Scales allow you to more easily dial in a musical flavor or mood for your chords and melodies. Your Woovebox supports many scales, from well known scales to more exotic scales.

Different musical scales can create different emotions or feelings in the listener. For example, a major scale is generally considered to be happy or cheerful, while a minor scale is often described as sad or serious. This is because the major scale has a specific pattern of whole and half steps, which creates a sense of resolution and stability, while the minor scale has a slightly different pattern, which creates a sense of tension and dissonance. Other scales, such as the pentatonic scale, which only uses five notes, can create a simpler, more primal feeling, while modes like Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian can give music a specific cultural or ethnic character.

It's important to note that these are generalizations and that the emotional impact of a piece of music depends on many factors, including the melody, harmony, rhythm, and instrumentation. Also, different cultures have different scales and modes which can have different emotional impact.

Modes, scales and tonalities

A fantastic video by David Bennett on his David Bennett Piano Channel, explains an easy to understand concept of "brightness" of a scale or mode. Please consider subscribing to David's channel for more super helpful and accessible nuggets of music theory.

In summary, modes and scales are closely related, with modes being a specific type of scale, and tonality is the overall feeling and organization of a piece of music, which can be determined by the mode or scale used in the piece.

Setting a scale

You can set the scale of your song, by changing the "Scal" parameter under the 3/Ld key on the first page of Song mode.

The following scales/modes are available;

•"Maj" Major ("Happy")
•"nMin" Natural minor•"HMin" Harmonic minor ("Latin", "Spanish", "Arabic")
•"MMin" Melodic minor (Jazz, Film scoring)
•"MaPE" Major pentatonic•"MiPE" Minor pentatonic•"hirA" Hirajoshi•"Miya" In scale / Miyako-bushi•Insen•Iwato•Yo•Dorian•Phrygian•Mixolidyan•Locrian•Flamenco•Gypsy•Half diminished•Persian•Ukrainian•"TE.PO" TE PO scale (firmware 2817+)•Chromatic (firmware 2817+)

(firmware 2421+) You may set the "free chord" ('FrE.C' under 4/Ar) to enable free chord root note selection and playback on the Cd track outside of the selected scale. If set to 'no', any chord root note may be selected, but will be forced to conform to the selected scale.

Full song writing on the Woovebox

The final - and most rewarding - piece to "click" on your Woovebox, is how to write complete songs from many, just a few, or even just one pattern. This guide explains how song writing works on the Woovebox and how it was specifically designed to break you out of “cool loop” jail and propel you into song-writing with ease.

To help with creating full songs, on the Woovebox, the notion/goal of song writing is a lot more formalised than on other grooveboxes. Song mode is often an after-thought on other grooveboxes, but on your Woovebox, it is an integral part of its design. In fact, there is an implicit recipe that the workflow encourages you to follow. The end-goal is to take your audience on an emotional journey.

To do so, on the Woovebox, the idea is to create a “concentrated” narrative/theme using your patterns. Then, using Song mode, you turn this narrative/theme into a full-fledged song that tells the story and keeps the listener’s attention. Or, as one user put it;

"So far my workflow has been, make a complete "climax" loop. Break it down in song mode with fragments. Then use spare patterns to do drum variations, etc...I've also been liking conditional pitch changes allowing to squeeze longer phrases from a few patterns."

For this guide, please note that;

•the discussion of harmony and themes is obviously more applicable to some genres (pop, EDM, etc.) than others (generative ambient, avant garde, etc)•this guide assumes you know how to generally operate your Woovebox•this guide assume that you have a basic understanding of the basic Woovebox terminology such as "tracks", “patterns”, “fragments” and “song mode”•this guide assumes that you have an understanding of the step/pattern/track/song architecture (16 steps x 16 patterns x 16 tracks per song)

The Woovebox song writing recipe

On the Woovebox, your song’s narrative/"story" is;

1Underpinned by a key / scale (or mode) (2/bS/"root", 3/Ld/"ScaL" on your song's GLob page)
2Underpinned by a chord progression on the "Cd" track
3Underpinned by a rhythm on, for example the "Ki", "Sn", "hh" tracks
4Supported by a melodic theme, for example on the "Ld" and/or "Ar" tracks
5Supported by unique voices (instrumentation) to tell the story, for example by using the "Pach" page presets and - preferably - your own sound design

These 5 ingredients are rolled into one or more patterns per track.

These individual patterns on individual tracks are then served together as song fragments in Song mode. Song fragments can serve the same pattern in new/different ways (with different effects, retriggering, gating, etc.) from one fragment to the next. This lets you re-use the same pattern in new ways and in new combinations that are true to the original idea and narrative of your song.

1. Key / scale

They key / scale (or even more narrowed-down; mode) specifies the possible (out of 12) notes per octave that can occur in your song. Different collections of notes will impart a different feel/sound to your song. The feel/sound they impart can be anything from light-hearted care-free pop, to “Star Wars” / “Lord-of-the-Rings” epic, to spicy Latin, to East-European ethnic and lots more.

If you feel like shaking things up when turning on your Woovebox, changing the key/scale is one of the quickest ways to come up with something fresh and new. There is so much more beyond the default, ubiquitous Cmaj/Amin scale to explore!

2. The chord progressions

Chords are incredibly important; they make your audience “feel” something specific when listening to your music, and they set the context for everything else.

They make your song feel happy, sad, epic, serious, melancholic, and a million different emotions in between. They set the context for how your audience should understand everything else going on in your song. The key/scale influences which chords are available in your song and their subtle tonal qualities (due to how the western scale is tuned).

To illustrate how chord progressions establish context; take a vocal sample of a vocalist saying “i love you”. Set against a chord progression with major chords, the message is easily understood as celebrating love. Set progression with minor chords, the message is readily interpreted as heartache.

In fact, given the right musical/harmonic context, something as simple as “i love you” can - subject to a Western audience’s sensibilities - be interpreted with lots of nuance by your audience. Your audience may feel, the statement is about love in the face of adversity/rejection, about secret love, about lost love, etc. All without ever mentioning the context verbally; the harmonies will have taken care of clarifying the context. This is the key to powerful song writing using chord progressions.

As you are by now aware, the powerful chord following feature (4/Ar/"FLW.C") makes it extremely easy for other tracks/sounds to follow along with your chord progressions, emphasizing and/or riffing on the context you wish to convey.

3. Rhythm

The other principal component of a song is rhythm that drives the narrative forward.

A useful rule of thumb is considering rhythm in the context of mind, head, hips or feet archetypes depending on your goals are preferences;

•Mind; Rhythm can be cerebral by keeping your audience guessing (for example Jungle) or demanding active interpretation as a narrative element (for example a ticking clock).
•Head; Rhythm can be used to make it easy to bop your head to in a chair, on a couch, on the road, or on a treadmill (for example straight four-to-the-floor with side-chaining or heavy compression, possibly employing rhythm-breaking breaks/drops)•Hips; Rhythm can used to give an audience room to latch on to rhythmic elements for individual interpretative whole-body motion (for example club music with increased swing/shuffle, polyrhythms, and employing non-rhythm-breaking breaks/drops)•Feet; Rhythm can be used to simply give an audience something to dance/“shuffle”/tap/fist-pump to in a communal/social setting (patterns that are not too challenging, are less ambiguous and have predictable build-ups within their targeted genre)

Thinking in these four archetypes can let you add (or take away) ingredients that pull your song in the right direction according to your vision.

Rhythm is not just confined to percussive elements. Chromatic instruments can also convey a clear rhythm or “drive”. For example, a Moroder bassline.
The Woovebox goes through great lengths to tempo-sync a great amount of other things as well to help with rhythm. From the delay units to the LFOs and so much more.

Humans love patterns and there are loosely, two “types” of rhythm. The most obvious one is upfront, in your face, that anyone can appreciate as periodically recurring elements, for example most kicks, snares, and hi-hats.

Then there are latent rhythms that are harder to verbalise by the common person, but can be “felt” and add that deeper complexity to your song. These can take the form of simple, easily detectable polyrhythms such as basic 3-note arpeggios or can be more complex, harder to detect polyrhythms, for example a bassline pattern that is 13 steps long with lots of conditional triggering. What all these have in common that they will, at some point, repeat and sync-up if played long enough (which may be far past the run time of the song in complex cases).

Everyone’s tolerance for polyrhythms or latent rhythms is different, and what may seem random (undetectable) to some, scratches someone else’s cerebral itch. Rule of thumb, is to use prime numbers (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, etc.) for things like pattern lengths, LFO rates and playthrough counters. Using combinations of larger numbers will result in more and more complex latent patterns that are harder and harder to detect consciously. E.g. when using a track with, say, a pattern length of 13, for another track pick a pattern length of 11. You will notice that it will take many, many playthroughs for the two patterns to sync up again and repeat (every 11 x 13 = 143 steps in fact; nearly 9 bars).

4. Melodic theme

A melody can be as simple as a hook, and a hook can be as simple as a few notes (as many an EDM anthem will show you). Conversely a melody can be a complex sequence that plays out over many patterns. There are no rules.

Ideally though - on the Woovebox - the melody’s components or notes can be re-used and re-arranged by making the melody’s constituent steps dependent on the playing chords. In other words, coming up with a melody while one of the “follow chord” (4/Ar/"FLW.C" on a track's "GLob" global page) modes is engaged (for example, one of the "transpose"/"trs." modes) is highly preferable. With some clever use, this is allows for further thematic development and riffing in song mode (see below).

5. Instrumentation

Similar (but much less literal) to the “i love you” vocal sample example, the timbres (instruments) you choose to do the “story telling” can take on a different emotional quality/meaning, depending on the scale and chords. For example pizzicato strings can sound playful, or - on the other end of the scale - poignant, or allude to physical phenomenon/happenings (rain, tears, drops), etc. depending on the harmonic context (chords/scale).

On a more practical/technical level, the sound design of the instruments on the Woovebox should be in service of the song, in the sense that, for example, patch timings (such as LFO rates) should serve your overall song. An example would be a filter LFO/sweep that is set to have a period (“rate”) of two bars (32 steps) - that is if synchronisation of the sweep to two bars of the song is desired of course.

The Woovebox “secret sauce”

Conditional trigger / chord-follow / tempo-sync all the things!

In traditional DAWs and grooveboxes you typically have to explicitly specify a lot of things manually; exact notes/pitches, exact timings, exact triggering. On the Woovebox these aspects are - preferably - algorithmically inferred. This means that, wherever possible, your Woovebox tries to make musical sense of the fewer pieces of data.

The result, as you likely have already found, is something called emergent complexity; simple rules interact to form a complex system that exhibits complex behaviour. It allows just a few, simple, well-considered patterns to sound complex, refined, polished and intentional, particularly once combined in your final song. All while taking much less time to put together and polish. Working any other way would be unnecessarily laborious and would get frustrating quickly on a device with just 16 buttons and a single encoder.

Using Randomisation

The Woovebox is uniquely suited to random generation, because everything interacts and adapts to everything else to “make musical sense”. So if you, like many, suffer from “blank project paralysis”, use randomisation to get you started; whether it’s chords, arpeggios, basslines, patches. At worst you won’t like the result and roll the dice again. At best you find gold. But most likely you will quickly find a potential diamond in the rough - something that you can shape into something you do like and can make your own.

Song Mode; where the full experience comes together

The preceding 5 components of your song’s narrative are laid out (arranged) in song mode. It’s where that “cool loop” gets transformed into a compelling, complex, full piece that plays out over multiple bars and minutes of music.

Song mode is where you turn up/down the temperature, expound on your narrative by giving some instruments room to tell their story in the context of others, or set up introduction or conclusions by invoking risers or fallers.

For completeness sake; Song mode allows you to program a sequence of fragments, where each fragments mutes/plays/fades/filters/gates/chord locks any of the 16 patterns for any of the 16 tracks for a specified duration. Upon completion of a fragment duration the next fragment is played. And so on, and so forth. Pattern chaining is respected. So if you have a chain of four patterns on a track, with the first pattern of your four-pattern chain starting at pattern 1, then instructing a song fragment to start playing pattern 1, will still see it play pattern 2 once pattern 1 has completed playing, and so forth, for the duration of the fragment.

The 2-loop rule

A great rule-of-thumb for arranging your song’s fragments, is that, in order to keep the interest of your audience, something “new” needs to happen within - at most - 2 playthroughs of a loop (aka the “2-loop rule”). This “something new” can be as simple as bringing in (or dropping) an instrument, or as complex as entering a second movement with a completely new melody and/or chords from a different pattern.

Transitions are like the seasoning that makes fragments go together. For example, you can introduce instruments by a fade-in or opening a track's filters. Vice-versa, you can conclude a instrument’s part by doing a fade-out or closing its filter. Another great way to conclude a instrument’s part, is by playing it for one bar using a re-triggering effect and/or a gater effect. The latter (re-triggering and/or gating) is also a great way to get more mileage out of a pattern, as it can radically transform a pattern while still making it recognizable and “fit” the song.

In the common case of a 4-bar loop playing twice, an easy way to do a transition, is to do something different on the 8th bar (drop something, choose a retrigger pattern, etc.). To do so, make a 7 bar fragment, and clone the fragment. For the cloned fragment reduce the length to 1 bar and make your change (drop, retrigger, etc.).

Semi-automatic improvisation of melodies

There are many, many ways in which things interact to form new (but musically meaningful!) sounds. For example, if you have a chord progression and have a chord-following melody spread out over a four pattern chain, you can make your Woovebox “improvise” something new by starting the melody playback at the second, third, or fourth pattern of the chain, rather than the first. All while starting chord playback as normal E.g. this causes your melody to be “out of sync” with the chords. However, you will hear the “out of sync” melody be adapted to the playing chord (“follow chord” FTW!), which generates a brand new sequence of notes that is unique, yet seems to fit the melodic theme of your song eerily well.

Going back and forth between song mode and track (pattern creation / sequencer) mode

As you refine and build out your song, expect to go back and forth between Song mode and the individual tracks a lot.

For example, as you arrange your song from your 256 (16 patterns x 16 tracks) potential patterns, you will likely find areas in your song where you want to add or change things beyond what your current patterns contain/do. E.g. you may want to create additional patterns, or maybe make a tweak to one of the fragment’s patterns.

While you have a specific fragment playing in Song mode, you can “import” that fragment’s pattern configuration (e.g. with the right patterns selected, tracks muted/playing, etc.) by holding the value button in and long-pressing the track (01/Cd - 16/A8) you wish to switch to. After switching to that track, the fragment configuration will keep playing (minus any scheduled play effects such as filters, fades, etc.). To switch to yet another track, switch to Live mode, then repeat; e.g. hold the value button in and long-pressing the track (01/Cd - 16/A8) you wish to switch to next. And so on, and so forth. This way you can work on a fragment and hear what it would sound like in Song mode.

Genres

Your Woovebox is the perfect tool for exploring a range of musical genres. Whether you're an expert producer or just a beginner, your Woovebox has the capabilities to help you make the music you and your audience love.

EDM

Electronic Dance Music is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves, and festivals.

Your Woovebox is extraordinarily suited to these styles of music as it emulates or implements many of the quintessential ingredients such as;

•Analog drum machine emulation (for 808, 909-like sounds)
•Analog and FM bass emulation (for 303, TX81Z-like sounds)
•Various lead and arpeggio synthesis emulations
•Sample triggering (drumloops and one-shots)•Multi-effects such as reverb and delay•Gating and side-chaining effects

Hip hop

Your Woovebox emulates and implements various aspects found in hip hop.

These include;

•808-like drum synthesis
•swing, off-grid and ratchet-triggering of percussive elements•sampling and sample playback
•lo-fi effects, including bit-depth reduction, sample rate reduction and vintage warble•quick dialing-in of popular scales, modes and tonalities•unique, rhythmic delay and filtering effects by feeding the dual delay effect back into each other•external sound source gating

Chiptune

Chiptune is characterized by low polyphony, basic waveforms and few effects (if any).

Due to chords being difficult to play with low polyphony, this is often compensated for by very fast arpeggiation of a chord on a single channel. This creates the illusion of chords playing, while only occupying one channel/voice. Alternatively, chords are "played" by playing only some notes that make up the chords, and not playing all of them.

Depending on the hardware era targeted, sounds may vary from basic square waves to rudimentary FM synthesis, sometimes even augmented by short lo-fi sampled instruments or one-shots.

In all cases, it is recommended to use multi-instrument mode for the number of tracks you intend to use. This helps you restrict your composition to a limited polyphony.

C64

The Commodore 64 ("C64") sound is characterized by its SID chip;

•3 tone generators (voices)•4 forms of waves (sawtooth, triangle, rectangle pulse width modulation, (white) noise)•3 amplitude modulator, until 48 dB•3 envelope generators•Synchronization of the oscillators•Ring modulation•Programmable filters (low pass, bandpass, high pass)

Gameboy

The Gameboy sound chip has a total of 4 sound channels;

•2x pulse channels (4 pulse width modes selectable in addition to full square wave)•1x noise•1x PCM

Emulating the two pulse channels is accomplished by putting a square wave oscillators on OSC1 and OSC2 and setting the algorithm to ring modulation. The pulse width (duty cycle) can be selected by modifying phase start of one of the oscillators. Gameboy duty cycles are Phase Start 4, 8, 16 and 24. Use 0 or 32 for full square waves. The pulse channels may be effected by AEG decay or release (but not both). When applying AEG decay or release, make sure to apply to both. Set AEG response to exponential (negative values for AEG1 Depth and AEG2 Depth).

The second pulse channel on the original Gameboy can only play a fixed frequency and cannot perform pitch sweeps (like glides)

The noise generator is easily simulated by using a single noise oscillator on OSC1 or OSC2. Use the Sample and Hold setting to change the flavor of the noise. The noise generator may also be effected by AEG decay or release (but not both).

The PCM channel is able to play back 4-bit samples that are 32 samples in length.

NES

The NES sound chip (Ricoh 2A0x series) has a total of 5 sound channels;

•2x pulse channels (4 pulse width modes selectable in addition to full square wave)•1x triangle wave•1x noise•1x PCM

Emulating the two pulse channels is accomplished by putting a square wave oscillators on OSC1 and OSC2 and setting the algorithm to ring modulation. The pulse width (duty cycle) can be selected by modifying phase start of one of the oscillators. NES duty cycles are Phase Start 4, 8, 16 and 24. Use 0 or 32 for full square waves. The pulse channels may be effected by AEG decay or release (but not both). When applying AEG decay or release, make sure to apply to both. Set AEG response to exponential (negative values for AEG1 Depth and AEG2 Depth).

The triangle wave generator is typically used for basses and does not allow for decay to be applied. Its triangle waveform was "stepped" adding some overtones. This can be emulated by using the bit crusher.

The noise generator is easily simulated by using a single noise oscillator on OSC1 or OSC2. Use the Sample and Hold setting to change the flavor of the noise. The noise generator may also be effected by AEG decay or release (but not both).

You can in theory use any sampled audio for the PCM audio you wish on one track. However a majority of the NES library used only 4 channels due to cartridge space limitations.

Presets and Patch page

Your Woovebox comes with a number of presets in various sound categories. You are highly encouraged to use these as a starting point for your own sounds.

You can find and adopt presets on the patch ('Pach') page of a track. Hold any of the 1-15 keys with a lit-up LED to switch to the preset under that key. Hold key 16 to revert back to the patch you had when you entered the patch ('Pach') page.

What presets are available on the patch ('Pach') page of a track, is dependent on the sound category chosen. You can set a track's sound category via the 'Snd '/6 'Snd Catg' (sound category) parameter on a track's 'GLob' page. There are 10 preset sound categories. These categories are;

•'Bass'; bass sounds such as 303s and electric basses
•'Lead'; lead sounds such as lead synths, pianos and bells
•'Arpg'; short sounds suitable for an arpeggio track
•'Chrd'; sounds suitable for the chord ('Cd') track such as pads and strings
•'Kick'; various kicks
•'Snre'; various snares
•'HiHt'; various open and closed hi-hat sounds
•'Perc'; various general percussive elements
•'Para'; paraphonic sounds
•'Efct'; effects such as risers and fallers

Parameter and settings retention between presets

The following parameters and settings are kept in between switching presets;

•master volume
•sound category•transpose•follow chord•MIDI channel•all sidechain and compressor settings (e.g. everything on the 'dyna'/dynamics page)
•swing•chord bass note transpose (in case of a chord preset)
•chord stereo width (in case of a chord preset)

All other parameters (including FX sends) will be modified when loading the new preset.

Context menu

The context menu on the Patch ('Pach') page has the following options;

•'Init Pach' (initialize patch) initializes the current patch with more 'vanilla' settings and defaults for easier sound design.•'duMP Pach' (dump patch) dumps the current patch as SYSEX to any connected MIDI devices and/or Wooveconnect (see also patch backup).•'CoPy Pach' (copy patch) copies the current patch into the persistent patch buffer. The patch buffer stays intact when switching tracks, pages, or modes.•'PStE Pach' (paste patch) pastes the patch in the patch buffer into the the current track.

Sound design

As opposed to most other groovebox, your Woovebox allows for deep, sophisticated sound design, offering a massive sonic palette of sounds. Its powerful synth engine can synthesize - from scratch - anything; from EDM-oriented instruments to acoustic piano and drums.

Architecture

The Woovebox implements a novel unified synthesizer architecture.

The architecture is said the "unified", because despite being able to employ a wide range of synthesis techniques, the parameters and their fundamental behavior - with a few notable exceptions - don't really change. This makes it easier to learn sound design on your Woovebox, while also making it easier to understand how the same parameters behave differently in the context of different synthesis algorithms.

Aside from a special paraphonic mode that allows for sounding up to 4 notes at the same time, the Woovebox gives you one voice per track (note however, that it is possible for a track to use another tracks' voice settings via multi-instrument mode). The exception is the 'Cd'/chord track with a maximum of four full voices.

Once voice consists of;

•2x waveform sources (loosely defined as "oscillators" for convenience and convention) (see Osc1/Osc2 pages)
•Per-oscillator amplitude control (AEG, ALFO) (see AMPL page)
•Pitch control (legato, slide) and per-oscillator pitch LFOs (PLFO) with quantization effects (see Pich page)
•Dynamics with side chain input and output as well as a compressor/limiter per voice (see dyna page)
•multi-mode filter with FEG, FLFO (see FLtr page)
•Distortion, saturation, bit-crush, as well as effect sends to reverb, delay 1, delay 2 and chorus units (see GLob page)•Third sine wave oscillator (additive, post-effects) that can be configured to follow oscillator 1 or 2 for enriching harmonic content

The two waveform sources can be individually configured to output;

•basic (single cycle) waveforms such as the familiar sine, triangle, saw or square waves•complex multi-oscillator waveforms such as dual pitch sine, triangle, saw or square waves or 7-saw (aka "super saw") waveforms•user samples•incoming audio•delay 1 or delay 2 taps

The two waveform sources can also be combined to generate up to 4-note paraphonic chords. The ability for an 'Osc1' and 'Osc2' waveform sources to generate multiple combined oscillators at once (for example 7 detuned sawtooth waveforms in the case of choosing one of the Super Saw wave types), is the reason why the 2x waveform sources are only loosely defined as "oscillators"; mostly for convenience and conventional understanding of common synthesis architectures.

