User's Manual

26
Pad Modes
Each Pad Mode changes the pad colors visible
on the Home page. Yellow pads normally
play the root of the scale, although there are
exceptions that will be described later.
For example, when the Pad Mode is Chromatic
only two pads are yellow: pads 1 and 13. In the
key of C, those two pads play a C. Other Pad
Modes have more root notes, and therefore
more yellow pads: Fretboard has three, Octave
Row has six, and Octave has four. If the Pad
Key is changed to C# the yellow pads play a
C#, and all other pads conform to the selected
scale in the key of C#.
Pad 1 is always yellow, regardless of all
other factors.
To illustrate the dierences between Pad
Modes, press [INIT] twice and set the Pad
Scale to Chromatic ([SHIFT] + pad 1). Then use
[SHIFT] + pad 19 to change the Pad Mode.
• Chromatic starts with a C on the lower
left (pad 1) and proceeds in half-step
increments through pad 24.
• Fretboard arranges the pads in vertical
stacks of musical 4ths, like the rst 3 strings
of a guitar or bass guitar. For example, pads
1, 9, and 17 play the notes C, F, and Bb,
respectively; pads 2, 10, and 18 play the
notes C#, F#, and B; and so on. it’s possible
for a vertical stack to contain augmented
4ths or other intervals when a non-chro-
matic Voice Scale is selected, due to the
lack of certain notes in the selected scale.
Note: Fretboard is the only mode in which
grey pads indicate notes that are outside the
selected scale.
• Octave assigns all notes in the scale to
consecutive pads. This puts the largest
number of notes from the scale on the
pads at the same time. For example, the
Chromatic Pad Scale covers almost 2
octaves with 24 pads; a Pentatonic Pad
Scale covers over 4 octaves.
To view Octave Row mode, select the Major
scale ([SHIFT] + pad 2) and change the Pad
Mode again.
• Octave Row makes each row of pads into
its own octave, with the root note assigned
to the rst and last pad in each row. The
last pad in row 1 plays the same note as the
rst pad in row 2, etc.
The Pad Scale selection is ignored
when the Pad Mode is Chromatic or
Fretboard.
For the remainder of this chapter we’ll
describe the Pad Modes and how they interact
with the Pad Scales and Voice Scales. Pad Key
and Voice Key Lock (p.63) are set to C unless
noted otherwise.
Octave Row and the Pads
Dierent scales contain dierent numbers of
notes. When the Pad Mode is set to Octave
Row, sometimes the end pads will be dark,
and therefore silent.
For example, use [SHIFT] + pad 4 to select
Min Pentatonic as the Pad Scale. Pentatonic
scales have ve notes, and when sandwiched
between two root notes only the rst 6 pads
are lit in each octave. The two furthest pads in
each row are not needed, so they remain unlit
and inactive.
Where is Octave Row?
Octave Row mode is only available when
the selected Pad Scale contains fewer than
8 notes. Most of the Pad Scales fall into that
category.
Conversely, Octave Row mode is not available
when the selected Pad Scale contains more
than 7 notes, because each row must contain
one root note on either side. This is true for the
Chromatic Pad Scale even if the Voice Scale
has fewer than 8 notes, like PentaMaj (see the
example at Pad Scale vs. Voice Scale (p.29)).
In practical terms, if the Pad Mode is Octave
Row and the Pad Scale is changed to Melodic
Min, Bebop, or Chromatic from any other Pad
Scale, the Pad Mode will change automatically
from Octave Row to Octave mode. Those Pad
Scales do not conform to the Octave Row
format.