The modulated waveform sources are combined according to one of fourteen different algorithms (ranging from basic subtractive or FM synthesis to more esoteric algorithms like "sign conditional combine" or "exclusive OR").

After combining, the resulting signal is passed through the dynamics (compressor/limiter and sidechain) unit, filter, lo-fi unit, and finally passed to the mixer and global effects. An optional third sine wave oscillator is added after the effects block, and can be used to enhance harmonic content, serve as a sub-oscillator and more.

Oscillators

A Woovebox voice is generated by combining up to two oscillators and - in some cases - white noise. Oscillators range from basic waveforms such as sine, saw, pulse and triangle waves, to more complex waveforms such as 5ths, supersaws, user-imported samples, delay taps and even live external audio.

Oscillators may be configured to be free running, re-syncing, randomly phasing, note-based phasing, and may even be allowed to subtly drift from another for a more analog/organic sound.

Osc1 and Osc2 oscillator page

These pages configure oscillator behavior.

1. WaVE waveform selection

The waveform that should be used as a sound source for the oscillator. Choose from;

•'NOIS'; white noise
•'Sin1'; sine wave
•'Sin2'; dual sine wave with one sine wave playing at double frequency (e.g. one octave higher)
•'Sin7'; dual sine wave, with perfect fifth ratio (e.g. one sine wave 7 semitones transposed)
•'SiP1, 'SiP2'; see paraphonic parts documentation•'Tri1'; triangle wave
•'Tri2'; dual triangle wave with one triangle wave playing at double frequency (e.g. one octave higher)•'Tri7'; dual triangle wave, with perfect fifth ratio (e.g. one triangle wave 7 semitones transposed)•'TrP1', 'TrP2'; see paraphonic parts documentation•'Saw1'; saw wave
•'Saw2'; dual saw wave with one saw wave playing at double frequency (e.g. one octave higher)•'Saw7'; dual saw wave, with perfect fifth ratio (e.g. one saw wave 7 semitones transposed)•'SwP1', 'SwP2'; see paraphonic parts documentation•'Sqr1'; square wave
•'Sqr2'; dual square wave with one square wave playing at double frequency (e.g. one octave higher)•'Sqr7'; dual square wave, with perfect fifth ratio (e.g. one square wave 7 semitones transposed)•'SqP1', 'SqP2'; see paraphonic parts documentation•'SSw1'; seven saw waves, heavily detuned
•'SSw2'; seven saw waves, moderately detuned
•'SSw3'; seven saw waves, lightly detuned
•'SSw4'; seven saw waves, very lightly detuned
•'FS01'; factory sample kit
•'US01' - 'US16'; user sample kit - use the 'SL.SL' (slice select) parameter to further specify a specific sample slice if required
•'In12'; audio in (3.5mm jack), summed into mono signal
•'In1 '; audio in (3.5mm jack), left channel only as mono signal
•'In 2; audio in (3.5mm jack), right channel only as mono signal
•'Dly1'; delay unit 1 output
•'Dly2'; delay unit 2 output

2. LEvL oscillator output level

Defines the output level (amplitude) of the oscillator

3. dEt.C Pitch detune (coarse)

Coarse pitch detune defined in octaves.

4. dEt.F Pitch detune (fine)

Fine pitch detune, defined in semitones (12 semitones in one octave).

5. AEG.d Amplitude Envelope Generator depth

Defines the strength and nature of the effect of the Amplitude Envelope Generator (AEG). 0 causes the AEG to have no effect at all on the oscillator's amplitude, while 127 causes full effect. A negative value defines an exponential response (power of two), while a non-negative value defines a linear response.

6. A.L.tr Amplitude LFO trigger

Defines what should happen to the oscillator's amplitude LFO ("Low Frequency Oscillator") when a new note is triggered;

•'FrEE' will not cause the LFO to restart•'Retr' will cause the LFO to restart•'Cond' will only cause the LFO to engage if the step that triggered the note has a valid ('when') 'ALFO' condition ('do') set•'rand' will start the LFO at a random phase (location in the chosen waveform)

7. P.L.tr Pitch LFO retrigger

Defines what should happen to the oscillator's pitch LFO ("Low Frequency Oscillator") when a new note is triggered;

•'FrEE' will not cause the LFO to restart•'Retr' will cause the LFO to restart•'Cond' will only cause the LFO to engage if the step that triggered the note has a valid ('when') 'PLFO' condition ('do') set.
•'rand' will start the LFO at a random phase (location in the chosen waveform)

8. A.Ky.t Amplitude AMP K.trK

Amplitude key tracking; specifies how much (and in which direction) the pitch of a played note should correspond to an increase or decrease in amplitude for this oscillator.

9. PL.Md Oscillator Play Mode

Defines how the selected waveform should be played.

•'Loop'; play the waveform looped
•'LooR'; play the waveform looped, however in revers
•'OneS'; play the waveform once, then stop
•'OneR'; play the waveform once in reverse, then stop•'FxLn'; adapt the pitch of the waveform so that it plays exactly for the duration specified
•'FxLR'; adapt the pitch of the waveform so that it plays exactly for the duration specified, however in reverse
•'FwRv'; play the the waveform looped, alternating between forward and reverse (aka "ping-pong")
•'FwRR'; play the the waveform looped, alternating between forward and reverse (aka "ping-pong"), start playing in reverse first

Note that any behavior specified here is overridden in the case of sample slice playback; each sample slices has its own configurable oscillator play mode.

10. Ph.Md Phase Mode

Phase mode allows for the starting position of a the waveform to be dependent on the note pitch being played. For example, if you have a sample (waveform) that plays "bigger, better, faster, stronger", you can make the sample start further into the waveform depending on the note being played. E.g. starting at an A-4 note, the waveform may start at "better", while at A-6 note, the sample may start at "stronger", etc.

Phase control is mostly useful sound designing patches that sound subtly (or not so subtly) different depending on the pitch being played.

The following two settings are available;

•'nrML'; no phase modification
•'notE'; phase is dependent on the note being played

11. Ph.St Phase Start

Start position (in percentage, where 0 is start of waveform and 100 is end of waveform) for the the waveform. The start position can be used for subtle things like transient shaping of a looped waveform (creating "attack clicks"), or for more dramatic effects like precise waveform modulation via FM or AM synthesis.

12 Ph.rn Phase Range

Phase range defines a range between Phase Start (Ph.St) and the end of the waveform, between which the waveform may start.

Leaving Phase Start at 0 and Phase Range at 100 will effectively cause the oscillator behave like a classic "free running" oscillator found in many classic analog synthesizers; an oscillator that is always running, but is simply made audible and inaudible rather than turned off and on. This type of oscillator will never quite sound the same and can help your sound subtly distinguish itself from static sampled instruments. It is one of a number of virtual analog emulation features than will set apart your Woovebox' sound from basic sampled instruments.

13. Ky.FW Key Follow

Key follow defines how a note maps to the pitch of the oscillators.

A value of 100 will map a note's pitch to the oscillator's pitch 1:1. A value of 200 will map a note's pitch to the oscillator's pitch 2:1, and so on.

This parameter is useful for generating different timbres for AM and FM synthesis, depending on the note struck. It can also "lock in" a fixed oscillator pitch for an oscillator by setting it to 0, which is, for example, useful when using one oscillator as a fixed frequency or amplitude source.

14. StyL Oscillator Style

Oscillators can be played back in subtly different styles, to emulate various quirks from specific gear from past decades;

Available are;

•'Mdrn'; Modern - playback incorporates modern standards and techniques, including interpolation and multi-sampled waveforms
•'dGtL'; Digital - playback allows for aliasing oscillators as found in older digital synthesizers and workstations•'dGt.v'; Digital / variable rate - playback allows for aliasing oscillators as found in older digital synthesizers and workstations while prorating EGs and LFOs speeds according to pitch, mimicking how EG and LFO times get "baked into" a sampled instrument
•'AnL1'; Analog 1 - playback introduces a very subtle drift in pitch to emulate imperfect but high quality analog pitch circuitry, suitable for emulating analog patches that rely on inherently imperfect oscillator interaction for their timbres such as "analog" french horns
•'AnL2'; Analog 2 - playback introduces a subtle drift in pitch to emulate lower-cost imperfect analog pitch circuitry, imparting a warmness and analog authenticity to certain waveforms, suitable for 303 emulations and emulating well-used, aged analog gear
•'AnL3'; Analog 3 - playback introduces a drift in pitch to emulate intentionally imperfect analog pitch circuitry, imparting a "controlled chaos" onto the pitch of an oscillator, suitable for creating naturally chaotic timbres such as choirs
•'AnL4'; Analog 4 - playback introduces a substantial drift in pitch to emulate low-quality or broken analog pitch circuitry, suitable for recreating VHS tape audio warble

15. SL.SL Slice Select

Slice select specifies which sample slice should be selected when a note is played.

•'1-16'; slice is determined by the 'SLcE' parameter specified by a step. Slices 1-16 are auditioned by pressing key 1-16.
•'1-16.'; slice is determined by the 'SLcE' parameter specified by a step. Slices 1-16 are auditioned by pressing key 1-16. Slice 1-8 and 9-16 have swapped locations.
•'MSM1'; multi-sample slice select mode 1. This mode chooses the slice whose pitch is closest to the target pitch. This mode will result in the most natural sounding multi-sampled instrument playback. See also using a multi-sampled instrument.•'MSM2'; multi-sample slice select mode 2. This mode chooses the slice whose pitch is closest to the target pitch, but only if that sample was recorded at a higher pitch. This mode will result in multi-sampled instrument that is mostly free of aliasing. See also using a multi-sampled instrument.
•'Sl 1'-'Sl16'; use a fixed slice (1 through 16) for every note.

16. SM.Ho Sample-and-hold

Sample and-hold allows you to prepare a new oscillator sample every nth master sample. This allows for an oscillator to be played back at a lower sample rate than the master sample rate (fixed at 44.1kHz / "CD-quality"). This allows for emulating the sound of early samplers of the late 80s and early 90s, as heard on, for example, early hip-hop tracks.

The resulting sample rate can be calculated as 44100/(n+1), so;

•n = 0 yields normal quality (44.1kHz)•n = 1 yields 22.05kHz•n = 2 yields 14.7kHz (useful for emulating hip-hop and jungle/drum-n-bass from the late 80s and early 90s, particularly on percussion and drumloops)
•n = 3 yields 11.025kHz (useful for emulating hip-hop and jungle/drum-n-bass from the late 80s and early 90s, particularly on percussion and drumloops)•n = 4 and beyond can be useful for emulating early 16-bit and 8-bit video game effects

Oscillator 3: sub/super-oscillator

A third sine wave oscillator is available on the pitch ('Pich') page. This third oscillator can be configured to either follow oscillator 1 or oscillator 2. When enabled, it will adopt the specified "parent" oscillator's amplitude and pitch. Using O3.Oc ("Osc3 Octv") parameter under 4/Ar, the third oscillator's pitch can be lowered (for a sub-oscillator) or raised by an number of octaves, or can alternatively kept at the same pitch as the parent oscillator.

To make the third oscillator audible, increase or decrease the O3.Lv ("Osc3 LevL") parameter under 3/Ld. Increasing it from 0 will see the third oscillator follow oscillator 1. Decreasing it from 0 will see the third oscillator follow oscillator 2.

The third oscillator is additive (meaning it is not subject to the oscillator combining algorithms) and is summed post-effects. This means that there is no danger of muddying up your mix. And because the oscillator produces a clean sine wave, only the oscillator's root frequency is added to the mix without adding any other harmonics. Lastly, the third oscillator is subject to a 25Hz brick wall filter (e.g. below a frequency of 25Hz, it will no longer play).

Use cases

The specific attributes of the third oscillator makes it a useful tool to further enhance your synthesized sounds, all without impacting your mix.

Sub-Bass Enhancement

Create a deeper and richer bass sound by lowering the third oscillator's pitch in relation to oscillator 1 and 2. This generates a sub-bass layer that reinforces the fundamental frequency of the bass sound, adding depth and warmth without overwhelming the mix.

Harmonic Layering

Add subtle harmonic content by raising the third oscillator's pitch by one or more octaves relative to its parent oscillator. This can add a harmonic layer that enhances the overall sound without introducing additional harmonics, keeping the sound clean and pure.

Frequency Doubling

Thickening leads or pads by keeping the third oscillator at the same pitch as its parent oscillator, blending it in subtly (or not so subtly). This can add a sense of fullness and body to lead sounds or pads without cluttering the harmonic spectrum.

Percussive Elements

Designing unique percussive sounds by using the third oscillator to create a clean and punchy low-end element that complements the percussive attack. An example is the non-noise component of a synthesized (for example 909-like) snare drum.

Algorithms

The way your Woovebox combines the oscillators is determined by the algorithm selected ('ALGo'/'Syn ALGo'/3 on the 'GLob' page).

The following seventeen algorithms are available;

•'Subt'; subtractive synthesis (aka "virtual analog"). The two oscillators are summed. This algorithm emulates the sound of classic analog synths from the 60s, 70s and early 80s.
•'FM1'; frequency modulation 1. Oscillator 1 is frequency modulated by oscillator 2. This algorithm emulates the sound of classic Yamaha FM synths and chips from the 80s.
•'FM2'; frequency modulation 2. Oscillator 1 is frequency modulated by oscillator 2. Oscillator 2 (modulator) is added to the result. With the modulator mixed in present as the fundamental, this allows for enhanced harmonics by modifying the tuning of oscillator 1.•'FM3'; frequency modulation 3. Oscillator 1 is frequency modulated by oscillator 2, after which the result is multiplied by standalone oscillator 1.
•'FM.nS'; frequency modulation 1 with noise. Oscillator 1 is frequency modulated by oscillator 2. AEG1 controls both Oscillator 1 and 2, while AEG2 controls noise.•'FM.SC'; frequency modulated sign-conditional combine. Oscillator 1 is frequency modulated by oscillator 2, if the result is positive, oscillator 2's absolute amplitude is subtracted, else oscillator 2's absolute amplitude is added.•'FMEO'; frequency modulated exclusive bitwise OR. Oscillator 1 and 2 are exclusively OR'ed, after which the result is frequency modulated by oscillator 2.
•'Eor'; exclusive bitwise OR. Oscillator 1 and 2 are exclusively OR'ed•'RMod'; ring modulation. Oscillator 1 is multiplied by Oscillator 2, aka "ring modulation".•'AM1'; amplitude modulation 1. Oscillator 1 is amplitude modulated by oscillator 2's unsigned amplitude.
•'AM2'; amplitude modulation 2. Oscillator 1 is amplitude modulated by oscillator 2's absolute amplitude.•'SCon'; sign-conditional combine. If oscillator 1 is positive, oscillator 2's absolute amplitude is subtracted, else oscillator 2's absolute amplitude is added.
•'HSyn'; hard sync. as soon as oscillator 2 starts a new cycle, oscillator 1 is also forced to start a new cycle.
•'RMNs'; ring modulation with noise. Oscillator 1 is multiplied by Oscillator 2 (aka "ring modulation") and noise is added. AEG1 controls both Oscillator 1 and 2, while AEG2 controls noise.•'T.W.En'; thresholded wave ending. Oscillator 1 is muted ("ended") if Oscillator 2's waveform amplitude (before ALFO/AEG) exceeds Oscillator 2's volume as determined by AEG/ALFO. As soon as oscillator 1 starts a new cycle, oscillator 2 is also forced to start a new cycle.•'T.S.FL'; thresholded sign flipping. Oscillator 1's phase is inverted 180 degrees (sign flipped) if Oscillator 2's waveform amplitude (before ALFO/AEG) exceeds Oscillator 2's volume as determined by AEG/ALFO. As soon as oscillator 1 starts a new cycle, oscillator 2 is also forced to start a new cycle and the phase (sign) reverts to normal behavior.•'Warp'; time and pitch warping. Oscillator 1 pitch settings afford independent control of the sound's pitch, while oscillator two's pitch settings affords independent control over a sound's playthrough time. Oscillator 2's level (2/bs/LEvl on the Osc2 page) controls cycle length.

Using these algorithms a vast array of timbres and percussive elements can be created.

Note that for the FM algorithms, the amplitude and pitch LFOs (one per oscillator) can be used to achieve complex "2 + 2" four operator FM synthesis timbres. FM2's algorithm differs

For all FM algorithms except FM2 and FMSC , the modulator's output is made proportional to the frequency of the carrier. For FM2 and FMSC, the modulator's output is directly added to the frequency of the carrier without scaling.

Envelope generators

Oscillator 1 and 2, as well as the filter come with an ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelope generator for amplitude and frequency cut off respectively;

•Attack (AtK.1/ATtK.2/Attk) defines the time it takes (in milliseconds) to ramp up from 0 full amplitude.•Decay (dcy.1/dcy.2/dcay) defines the time it takes (in milliseconds) to ramp down from full amplitude to sustain level.•Sustain (SuS.1/Sus.2/Sust) defines the level at which the amplitude or filter frequency should hold for the duration of the note.•Release (rLS.1/rLS.2/rLSE) defines the time it takes (in milliseconds) to ramp down from full sustain level to 0.

Please note that the strength and nature of the envelope generators can be further shaped by other parameters;

•For the Amplitude Envelope Generator for oscillator 1 and 2, the strength ("depth") of the respective envelope generators can be controlled by 'AEG.d' on the Osc1/Osc2 pages. A negative number yields an exponential (power of two) response instead of a linear response.•For the Frequency cut-off Envelope Generator, the strength ("depth") of the respective envelope generators can be controlled by 'FEG.d' on the FLtr page. A negative number yields an exponential (power of two) response instead of a linear response.•For the Frequency cut-off Envelope Generator, the 'C2dc' parameter feeds the final filter cut-off level generated by the FEG and FLFO to the AEG1 and AEG2's decay, shortening the decay of both AEGs as the filter closes, while lengthening it as the filter opens. This technique is often used in the Trance genre to build tension during filter sweeps.

Context menu

The following context menu options are available on a track's 'AMPL' page;

•'Copy 1to2'; copies all oscillator 1 Amplitude Envelope Generator ('AEG') settings (including depth) to oscillator 2's AEG.

•'Copy 2to1'; copies all oscillator 2 AEG settings (including depth) to oscillator 1's AEG.

Filters

Each voice comes with a multi-mode filter with various "flavours" of filtering (low pass x 2, band pass x 4, high pass x 4). Each filter has a dedicated envelope generator and LFO for the cut-off frequency.

A filter passes through certain frequencies while making others less (or not at all audible). A filter's slope (often measured in dB) specifies how quickly frequencies are affected around the cut-off frequency. For example, a 24db filter is much more dramatic in the way the frequencies are affected (attenuated) than a 6db filter which affects frequencies more gradually.

It is important to note however, that the filters in your Woovebox were designed for musicality and maximum sound design versatility/"flavoring" as found in vintage analog gear, rather than cold clinical and - some would say - boring "perfection" as found in some more naive/"perfect" implementations of digital filters.

Filter page

1. type Filter type

The 'type' parameter specifies the filter type that is applied to the patch;

•'none'; no filter is applied. Use this setting to conserve some DSP resources.•'LoW1'; low-pass. Frequencies below the cut-off threshold are left intact, while frequencies above the cut-off threshold are rejected. A typical use is to turn turn "sharp" tones into mellow pads and basses. This filter's slope is closest to a 24db filter. It has a more analog, benign, less harsh response and sound than 'LoW2'.
•'LoW2'; low-pass. Frequencies below the cut-off threshold are left intact, while frequencies above the cut-off threshold are rejected. This filter's slope is closest to a 24db filter. It can be made to self resonate ("scream") and ring at high resonances depending on the input/impulse.
•'bnd1'; band-pass type 1. Frequencies around the cut-off threshold are kept, while those further away are being rejected. This filter's slope is closest to a 18db filter response. It can be made to self resonate ("scream") and ring at high resonances depending on the input/impulse, though it has a more analog, benign, less harsh response and sound than 'bnd2'. Typical uses are leads, vocals or - at high resonances - synthesized percussion such as kicks, wood blocks, bongos, congas, etc.•'bnd2'; band-pass type 2. Frequencies around the cut-off threshold are kept, while those further away are being rejected. This filter's slope is closest to a 18db filter response. It can be made to self resonate ("scream") and ring at high resonances depending on the input/impulse, and it has a sharper response and sound compared to 'bnd2'. It may distort at high resonances. Typical uses are leads, vocals or - at high resonances - synthesized percussion such as kicks, wood blocks, bongos, congas, etc.•'bnd3'; band-pass type 1. Frequencies around the cut-off threshold are kept, while those further away are being rejected. This filter's slope is closest to a 6db filter response. It can be made to self resonate ("scream") and ring at high resonances depending on the input/impulse, though it has a more analog, benign, less harsh response and sound than 'bnd4'. Typical uses are leads, vocals or - at high resonances - synthesized percussion such as kicks, wood blocks, bongos, congas, etc.•'bnd4'; band-pass type 2. Frequencies around the cut-off threshold are kept, while those further away are being rejected. This filter's slope is closest to a 6db filter response. It can be made to self resonate ("scream") and ring at high resonances depending on the input/impulse, and it has a sharper response and sound compared to 'bnd3'. It may distort at high resonances. Typical uses are leads, vocals or - at high resonances - synthesized percussion such as kicks, wood blocks, bongos, congas, etc.
•'hiP1'; high-pass type 1. This filter's slope is closest to a 6db filter response. Frequencies above the cut-off threshold are left intact, while frequencies above the cut-off threshold are rejected. A typical use case is percussive elements.•'hiP2'; high-pass type 2. This filter's slope is closest to a 6db filter response. Frequencies above the cut-off threshold are left intact, while frequencies above the cut-off threshold are rejected. A typical use case is percussive elements. Slightly more ringing can be observed in the output, compared to 'hiP1' and it may distort at high resonances.•'hiP3'; high-pass type 3. This filter's slope is closest to a 18db filter response. It can be made to self resonate ("scream") and ring at high resonances depending on the input/impulse, though it has a more analog, benign, less harsh response and sound than 'hiP4'. Frequencies above the cut-off threshold are left intact, while frequencies above the cut-off threshold are rejected.•'hiP4'; high-pass type 4. This filter's slope is closest to a 18db filter response. Frequencies above the cut-off threshold are left intact, while frequencies above the cut-off threshold are rejected. A typical is percussive elements. It can be made to self resonate ("scream") and ring at high resonances depending on the input/impulse and it may distort at high resonances.

2. Cut.F Filter Cutoff

Specifies filter cutoff frequency.

3. rESo Resonance

Specifies filter resonance.

4. KEy.t Filter cutoff frequency key tracking

Filter key tracking; specifies how much (and in which direction) the pitch of a played note should correspond to an increase or decrease in filter cutoff.

5. FEG.d Filter Amplitude Generator depth

Defines the strength and nature of the effect of the Filter Envelope Generator (FEG). 0 causes the FEG to have no effect at all on the filter, while 127 causes full effect. A negative value defines an exponential response (power of two), while a non-negative value defines a linear response.

6. LF.rt

Defines what should happen to the cutoff frequency LFO ("Low Frequency Oscillator") when a new note is triggered;

•'FrEE' will not cause the LFO to restart•'Retr' will cause the LFO to restart•'Cond' will only cause the LFO to engage if the step that triggered the note has a valid ('when') 'FLFO' condition ('do') set.
•'rand' will start the LFO at a random phase (location in the chosen waveform)

7. C2dc Filter cutoff to decay

Using the C2dc parameter, the filter cut-off can be made to influence AEG decay.

This allows for the quintessential staccato -> long-release tension buildups found in many Trance tracks, by simply opening up the filter.

8. C2EF Filter to effects

Using the C2EF parameter, the filter cut-off can be made to influence the effect sends to reverb and delay 1.

This allows for the quintessential intimate -> wide tension buildups found in many Trance tracks, by simply opening up the filter.

9. Attk Filter Envelope Generator Attack

Attack defines the time it takes (in milliseconds) to ramp up from 0 full filter cut-off frequency (as specified by Cut.F and attenuated by FEG.d).

10. dcAy Filter Envelope Generator Decay

Decay defines the time it takes (in milliseconds) to ramp down from full filter cut-off frequency (as specified by Cut.F and attenuated by FEG.d) to the sustain level.

11. SuSt Filter Envelope Generator Sustain

Sustain defines the proportion (0-127) of full filter cut-off frequency (as specified by Cut.F and attenuated by FEG.d) that should be sustained during note on.

12. rLSE Filter Envelope Generator Release

Release defines the time it takes (in milliseconds) to ramp down from sustain level to 0. Release stage of the envelope generator is entered upon note off.

13. L.C.Wv Waveform for cutoff frequency LFO

Specifies the waveform for the cutoff frequency LFO. Available waveforms are;

•'nOiSE'; random noise
•'SinE'; sine wave
•'tri'; triangle wave
•'SaW'; saw wave
•'Sqr'; square wave

14. L.C.de depth for cutoff frequency LFO

Specifies the strength by which the LFO should affect the filter.

•'nOiSE'; random noise
•'SinE'; sine wave (starts at 0.5, ramping up)•'tri'; triangle wave (starts at 0.5, ramping up)•'SaW'; saw wave (starts at 0.5, ramping up)
•'Sqr'; square wave (starts at 1 for a half a cycle, then switches off for half a cycle)

Negative values invert the waveform, causing, for example, a square wave to be 0/"off" and then 1/"on", as opposed to the being 1/"on" and then 0/"off" (or similarly see a saw wave ramp down, rather than up).

15. L.C.rt rate for cutoff frequency LFO

Specifies the speed by which the LFO should oscillate. Speed is specified in steps and is thus synced to your song's BPM.

16. L.C.ho hold duration for cutoff frequency LFO

Specifies the hold duration in milliseconds for which the LFO should hold the LFO's sampled value. Combined with the LFO rate this can result in various interesting rhythmic patterns due to aliasing interactions.

Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs)

A number of dedicated low frequency oscillators exist to modulate things like amplitude, cut-off frequency and pitch.

The pitch LFOs can be quantized to the nearest note in a chord, octave, or scale.

A reduced set of basic of waveforms are available as sources; noise, sine, triangle, saw or square wave.

All LFO rates are related to song BPM and are expressed as fractions or multiples.

Pitch modulation

Pitch modulation and modification plays an important role in the Woovebox' sound synthesis engine.

It provides anything from vibrato, to "old school" arpeggios and glissando effects, to additional harmonic content complexity for FM patches.

Pitch page

1. L1.Md LFO 1 Mode

Specifies a pitch LFO source for oscillator one, and how this source should be quantized (if at all). A number of modes are available;

•nrML ("normal"); no quantization is applied•Chrd ("chord"); quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest playing chord note. This mode is particularly useful to create chip tune "fake chord" arpeggios.•Scal ("scale"); quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of the selected song scale.•Octv ("octave"); quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of an octave (12 semitones).•nrM.2 ("normal, use LFO 2"); LFO 2 is applied to oscillator one and no quantization is applied
•Chd.2 ("chord, use LFO 2"); LFO 2 is applied to oscillator one, and quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest playing chord note. This mode is particularly useful to create chip tune "fake chord" arpeggios.•Scl.2 ("scale, use LFO 2"); LFO 2 is applied to oscillator one, quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of the selected song scale.•Oct.2 ("octave, use LFO 2"); LFO 2 is applied to oscillator one, quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of an octave (12 semitones).

Note that applying LFO 2 to oscillator one by choosing one of the nrm.2, Chd.2, Scl.2 or Oct.2 settings is a quick and convenient way to apply the same LFO to both Osc1 and Osc2 oscillators. The freeing up of one of the LFOs this way may be used in future versions of the firmware for enhanced sound design capabilities.

2. L2.Md LFO 2 Mode

Specifies a pitch LFO source for oscillator two, and how this source should be quantized (if at all). A number of modes are available;

•nrML ("normal"); no quantization is applied•Chrd ("chord"); quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest playing chord note. This mode is particularly useful to create chip tune "fake chord" arpeggios.•Scal ("scale"); quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of the selected song scale.•Octv ("octave"); quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of an octave (12 semitones).•nrM.1 ("normal, use LFO 1"); LFO 1 is applied to oscillator two and no quantization is applied
•Chd.1 ("chord, use LFO 1"); LFO 1 is applied to oscillator two, and quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest playing chord note. This mode is particularly useful to create chip tune "fake chord" arpeggios.•Scl.1 ("scale, use LFO 1"); LFO 1 is applied to oscillator two, quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of the selected song scale.•Oct.1 ("octave, use LFO 1"); LFO 1 is applied to oscillator two, quantization is performed to the pitch of the nearest note of an octave (12 semitones).

Note that applying LFO 1 to oscillator two by choosing one of the nrm.1, Chd.1, Scl.1 or Oct.21settings is a quick and convenient way to apply the same LFO to both Osc1 and Osc2 oscillators. The freeing up of one of the LFOs this way may be used in future versions of the firmware for enhanced sound design capabilities.

3. O3.Lv Oscillator 3 Level

Specifies the audible level (volume) of the Oscillator 3 sine wave oscillator. Values prefixed by o1 indicate oscillator 3 should adopt the pitch and amplitude modulation (envelope generators, LFOs, etc.) of oscillator 1. Values prefixed by o2 indicate oscillator 3 should adopt the pitch and amplitude modulation (envelope generators, LFOs, etc.) of oscillator 2. A value of "MUtEe" indicates Oscillator 3 should be muted.

4. O3.Oc Oscillator 3 Octave

Specifies an octave by which the pitch should be lowered or increased, relative to the parent oscillator (as specified by O3.Lv).

5. Prt.S Portamento Speed

Specifies how quick portamento should move from one pitch to another. The speed is expressed in step durations (e.g. the speed is dependent on your song's BPM). A value of "Off" will turn off portamento.

Please note that, in order to enable portamento, both a non-"off" speed and a non-0 probability must be set.

6. Prt.P Portamento Probability

Specifies the probability portamento ("slurring") is applied when playing consecutive notes. For consistent portamento set this parameter to 100%.

Please note that, in order to enable portamento, both a non-"off" speed and a non-0 probability must be set.

7. LEG.S Legato Speed

Specifies how quick legato should move from one pitch to another. The speed is expressed in step durations (e.g. the speed is dependent on your song's BPM). A value of "Off" will turn off Legato.

Please note that, in order to enable legato, both a non-"off" speed and a non-0 probability must be set.

8. LEG.P Legato Probability

Specifies the probability legato is applied when one note is still playing while another is triggered. For consistent legato set this parameter to 100%.

Please note that, in order to enable legato, both a non-"off" speed and a non-0 probability must be set.

9. L1.Wv LFO 1 Waveform

Waveform to use for LFO 1. Available waveforms are;

•Noise (random values)•Sine wave•Triangle wave•Saw wave•Square wave

10. L1.dp LFO 1 Depth

LFO 1 depth (-4.000 to 4.000 where 0 is off). Negative values change the waveform phase 180 degrees (e.g. waveform changes polarity). This value is in octaves, e.g. the LFOs can sweep 4 octaves up and down.

11. L1.rt LFO 2 rate

Specifies the rate (in steps) in which the LFO should complete a cycle.

12. L1.Ho LFO 1 Hold

Specifies a hold time in milliseconds for which pitch LFO for oscillator 1 should hold its value.

13. L2.Wv LFO 2 Waveform

Waveform to use for LFO 2. Available waveforms are;

•Noise (random values)•Sine wave•Triangle wave•Saw wave•Square wave

14. L2.dp LFO 2 Depth

LFO 2 depth (-4.000 to 4.000 where 0 is off). Negative values change the waveform phase 180 degrees (e.g. waveform changes polarity). This value is in octaves, e.g. the LFOs can sweep 4 octaves up and down.

15. L2.rt LFO 2 rate

Specifies the rate (in steps) in which the LFO should complete a cycle.

16. L2.Ho LFO 2 Hold

Specifies a hold time in milliseconds for which pitch LFO for oscillator 2 should hold its value.

Distortion

Two types of distortion are available; clip distortion and wave folding distortion.

Clipping can make sounds more aggressive or "gritty", which is useful in creating distorted guitar sounds or punchy basslines.

Fold-back distortion can produce unusual and unpredictable harmonics, which can be great for creating unique textures in electronic music or adding depth to synthetic sounds.

These distortions modify the harmonic content of the original audio, often making it richer, more complex, and suitable for various artistic or aesthetic purposes in music production and sound design.

•Positive amounts for the 'dist' parameter on a track's 'GLob' page under 12/A4, specify a traditional clipping distortion; the signal is multiplied by 2^value ("two to the power of the value") and any signal above a threshold is truncated to that threshold. These values are indicated by a 'CL' prefix.
•Negative amounts for the 'dist' parameter on a track's 'GLob' page under 12/A4,specify a fold back distortion; the signal is multiplied by 2^value ("two to the power of the value") and any signal above a threshold is folded back in a specific way to below the threshold. These values are indicated by a 'Fo' prefix.

Multi-effects

Each track has its own configurable saturation, distortion (choice of clipping or folding distortion) and bit-crushing effects.

A multi-effects block exist with configurable reverb, chorus and 2x delay units. Send amounts for reverb, chorus and the dual delay units are available per-track.

The delay unit inputs can be tapped and used as oscillators in the internal synthesizer, for intricate feedback effects.

The second delay unit can also be configured to provide a pitch shifted delay (via 4/Ar/d2.Al on a song's GLob page), allowing for pleasant overtones akin to a "shimmer" or "sparkle", depending on the patch. Its strategic use can act as an "exciter" for your tracks.

A word about authenticity

In this day and age of massive sample libraries, it can often be tempting to resort to samples. However, synthesizing sounds from scratch can, depending on your goals, lend a subtle authenticity, warmth, liveliness and even nostalgia to a track that is hard (impossible) to capture in a static sample; samples - by their very nature - sound the same every time they are triggered, and that is not how analog or organic timbres truly sound.

This mostly has its origins in any analog signal qualities of legacy gear that we are trying to emulate in the digital domain. Many classic sounds used up to this day (such as those from the venerable 808 or 909 drum machines) rely on noise generators. Noise generators - by definition - never output the same value; they are random number generators, so "capturing" them in a sample is impossible, unless you are okay with repeating the same random number sequence again and again.

The same goes for subtle things like small amounts of noise that inevitably make it into the voltage of analog voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) circuitry of an analog synthesizer, or having analog synthesizer designs with free-running oscillators that are gated on and off.

Ditto for emulating the sound of older samplers (such as the famous S900/S950 used in many 80s and 90s hip-hop tracks) or 16-bit home computers, gaming consoles and arcade cabinets. Contrary to the popular practice of insertion of a simple bit-crusher to make something sound "vintage", faithful emulation requires much more subtle modifications to the signal path at the right time. That's because sound designers of the time went out of their way to do the best with what they were given, often times augmenting digital outputs with analog circuitry to hide or transform digital artifacts as best they could.

The custom-built synthesizer engine in your Woovebox pays special attention to these subtleties, giving you various means to emulate the analog signal paths of older gear. Please see the "lo-fi and analog emulation" section for more information.

As a result of this special attention to detail, your Woovebox tends to replicate the sound of the era of analog and digital fusion (late 80s - early 00s) better than many other grooveboxes.

Paraphonic parts

Non-chord tracks can still be made to play multiple notes at a time (up to four-note chords). This can be accomplished by sound-designing a paraphonic patch, or choosing one of the paraphonic presets.

A paraphonic patch is a type of synthesizer patch that allows multiple voices to be played simultaneously but not independently. This means that while multiple notes can be played at the same time, they will all be subject to the same modulation and control.

On your Woovebox, paraphonic patch sound-design is subject to some limitations with regards to oscillator selection and algorithm selection. However there are also added flexibilities.

To create a paraphonic patch, special oscillator models must be selected for the oscillator wave types ('WAvE'/1 on the 'Osc1' and 'Osc2' pages). The special oscillator models inject two pitches at once into the oscillators under certain conditions. The pitches are determined by the chord playing on the 'Cd' (chord) track; they are automatically transposed relative to playing chord's root note (therefore set 'FLCh' on the 'GLob' page to 'root'. With two oscillators per voice, this allows for a maximum of four pitches ("notes") being played simultaneously.

The following wave types are automatically transposed and modified depending on the chord playing;

•SiP1; one or two sine waves; plays the root note and if chord consists of four notes, also plays a second sine wave a the frequency of the third.
•SiP2; two sine waves; if chord consists of four notes it plays fifth and added tone, else it plays the third and fifth.
•TrP1; one or two triangle waves; plays the root note and if chord consists of four notes, also plays a second triangle wave a the frequency of the third.•TrP2; two triangle waves; if chord consists of four notes it plays fifth and added tone, else it plays the third and fifth.•SWP1; one or two saw waves; plays the root note and if chord consists of four notes, also plays a second saw wave a the frequency of the third.•SWP2; two saw waves; if chord consists of four notes it plays fifth and added tone, else it plays the third and fifth.•SqP1; one or two square waves; plays the root note and if chord consists of four notes, also plays a second square wave a the frequency of the third.•SqP2; two square waves; if chord consists of four notes it plays fifth and added tone, else it plays the third and fifth.

Note that these special oscillators otherwise behave like any other standard oscillator and can thus be combined and modified as normal. However, if the goal is to play multiple notes at once, then care must be taken to not choose algorithms that mute one of the oscillators (e.g. most algorithms except FM2 and Subtractive). The FM2 algorithm, due its "subtractive-style" mixing of the two operators (and thus avoiding muting one of the oscillators) in addition to performing frequency modulation, is a particularly useful algorithm to achieve more interesting timbres.

Because the S1P1, TrP1, SwP1 and SqP1 oscillators behave like single wave oscillators for chords that play only three notes, you can in that case freely substitute these oscillators with any other oscillators for more interesting timbres.

Multi-instrument mode

Multi-instrument mode is an alternative way of working with tracks that has a number of benefits, depending on your workflow preferences, genre preferences, and/or prior experience with music gear.

In simple terms, it allows a multi-instrument track to 'borrow' the instrument from any other track.

Multi-instrument mode allows you to;

•work with your Woovebox in a way that is a little more similar to a tracker like M8•be more efficient with DSP resources•accomplish more complex chords (beyond 4-note chords)•emulate polyphony and/or channel restrictions as found on vintage gear (for genres such as chiptune)•create high-event density loops or runs (for genres such a glitch) where sounds a cut off by other subsequent sounds

To change any bS-A8 track into a multi-channel track, on the GLob page of a track, change the 'bEhv' (under 7/hh) parameter to 'Mu.in'.

Multi-instrument mode is also available for the chord track; switching on multi-instrument mode can be accomplished by changing the 'MuIn' (Mult Inst) parameter under 7/hh on the chord track's GLob page to 'MLti'.

Whenever you program a step, the track will now allow you to specify which track it should "borrow" the instrument from; a new 'trak' parameter will appear as you cycle to the usual notE/vElo/shft/whEn/do options for a step.

For your convenience the default track it borrows the instrument from is the last track you visited before entering the current multi-instrument track. So if, for example, you visited the bS track before entering a multi-instrument track on, say, A4, then the default track instrument will be the instrument from the bS track. If, when editing a step, you change the 'trak' parameter to any other track, then that track becomes the new default for the next step you program.

Editing any sound design parameter will revert the sound back to the sound associated with the track, as will soloing/unsoloing.

Multi-instrument tracks inherit all settings from the specified 'trak' track instrument. The one exception is borrowing the instrument from the 'Cd' trak, which adopts the 'follow chord' option of the track that is hosting the multi-track instrument.

TIP: Use the 'select same' ('sLct saME') option in the sequencer ('SEq') context menu to conveniently bulk-select all steps that play on a specific track;

•find a step (e.g. hold a step's 1-16 key until it auditions its note) that plays a step on the track that you want to select all the steps for•once found, keep holding that step's 1-16 key
•still holding the step's 1-16 key, cycle step parameters until you find the 'trak' parameter•let go of the 1-16 key•open the context menu (e.g. hold write and short-press value) and cycle through the options until you find 'sLct saME' the option•action the option by still holding write and long-pressing value•still holding write, you are now editing multiple steps at once (just like regular multi-step editing), with the steps playing on the same track pre-selected for you

Risers, fallers, sweeps & ear candy

As opposed to many other grooveboxes, your Woovebox has enough tracks and voices to add that little bit of extra polish to your songs through risers, fallers, sweeps and just general "ear candy".

Risers and fallers

Risers and fallers are sound effects used in music production to create a sense of tension or release. Risers are sounds that gradually increase in volume and pitch, often used to build up to a climax in a song. Fallers are the opposite, sounds that gradually decrease in volume and pitch, often used to create a sense of resolution or release. These effects are commonly used in electronic dance music (EDM) and are often created using synthesized sounds such as white noise or sweeping filters.

Your Woovebox comes with a number of riser and faller presets, but you can, of course, sound-design your own.

Ear candy

"Ear candy" is a term used to describe elements in a music production that are added to enhance the overall sound or to make it more interesting and pleasing to the ear. These elements can include various sound effects, or melodic or harmonic embellishments, such as countermelodies or chord extensions. The idea is that these elements add an extra layer of interest to the music, making it more engaging and enjoyable to listen to.

Your Woovebox has a number of features that can help sound-design various types of ear candy. For example, the pitch LFO can be made to quantize its pitch to note frequencies of the currently playing chord, the currently chosen musical scale, or just the western scale.

Example

This excerpt from Omnivore's "Zephyrus' Pursuit" (one of a number of 100% Woovebox-produced tracks) demonstrates;

•a faller (the low, down-pitching sound) at a break-down•ear candy (the "whimsical" glistening bell embellishments) supporting the vocal sample
•a riser (white noise with a gradually opening filter) introducing a new part of the song

Live mode

In Live mode, your Woovebox becomes a performance instrument and classic groovebox. Live mode allows you to improvise melodies, switch tracks on and off real-time, or trigger "scenes" (pre-programmed track behaviors) to build up and a song dynamically as part of a live performance.

When connected up to other gear via wired or wireless MIDI, audio input, and/or analog sync pulse out, your Woovebox can act as the brain of a bigger setup.

To access Live mode, hold the value knob and short-press 15/A7/Live.

Toggling tracks on and off

To toggle tracks on and off, hold write and press 1/Cd-16/A8 to toggle on or off tracks. Hitting play, you should hear the tracks being played back. You can toggle on and off tracks like this during your performance.

TIP: You can carry over your configuration of muted and unmuted tracks into track/pattern edit mode, by holding the value knob and holding the track 1/Cd-16/A8 you wish to edit. In other words, this feature allows you to solo and mute tracks at will while working on your patterns and tracks.

You can play along in real-time with the tracks by playing key 1-16. The track that will be sounded when you play key 1-16, is indicated on the lower display. To change which track is sounded when you hit a key, hold play until "Slct Trak" ("select track"), then while still holding play, select track 1/Cd-16/A8 to switch to that track. The new track should now be indicated in the lower display.

Scenes

Scenes are pre-programmed track configurations that play out over a specified time. By triggering them (either immediately, or by scheduling them in the future), you build up tracks during your live performance.

To access scene programming mode, hold the value knob and short-press 15/A7/Live once or twice, until the first two characters of screen read "Sc.". To exit scene programming mode and return to Live performance ("Live") mode, press hold the value knob and short-press 15/A7/Live once more.

The number following "Sc." indicates which scene is currently active. You can program or trigger up to 16 scenes. To change the scene you are programming, hold play and press 1-16 to select scene 1-16.

Programming a scene is nearly identical to programming a song fragment in Song mode. Hold Write and press all the 1/Cd through 16/A8 tracks you wish to sound when the scene is active.

Just like editing a note in Track edit mode or editing track parameters when editing a song fragment, you can hold an active (lit up) track's key (1/Cd-16/A8) until it blinks and then cycle through the parameters you can change by short pressing the value knob.

Still holding the track's key (1/Cd-16/A8), you can change the parameter by turning the value knob.

Per track, you can change the following parameters;

•Playing behavior ("bhev");
•Pattern number ("Pttn");•Chord lock ("Cd.Lk");•Re-trigger effect ("retr");

A scene has a length associated with it, over which it plays out and then loops. Just like in other places where you specify a length, you can change the scene length by holding write and turning the value knob. The playing behavior ("bhev") you specified, plays out over the specified length as well. This allows you to program and trigger filter sweeps, fade ins and fade outs of individual tracks.

For more information on automation and re-triggering effects, please see the Song mode documentation.

Performing with Live mode

Perfoming on your Woovebox in Live mode is straightforward, powerful and rewarding.

At any time, you can play along, create melodies and improvise in real-time by playing key 1-16. The track that will be sounded when you play key 1-16, is indicated on the lower display. To change which track is sounded when you hit a key, hold play until "Slct Trak" ("select track"), then while still holding play, select track 1/Cd-16/A8 to switch to that track. The newly selected track should now be indicated in the lower display.

Before hitting play to start your performance, you may wish to activate a scene to start with (or quickly mute/unmute some tracks by holding write and selecting track 1/Cd-16/A8). Scenes are pre-programmed track configurations that play out over a specified time. For example, you can have one scene that has the kick and hi-hat playing, and another that has the kick, hi-hat and bass playing. Switching between the two scenes builds your track.

To activate the scene you wish to start with, hold play and short-press key 1-16 to choose scene 1-16. The screen will briefly show "Copy Sc." followed by the scene number you selected. You will now notice the tracks have been configured (e.g. muted and unmuted) according to the scene.You can this this during playback as well to jump between scenes and thus track configurations.

A more convenient way to switch between scenes during playback, is to schedule a scene. This makes sure that a scene is triggered when the currently playing scene is elapsed. This can avoid jarring or badly timed transitions (though sometimes jarring might be exactly the sound you are after of course). To schedule a scene transition, hold play and long-press key 1-16 to schedule scene 1-16. The display will indicate "Schd Sc." ("scheduled scene") followed by the scene number you selected. The scene will now only start playing once its starting position is synced up with the playhead. You will see the playhead going in reverse to give you a visual indication of when the new scene will trigger.

Live jamming

Despite its limitations, the Woovebox keyboard can be surprisingly expressive and very much suitable for live playing and improvising complex melodies.

Combined with legato, you can even dynamically create pitch glides; hold 1-16, then quickly play another 1-16 to slide from the first held 1-16 pitch to the second played 1-16 pitch. Note that to use glides, the patch needs to be configured to allow this. You can configure your patch on the 'Pich' (pitch) page; set Live Glide (LLGL) under 3/Ld to 'on'. Then set Legato Speed (LEG.S) under 7/hh to a value other than 0 to control the glide speed.

The way the keyboard translates key presses into note pitches, depends on how the FLW.C (follow chord) parameter on the 'Glob' (global) page is configured for your patch. For example, key presses may be automatically "pulled" toward the root note of the chord that is currently playing, or key presses may be automatically translated to the "legal" notes of the musical scale for your song. Please refer to the documentation to learn more about all the different modes at your disposal.

Song mode

"Song mode" in is a feature that allows you to create and arrange complete, complex songs, rather than just more basic individual patterns or loops.

It is a powerful feature that allows you to create complete songs and arrangements, with the ability to easily edit and refine them as needed, making it a powerful tool for electronic music production, live performance, and beat making.

Song mode on the Woovebox is so powerful in fact, that even a single pattern per track is enough material to create a complex song with.

Song-wide settings

Two pages of parameters precede the song fragments.

Glob (song globals) page

1. bPM song tempo

Song's global tempo in beats per minute (range 80-260). Many time- or tempo-based settings and parameters derive their tempo from this one setting.

Note that BPM settings below 80 will reduce the available options for tempo-synced delay lengths. Delay lengths for the delay units (under 1/Cd and 5/Ki on the Song's effect "EFct" page) will be automatically adjusted down to accommodate very slow BPMs (and therefore very long delays).

2. root song scale root note

Song scale's root note.

3. ScaL song scale, tonality or mode

Song scale, tonality or mode. The following scales, tonalities and modes are available;

•"MAJ" Major ("Happy")•"nMin" Natural minor•"hMin" Harmonic minor ("Latin", "Spanish", "Arabic")
•"MMin" Melodic minor (Jazz, Film scoring)
•"MAPE" Major pentatonic•"MiPE" Minor pentatonic•"hirA" Hirajoshi•"MiyA" In scale / Miyako-bushi•"inSE" Insen
•"iwAto" Iwato
•"yo" Yo
•"dori" Dorian•"Phry" Phrygian•"Mi][" Mixolidyan•"Locr" Locrian•"FLAM" Flamenco•"GyPS" Gypsy•"hFdM" Half diminished•"PErS" Persian•"UkrA" Ukrainian

4. FrE.C free chord selection and playback

By default, a chord's root note will always conform to the key/scale you chose for your song upon playback (you may still program an root note that does not fit the scale). For example, with the default C major scale, possible chord root notes are always the white keys of an imaginary piano (e.g. C, D, E, F, G, A, B) but not the black keys.

Changing the root note of a chord by editing a step on the chord track, will normally always sound/play the closest "legal" note of your chosen key/scale/mode. So if you would, for example, choose a root note of C sharp for a song that is in the key of C major, your Woovebox will play a chord with a C root note (closest "legal" note for that scale), and not a C sharp (which is an "illegal" note for that scale).

Setting FrE.C to 'yes' option allows for turning this behavior off, and allow you to freely play back (not just program) chords with root notes that are out-of-scale.

5. noi.F Noise Floor

Sets a base noise floor (0-127) below which artificially introduced noise is always audible. A slight base noise floor can be instrumental in emulating vinyl or tape hiss.

6. noi.c Noise Character

Sets the character of the artificially introduced noise floor. Lower values exhibit a subtle high frequency periodicity, found in some vintage analog equipment such as record players. Higher values tend to whiter noise.

7. SEEd random number generator seed

Setting this parameter to a non-'off' value will ensure that any random events or choices in your song play out the exact same way every time. E.g. with a setting that is not 'off', the same pseudo-random sequence will be followed for random events in your song (such as conditionals) from the start of your song to the end of your song. You may choose from 32767 of these "fixed" pseudo-random sequences. For true unpredictable events, keep this setting at 'off'.

Fixing the random number generator is only applicable for songs played back in Song Mode and does not apply to Live/Scene or Track editing modes.

The SEEd parameter - if enabled - affects;

•Legato probability (8/Pc on a track's 'Pich' page)
•Portamento probability (6/Sn on a track's 'Pich' page)•LFO phase randomization for LFO retriggering of ALFO, PLFO and FLFO
•25/50/75% step trigger probability 'do' conditionals•Chord inversion randomization

9. MC.th Master Compressor threshold

Sets the threshold (0-100) above which the master compressor/limiter should kick in. 0 means always on (compression of any signal), 100 means always off (signal never high enough to start compression).

10. MC.th Master Compressor ratio

Sets the compression ratio for the master compressor. A value of 1 effectively turns off the compressor. A value higher than 12 (for a 1:12 compression ratio) is generally considered to act as a limiter, rather than a compressor.

11. MC.th Master Compressor attack

Specifies how fast the master compressor/limiter should respond to the threshold being exceeded, enabling compression.

12. MC.th Master Compressor release

Specifies how fast the master compressor/limiter should respond to the signal dipping below the threshold, disabling compression.

13. Sync analog sync pulse

Your Woovebox can output an analog sync pulse via a breakout cable plugged into the headphone jack. The pulsing starts and stops as you start or stop playback.

Note that enabling 'Sync' without using the breakout cable, may cause a faint clicking noise. Therefore, keep this setting at 'off' if the breakout cable is not in use.

See also the connecting other gear section.

EFct (global song-wide multi-effects) page

This page houses settings for global song-wide multi-effects. In addition to track-specific multi-effects, each track has effect sends for global reverb, chorus, delay 1 and delay 2 effects defined on this page.

1. dL.Ln Delay 1 Length

Length of delay in beats (one beat is one quarter note) for delay unit 1. For song BPMs below 80, options will be reduced.

2. dL.Fb Delay 1 Feedback

Feedback ("repeat") strength for delay unit 1.

3. dL.Wd Delay 1 Width

Delay between left and right channel "ping-pong" for delay unit 1

4. d2.Al Delay2 Algorithm

Specifies the algorithm for the second delay unit. Choose between;

•dly (delay); standard delay, identical to delay 1•spkl (sparkle); applies ring modulation and a one octave pitch shift (up). Depending on the patch this introduces "pleasant" high frequency overtones such "sparkles" and "shimmers".

5. dL.Ln Delay 2 Length

Length of delay in beats (one beat is one quarter note) for delay unit 2. For song BPMs below 80, options will be reduced.

6. dL.Fb Delay 2 Feedback

Feedback ("repeat") strength for delay unit 2.

7. dL.Wd Delay 2 Width

Delay between left and right channel "ping-pong" for delay unit 2.

9. ch.SP Chorus Speed

Speed by which chorus effects unit bounces between chorus time 1 ("ch.t1") and chorus time 2 ("ch.t1").

10. ch.t1 Chorus Time 1

Time delay 1 between original signal and output signal. Chorus unit will bounce between chorus time 1 ("ch.t1") and chorus time 2 ("ch.t2") according to speed ("ch.SP").

11. ch.t2 Chorus Time 2

Time delay 2 between original signal and output signal. Chorus unit will bounce between chorus time 1 ("ch.t1") and chorus time 2 ("ch.t2") according to speed ("ch.SP").

13. rv.Fb Reverb Feedback

Specifies reverb feedback.

14. rv.tM Reverb Time

Specifies reverb time, with longer times sounding more cavernous (for example a cathedral) and short times sounding more compact (for example a studio space).

Arranging and building your song

Once you have created one or more patterns elements and motifs, across multiple tracks, you can sequence build-ups of these by switching to Song mode (hold value knob and short-press 16/Song).

Fragments

Songs are made up of song sections ("fragments"). Fragments specify which tracks should be playing, which patterns these tracks should be playing, how the patterns should be played, and how long this should go on for. You can have up to 99 such fragments per song.

In Song mode, to edit and create fragments, turn the value knob the right until the screen reads "Fr.01". You can now create and edit the first fragment (fragment 01) of your song.

As said, when you song plays, the Woovebox steps through all the fragments. It does so until it encounters an "end" fragment". Fragments have a length (specify length by holding write and turning value knob) for which they play and/or effect the tracks you specify. No length (e.g. length equals zero) and no tracks enabled (e.g. all LEDs are off), means that song playback should end at that fragment.

For example to start fragment 01 off with the kickdrum and the bassline, hold write and short-press 5/Ki and then, while still holding write, short-press 2/Bs.

The kick and bass tracks now light up, indicating that they will play for the duration of this fragment.

Much like editing notes on tracks or slices in the sampler, in a Song mode fragment you can hold an active (e.g. "lit up") track and edit a number of settings. These settings include;

•Behavior ("bEhv") play, mute, or automation of fades, filters or pitch•Parameter ("ParM") parameter for the automation. This setting is not available if the setting chosen for "bEhv" is not a type of automation.
•The pattern ("Pttn") that the track should play (note that pattern chains are still respected)•Chord lock ("CdLk") determines whether the track should respond to chord changes
•Retrigger Pattern ("retr") applies a special step retriggering pattern, allowing for retrigger-based variations - useful for fills, stutters and variations.

You can also use the mute 'bEhv' to line up playthrough counter-dependent conditionals, by starting playback "muted" the right amount of steps (or bars) earlier.

Use the context menu for convenience operations such as inserting, deleting or cloning a fragment.

As of firmware 4165, you can also quickly replicate sections of your song (e.g. a sequence of multiple fragments). To do so;

•go the the fragment from where you wish to start copying•find the "SEt Copy" context menu item and action it•now go to the fragment where you want copied fragments to go•find either the "Copy Aftr" (copy, insert after current fragment) or "Copy BfrE" (copy, insert before current fragment) context menu item and action it as many times as the amount of fragments you need to copy. The index of the fragment that will be copied will be automatically increased. This mechanic allows you to copy (replicate) entire sections by just repeating "Copy Aftr" or "Copy BfrE".

Arranging techniques and tips

Arranging techniques and tips

There are no set rules for arranging songs, however in general, variation is key to keep the listener's attention.

A great technique is the "two loop rule" by Alex Rome - please give his YouTube channel some love. In a nutshell, the techniques calls for changing something every two loops of the chords (on the Woovebox with default settings/speed for the chord track, two loops equals 8 bars). Of course, the Woovebox' powerful conditional triggering already tends to make sure that changes take place regularly.

Behaviors and Automation

The following behaviors are at your disposal via the 'bEhv' setting;

•'PLay' (play); play sound on the track. If filter was closed down all the way, turn it up all the way. If volume is turned down all the way, turn it up all the way. Pitch is kept.
•'MutE' (mute); mute the track, but keep any pattern play counters going. Close filter, reset pitch, and set volume to 0.
•'Fad.I' (fade in automation); fade in the track in whole or partially. If track was not playing yet and filter was closed down all the way, turn it up all the way. Pitch is kept-as is.•'Fad.O' (fade out automation); fade out the track in whole or partially. Filter and pitch are kept as-is.
•'Fil.O' (filter open automation); open the filter cut-off in whole or partially. If track was not playing yet and volume is turned down all the way, turn it up all the way. Pitch is kept-as is.
•'Fil.C' (filter close automation); close the filter cut-off in whole or partially. Volume and pitch are kept as-is.•'Pi.UP' (pitch up automation); pitch the track up a specified amount, starting from various starting points. If track was not playing yet and if filter was closed down all the way, turn it up all the way. If track was not playing yet and if volume is turned down all the way, turn it up all the way. The pitch range is one octave.
•'Pi.Dn' (pitch down automation); pitch the track down a specified amount, starting from various starting points. If track was not playing yet and if filter was closed down all the way, turn it up all the way. If track was not playing yet and if volume is turned down all the way, turn it up all the way. The pitch range is one octave.•'SLnt' (silent); similar to 'MutE', however allows for any playing notes to ring out, rather than cutting them off immediately.•'Gatr' (gater); rhytmically mutes and unmutes the track, selecting from 10 different gating patterns.

A 'ParM' setting is available for automations such as the fade in, filter cut-off or pitching automations. This setting specifies a starting point (marked S) or an end point marked 'E'. For example 'S 41' indicates that the automation starts at 41% complete. Some examples on how this is used;

•In the case of a fade in ('Fad.I') this means that the audio starts at 41% volume and progressively creeps to 100%.•In the case of a fade out ('Fad.O'), this means that the audio starts at 41% volume and progressively creeps to 0%.•In the case of a pitch up ('Pi.UP') automation, this means that the track starts playing six semitones lower and progressively pitches up until it hits the original pitch.•In the case of a pitch down ('Pi.Dn') automation, this means that the track starts playing six semitones higher and progressively pitches down until it hits the original pitch.

In another example 'E 41' indicates that the automation ends at 41% complete. Some examples on how this is used;

•In the case of a fade in ('Fad.I') this means that the audio starts at 0% and ends at 41% volume.•In the case of a fade out ('Fad.O'), this means that the audio starts at 41% volume and progressively creeps to 0%.•In the case of a pitch up ('Pi.UP') automation, this means that the track starts playing six semitones lower and progressively pitches up until it hits the original pitch.•In the case of a pitch down ('Pi.Dn') automation, this means that the track starts playing six semitones higher and progressively pitches down until it hits the original pitch.

Automation is persistent until canceled by other automation. This means that, for example, a pitch will remain changed until another automation changes that pitch again in some other way. However, if you need to forcibly cancel any type of automation's effect, you can choose 'Cncl' for the 'ParM' setting. This will cancel any automation for the matching 'bEhv' automation. For exampl, 'Cncl' for the 'ParM' setting, will;

•set the volume to full for the fade in and out behaviors.•set the open the filter cut-off fully for the filter open and close behaviors.•set the pitch back to the normal pitch for the pitch behaviors.

If you need to cancel multiple automations, you can do so by queuing multiple 0-length fragments.

The 'Parm' setting is a simple 1-10 for the Gater ('Gatr') pattern selection.

Re-triggering effects

A fragment's 'rEtr' parameter governs how (if at all) the chosen pattern's steps should be re-triggered.

Having a pattern re-trigger for the duration of a fragment, can quickly and conveniently create fills, stutters or variations without having to change the pattern itself.

The following re-triggering types are available;

•'OFF'; re-triggering off. No re-triggering.•'rP.1.4'; repeat 1-4. Keep repeating step 1 through 4.•'L4.r.1'; for the last 4 steps repeat step 1. Play step 1 through 12 as normal, but repeat step 1 for step 13 through 16.•'db.Ev'; double even steps. For every odd step, repeat the preceding even step instead.•'rpt.1'; repeat 1. Keep repeating step 1.•'rp.1.2'; repeat 1-2. Keep repeating step 1 and step 2.
•'rvSE'; reverse the pattern. Plays the pattern in reverse, starting at step 16.

All re-triggering effects assume a step length of 16 steps for each pattern.

Context menu

Song mode's 'GLob' and 'Efct' pages have a context menu with a number of globally-relevant song-related options;

•'duMP SonG' (dump song) dumps song the song as a SYSEX file to any connected MIDI devices. If connected to Wooveconnect, the SYSEX file is made available as a download, and the song is further rendered as a .WAV audio file (see also song backup, digital song and stem rendering).•'duMP StMd' (dump stems dry) dumps song the song as a SYSEX file to any connected MIDI devices. If connected to Wooveconnect, the SYSEX file is made available as a download, and the song's stems is further rendered as sixteen separate a .WAV audio files (see also song backup, digital song and stem rendering) without effects applied.•'duMP StMW' (dump stems wet) dumps song the song as a SYSEX file to any connected MIDI devices. If connected to Wooveconnect, the SYSEX file is made available as a download, and the song's stems is further rendered as sixteen separate a .WAV audio files (see song backup, digital song and stem rendering) with effects applied.•'Init SonG' (initialize song) clears the song in its entirety (clearing all patterns and track settings) and configures all tracks with defaults.•'dSP InFo' (DSP load information) selects various modes of DSP load information display options (see understanding DSP load).•'Mirr dvcE' (device mirroring) toggles device mirroring on and off. Device mirroring is used in conjunction with Wooveconnect to show a live virtual representation of your Woovebox. Turn this option off if device mirroring is not needed in order to reduce MIDI bandwidth usage and/or congestion issues.•'norM MVoL' (normalize track master volumes) scales the Master Volume setting (as found on each track's 'GLob' page under the 1/Cd key) across all tracks evenly, so that the maximum volume used by any of the tracks is always 127 (max). This is to ensure maximum dynamic range is used. The amount raised is shown upon invocation. If the maximum dynamic range was already being used, the function returns 'IS MaX'.•'undo' (undo) reverts back to the song's state before the last save event.

Sampler

Your Woovebox includes a powerful sampler. It is able to sample sounds via its line input, import samples via Bluetooth or resample its own internal synthesizer. It even supports advanced features like multi-sampled instruments, slices (including auto-slicing), pitch shifting, time stretching and automatic tempo-to-pitch matching.

Adding samples via Wooveconnect

You may add samples recorded in WAV format, via Wooveconnect, by simply dragging and dropping them into your wirelessly connected device. You may also import Teenage Engineering OP-1 / OP-Z sample ("drum") kit AIFF files.

Wooveconnect will automatically analyse the .WAV file you provided, choose the most appropriate Woovebox sample format (44.1kHz 8-bit mulaw, or 22.05kHz 16-bit) for the audio's harmonic content, and upload it to the device.

Any samples you add to your Woovebox are automatically appended as a slice to the currently (or last) selected sample kit. To make sure a sample ends up in the right kit, please make the desired kit number ('US01' through 'US16') is active, by activating the sampler interface (hold the Value button down, then press 14/Smpl/A6) and selecting the desired kit number (hold Play and select 1-16).

If no sample kit is selected, the Woovebox will try to find the next available empty kit automatically.

Please note that just like using the sampler, any uploads or changes are committed only once you switch away from the sampler.

See the Wooveconnect documentation for further details.

Sampling sounds from the audio input

Hold the value knob and short-press 14/A6/Sampler button to access the sampler. If needed, repeat this until you are in sampler ("SMPL") mode and not, for example, in resampler mode ("rSMP").

Select the kit you wish to edit or record samples to by holding play and pressing 1-16 to select kit 1-16.

Connect an audio source to the audio input of your Woovebox.

If desired, press the play button to monitor the input. Press play once more to turn off monitoring.

To record a sample, hold write and press 1-16 where you wish to record the sample to. Hold 1-16 for as long as you wish to record.

If you wish to play your sample chromatically (e.g. non just for percussion or one-shot purposes), samples should ideally be recorded as an A-note. In other words, if you wish to sample another instrument, have it play an A. However, if the material is pitched differently by a number of semitones, you can adjust the root note using a slice's pitch (Pich) parameter so that it sounds like an A.

Any recorded audio is automatically normalized (e.g. dynamic range is optimized).

Please note that any uploads or changes are committed only once you switch away from the sampler or to another sampler mode. Until that time, you can completely undo all changes made through the "Undo" in the context menu, which will restore the state of the sampler as it was before you entered it.

Recording line level vs mic level

Ideally, the audio source should output "line level" (a smartphone, table, laptop, keyboard, the audio output of any other synthesizer gear, etc.). However, if you are in a pinch and need to record voice for further processing, your Woovebox can also record faint "mic level" signals as produced by cheap unamplified microphones directly plugged into the input.

To record mic level, in the sampler, hold write and play, then turn the value knob right (for mic level) or left (for line level - default). Please note that trying to record faint mic level signals without switching the input to "Mic LEvL", will result in interference being audible in your recording.

Mic level signal amplification and filtering is performed in the digital domain; a custom-designed digital filtering algorithm removes the interference after recording a slice. As a result, a short pause (dependent on the length of the sample) occurs after recording the sample. You will also notice all LEDs turn off during recording of mic-level sources; all unnecessary sub-systems are powered down to minimize noise and interference.

Sampling mic-level input is mostly meant for getting voice recording/input on the device for further processing (for example via the vocoder, or using the voice recordings as material for pitch and time warping). You may find it less suited for recording ambient or non-voice sounds. A fixed 300Hz - 8000Hz bandpass filter is in place to remove non-voice related frequencies and rumble.

You will typically find it is necessary to speak closely to the mic, almost touching the pop shield - much like a pro-singer of voiceover artist - to get the cleanest possible recording. The less the signal has to be amplified, the less noise will be present in the recording.

Lastly, make sure your chosen mic is able (or TRS fixed-wired) to provide a stereo signal (e.g. has its signal on both the Tip and Ring).

Re-sampling the internal synthesizer

Hold the Value knob and short-press 14/A6/Sampler button to access the sampler. If needed, repeat this until you are in resampler ("rSMP") mode and not, for example, in sampler mode ("SMPL").

If you wish to play your sample chromatically (e.g. non just for percussion purposes), samples should ideally be recorded as an A-note. In other words, if you wish to sample an instrument, have it play an A.

Hold the play key until the display says 'SET A-4'. You should hear an example of what will be recorded, pitched as an A.

Hold write and turn the value knob to set the length of the note (sustain component) you wish to sample.

Vocoder

Hold the Value knob and short-press 14/A6/Sampler button to access the sampler. If needed, repeat this until you are in vocoder ("VCdr") mode.

A vocoder works by splitting the input signal into frequency bands, extracting the amplitude envelope from each band, and applying it to a corresponding carrier signal to produce a synthesized output. This allows for the modulation of one sound source (usually a synthesized note) by the characteristics of another (typically vocals), resulting in the distinctive robotic or synthesized voice effect.

Using vocoder mode is identical to using the resampler, except that incoming audio (modulator) is used to modulate the resampler audio (carrier). In other words, whatever you say (or play) into the audio input is "imprinted" on the synthesized note being played. Carrier signals with a lot of harmonic content work best, such as saw waves, strings and chords.

E.g. to record vocoded phrase or word, select a track with a sound that is a good carrier (for the classic saw wave, select "init patch" from the patch page's context menu). Play a note/chord to establish the pitch or chord. Switch to the vocoder. If you wish to use a microphone for the modulator signal, switch to mic mode (write + play + turn value to right). Just like with the sampler, hold write + the slice slot 1-16 you wish to record into. Say something through the mic. You should now have a vocoded sample at the specified pitch.

Working with slices

When you import a sample into a kit, it is appended to any existing sample for that kit to become one new long "master" sample.

A slice is a part of a master sample that can be triggered individually. You can have up to sixteen slices in a kit. Slices can play at different pitches, can be looped, and can even be played backwards.

Creating slices out of a master sample - whether manually or automatically - does not cost any extra sample memory. For example, you can have multiple slices playing the same part of the master sample, but slightly different; one slice can start a bit earlier, one a bit later, another may be playing in reverse, another may use pitch shifting or time stretching, etc. In other words, slices are instructions on how to play part(s) of the master sample, but they do not consume further sample memory.

Slices are automatically created for any samples you import/append to the kit's master sample. Slices can also automatically be created by using one of the auto slicer modes from the context menu.

You can audition slices by pressing their corresponding 1-16 buttons. The last played slice will slow-blink, signifying any slice-specific operations you choose from the context menu will apply to that slice.

For example, you can clone a slice into the next available slot by making sure the slice you wish to clone is slow-blinking (by pressing its button at least once), and then invoking the "clone slice" (CLnE Slic) option in the context menu. A successful cloning of your selected slice will report "into" followed by the number of the slot it was cloned into.

Deleting a slice works similarly to cloning a slice - select the slice to delete first and then invoke the "delete slice" (dLtE Slic) option in the context menu.

Slices can be manually fine-tuned and edited in much the same way editing of a step works in the sequencer, or editing of a track works in the live (or song) mode;

Just like editing a step in Track edit mode or editing track parameters when editing a song fragment, you can hold an active (lit up) slice's key (1/Cd-16/A8) until it blinks and then cycle through the parameters you can change by short pressing the value knob.

Still holding the slice's key (1/Cd-16/A8), you can change the parameter by turning the value knob

Much like multi-step or multi-track editing, multi-slice editing is also possible; hold Write and press all the 1/Cd through 16/A8 slices you wish to edit. Keep holding write and cycle through the parameters by short-pressing the value knob. Still write, you can change the parameter for all selected slices by turning the value knob

Per slice, you can change the following parameters;

•'St.C' ('Start Coarse'); coarse starting point adjustment.
•'St.F' ('Start Fine'); fine starting point adjustment.•'En.C' ('End Coarse'); coarse end point adjustment.
•'En.F' ('End Fine'); fine endpoint adjustment.•'Mode'; playback mode override, identical to the 9/PL.Md/PLay ModE (playback mode) parameter on a track's Osc1/Osc2 pages. Any behavior specified here will override the Play Mode on a track's Osc1/Osc2 pages, but only if track behavior 7/bEhv/trak bEhv on a track's 'GLob' (track globals) page is set to 'SMPk' (sample kit) and 15/SL.SL/Slce Slct (slice select) on the track's Osc1/Osc2 pages is set to Sl1-16 or one of the multi-sample modes.•'Warp'; pitch shift and time warp mode select.
•'Pich'; pitch offset in semitones.

Start and end point positions are expressed as a percentage of the total master sample length. E.g. if you append a sample to the master sample, you will notice slices change their start and end position percentages, as the master sample has gotten longer.

Auto-slicing

Your Woovebox can auto-slice a bigger slice into smaller slices for you.

To auto-slice a bigger slice into smaller slices, first press 1-16 corresponding to select the slice you wish to auto-slice. The selected slice will slow-blink, indicating it is selected.

Via the context menu in the Sampler, your Woovebox offers three different ways of auto-slicing a sample;

•'AutoSl15'; retains the entire sample in slice 1, and creates fifteen slices based on transients it detects for slice 2-16. This mode is useful for separating sounds that are not necessarily rhythmic in nature (such as words in a sentence).
•'AutoSl16'; Creates sixteen slices of equal duration. This mode is useful for chopping up a pre-made drumloop into fragments that start and stop on a individual beats.•'AuStSl16'; Creates sixteen slices that start at different beats, but play through to the end of the sample. This mode is useful for chopping up pre-made drumloops for re-triggering (such as the Amen break for Jungle).

When using auto-slice, please note that any previous slices in your kit will be deleted.

Real-time pitch and time warping

Slices can be pitch shifted and time stretched in real-time, with a sound that is reminiscent of early samplers by AKAI, such as the S950 and S1000.

Amongst other things, this sound was popularized by using ultra-stretched, metallic sounding vocals and drum sounds found in many 90s Jungle , Drum and Bass, House, Garage and other EDM tracks. The Woovebox' algorithm deliberately leans into this use of pitch shifting and time stretching for creative uses.

In contrast to aforementioned hardware samplers from the 80s and 90s, and in line with its "doing more with less" goal, your Woovebox performs the warping in real-time, allowing for even more creative effects and - crucially - without "baking" those effects into the source samples. For example, you can dynamically change speed and pitch by means of an LFO (including conditional thereof), allowing the same samples (or parts thereof) to sound differently without the obvious "chip munk" effect or affecting playback speed. This can include otherworldy Window Licker-esque growls, inflections or intonations on vocals, or per-step triggerable metallic / flanger-esque effects of just a few drumloop slices.

Using time and pitch warp

A slice's 'Warp' parameter specifies how - if it all - a slice should behave in response to a programmed step's note pitch and/or length;

•'Off'; no special behavior. The slice will play faster or slower depending on a step's programmed pitch. Step length will affect the sustain component of the track as normal.
•'Pich'; the slice will a play at a programmed step's pitch, but will always play at a fixed speed. Or in other words, a step's "note" parameter only influences the playback pitch, but not the playback speed. This mode only works if the 'Warp' algorithm is active on a track. Any of oscillator 1's settings that affect pitch will affect the pitch at which the slice is played back, still retaining the same speed. Therefore, interesting pitch effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 1 as the slice is played back. Any of oscillator 2's settings will affect time. Therefore, interesting time effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 2 as the slice is played back. This mode is particularly useful for effecting vocal samples and crazy metallic effects.
•'tiME'; when triggered on a step, the slice will a play at fixed pitch (as specified by a slice's the 'pich' parameter), but will play at the speed specified by the step's pitch (where A-4 is 100% speed, A-5 is 200% speed, A-3 is 50% and so on). Or in other words, a step's "note" parameter only influences the playback speed, but not the playback pitch. This mode only works if the 'Warp' algorithm is active on a track. Any of oscillator 1's settings that affect pitch will affect the pitch at which the slice is played back, still retaining the same speed. Therefore, interesting pitch effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 1 as the slice is played back. Any of oscillator 2's settings will affect time. Therefore, interesting time effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 2 as the slice is played back. This mode is also particularly useful for effecting vocal samples and crazy metallic effects.•'Ln.V.S'; Slice pitch is automatically varied so that it perfectly stretches the playback over the duration of the step length("Ln"). No "warp" pitch correction or time stretching is applied; the slice ("S") pitch is varied ("V") to fit the step length time. As a result, the "chip munk" effect will be audible. This mode is very useful for perfectly looping full (e.g. single-slice) drumloops in time with the song's BPM. This mode works even without the 'Warp' algorithm active on a track.
•'Ln.V.M'; Slice pitch is automatically varied so that it perfectly stretches the playback over the duration of the step length ("Ln"). No "warp" pitch correction or time stretching is applied; the slice's pitch is simply varied ("V") to fit the step length time. The difference from the 'LN.V.S' mode, is that the slice's playback pitch is scaled in proportion to (e.g. in context of) the full master ("M") sample length. This mode is very useful for triggering sliced-up fragments of drumloops in time with the song's BPM. This mode is useful, for example, to trigger a chopped up Amen break in a Jungle track. This mode works even without the 'Warp' algorithm active on a track.•'Ln.C.S'; Slice time is automatically varied so that it perfectly stretches the playback over the duration of the step length("Ln"). A step's "note" parameter only influences the playback pitch, but not the playback speed. Pitch correction is applied to compensate and is therefore kept constant ("C"). As a result, the "chip munk" effect is suppressed. This mode is very useful for perfectly looping full (e.g. single-slice) drumloops in time with the song's BPM, without changing their pitch (or if desired, changing their pitch independently of their speed). This mode only works if the 'Warp' algorithm is active on a track. Any of oscillator 1's settings that affect pitch will affect the pitch at which the slice is played back, still retaining the same speed. Therefore, interesting pitch effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 1 as the slice is played back. Any of oscillator 2's settings will affect time. Therefore, interesting time effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 2 as the slice is played back. This mode is very useful for perfectly looping full (e.g. single-slice) drumloops in time with the song's BPM without changing their pitch.•'Ln.C.M'; Slice time is automatically varied so that it perfectly stretches the playback over the duration of the step length("Ln"). A step's "note" parameter only influences the playback pitch, but not the playback speed. Pitch correction is applied to compensate and is therefore kept constant ("C"). As a result, the "chip munk" effect is suppressed. The difference from the 'LN.C.S' mode, is that the slice's playback speed is scaled in proportion to (e.g. in context of) the full master ("M") sample length. This mode is very useful for triggering sliced-up fragments of drumloops in time with the song's BPM, all without changing their pitch. This mode only works if the 'Warp' algorithm is active on a track. Any of oscillator 1's settings that affect pitch will affect the pitch at which the slice is played back, still retaining the same speed. Therefore, interesting pitch effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 1 as the slice is played back. Any of oscillator 2's settings will affect time. Therefore, interesting time effects can be achieved by varying the pitch (for example using an LFO) of Oscillator 2 as the slice is played back. This mode is very useful for triggering sliced-up fragments of drumloops in time with the song's BPM. This mode is useful, for example, to trigger a chopped up Amen break in a Jungle track without changing their speed, but allowing pitch to be chosen per-triggered slice.

If using one of the 'Ln.x.x' Warp modes, hold write and turn the value knob to set the audition length. For example, if you are auditioning a 1-bar drumloop sample, set the audition length to 16 steps (one bar) to hear what the sample would sound like over the course of one bar, at your song's chosen BPM.

If the 'Warp' algorithm is active, oscillator 2's amplitude controls cycle length. Varying this length in real-time can create interesting effects such as flangers and other more metallic timbres.

Varying cycle length (as determined by oscillator 2's amplitude), whether static (by setting oscillator 2's level) or dynamic (by applying an LFO, key following or some other control), can be responsible for a number of effects, these include (but are not limited to);

•delays/echoes•metallic sounds•robot voices•flangers•phasers•chorus

As said, the Woovebox' implementation of pitch shifting and time stretching, leans heavily into using this feature for creative purposes. As such you are highly encouraged to explore this feature for sound design purposes in addition to their obvious uses.

Slicing up the Amen break

The Amen break is a seminal six-second drum solo that originated from the song "Amen, Brother" by the 1960s funk and soul group The Winstons. This iconic drum pattern, played by Gregory Coleman, has left an indelible mark on music history, particularly within the realms of electronic music, hip-hop, and jungle.

Renowned for its distinctive rhythmic pattern and energetic feel, the Amen break has been sampled, looped, and manipulated countless times since its emergence in the late 1960s, becoming one of the most sampled drum breaks in music history. Its influence extends far and wide, shaping the sound of genres and inspiring generations of musicians and producers around the world.

The Amen break, as well as other iconic breaks can be found in this sample pack by OaSyntax on Freesound.org. For this short tutorial, we are using the 170_amen_A_.wav sample. We are assuming it was uploaded to user kit 8 (US.08) via Wooveconnect.

Auto-slice with full playthrough

Your Woovebox has three different auto-slicing modes. The one we will be using is "auto slice with full playthrough".

This slicer mode will chop up the chosen (e.g. slow-blinking) slice into sixteen, roughly even parts that play through to the end of the master sample, rather than play up until where the next slice starts.

You can of course always change the start and end-points of your slices manually if you so wish.

Set ping-pong mode

Multi-select all slices (e.g. hold one slice until it fast-blinks, then hold write and let go of the slice you were holding, now - still holding write - select all 16 slices until they all fast-blink).

Still holding write, press the value knob repeatedly to select the "ModE" parameter. Turn the value knob to set it to "PinG". This mode ("ping pong" mode) plays a slice to the end, and then starts playing the slice in reverse until it is back to the start of the slice. It then starts playing forward again, and so on, and so forth.

Combined with each slice playing until the end of the master sample, and playing backwards and forwards continuously, means that you will never run out of audio for the duration of the note/step you program. It will furthermore play fragments of the master sample in reverse, which can add to the sonic complexity of your new break.

Of course, if you wish to deliberately run out of audio, you can use a different slicing mode and/or turn off "ping pong" mode.

Set constant length warp mode

Multi-select all slices and set the "WarP" parameter to "Ln.C.M".

This mode ensures slice time is automatically varied so that it perfectly stretches the playback over the duration of the step length("Ln") as determined by the song's BPM, and keeps the pitch constant ("C"). The difference from the "Ln.C.S" mode, is that the slice's playback speed is scaled in proportion to (e.g. in context of) the full master ("M") sample length.

Try auditioning the slices after you have set their "WarP" parameter. If your auditioning length (hold write + turn value knob) is still set to 1 (default), you should hear short bursts as the slices are "crammed into" one step's worth of time. Set the auditioning length to 16 (e.g. one bar, which is the natural length of the Amen drumloop) however, and you will hear the drumloop play at a more normal speed. Set the auditioning length to 32 and you should hear the drumloop play at half the speed (e.g. the sample is stretched over 32 steps at your chosen song BPM). You will also start hearing the quintessential "metallic" artifacts that the oldschool samplers were known and - depending on who you ask - celebrated for. Many Jungle and Drum and Bass tracks rely on these artifacts to impart further interest and energy on their breaks. As you will see, you can summon these artifacts on demand once it is time to build you new break in the sequencer.

As a side note, it is worth mentioning that you can also use the "Ln.V.M" mode, which does not apply the pitch correction at all and instead modifies the pitch of the sample to accommodate the time it needs to cover. This would have been the go-to technique to sync non-sliced sampled drumloops with different BPMs before time stretching was available.

Create and apply sample kit patch

Creating a patch out of your sample kit for applying to a track is very easy. Select and action the "make sample kit patch" functionality ("SMPK Pach") from the context menu. This creates a patch and puts it into the patch buffer (the same buffer that is used to copy and paste patches between tracks and songs).

To apply it, switch to the track you wish to have your brand new sample kit on. For your convenience, the track will already be on the "Pach" page. From here, simply select and action the "paste patch" ("PStE Pach") function from the context menu. Your kit is now ready to be used.

Please note you are strongly encouraged to further refine the patch and exploit the real-time nature of the "Warp" algorithm for greater dynamic effects and sound design.

For example, the nature of the "metallic" artifacts can be changed dynamically by modifying the amplitude of Osc2 by means of its LFO. For a quick demonstration, on the amplitude (AMPL) page, program a saw wave LFO. Set 13/A5/L.2.Wv to "SaW", depth (14/A6/L.2.dE) to 64 and rate (15/A7/L.2.rt) to 6 steps. Letting the LFO run free (rather than retriggering) further help create interest. For more information see the time and pitch warping documentation.

Program a break

Coming up with a compelling break is surprisingly easy on the Woovebox, thanks to its conditional triggering as well as automated muting generator. A single 16-step pattern can be all it takes for a complex, energetic break that plays out over many bars.

This is a very quick example of some ingredients that might go into such a break;

•To start, set note length (hold write + turn value knob) to 16 steps. Now play/select the first slice (which should be the entirety of the drumloop) and put it on step 1. As a side note, notice what happens when you change the step's pitch; the pitch of the drumloop changes without impacting the speed with which it plays back.•Grab (audition) slice 13 and program it on, for example, step 11. Due to the way we auto-sliced (16 even slices), this - in effect - starts playing the sample's 13th step early on the 11th step. Once the sample runs out, you should hear it "ping pong" in reverse for the last 2 steps to make up for the missing audio. As a side note, you will notice that - again because of the way we auto-sliced (16 even slices) - if you grab a slice number and put it on that same step, you restore the original flow of the drumloop.•Create a conditional on the first step we programmed; on the fourth playthrough ("WhEn Pth4"), perform a "2 note up" ("do UP2n") command.•Grab slice 5 and program it on step 16. Give it, for example, a x3 repeat/"ratchet" conditional ("do ][ 3") with a probability of 25%.•Grab slice 7 and program it onto "itself" (step 7), allowing us to conditionally modify it every 8th playthrough ("WhEn Pth8") and perform a "2 note up" ("do UP2n") command.•Grab slice 13 and program it onto "itself" (step 13), and program a tape stop effect that only gets triggered every 16th playthrough ("WhEn Pt16.").

And so on, and so forth. You should end up with the break from the example. For extra mayhem, you can use the pattern muting functionality, which will allow for certain slices to never trigger/take over, therefore allowing other slices to play out longer. You can also change the song's BPM and the break will still sound largely the same.

To see a more standard Amen chop being reconstructed in real-time from its source material, you can also have a look at the "Good Ol' Days" demo track .SYX in the resources section.

Multi-sampled instruments

The Woovebox sampler supports multi-sampled instruments.

Multi-sampled instruments avoid the "smurf" effect (e.g. samples sounding "unnatural" at higher or lower pitches than what they were recorded at) by sampling an instrument at different pitches. By your Woovebox intelligently switching between the different samples according to the closest pitch, the resulting instrument will sound a lot more natural when played back in your song.

When further augmented with synthesis, dynamics and subtle randomness, realistic and organic renditions of accoustic instruments can be achieved.

Creating a multi-sampled instrument

A multi-sampled instrument can have up to 16 samples, and will take up one sample kit. To create a multi-sampled instrument;

•Switch to the kit US01-US16 that you wish to use for your multi-sampled instrument.•Import or sample the different samples that were recorded at different pitches.•Edit the start and end point of the samples as necessary•For each sample, modify the Pich parameter until auditioning the slice will play the sample at 440Hz or its multiples like 110Hz or 880Hz etc. (e.g. an "A" on the keyboard). Do this for all samples until playing all samples sounds like they are playing at the exact same "A" pitch.

Refer to "using multi-sampled instruments in your song" for instructions on how to set up a patch that uses your new multi-sampled instrument.

Using samples and kits in your songs

Your Woovebox' sampler is surprisingly versatile in the way it allows you to incorporate samples into your songs - from seamlessly integrating as custom oscillators, to playing back multi-sampled instruments or tempo-corrected drumloops.

Using a sample kit

You can trigger all sixteen slices in a kit individually on each track, except on the Chord ('Cd') track.

To quickly and conveniently create a sample kit patch out of a kit;

•In the sampler, select the kit you want to use ("US.01"-"US.16").•Select and action the "SMPK Pach" item in the context menu.•Your Woovebox will report "Copy OK"; it will have created and copied a sample kit patch for your selected kit into the patch buffer (the same buffer you use to copy and paste patches).•Exit the sampler by selecting the track to work on (value + 2/bS - 16/A8) where you want the sample kit to go. For your convenience, that track's "Pach" page will be selected by default already.•Select and action the paste patch ("PStE Pach") context menu item to paste the patch (with our sample kit already set up) from the buffer into the track.

Please note that the sample kit's algorithm defaults to "Warp", allowing for real-time pitch shifting and time stretching. This algorithm consumes more DSP resources than using the simpler subtractive algorithm. If you don't need the Warp algorithm, consider changing the track's algorithm (3/Ld/Algo on the track's GLob page) to subtractive ('Subt') instead.

To create a patch manually;

On any of the 2/bS-16/A8 tracks, on the track globals ('GLob') page, set the 7/'bEhv'/'trak bEhv' ("track behavior") parameter to 'SMPK' ("sample kit"). Next, on the track's patch page ('Pach'/last page), invoke the context menu to select 'Init Pach', e.g;

•Hold write and short-press (a quick press no longer than one second) the value knob to cycle through the options until you find the 'Init Pach' menu item.•Once found, long-press (a long press, longer than three seconds) the Value knob to action the item. The patch will be initialized to a default patch that suits the track's behavior and sound category. In this case, your Woovebox will report 'Init SmpK' .•Release write to exit the context menu.•The wave type for Osc1 will be set to whichever user sample kit you visited last in the Sampler.

Setting the track behavior (7/'bEhv'/'trak bEhv') to SMPK ("sample kit"), changes a track's behavior in two ways;

•Whenever you press a key to audition a sound, it will play slices 1-16 of the selected kit, rather than play a note chromatically; a little bit like the venerable AKAI MPC samplers work. You can change a programmed/recorded step's pitch through step editing. By default the slice is played back at the default pitch (the default pitch of a sample slice can be edited in the sampler mode 'Pich' parameter).
•When editing a step, you can now edit a new 'Slic' parameter, which selects the slice 1-16 that should be played at that step.

With the above behavior, it should be clear this allows you to play up to 16 different sounds on the same track, at any desired pitch.

Using a single sample chromatically

You can use any kit's slice 1-16 chromatically. In other words, you can use any kit's slice as a custom oscillator wave type.

On any of the 2/bS-16/A8 tracks, on the track globals ('GLob') page, set the 7/'bEhv'/'trak bEhv' ("track behavior") parameter to 'SMPL' ("sample").

Next, on the track's patch page ('Pach'/last page), invoke the context menu to select 'Init Pach', e.g;

•Hold write and short-press (a quick press no longer than one second) the value knob to cycle through the options until you find the 'Init Pach' menu item.•Once found, long-press (a long press, longer than three seconds) the Value knob to action the item. The patch will be initialized to a default patch that suits the track's behavior and sound category. In this case, your Woovebox will report 'Init SmpL' .•Release write to exit the context menu.

On firmware before 2817, initializing a track like this will select the factory sample kit (FS01) by default for oscillator 1's wave type. Change 1/'WavE'/'WavE tyPE' on the Osc1 page, to select kits (FS01 through to US16). On firmware 2817+, the wave type for Osc1 will be set to whichever user sample kit you visited last in the Sampler.

By default slice 1 from the kit is selected. The 1-16 slice that should be used from the kit, can be chosen using the 15/'SlSl/'Slce Slct' ("slice select") parameter on the Osc pages. Scroll this parameter until you find the 'Sl 1' through 'Sl16' settings to select slice 1 through 16.

With the above behavior, it should be clear that this allows you to use any slice from any kit as a custom oscillator wave type, allowing for up to 256 custom oscillators.

Using a multi-sampled instrument

You can use any kit as a multi-sampled instrument. Or in other words; you can have your Woovebox play back different samples automatically, based on what pitch is being played. This allows for a more realistic reproduction of a sampled instrrument at different pitches, avoiding the "smurf" effect.

On any of the 2/bS-16/A8 tracks, on the track globals ('GLob') page, set the 7/'bEhv'/'trak bEhv' ("track behavior") parameter to 'SMPL' ("sample").

Next, on the track's patch page ('Pach'/last page), invoke the context menu to select 'Init Pach', e.g;

•Hold write and short-press (a quick press no longer than one second) the value knob to cycle through the options until you find the 'Init Pach' menu item.•Once found, long-press (a long press, longer than three seconds) the Value knob to action the item. The patch will be initialized to a default patch that suits the track's behavior and sound category. In this case, your Woovebox will report 'Init SmpL' .•Release write to exit the context menu.

Initializing a track like this will select the factory sample kit (FS01) by default for oscillator 1's wave type. Change 1/'WavE'/'WavE tyPE' on the Osc1 page, to select the kit that contains yourt multi-sampled instrument.

Set the 15/'SlSl/'Slce Slct' ("slice select") parameter on the Osc pages to either 'MSM1' or 'MSM2'. These two multi-sample modes differ in the following way;

•'MSM1' switches to the sample whose pitch is closest to the target pitch. This mode will result in the most natural sounding multi-sampled instrument.
•'MSM2' switches to the sample whose pitch is closest to the target pitch, but only if that sample was recorded at a higher pitch. This mode will result in multi-sampled instrument that is mostly free of aliasing.

When further augmented with synthesis, dynamics and subtle randomness, realistic and organic renditions of accoustic instruments can be achieved.

Advanced modes and techniques

Enjoy easy tempo-perfect drum loop integration into your song, or create unique sounds with the per-step tape stop/start effect, a classic DJ technique of instantly stopping or starting playback.

Step length-based auto-pitch

Tape stop/start effect

Cutting up the Amen break

Amen break on freesound.org

https://freesound.org/people/VEXST/sounds/24940/

Expanding your Woovebox with the AKWF single cycle sample library

Kristoffer Ekstrand, aka Adventure Kid, a Swedish artist, has made available a massive library of single-cycle waveforms.

Any WAV files from his AKWF pack can be imported into your Woovebox' User sample Kits via Wooveconnect. Being only 600 samples in size each, it is an economical way to add new waveforms to your Woovebox for even more sound design fun!

Be sure to change the pitch up two semitones for each sample you import, as the samples are not recorded at A4. To do this in one go in the sampler for all slices;

•hold the first slice 1-16 you wish to change until it blinks•now hold the Write button•let go of the slice 1-16 button•now select all slices 1-16 you want to additionally change the pitch for•press the Value button to switch the attribute you are editing to "Pich"•use the Value knob to change the pitch to 2•let go of the Write button

All slices you selected will now be set to play two semitones higher, matching the pitch the AKWF pack was recorded at.

Adventure Kid's wave form pack website

https://www.adventurekid.se/akrt/waveforms/adventure-kid-waveforms/

Expanding your Woovebox with Amiga Soundtracker samples

The Commodore Amiga has had an enormous influence on electronic music.

Any WAV files from this archive of sample packs can be imported into your Woovebox' User sample Kits via Wooveconnect. These sounds add some instant retro EDM flavor to your tracks.

Be sure to change the pitch up four semitones for each sample you import, as the samples are not recorded at A4. To do this in one go in the sampler for all slices;

•hold the first slice 1-16 you wish to change until it blinks•now hold the write button•let go of the slice 1-16 button•now select all slices 1-16 you want to additionally change the pitch for•press the value button to switch the attribute you are editing to "Pich"•use the Value knob to change the pitch to 4
•let go of the write button

All slices you selected will now be set to play four semitones higher, matching the pitch the samples were recorded at.

If you wish to make your Woovebox sound like an Amiga, force the Spectrum Quality (5/'Qlty'/'Spct Qlty' on a track's 'GLob' page) for your track to 25% resolution. This emulates the fixed low pass filter that was in place on the Amiga's Paula sound chip.

Download Amiga Soundtracker Sample Packs

https://archive.org/details/AmigaSoundtrackerSamplePacksst-xx

Using Teenage Engineering OP-1 / OP-Z sample kits

Your Woovebox is partially compatible with Teenage Engineering OP-1 / OP-Z sample kit (aka "drum kit") AIFF files. Such kits can be found from different sources such as the OP1.FUN website, the SoundPacks.com website and others.

It follows that your Woovebox is also compatible with the output of OP-1/OP-Z software like the OP-1 Drum Utility by Xfer Records., as well as the on-line drum patch builder at OP1.FUN.

Please note, however, that only the first sixteen samples (out of a possible 24) from a kit will be available on your Woovebox. This means that the last eight samples - if present in the kit - will not be available once uploaded to your Woovebox.

"Teenage Engineering" and "OP-1" are registered trademarks of Teenage Engineering AB, and Pocket Animal Audio is not associated with or endorsed by Teenage Engineering.

Backing up sample kits

To back up your sample kit, in the sampler, select your kit US.01-US.16 (hold play, and press 1-16). Then select and action "duMP Kit" from the context menu.

Sample kits are also automatically dumped as .SYX files along with your song's .SYX and - if connected via Wooveconnect - .WAV files when selecting "duMP Song", "duMP StMd", or "duMP StMW".

Auto-space reclaimer

Slices also inform your Woovebox about what part of the master sample should be retained; if part of a master sample is not used in any of the slices, it is automatically deleted to free up sample memory once you exit Sampler mode or if you switch between sampler modes (e.g switching from sampler to the resampler or vocoder, etc.).

Therefore, if you wish to retain any part of the master sample it must be part of a slice. An easy way of ensuring the entire master sample is retained, is to create a slice that starts at 0% and ends at 100% length, therefore encompassing the entire master sample.

This mechanism also allows for an implicit slice delete function; to delete a slice bring the 'St.C' ('Start Coarse') point and 'En.C' ('End Coarse') together until you have effectively a 0-length slice (indicated by '=dLtE'). The slice will now disappear. Again, note that this does not necessarily mean that space is freed up, as some other slice in your kit may be still be using that part of the sample.

Limitations

The following limitations currently apply to the Woovebox sampler;

•Recordings may be any length, however individual sample slices may not be longer than 11.8 seconds.•Total sample duration used up by all kits may not be larger than 62.4 seconds.•Samples recorded through the line-in input are sampled at 44.1kHz with 8-bit with mulaw compression (~12-bit effective dynamic range). Samples with low harmonic content (e.g. sine waves, synthesized kicks) may exhibit quantization noise due the the dynamic range compression. If this is an issue, consider importing your sample through Wooveconnect.
•Resampled internal sounds are recorded at 22.05kHz 16-bit uncompressed resolution.•Wooveconnect-imported samples are analysed for their harmonic content, upon which the least lossy encoding scheme is chosen (44.1kHz 8-bit mulaw or 22.05kHz 16-bit).

Sidechaining, gating, ducking and compression

Sidechaining, gating, ducking and compression and limiting have important roles in music production, both in final mix clarity and creative use.

Your Woovebox allows you to apply these dynamics effects per track, and implements a master compressor/limiter as well.

Compressor and limiter

In simple terms, a compressor compresses the louder parts of an audio signal and boosts the quieter parts, resulting in a more consistent level of volume throughout a song.

The compressor works by analyzing the amplitude of an audio signal and automatically reducing its level when it exceeds a certain threshold (CM.th). This means that when the signal reaches a specific volume level, the compressor will start to reduce the volume to maintain a consistent level. This process is known as compression. The amount by which the volume is reduced above the threshold is controlled by a compressor's ratio parameter (CM.rt). For example, a ratio of 1:2 ('2') reduces any volume above the threshold by a factor of 2 (e.g. halves the volume).

The speed by which a compressor kicks in, is governed by its 'attack' (CM.at) setting. Similarly, the speed by which it stops compressing the signal when the audio drops below the threshold, is governed by the 'release' (CM.rl) setting.

Compressors can be used to add warmth, punch, and clarity to an individual Woovebox track. Overall, a compressor is a powerful tool in music production, enabling producers to make their sound more polished and professional.

A limiter can be thought of as a more aggressive compressor; you can achieve a limiter by using a high compression ratios (> 1:20) and short attacks.

Woovebox compressor implementation

The Woovebox compressors/limiters use a mechanism loosely based on the way an analog capacitor or tube works, rather than being a millisecond on/off affair. This gives the Woovebox compressor a slightly smoother, more analog sound/behavior.

Low attack (or decay) values charge (or discharge) the virtual capacitor faster. Whether the capacitor charges or discharges is determined by whether the incoming amplitude is higher or lower than the threshold. The capacitor's virtual state of "charge" is used as measure of how strong the compressor/limiter should crunch the signal. If the capacitor is fed long enough (e.g. signal is above threshold for long enough), the compressor/limiter's ratio should approach the specified/desired ratio. If the capacitor is no longer fed (e.g. signal is below threshold), the "charge" starts dropping off and the compressor/limiter's ratio should approach 1:1 again.

Enhancing transients

Enhancing transients with a compressor in music production means emphasizing the initial, fast-moving part of a sound or a musical note. Transients are the brief moment at the beginning of a sound or musical note that determines its sharpness, attack, and impact. Compressors can be used to enhance the transients of a sound by selectively boosting the initial transient while reducing the rest of the sound.

To enhance transients using a compressor, the attack time is adjusted. The attack time determines how quickly the compressor reacts to the input signal. By setting a shorter or longer attack time, less or more of the initial high-volume sound is passed through before its volume is reduced. This has the effect of emphasizing the start of a sound ('transient') less or more.

By emphasizing the transients of a sound using a compressor, the sound becomes more pronounced and dynamic, allowing it to cut through a mix better. This technique is commonly used in genres such as electronic dance music and hip hop, where a sharp, punchy sound is desired.

Sidechaining

Sidechaining is a production technique used in a wide variety of music genres where the volume of one track, influences another track.

A most recognizable example is sidechaining a kick (as input) and some synth part or a bassline, so that the latter is muted when the kick plays. This creates a rythmic "pumping" effect. A more subtle use of sidechaining, is using to help make specific tracks of your song cut through the mix.

You can also use sidechaining to temporarily attenuate ("duck") effects like reverb and delay - again to help make specific tracks of your song cut through the mix. You can also use this as a special effect.

Example

Sidechaining off

Sidechaining used for dynamics

Sidechaining used for rythmic FX

Gating

Gating is turning on or off one sound source completely, in response to another signal. It is particularly useful for giving an otherwise mundane sound a dramatic rythmic effect.

A famous classic example is the trance gate as used by System F in Out Of The Blue (the strings pattern that plays at 1:09., is played gated starting at 1:37).

Your Woovebox is able to gate external sound sources as well, allowing you to turn external sounds and drones into exciting rhythmically pulsating tracks. With your Woovebox in control of the gate rythm, you can then make these external sound sources part of your live performance. A great example would be another band member playing guitar chords that fit the key of your song. Or you could, for example, use a YouTube performance by a channel like fretr's.

Example of a drone backing track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1FQ84YmGDg

Example

Gating off

Gating by a dedicated gate track

Ducking

"Effects ducking" refers to a technique where the volume of certain audio effects (such as reverb or delay) is automatically lowered when another audio track (usually lead or vocals) is playing.

This allows the lead or vocals to be more prominent and easier to hear, while still maintaining the desired effects in the background. This technique can be used to create a more dynamic and polished sound, by preventing the effects from overwhelming the main audio elements, and making them more subtle. It makes the overall mix less muddy.

Example

Without ducking

With ducking

Dynamics ('dyna') page

The Dynamics ('dyna') page gives you comprehensive control over the dynamics of your track; per-track sidechaining, gating, effects ducking and compression.

1. r.buS Receive Bus

Specifies which bus should be used for the signal that will control the volume attenuation for this track. Four busses are available, as well as a 'faKE' setting that fakes a pulse on every first quarter note without any input signal. The latter is quick way to mimic the "pumping" effect found in many dance tracks.

2. S.buS Send Bus

Specifies the bus to which the signal from this track should be sent.

3. S.Src Signal Source

Specifies what signal from this track should be sent to the the specified send bus. A number of different sources can act as the sidechain signal;

•nLen (note length); a signal is generated for the length of any note played on this track
•OSc1 (oscillator 1); the playing volume (amplitude) as generated by the amplitude generation block (AEG + LFO + velocity) from oscillator 1 on this track, is used as the signal•OSc2 (oscillator 2); the playing volume (amplitude) as generated by the amplitude generation block (AEG + LFO + velocity) from oscillator 2 on this track, is used as the signal•O1P2 (oscillator 1 + oscillator 2); the playing volume (amplitude) as generated by the amplitude generation block (AEG + LFO + velocity) from oscillator 1 plus oscillator 2 on this track, is used as the signal•MO12 (oscillator 1 x oscillator 2); the playing volume (amplitude) as generated by the amplitude generation block (AEG + LFO + velocity) from oscillator 1 is multiplied by that from oscillator 2 on this track, and used as the signal•Audi (audio); the audio as produced by this track, is used as the signal

4. S.Lvl Send Level

The volume/strength (0-127) of the signal generated from this track that should be sent to the send bus ('S.buS').

5. Sd.dP Sidechain Depth

Specifies how much the sidechained source (e.g. from the receive bus as specified by "r.buS") should attenuate the signal for this track.

6. Sd.Gt Sidechain Gate

Specifies how much the sidechained source (e.g. from the receive bus as specified by "r.buS") should gate the signal for this track.

7. Sd.At Sidechain Attack

Specifies how slow/fast sidechaining should kick in for this track. Use a lower number for faster attack times.

8. Sd.rL Sidechain Release

Specifies how slow/fast sidechaining should end for this track. Use a lower number for faster release times.

9. CM.Th Compressor Threshold

Specifies a threshold (0-100) above which the track's compressor should kick in.

10. CM.rt Compressor Ratio

Specifies the compression ratio for signal above the threshold. Anything above 1:20 (e.g. a value of 20) is typically considered to function as a limiter, rather than a compressor.

11. CM.At Compressor Attack

Specifies how slow/fast the compressor should kick in for this track. Use a lower number for faster attack times.

12. CM.rL Compressor Release

Specifies how slow/fast compression should end for this track. Use a lower number for faster release times.

13. Gb.du Global Multi-FX Ducking

Specifies how much this track should duck the master output of the reverb, chorus and delay units. This setting can be used to prevent a track's sound from getting lost in the song's general delay or reverb.

14. rv.du Reverb Send Ducking

Specifies how much this track's volume should duck the track's reverb send.

This allows for much more subtle reverb tails in the mix, that don't get in the way of the main sound.

15. dL.du Delay Send Duck

Specifies how much this track's volume should duck the track's delay 1 send.

This allows for much more subtle delay effects in the mix, that don't get in the way of the main sound.

16. noiS Noise Generator

Introduces post-mix, post-filter noise (as defined by the 6/noi.C/noise character parameter on the Song's Glob page) depending on the amplitude of the output of the playing voice.

Negative values exhibit a exponential response, while positive values exhibit a linear response.

A slight amount of noise can impart a more authentic analog feel, subtle sizzle, or even serve as noise for percussive sound design.

Mastering

Your Woovebox offers a great number of ways to clean up your final mix or give it more punch;

•Use the master compressor to level-out loudness•Use the compressor / limiter to level-out loudness•Use the compressor / limiter to do transient shaping•Use the effects ducking to duck the global effects in response to a track•Use ducking to duck a track's send effects•Use side-chaining to control the volume of other tracks•Use the amplitude-based noise generator to add subtle sizzle to your tracks (you can select the noise characteristic 6/Sn on song Glob page, you can audition the noise with a positive value for 5/Ki on song Glob page). Negative values (exponential response to a track's amplitude) for the amplitude-based noise usually works best.•Use the third super or sub-oscillator to add "body" to a track's patch•Use wave-folding distortion to add harmonic content to a track's patch

Additionally, you may use the various panning techniques to free up frequency space in the two channels. The Pitch-to-pan feature spaces out note pitches over the stereo field, making it easy to juxtapose different tracks to efficiently use the frequency space.

Finally, use the master compressor / limiter to level out global loudness. Listen to the final mix on as many devices, headphones and speakers as you can.

Lo-fi & vintage analog and digital emulation

Your Woovebox comes with various ways of emulating vintage gear, whether analog or digital.

Analog

Your Woovebox is able to emulate the sounds of classic 60s and 70s gear based on subtractive synthesis, as well as more esoteric methods from the era like hard oscillator sync. Oscillators and envelope generators can be given a subtle drift that these synths are known for (14/'Styl'/'Osc Styl' set to any of the 'Anl' modes on the Osc1/Osc2 pages). Oscillators can be configured to be free running (set 11/'Ph.Sty'/'PhsE Strt' to 0 and 12/'Ph.rn'/'PhsE rngE' to 100% on the Osc1/Osc2 pages). All this combined provides a warmer, more organic/analog sound that is - if you want it - never 100% exactly the same and cannot be replicated by samples.

Your Woovebox' digital filters were modeled on an analog Moog-like diode ladder filter design, and implements switchable saturation that these designs were known for (11/'Satu'/'Saturate' on the Glob page). As a result, the filters sound warmer and have qualities that are more useful for sound design of vintage-like and organic timbres. A number of different filter "flavors" exist to help dial in analog sounds easier.

In a similar vein, your Woovebox was built to synthesize analog-sounding drum sounds from scratch, emulating the analog circuitry behind the 80s drum sounds that are used in EDM to this day. Here too, the sounds your Woovebox produces can be made to - just like the vintage analog drum computers - never be 100% the same on every trigger.

Digital

Your Woovebox is able to down-sample oscillators (and thus any user samples as well) and/or reduce bit depth. Downsampling results in that crunchy sound, while bit-depth reduction results in that subtle hiss in the softer parts of samples, caused by the introduced quantization error. This lets you quickly dial in the sound of, for example, early 80s drum computers or that of early home computers and gaming consoles. It is also possible to disable anti-aliasing for those quintessential extra harmonics found in early digital synthesis.

Crucially, your Woovebox can "de-crunchify" these oscillators (and user samples) again, to make them sound like they were played back by the early "professional" samplers from the late 80s and early 90s. This process faithfully emulates the signal path and its transition from "coarse" digital into the "smooth" analog domain, emulating the analog filtering circuitry that often was added after the Digital-to-Analog-Converters (DACs) to in an attempt to hide or ameliorate the digital artefacts from the raw DAC output.

If you wish to make your Woovebox sample playback sound like vintage 16-bit console or computers, force the Spectrum Quality (5/'Qlty'/'Spct Qlty' on a track's 'GLob' page) for your track to 25% resolution.

Early samplers such as the S950 and S1000 series were equipped with rudimentary pitch shifting and time stretching. These features were often (ab)used for effects purposes to transform dry drumloops or vocals to achieve otherwordly, metallic mayhem. The Jungle genre in particular tended to use this feature on the ubiquitous Amen breaks. Your Woovebox emulates this type of time-stretching in real-time, and provides you with even more creative tools that allow you to take this old-school technique to the next level.

To emulate how LFO and EG rates become "baked into" samples, a special oscillator mode can be selected (14/'Styl'/'Osc Styl' set to 'dgt.v' mode on the Osc1/Osc2 pages). This mode shortens or elongates LFO timings and EG timings according to the pitch being played. This feature is particularly important for sound design that takes advantage of this, such as when making intricate ethereal, evolving pads.

And everything in between

The inclusion of 17 different algorithms and 17 different oscillator models, most eras are covered in terms of timbres and sounds. In addition to virtual analog, your Woovebox will perform AM and FM-synthesis as popular in the early 80s, LA-like synthesis from the later 80s, while also including a late 90s super saw model.

Emulating vinyl

Vinyl emulation can help convey emotions of nostalgia or "rawness". Making your track sound like it is being played back on a turntable can impart a subtle analog authenticity to an otherwise sterile synthesized or digital song.

On the Song mode's Efct page, set Vn.Cr/9/A1 (Vinyl Crackle) to the desired level. Use a negative value to have the vinyl crackle only play when the sequencer is playing patterns or songs. A positive value will play the vinyl crackle even when no pattern or song is playing.

You can set a noise floor through 5/Ki/noi.F and a noise characteristic/type of your choice through through 6/Sn/noi.C. For increased authenticity;

•try to avoid high frequencies•create a track that has an amount of filtered white noise playing at all times; use a band pass filter to filter out very low and high frequencies until the noise sounds a little bit like the ambiance of an airliner•add a subtle filter LFO to add a subtle repeating change in the filtered noise every 1.8 seconds (for 33RPM) or 1.3 seconds (for 45RPM)
•add a pitch LFO to relevant tracks to emulate a subtle warble. Set pitch LFO resyncing off if desired (so that the warble is "free running" and does not constantly restart every time a new note is triggered). Use a sine wave or triangle wave for the LFO waveform.•enable saturation on relevant tracks•use aggressive master compression

Randomization

Guided randomization is a great way to get inspired, whether it is randomizing a pattern, entire pattern chains or even synthesizer patches (as of firmware 2682). Your Woovebox comes with a number of tools to quickly come up with something unique, yet coherent as the basis for further shaping and refining.

Randomizing events

Your Woovebox can use randomization to trigger (or not trigger) some events.

These events are;

•Legato probability (8/Pc on a track's 'Pich' page)
•Portamento probability (6/Sn on a track's 'Pich' page)•LFO phase randomization for LFO retriggering of ALFO, PLFO and FLFO
•25/50/75% step trigger probability 'do' conditionals•Chord inversion randomization

It is also possible to "lock in" a randomization for song playback (but not Live/Scene or Track editing), so that it is always the same, by specifying a randomization seed (7/hh on your song's 'GLob' page)that should be used when each song playback starts.

Randomizing a pattern

Randomizing a pattern allows you to quickly generate and shape ideas.

You can access the "rand pttn" option from the Seq page's context menu.

As of firmware 2682, patterns are more intelligently crafted to serve as material for the specific type of track you are invoking the feature on, based on it designated behavior ("bEhv"/7/hh on a track's GLob page).

For example, if you use the feature on a track with lead behavior, the feature will generate patterns more useful for crafting melodies with. If you use the feature on a bass track, it may introduce slides. If you use the feature on a kick track it may introduce conditionals, etc.

For lead tracks, try changing the various "follow chord" options (either globally 4/Ar on the Glob page) or per-pattern (9/A1 on the Pttn page). For developing a quick motif, also consider having two or four (or if you feel adventurous; three) chained lead track patterns that follow a four or eight chord progression.

Randomizing a pattern chain

Randomizing a pattern chain (as of firmware 2682) is a quick way to populate multiple patterns with a notes in a loosely connected way.

To access this option, first create a pattern chain of two or more patterns (see creating a pattern chain documentation). If the current selected pattern belongs to a chain, a "rand pt.ch" (in addition to the standard "rand pttn") option becomes available in the Seq page's context menu. Upon actioning it, the current pattern and all patterns chained to it are randomized.

For specifics on how patterns are randomized based on their track behavior ("bEhv" 7/hh on the GLob page). Note that for bass and lead tracks, the randomized riff will loosely follow through the entire chain. Therefore randomizing entire chains at once will yield somewhat more coherent results than randomizing one pattern at a time.

Randomizing a patch

As of firmware 2682, your Woovebox is able to generate an infinite number of random patches for specific categories of sounds.

The types of patches it comes up with are intelligently customised for the track's sound category (6/Sn on a track's GLob page). So, for example, if your track's sound category is a bass, the patch generator will generate a random bass patch.

To use the feature;

•In any track's Pach page, find 'rand Pach' in the context menu (hold write, and short press the value button until you find the 'rand Pach' item).•Keep holding write.
•Action the item by long pressing the value button.•Your Woovebox will report 'rand OK', and the track's patch has now been replaced with a suitable randomly generated sound.

Just like with trying out presets, remember you can always restore your previous patch by holding 16/A8.

TIP If you find a nice patch but want to keep exploring, you can copy the patch into the patch buffer by actioning the 'Copy Pach' item in the context menu.

Hall effect sensor playing

Your Woovebox comes equipped with a Hall effect sensor that lets you use magnets to effect/accentuate played notes. This allows for expressive playing during live performances (for example, mimicking the ethereal sound of a Theremin).

How it works

A Hall effect sensor detects the strength and polarity of magnetic fields. As of firmware 4236, your Woovebox can map detected field strengths and polarities to a playing track's patch parameters. Therefore, by moving a small magnet closer or further away from your Woovebox, you can dynamically influence configurable parameters such as filter cutoff, volume, amplitude or pitch LFOs.

By presenting the different poles (e.g. North or South) up to two distinct parameters can be effected with just one magnet. Having two magnets attached to each other side-by-side, or sliding a bar magnetic back and forth also allows for a convenient way to quickly switch between effects by sliding the right pole into "view" of the sensor.

Sensor location

Conveniently the sensor is located on the backside of the unit in the bottom right (when viewed as held in-hand, under the "e" of the woovebox mark), or bottom left corner (when viewed from the back). On later devices, the location of the Hall sensor is indicated by a magnet icon.

This location allows for two handed playing, while simultaneously manipulating one or magnets around the back of the unit using the free fingers of your right hand. Depending on your preferences, the magnets may be loose, may be fixed to your fingers (for example using a magnetic so-called "magician's ring"), or may be tucked in between two fingers (for example using a USB-C magnetic dust cap).

Please avoid making physical contact with the Woovebox housing to avoid scratches; making contact with the housing is not necessary for triggering the full parameter range.

Recommended magnets

For best results, bigger, stronger magnets (for example Neodynium-based magnets, or multiple "ganged up" smaller magnets) are recommended in any convenient form factor. Stronger magnets give you a slightly bigger distance to control your Woovebox' parameter range over for more subtle control. Combining multiple, smaller magnets will allow you to create different shapes and strengths to try out.

Calibration

If the Hall effect sensor playing option is used, the sensor is automatically calibrated to the detected strength of the magnet(s) presented. To pre-calibrate the sensor before live playing, simply present the two poles close to the housing and calibration will be complete.

Setting up the Hall effect sensor

To configure the effects that the two polarities should have, the following settings are available on the Song's Efct page under 15/A7 and 16/A8 for North and South poles respectively;

•'Off'; the sensor will not respond to a magnet for this polarity•'Fltr'; magnet proximity will cause filter to close for this polarity•'FLFO'; magnet proximity will cause filter LFO to modulate filter cut-off frequency for this polarity•'PLF.1'; magnet proximity will allow pitch LFO 1 to modulate for this polarity•'PLF.2'; magnet proximity will allow pitch LFO 2 to modulate for this polarity•'PL.1.2'; magnet proximity will allow pitch LFO 1 and 2 to modulate for this polarity•'Vol'; magnet proximity will cause volume to decrease
•'ALF.1'; magnet proximity will allow amplitude LFO 1 to modulate for this polarity•'ALF.2'; magnet proximity will allow amplitude LFO 2 to modulate for this polarity•'AL.1.2'; magnet proximity will allow amplitude LFO 1 and 2 to modulate for this polarity

Suggested uses

Some suggested expressive uses include;

•Expressing vibrato (control pitch using one of the PLxx settings)
•Expressing tremolo (control amplitude using one of the ALxx settings)
•Expressively controlling filter cut-off on, for example, a 303-like bassline
•Influencing the modulator oscillator in an FM patch to affect the timbre (see below)

TIP: If you wish to control amplitude (e.g. ALFO) or pitch (PLFO) for one specific oscillator, you set an LFO's rate to a very long 256 steps, setting the LFO waveform to square, setting depth to the maximum positive number, and setting LFO retrigger ("A.L.tr" under 6/Sn) or ("P.L.tr" under 7/hh) on the Osc 1/2 page to retrigger (so the 256-step rate LFO waveform starts "on" anew on every note trigger).

Advanced techniques

The Woovebox is an incredibly versatile device that can help you re-create complex music production and sound design techniques. With its powerful capabilities, you can create advanced tremolo and vibrato effects as well as intricate delay effects to give your music an extra layer of depth. Learn to use the Woovebox to its fullest potential and bring your music production to the next level!

Trance buildups

Using the C2dc (7/hh) and C2EF (8/Pc) parameters on the filter page, the filter cut-off can be made to influence AEG decay and reverb+delay 1 depth respectively.

This allows for the quintessential intimate/staccato -> wide/long-release buildups found in many Trance tracks, by simply opening up the filter.

Conditional tremolo and vibrato

The amplitude LFO and pitch LFO for each oscillator can be set to only trigger only if a step is accompanied by the 'ALFO' or 'PLFO' conditionals.

On the OSc1 and/or OSc2 pages, set the 6/Sn/A.L.tr ("amplitude LFO trigger") for conditional tremolo, or the 7/hh/P.L.tr ("pitch LFO trigger") for conditional vibrato. to "Cond" ("conditional"). This allows for setting up a patch that exhibits tremolo (amplitude modulation) or vibrato (pitch modulation) only when the 'ALFO' or 'PLFO' conditionals are encountered.

Advanced delay effects

Your Woovebox comes with a dual delay unit. The output of either unit can be tapped and used as an oscillator in any patch by choosing it as an oscillator wave type. By feeding back one delay's output to another while modifying the signal in between (for example filtering), complex and interesting delay effects can be achieved, such as the quintessental "dub" delay effect where each subsequent echo is filtered differently (usually by a high-pass filter).

The second delay unit can also be configured to provide a pitch shifted delay (via 4/Ar/d2.Al on a song's GLob page), allowing for pleasant overtones akin to a "shimmer" or "sparkle", depending on the patch.

Arbitrary pulse width and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

Pulse widths of arbitrary duration, as well as pulse width modulation can be achieved by using the ring modulation ('rinG') algorithm.

Set the oscillator one and two produce square waves of equal volumes.

A classic pulse width modulation can be achieved by using the ring modulation ('rinG') algorithm. Set phase start and phase range

The pulse width (duty cycle) can be selected by modifying phase start of one of the oscillators. NES duty cycles are Phase Start 4, 8, 16 and 24. Use 0 or 32 for full square waves. The pulse channels may be effected by AEG decay or release (but not both). When applying AEG decay or release, make sure to apply to both. Set AEG response to exponential (negative values for AEG1 Depth and AEG2 Depth).

Undo

If you made a mistake or changed your mind on a decision, you will be happy to know your Woovebox has some limited undo functionality.

You can revert to the last saved state of your song, by choosing 'Undo' from the context menu on any song's global ('GLob') page. This works even if you turned off your Woovebox or if you uploaded another song to your Woovebox. This Undo functionality does not cover the Sampler however, as samples and sample kits are separate to songs, so it does not restore sample kits.

Sampler mode has its own undo functionality however; you may select 'Undo' from the context menu to revert back to the state when you entered Sampler mode. Please note however that the Sampler's undo state is lost as soon you exit Sampler mode.

Boot modes

By holding down one or more buttons while turning on the device, your Woovebox can be put into several different modes and special states.

Play stop protection

(firmware 2435+) By keeping 12/A4 pressed while turning the device on, playback is no longer stopped by pressing the play button. Use this mode if you are worried of accidentally stopping playback (for example in a live situation using Live mode) by accidental touching of the play touch area. Playback can be stopped by switching to Song mode (which is a dual button gesture and therefore unlikely to happen accidentally).

Boosted screen brightness / version

By keeping 5/ki pressed while turning the device on, screen and LED brightness can be temporarily increased from its default brightness. This may be useful if the default brightness is insufficient (for example in sunny outdoor scenarios). Turn the value knob to change the brightness. Press the value knob to continue the boot sequence (which should normally amount to a 1-2 second delay before dropping into Song mode). The device will display the firmware version it is running, until the boot sequence is complete.

Disable autosave

By keeping 14/A6/Sampler pressed while turning the device on, autosave is turned off. This mode is perfect for tweaking your song non-destructively, for example for passing your Woovebox to a curious friend, without having to worry about them destroying your songs.

Please note that a manual save option will become available in the context menu of Song mode's 'GLob' page (firmware 2421+).

Disable song restore & autosave

By keeping 13/A5 pressed while turning the device on, your Woovebox will start with an "empty" song, while autosave is turned off. This mode is perfect for quickly showing a friend how easy it is to create a song from scratch, while not affecting any of your existing songs.

Please note that a manual save option will become available in the context menu of Song mode's 'GLob' page (firmware 2421+).

BLE enable

To start your Woovebox with BLE enabled, keep the 1/Cd key pressed while switching on the device. The display reads 'Boot Bt' instead of the usual boot up sequence.

Increase capacitive button sensitivity

By keeping 6/Sn pressed while turning the device on, sensitivity of the capacitive buttons can be temporarily increased.

This may be useful if you find the capactive play and write buttons do not reliably register your touch (for example, because your have very dry fingers/thumbs or because you have callused fingers/thumbs).

Delete all samples

Please note that the following procedure will cause all sample data on the device to be lost!

To delete all samples on your Woovebox, keep the 3/Ld key as well as value knob pressed while switching on the device.

Factory reset

Please note that the following procedure will cause all data (songs, samples, patches) on the device to be lost!

To reset your Woovebox to its factory settings, keep the 4/Ar key as well as value knob pressed while switching on the device.

Recovery mode

In the very unlikely event of some sort of catastrophic data corruption causing a boot loop, the device can be booted with Bluetooth enabled, but without loading any data (songs, samples) and with its sound engine disabled. To do so, hold the 1/Cd key and value knob pressed in while powering up the device.

MIDI, Sync and connecting other gear

Despite is tiny size, your Woovebox can control your other gear's playback and audio via audio in, physical MIDI out, sync out and MIDI over Bluetooth LE.

It can effectively function as the "brain" of a larger setup.

MIDI out

Your Woovebox can send MIDI data to its physical and BLE MIDI out port on a per-channel basis. All MIDI channels behave like monophonic instruments, accepting only one note at a time ("Omni Off/Mono").

In addition to note and velocity, as of firmware 2817, your Woovebox also transmits volume, pan, filter cut-off and filter resonance data. Note off events are sent as "velocity 0" note on events.

(firmware 2465+) On a track's 'GLob' page, use the 'MIdI' setting under the 8/Pc key to specify which channel (1-16) the track should send its data to.

(firmware 2817+) By selecting from the sixteen alternative channels (indicated by a "." at the end), filter cut-off and filter resonance can be sent as NRPN messages instead of standard (CC 71 and CC 74) controller message. This is useful for gear that responds to XG/GS-compatible NRPN (CC 98, CC98, CC 6 sequence) messages rather than standard MIDI CC messages.

As of firmware 2817+ your Woovebox transmits the following controller messages;

•MIDI CC 0, Bank Select (MSB), part of patch change•MIDI CC 7, Volume, sends a track's volume including fragment/scene automation•MIDI CC 10, Pan, sends a track's panning information including everything that affects pan position on a track's 'Pan ' page•MIDI CC 32, Bank Select (LSB), part of patch change•MIDI CC 71, Filter resonance, sends a track's filter resonance (not sent if using XG/GS NRPN mode instead)•MIDI CC 74, Filter cut-off, sends a track's filter cut-off including fragment/scene automation (not sent if using XG/GS NRPN mode instead)

MIDI Patch Changes

As of firmware 2817, your Woovebox can send MIDI patch changes (including LSB and MSB bank selection) on a per pattern basis.

To select the MIDI patch number, set "Md.Pc"/"MIdI Pach" under 14/A6 on the Pttn page for each pattern. Please note that the patch number is 1-based and 0 is 'off' (no patch change for this pattern).

If your external device requires a bank select message, you can use "Md.bM"/15/A7 and "Md.bL"/16/A8 for bank MSB and LSB respectively.

MIDI SysEx

Your Woovebox can send and receive songs, patches and samples through standard SysEx messages.

MIDI In

Incoming MIDI will play on the currently selected track only, and all MIDI channels behave like monophonic instruments, accepting only one note at a time. ("Omni On/Mono" aka "Mode 2"). For notes, your Woovebox responds to note on/off and velocity information only. Your Woovebox responds to both "velocity 0" and note off messages to turn off notes.

MIDI Real-Time messages and clock sync

Your Woovebox outputs real-time clock/sync, start and stop messages via its physical MIDI out and MIDI over BLE capability.

Your Woovebox also responds to MIDI start and stop commands sent to it via MIDI over BLE.

Starting and stopping playback resets transport to the start of the song. Stopping playback sends and "all notes off" event to prevent any hanging notes.

Turning off Wooveconnect CC messages

To prevent your Woovebox from sending Wooveconnect-related MIDI CC messages to your external gear, turn off Wooveconnect device mirroring; find the "Mirr dvcE" context menu option in Song mode's 'GLob' page and action it.

As of firmware 2817, device mirroring is off by default, if the device was not booted up with BLE enabled.

Analog sync

Even today, analog sync pulses are a popular way to start, stop and synchronize playback of other gear. Your Woovebox can output an analog sync pulse via the included breakout cable that connects to the headphone output jack.

To enable the sync pulse, switch to Song mode. scroll to the 'GLob' page, and change the 'Sync' parameter under the 13/A5 key to 'on'.

Note that enabling 'Sync' without using the breakout cable, may cause a faint clicking noise. Therefore, keep this setting at 'off' if the breakout cable is not in use.

Please do not attempt to listen to the sync pulse with headphones without attenuating the signal externally first. While low and electrically safe, the ~2.7V signal is very loud and may damage your headphones or hearing. Please also note that the ~2.7V voltage may not be sufficient to drive some older analog gear that expects higher voltages.

Line input

Your Woovebox can incorporate up to two incoming audio sources into the synthesizer's signal path; on any tracks' Osc1 or Osc2 page, simply select 'In1 ', 'In 2' or 'In12' for the for 'WavE' (WavE typE) under the 1/Cd key;

•'In1 'uses audio from the incoming audio's left channel as if it were an oscillator source•'In 2' uses audio from the incoming audio's right channel as if it were an oscillator source•'In12' use audio from the both the audio's left and right channels mixed down into mono, as if it were an oscillator source

This is a very powerful way of incoporating external audio into your Woovebox' final output; it allows for sound-designing with external audio as well as effecting external audio or even have external audio effect internally synthesized audio (for example through the dynamics/'dyna' section).

Note, however, that this also means that you will not hear incoming audio until you play a note that uses the 'In1, 'In 2' or 'In12' oscillators.

Please also note that any signal fed into the line input needs to be at a sufficiently amplified line-level (-10dbV minimum). The line-input is not meant for, for example, microphone-level input.

Wireless MIDI over BLE

Your Woovebox supports MIDI in and out over BLE, allowing it to communicate with your DAW as well as the Wooveconnect service.

To start your Woovebox with BLE enabled, keep the 1/Cd key pressed while switching on the device. The display reads 'boot bt'.

Once your device has booted up, you can proceed to pair your Woovebox with another device, and use the Wireless MIDI and data transfer capabilities.

Please remember that your Woovebox can only connect to one device at a time; if you need to connect to a device, please make sure your Woovebox is disconnected from any other device first.

Pairing your Woovebox

After pairing with your computer, tablet or phone, your Woovebox can be used as a regular MIDI device within other applications, or can be managed through the WooveConnect app.

Your host device's BLE radio needs to be BLE 4.0 compatible, and please make sure that your Woovebox is not already accidentally connected to some other device; it can only handle one connection at a time and will not be visible to any other devices while it is already connected.

The stability of your MIDI over BLE connection is heavily dependent the quality of the drivers and quality operating system's BLE stack. Unfortunately this quality can be found lacking on various hardware/OS combinations from Microsoft as well as Apple. For a universal, rock solid plug & play solution that works on any machine, we recommend the WIDI Bud Pro solution by CME.

WIDI Bud Pro universal solution

By far the easiest and most stable solution, is to use a WIDI Bud Pro USB adapter that was specifically designed to provide a rock-solid MIDI over BLE connection for musicians and performers.

The WIDI Bud Pro exposes itself as a regular MIDI adapter, while handling the MIDI over BLE connect itself, bypassing the OS entirely.

Using the WIDI Bud Pro with your Woovebox is as easy as plugging in the WIDI Bud Pro into an available USB port, turning on your Woovebox holding (1/Cd) to enable Bluetooth, and launching Wooveconnect on a compatible browser.

Please note that only the latest CME WIDI firmwares (June 2023 onwards) support the large SysEx message transfers required. Please update your WIDI Bud Pro when you receive it.

Linux

Most modern Linux distros allow you to pair with your Woovebox, after which it can be used system-wide as an input and output MIDI device automatically.

If you find your connection is unstable, or if your distro's Bluetooth manager was compiled without MIDI over BLE support, you may install the latest version of BlueZ as follows;

First install the prerequisite packages

sudo apt install libglib2.0-dev libudev-dev libical-dev libreadline-dev libdbus-1-dev libasound2-dev build-essential python3-docutils

Next, download and unpack the latest version of BlueZ (5.66 as of this writing).

cd /tmp
wget https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/bluetooth/bluez-5.66.tar.xz
tar -xf bluez-5.66.tar.xz

Finally, build BlueZ and install it.

cd bluez-5.66
./configure --enable-midi --with-systemdsystemunitdir=/etc/systemd/system
make
sudo make install
sudo apt-get install --reinstall bluez

After a reboot your distro should now be running the latest version of BlueZ with MIDI over BLE enabled.

Some distros (e.g. Ubuntu 22.04LTS) appear to require authentication before allowing user-initiated pairing and bonding, and refuse to accept user-initiated pairing without authentication. To work around this bug, try paring using trust and connect only via bluetoothctl, instead of pairing via the GUI.

macOS

PLEASE NOTE: MacOS Sequoia MIDI over BLE appears to be broken at the moment. Do not upgrade from Sonoma!

•Locate and launch the Audio MIDI Set-up app•Choose Window > Show MIDI Studio.•In the MIDI Studio window, click the Configure Bluetooth button (Bluetooth icon) in the toolbar.•Connect with device WOOVEBOX-xxxx.

Some Intel-based macs on Monterey and Ventura have bad drivers that drop or corrupt packets (this can also manifest as hanging notes on other MIDI over BLE equipment). Wooveconnect now implements packet loss detection, though if you are upgrading from an old firmware this will manifest in your Woovebox hanging at 97%-99% depending on how many packets were dropped. Some have reported success on these bad drivers by "spoon feeding" packets slower using this link; https://connect.woovebox.com/?interval=100

Windows (not officially supported)

Though likely to work on many systems, Windows 10 and 11 are not officially supported by Woovebox due to dependency on third party drivers, and a number of severe OS-level bugs and omissions in the Bluetooth and MIDI handling in Windows.

Worse, the situation appears to change with every major Windows update. However, depending on your hardware combination and OS version and the phase of the moon, the following methods may work.

We're not going to mince words; Bluetooth pairing and especially MIDI over Bluetooth LE is (by Microsoft's own admission) a hot mess on Windows. Seven years after MIDI over Bluetooth standardization, Windows still lacks support for exposing MIDI BLE devices to applications. Sadly, MIDI over Bluetooth support has worsened as of late on Windows 10 and Windows 11 with many MIDI over BLE devices no longer even connecting.

Step 1. Pairing your Woovebox

Perform the following steps in exactly the following order;

•Turn off your Woovebox.
•Bring up your Bluetooth devices ("Bluetooth & other devices").•Remove any previously WOOVEBOX-xxxx devices (if any), NOTE that for very old firmware version the device will be listed as "WOOVE" instead of "WOOVEBOX-xxxx" (with xxxx being four characters unique to your Woovebox).
•Click Add Bluetooth or other device.•Select Bluetooth; Mice, keyboards, pens or audio and other kinds of Bluetooth devices.•Turn on your Woovebox, while holding 1/Cd.
•Once your Woovebox has booted up, it should show in the list as WOOVEBOX-xxxx
•Choose the WOOVEBOX-xxxx entry. After connecting, the "Your device is ready to go!" message should pop up.•Bluetooth & other devices should now list WOOVEBOX-xxxx under Other devices.
•WOOVEBOX-xxxx should list as Connected whenever it is available and traffic is flowing.

If the WOOVEBOX-xxxxBluetooth device keeps rapidly flipping between Paired and Connected by itself, try removing the device and perform the above procedure again.

If you are not able to get your Woovebox to show up in the list of devices, first check device manager, and under the Bluetooth section check for an item called "Microsoft Bluetooth LE Enumerator." If this entry is unavailable then unfortunately your machine's Bluetooth adapter does not support Bluetooth LE. If this entry does appear, however, go to settings > bluetooth & devices > view more devices. Scroll far down near the bottom and search for an item called "Bluetooth devices discovery". Set this item to "Advanced". From here, if you try to pair your Woovebox again, it should hopefully show up.

Step 2. Drivers

The above procedure may successfully pair your Woovebox as a Bluetooth device. However Windows is the only operating system that still lacks any further functionality to expose Bluetooth devices as MIDI devices to the wider operating system. For applications that don't implement their own MIDI over BLE drivers (some of the latest versions of popular DAWs for Windows do), further 3rd party drivers or applications are required. Two known generally applicable solutions exist;

Method 1. Setup and run KORG BLE MIDI drivers

BLE-MIDI drivers from KORG are used by some people with some success as a general purpose MIDI-over-Bluetooth solution. Sadly though, these drivers break regularly between major Windows updates. With the last update from 2019, they once again appear functional on fully updated Windows 10 installs as of late 2022. These drivers have also been reported to work on Windows 11 for some people. Please also note that these drivers may not work with all MIDI-over-Bluetooth devices from other manufacturers, however they have been successfully tested with the Woovebox on a number of machines.

This method is the preferred method, as it allows for full-duplex (MIDI in and out) communication between Windows and a MIDI-over-Bluetooth device such as your Woovebox.

Method 2. Setup and run "loopMIDI" and "MIDIberry"

Once paired do the following;

•Obtain loopMIDI by Tobias Erichsen (free) and install it.•Create a device named loopMIDI WOOVE IN (case sensitive, and please note the space).•Create a device named loopMIDI WOOVE OUT (case sensitive, and please note the space).•Obtain MIDIberry from the Microsoft store (free) and install it.

For receiving data from your Woovebox;

•In MIDIberry, under INPUT, select WOOVE (Bluetooth MIDI IN).•Under OUTPUT, select loopMIDI WOOVE IN.

For transmitting data to your Woovebox;

•In MIDIberry, under INPUT, select loopMIDI WOOVE OUT.•Under OUTPUT, select WOOVE (Bluetooth MIDI OUT).

With this setup, recording incoming data from your Woovebox via MIDI input loopMIDI WOOVE may now be sufficiently stable for data transfer, though your mileage may vary.

Please note that due to MIDIberry only allowing one connection, data may only flow in one direction (from your Woovebox or to your Woovebox). If you wish to switch direction, you will have to change the routing in MIDIberry. If you require data to flow in both directions, it is recommended you use MIDIberry to send data to your Woovebox via Bluetooth, while using a wired MIDI interface to connect to the MIDI OUT of your Woovebox, allowing you to simultaneously receive data from your Woovebox. A paid version of MIDIBerry exists that allows for bi-directional communication, but please note that Woovebox does not endorse this application, nor has tested this application; purchasing this application is done at your own risk and Woovebox does not warrant that this solution will work.

Please also note that after a firmware update your Woovebox will reset. Due to the lack of two-way communication, Wooveconnect will not be able to detect that reset properly and will keep reporting "Connected", even though it is not.

Disclaimer; please note that Woovebox does not endorse, nor is in any way, associated with loopMIDI, nor MIDIberry, nor KORG. The latter names and companies are all owners of their respective trademarks.

Android

•Download MIDI BLE Connect or Bluetooth MIDI Connect app from the Play store.
•Scan for a device called WOOVE and pair with it.•Keep the app open in the background.•You may need to enable Location Services and/or Bluetooth Scanning in your settings.•You may need to disable/change your lock screen timeout in order for your browser not to go to sleep.

You can now use your Woovebox with Wooveconnect to transfer songs, patterns and other data, as well as any Android apps that support MIDI over BLE.

Please note that some users reported that they had to uninstall other android apps that were registered as MIDI devices.

Some Android devices with bad drivers (e.g. latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel series) disconnect after only a few % receiving data. These devices may benefit from being "spoon-fed" data a bit slower as to not overwhelm their drivers. If you have such a device, try using this link; https://connect.woovebox.com/?interval=100. You may change the interval parameter (100) to something longer if needed.

If your Woovebox permanently reports "pakt loss" (e.g. caused by your Android device discarding packets) without continuing, you can try this link https://connect.woovebox.com/?chunksize=512&packetsizemultiplier=4 to "spoon feed" the Android device' BLE radio packets. Your Woovebox can recover from sporadic packet loss by detecting a missing packet and re-requesting the packets.

In the case of Wooveconnect, if Chrome hangs at "requesting MIDI access", shut down chrome (or reload the page, possibly revoking permissions first by clicking the icon next to the address in the addres bar), ensure MIDI BLE Connect or Bluetooth MIDI Connect are running in the background, and restart Chrome.

A long standing issue prevents BLE from working reliably at all on many Android devices since Android 13 (e.g. Pixel). Please let Google know a broken Bluetooth stack is unacceptable.

iOS

Most iOS software will detect your Woovebox. For any apps that don't however, you can use a utility app like Bluetooth MIDI Connect to connect your Woovebox to these apps.

Please note that due to Safari not supporting the WebMIDI standard, WooveConnect will currently not work on iOS devices. An upcoming EU directive will force Apple to allow other browser engines

If you need to transfer SysEx to or from your iOS device, you can use any standard SysEx manager (such as Sysex Base).

If you wish to update the firmware using your iOS device, you can download the firmware in .SYX format to your iOS device, and open it using such a SysEx manager. Please note that you may need to configure your iOS device to not turn off the screen during long SysEx transfers.

SysEx Base example

•Reset your iOS device (e.g. power it off, and power it back on)•(optional) Turn off WiFi if your connection is suffering from packet loss.
•Launch SysEx base.•Go into the MIDI tab.•Choose "Connect to Device" under BLUETOOTH MIDI•Turn on your Woovebox while holding down 1/Cd.•Your device will appear in the list and can now be selected to connect to (the Woovebox will report "BLE Conn").•Choose "Back".•Ensure Bytes Transmitted per Second is set to 3125 or below.
•Choose the Files tab.•Find and select the SysEx file you wish to upload.•Press the play icon to start the transfer (your Woovebox will show 'rcv' and a progress percentage).

Once again, please note that you may have to configure your iOS device to not turn off the screen during long SysEx transfers (or otherwise keep the device alive by interacting with the screen). Please also note that the packet loss protection found in Wooveconnect is not available in other applications. If packet loss occurs ("stuck at 99%"), please refer to the section about enhancing connection stability (for example temporarily turning off WiFi).

Enhancing connection stability

If your connection is suffering from packet loss (often in the form of transfers not completing such has "hanging" at 99 pct), there are a number of things you can do to improve the situation;

•Temporarily turn off WiFi after loading Wooveconnect, if your machine shares its BT antenna with the WiFi adapter. By far the biggest culprit is cheap/poorly designed hardware & drivers that try (and fail) to share a single antenna for both WiFi and BT (as found on many macs and Surface ultra portables). If you need to update the firmware, you can download the .SYX here before severing the Internet connection, and drag & drop it into Wooveconnect like any other .SYX file.
•Reduce radio traffic on the 2.4GHz band; temporarily disabling other Bluetooth or wireless devices with radios that operate in the 2.4GHz band (nearby phones, headphones, keyboards, mice). Refrain from using your microwave during transfers.•Use the latest drivers and Bluetooth stack for your operating system.•Reboot your system.•Restart the application doing the transfer (in case of Wooveconnect, restart your browser by shutting it down and re-opening it).•Move your Woovebox as close to your host's antenna as possible.•(as of firmware build 2494) Try the alternative connection mode (hold 2/bS instead of 1/Cd while turning on your Woovebox).•Turn off device mirroring ("Mirr dvcE" option in the Song mode's GLob page's context menu).•Launch Wooveconnect in (slow) enhanced compatibility mode; https://connect.woovebox.com/?interval=90&chunksize=91&packetsizemultiplier=1
•Try a longer interval between messages. In case of Wooveconnect, try this link; https://connect.woovebox.com/?interval=100•Try a smaller packet groups between messages. In case of Wooveconnect, try this link; https://connect.woovebox.com/?chunksize=38•In the case of Wooveconnect, try smaller packet; try this link https://connect.woovebox.com/?packetsizemultiplier=4•Acquire a dedicated MIDI over BLE adapter like the WIDI Bud Pro.•If using Wooveconnect, try a different browser (Edge, Firefox, or Chrome).

Launch Wooveconnect in enhanced compatibility mode

https://connect.woovebox.com/index.html?interval=90&chunksize=91&packetsizemultiplier=1

Battery and charging

Your Woovebox' battery should last 10h or more on a single charge, when performing continuous playback. This is reduced to 5h or more with Bluetooth on. Some actions may further influence battery life, such as regular saving.

An estimate of the battery level is displayed every time your Woovebox saves your song. Please note that the battery percentage remaining is only a rough estimate, and is rounded to the nearest 5% or 10%.

If the battery level is too low, the device will indicate "BATTCRIT" and "NO SAVE" and will refuse to save until it is put on charge. This is to prevent data corruption, as writing to flash memory may draw a lot of power and may fail if not enough power is available.

If the device has been put on charge via the USB-C port, the display will indicate "USB" instead of a battery percentage.

Charging

Charging your Woovebox is done by connecting a USB power source to the USB-C receptacle on the left hand side. For earlier Woovebox revisions and beta units, only USB-A power sources are detected. Later revisions will also detect USB-C power sources.

Charging the device from empty to 100% may take up to 4 hours. You can safely use your Woovebox while it is charging (please note any ground loop due to poor isolation may impact audio; see also hardware quirks and limitations).

An LED in between the value knob and the screen will illuminate while your Woovebox is charging. It will extinguish once it has completed charging.

The battery in your Woovebox is rated for at least 500 empty-to-full cycles with minimal capacity degradation (>80% capacity).

Important battery safety notes

•Never leave your Woovebox in a hot car.•Never pierce your Woovebox with a sharp object or spike.•Do not dispose of your Woovebox by throwing it with household rubbish or by crushing it.•Your Woovebox includes "load sharing" circuitry to safely use and charge the device at the same time.•Your Woovebox includes multiple safety measures to prevent the battery from over-charging, over-discharging, over-voltage and short circuiting.

Hardware quirks and limitations

Your Woovebox was designed to - literally - punch well above its weight in terms of bang-for-buck and features, but there are some hardware quirks and limitations owing to its portability and low power consumption.

Battery charging speed

Battery charging can take up to 4h from empty to for a full charge. This slightly longer than strictly necessary, however was implemented to extend battery longevity, allowing for more charging cycles than you will find in typical consumer electronics. This extends the service life of your Woovebox and ultimately reduces e-waste. Being a perfect device for on-the-go, lower charging current requirements also allow for usage of low current energy sources, such as older USB outlets, small solar panels and small power banks.

LED Screen and keypad controller

Pressing multiple 1-16 keys at the same time may cause some screen "corruption". This is an inherent limitation of the low power integrated screen and keypad controller. It is perfectly harmless.

DSP resources

Your Woovebox has a finite amount of digital signal processing (DSP) resources for real-time synthesis and sample playback. In general you should be able to play moderately complex sounds and effects simultaneously on Track Cd through to A5 without running into serious limitations. Please refer to "Understanding DSP load" for further information and optimization strategies.

Stable MIDI over BLE connection required for data transfer

Your host device needs to be able to establish a stable MIDI over BLE connection in able to perform data transfers (via Wooveconnect or a SysEx manager) such as firmware updates, sample upload/download, song upload/download and patch upload/download . See also here for requirements.

Sync pulse voltage

Though rare, some sync pulse inputs from other manufacturers require a higher voltage than the Woovebox hardware can provide. Woovebox sync pulses may work unreliably or not at all with such hardware. Sync compatibility has been tested successfully with the Teenage Enginering Pocket Operator series, and the KORG Vocla series.

USB-C port used for charging only

The USB-C port on your Woovebox is used for charging only. It does not output or accept MIDI, nor outputs or accepts audio. Please use MIDI over Bluetooth or the physical Type-A MIDI out port to connect to external MIDI devices. Please use Wooveconnect to import and export .WAV audio.

1-16 key appearance with use

The switches are rated for 500K+ presses each, however some harmless cosmetic "dulling" of the metal around the circular part of the micro switches may occur with use over time. This is does not affect operation, is considered normal and does not require cleaning.

USB ground loop noise

This is not so much a limitation of the Woovebox, but rather a potential limitation of the device charging your Woovebox. Depending on how (and to what) your Woovebox is connected via USB, ground noise may be prevalent on the analog output. This is unfortunately a common issue with many types USB hosts (such as computers and laptops) and can happen with any connected audio gear, not just your Woovebox. If the issue is problematic, disconnect your Woovebox from the problematic USB device, or use a USB Isolator device. Similarly, very cheap MIDI interfaces without optical isolator circuits may also not work reliably while your Woovebox is simultaneously connected to some USB hosts.

Low weight

Your Woovebox can often weigh less than the cables it is attached to. As such, it does not take much to overcome any surface friction, causing your Woovebox to move and potentially slide off of the surface you placed it on. Please be careful to route any cabling in a way that does not tug on your Woovebox. While being a portable device, your Woovebox is not impact resistant or drop-tested. Please be careful with your Woovebox.

Touch button calibration

The write and play touch button sensitivity is re-calibrated on every power-on event. Please do not touch these buttons while switching on the device, as this may cause the touch buttons to not register properly. You may start using the buttons once the wake-up animation and boot sequence starts. If you find the device starts, for example, playing by itself, calibration may have failed during power on. Simply turn off and on the device to re-calibrate the touch buttons again.

If you find the touch buttons are not sensitive enough (for example if you have very dry or callused hands), a special boot mode is available to temporarily increase the sensitivity.

Value knob play/"looseness"

The Value knob is a Bourns Pro Audio, high-rotational life mechanical encoder + push switch combo, with relative far-spaced out notches. This means that there is a slight looseness of the knob and it can be "wiggled" the smallest amount. This is perfectly normal and is present on all Wooveboxes.

Sample transfer speeds

Your Woovebox relies on a low energy Bluetooth protocol that affords only limited bandwidth. As such, bulk data transfer speeds (e.g. sample transfer) are impacted and may take some time. In practice this is really only most noticeable during sample transfers and firmware updates.

Understanding DSP load

Though powerful for its size, like all other grooveboxes and workstations, your Woovebox does has a finite amount of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) resources for simultaneous real-time synthesis, effects and sample playback. Please note that rendering a song or its individual stems to a WAV file via Wooveconnect, is not subject to any DSP resource limitations.

In general you should be able to play moderately complex sounds and effects on Track Cd through to A5 simultaneously without running into serious limitations. As such, you should not need to worry for even moderately complex songs. To use more tracks simultaneously however, it is important to understand DSP resource management.

DSP usage and warnings

Pushing the device, for example by having complex sounds playing on auxilliary tracks A6, A7 and A8 as well as on all the other tracks simultaneously, may approach saturation of the DSP resources.

When this happens, the LEDs and screen will increase in brightness, as if your Woovebox is "heating up".

In mild DSP saturation cases, the device lowers calculation precision slightly for a few milliseconds so that it could catch up with demand. The effect of this on the audio quality is imperceptible in most cases.In more severe cases, however, the device will do its very best, but may no longer guarantee audio throughput and that popping/crackling artifacts may start occurring.

Note that transitions in Live mode or Song mode where certain tracks are toggled off and others are toggled on will be the most at risk of DSP overload; the toggled-off tracks may still be playing their sound's decay or release stage, while the new tracks are already sounding their attack. This temporary overlap of playing voices will cause the DSP to work extra hard.

Configuring DSP load info

The DSP load info and warnings are customizable to help troubleshoot DSP saturation scenarios.

By default your Woovebox will let you know when you are about to run out of DSP resources through increasingly brightening the screen and LEDs as if it is "heating up". However, this behavior can be customized using the context menu (Hold write, short press value repeatedly to cycle through options) in Song mode's Global page and selecting "dSP InFo".

Your Woovebox provides five options for showing you its real-time DSP load;

•'HEAt LEv2'; this default setting will only subtly brighten the screen in more severe overloading conditions that are on the verge of being audible.•'HEAt ALL'; this default setting will give a more granular view of when the DSP is increasingly being taxed. A brightening of the screen and LEDs will indicate a temporary (few millisecond) quality drop was necessary to maintain audio throughput. A higher level of brightening indicates that the overloading persisted and that further measures were taken to reduce DSP load, most typically still inaudible. The brightest level indicates a severe overloading condition, and last-ditch efforts (sometimes audible) are being made to keep the audio stream intact in order to prevent crackling and popping artifacts.•'Pct USgE'; this setting will show DSP load as a percentage of total capacity during playback.•'SpecQual'; this setting will show the amount of voices currently playing at reduced spectral resolution. The number underneath 50 shows the percentage of playing voices that were assigned 50% spectral resolution, while the number underneath 25 shows the percentage of playing voices that were assigned 25% spectral resolution. 'AL' means "all" (e.g. 100%). Voices playing at lower spectral resolution are less taxing on DSP resources.•'JIT CMPL'; this setting shows how many just-in-time code re-compilations are being performed per second by the synthesis engine.

AI DSP resource allocation optimizer

A learning-based algorithm is used to fine-tune DSP throughput. It learns from DSP usage spike events and attempts to better allocate DSP cycles and cache memory in order to predict and prevent them. Once trained on your song or patterns, the optimizer can reduce DSP loads by ~10% in typical cases.

The AI works in the background and training data is saved along with your song. However, the optimizations that the AI can make, are highly dependent the song as well as real-time hardware conditions that may vary between sessions, boot-ups and firmware revisions. Training data may be reset between some firmware updates, or when importing songs that saved on older firmware. Playing your song or patterns at least once after loading, will start the re-training process to optimize the performance by more intelligently allocating DSP cycles and cache memory.

Please also note that turning off Bluetooth, or using shorter delay times for delay 1, frees up more cache memory for the optimizer to allocate, and can further improve DSP throughput if DSP spikes are an issue.

Spectral resolution optimizer

The Spectral Quality ('Qlty') parameter (5/Ki button on a track's Global/"GLob" page) controls a novel signal processing feature that further optimizes DSP usage.

In order to save DSP resources, your Woovebox can analyse the precise spectral resolution a sound requires during real-time synthesis of a voice. In cases where a lower spectral resolution can be used without impacting the fidelity of the sound, your Woovebox can automatically do so to free up DSP resources. You can also manually force any track to render at a lower resolution, either to save DSP resources or for creative effects.

When automatically determined ('auto') by your Woovebox, the loss in resolution is not (or barely) audible - a little bit like how MP3s trade storage space for audio fidelity. Any resolution reduction determined by 'auto' will only kick in when DSP usage exceeds 70%.

•'auto'; lets your Woovebox decide the required spectral resolution to faithfully reproduce the track's patch, saving DSP resources where it can. Tracks with 'auto' set will always render at full ('FuLL') quality spectral resolution when exported via Wooveconnect. Any resolution reduction determined by 'auto' will only kick in when DSP usage exceeds 70%.•'FuLL'; forces full spectral resolution allocation for the track, preventing loss of resolution at all times.
•'50'; forces 50% spectral resolution allocation for the track. Depending on the patch, the effect may be noticeable in the high frequencies, as well as when applying filters and saturation. In that case, this mode can also be used as a creative effect. Tracks with '50' set will render precisely as audible (e.g. with reduced spectral resolution allocated) when exported to .WAV via Wooveconnect.•'25'; forces 25% spectral resolution allocation for the track. Depending on the patch the effect may be noticeable in the high and mid frequencies, as well as when applying filters and saturation. In that case, this mode can also be used as a "lo-fi" creative effect. Tracks with '25' set will render precisely as audible (e.g. with reduced spectral resolution allocated) when exported to .WAV via Wooveconnect.

Good candidates for aggressive manual spectral quality optimization are usually patches and sounds with little to no high frequencies playing, such as basses and bass drums.

Optimizing your song manually

To avoid running into DSP overload conditions, there are some manual optimizations you can make to your song. These are as follows;

•Use fewer sounds simultaneously (e.g. reduce polyphony requirements), for example by using multi-instrument mode on tracks.•If feasible, force a track to use 50% ("50") or 25% ("25") spectral resolution (5/Ki button on a track's Global/"GLob" page) and if needed, tweak your patch so it sounds close enough to the original full spectral resolution. The "Auto" setting will always err on the side of caution.
•Reduce decay and release times for the AEGs and FEG for patches, so that your Woovebox is "done" quicker with sounding a voice.
•Rely on decay-only AEGs and FEGs for patches rather than having release stages.
•Turn off Bluetooth.•Avoid using delay2 completely across your entire song.•Avoid using distortion for a patch.•Avoid using saturation for a patch.•Turn off filtering for a patch.
•Set any unused oscillator's level to 0 for a patch.•Consider internal re-sampling of complex synthesized sounds and triggering them as samples on a single oscillator.•Use more sampled sounds in your song, instead of synthesized sounds.•For chords, consider using track bs through A8 paraphonically instead of using the Cd track, while muting the Cd track and using it only to play/"convey" the chord information/notes (but not the sound). Paraphonic voices only count as a single playing voice, while the Cd track will play up to 4 voices.
•Play through the song, or part of the song that is showing DSP overload conditions to help the AI resource allocator better understand your song.•Please note that the sample kit's algorithm defaults to "Warp", allowing for real-time pitch shifting and time stretching. This algorithm consumes more DSP resources than using the simpler subtractive algorithm. If you don't need the Warp algorithm, consider changing the track's algorithm (3/Ld/Algo on the track's GLob page) to subtractive ('Subt') instead.

Again, please note that rendering a song or its individual stems to a WAV file via Wooveconnect, is not subject to any DSP resource limitations.

Looking after your Woovebox

We would all like to reduce electronic waste as much as possible, so here are some important guidelines to keep your Woovebox in tip-top shape;

•Don't store or carry your Woovebox unprotected, particularly along with sharp objects (such as keys) that may scratch your Woovebox or may knock off some of the tiny components (such as the LEDs)•Don't leave your Woovebox exposed to direct sun light.•Don't leave your Woovebox in a hot car•Don't use solvents or oil/petroleum based cleaners or conditioners to clean your device's exterior•Don't use any sharp tools or any abrasives on your Woovebox
•Don't connect heavy adapters to the 3.5mm jack plugs or put strain on the 3.5mm jack plugs•Don't operate your Woovebox with wet or greasy hands

Cleaning and restoring the enclosure

Woovebox enclosures and screen surrounds are SLA 3D printed using a resin that has a deep black appearance. Part of achieving this black appearance is treatment with a mineral oil. If your Woovebox enclosure - for whatever reason - loses its sheen and starts to exhibit dull grey patches, you can restore it by spraying a little bit of WD40 (or a similar "Water Dispersant" clone-product) on a micro fibre cloth and rubbing it into the enclosure and screen surround as needed.

Please avoid any other parts of your Woovebox, and do not spray WD40 on your Woovebox directly, as it acts as a solvent and may damage other parts (particularly the black paint on the LED screen itself).

Please follow the directions on the can, and use it in well-ventilated environment only.

Storing your Woovebox

Store your Woovebox in its protective case when it is not in use. Leave the included satchel of silica gel desiccant in the case to absorb any moisture. To prolong the shelf-life of the desiccant, keep your protective case zipped up whether or not your Woovebox is inside.

Cleaning the 1-16 keys

Normal usage in dry environments with clean hands, should not require servicing of the switches, and the switches are rated for 500K+ key presses each.

However, if oils or accidental moisture have penetrated the 1-16 switches preventing them from operating reliably, the switches can be cleaned and serviced like so;

•Procure fresh 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol (do not use any significantly lower grade or old stock) and some cotton swabs/buds (aka "Q-Tips").•Using the cotton swabs/buds, drip one or two drops of isopropyl alcohol onto the round black button and let it seep into the switch. Do not use large amounts.
•Lightly press the button while wiggling it.•You may perform this procedure with the device turned on to observe triggering behavior.•Some multi-triggering may occur until the alcohol has evaporated completely.•Let the alcohol evaporate completely (this may take up to 24 hours).•Repeat as necessary until the keys work reliably.•Be patient and careful.

Do not use Isopropyl Alcohol any other parts of your Woovebox.

Please note that some harmless cosmetic "dulling" of the metal around the micro switches may occur with use over time. This is considered normal and does not require cleaning.

As a last resort, it is also possible to service the internals of the switches with some basic tools (and without soldering), however special care and precision is required. If this is ever required, please contact us for a guide.

Replacing the battery

Your Woovebox was designed to put minimal stress on the chosen battery chemistry, and as such the rechargeable battery should last the lifetime of the device with minimal capacity degradation.

If however the battery, for whatever reason, requires replacing, and you are a skilled person (e.g. technician), please contact us to walk you through the proper procedure, as opening up your Woovebox (and reassembling it) requires a special care due to the compactness and tight tolerances of the device. Irreparable damage to components is likely if the procedure is not observed.

Once safely opened and disconnected, the battery itself is relatively easy and cheap to replace. You will find information on the battery type, model and connector type for your specific Woovebox hardware version under the battery itself on the PCB.

Firmware updates

Wooveconnect automatically checks for firmware updates, and - with your permission - downloads them and uploads them to your Woovebox.

Firmware updates may fix bugs and glitches, add new features, optimizations, sounds, and even entirely new synthesizers algorithms and sounds.

You are highly encouraged to make sure you are always running the latest firmware, as some Wooveconnect features (such as song rendering) may rely on having the latest firmware installed.

Firmware SYX

If you cannot update through Wooveconnect for whatever reason (e.g. incompatible browser), you can download the firmware in .SYX format and upload it via a standard SysEx manager.

Download

https://connect.woovebox.com/woovefirmware.syx

Firmware revision history

This file can be opened in any text editor and details a full history of fixes, enhancements and new features since release.

Download

https://connect.woovebox.com/woovefirmware.ver