lesson 1. four lights at midnight
OP–XY course
press Tempo and turn the dark gray encoder to 88 BPM. you will build four layers; bass, strings and pluck span four bars.
the finished form is a weightless intro, two full grooves, a drumless break, a return and a final scene. its order is 1–2–2–3–2–4: six four-bar entries, 24 bars, about 65 seconds at 88 BPM.
Official guide illustration of the Project control
press Project to open the project view.
Official guide illustration showing hold M1 to create a new project
hold M1 for a new project.
Official guide row showing the eight default instrument track roles
keep the default sounds: track 1 drums, track 3 bass, track 4 pluck and track 7 strings.
1.1. drums and one ratchet
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Official guide controls showing Instrument mode followed by track 1
press Instrument, then track 1.
Official guide illustration identifying the lowest F kick key
select the lowest F kick.
Official guide four-on-the-floor kick step example
press steps 1, 5, 9 and 13.
Official guide illustration of the Play control
press Play, hear four even kicks, then Stop.
Official guide illustration identifying the adjacent G snare key
select the adjacent G snare.
Official guide illustration showing the snare key held with Record to isolate its lane
hold G and tap Record to show only the snare lane.
Official guide illustration showing the held snare key with its backbeat steps
keep holding G and press steps 5 and 13, then release.
Official guide illustration of the Play control
press Play, hear kick plus snare, then Stop.
Official guide illustration identifying the C-sharp hi-hat key
select the C-sharp hi-hat.
Official guide illustration showing the hi-hat key held with Record to isolate its lane
hold C-sharp and tap Record to show only the hi-hat lane.
Official guide illustration showing the held hi-hat key with alternating steps
keep holding C-sharp and press steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15, then release.
Official guide illustration showing Shift held while step 7 is pressed
hold Shift and press the lit step 7.
Official guide illustration of selected step 7 blinking
step 7 starts blinking; keep Shift held.
Official guide illustration showing Shift held while the Multiply key is pressed
press the lowest A for Multiply.
Official guide illustration showing Shift held while value 3 is pressed
press the A-sharp labelled 3, then release Shift.
Official guide illustration of the Play control
press Play: only step 7 divides into three short hats, then Stop.
hold Shift and reselect step 7; press A to remove Multiply. release Shift, Play one bar, Stop. restore it with Shift, step 7, A and A-sharp 3; release Shift, Play, then Stop.
Official guide illustration showing an existing step held while a note is toggled
to fix a wrong note, hold its step and press that note once.
Official guide illustration showing Record and Stop held to clear the current track
if the drum track is tangled, hold Record and Stop until the red row fills; release and rebuild track 1.
1.2. four-bar bass
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Official guide controls showing Instrument mode followed by track 3
select instrument track 3. press Play and try C, A, F and G for about 30 seconds; use minus or plus for a comfortable octave, then Stop.
Official guide illustration showing Bar held while plus adds bars
hold Bar and press plus three times; track 3 now spans four bars.
Official guide illustration of selecting a note and recording it to a sequencer step
select each note before its step. in bar 1 put C C G C on steps 1, 7, 11 and 15. tap Bar; enter bar 2 on the same steps as A A E A.
tap Bar; on steps 1, 7, 11 and 15 enter bar 3 as F F C F.
tap Bar; enter bar 4 on the same steps as G G D G. press Play until the bass returns to C after four drum loops; each bar moves from root to fifth. then Stop.
1.3. held chords
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Official guide controls showing Instrument mode followed by track 7
select instrument track 7 and try C E G together; change octaves if needed.
Official guide illustration showing Bar held while track scale 4 is selected
hold Bar and press the C-sharp labelled 4 so each slow step equals four ordinary steps.
Official guide illustration of holding a chord and pressing its destination step
hold each chord and press its start: C E G on step 1, A C E on 5, F A C on 9, and G B D on 13.
Official guide illustration showing a start step held while a later step extends its duration
hold step 1 and press 4. extend step 5 to 8, step 9 to 12 and step 13 to 16.
Official guide illustration showing an existing step held while a note is toggled
press Play and hear C, A minor, F and G over the bass. for a wrong chord note, Stop, hold its step and press only that note once. Play to confirm full sustain, then Stop.
1.4. pluck answer
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Official guide illustration showing Bar held while plus adds bars
select instrument track 4. hold Bar and press plus three times; the pluck sequence now spans four bars.
Official guide illustration of selecting a note and recording it to a sequencer step
select each note before its step. in bar 1 put E G E D on steps 3, 7, 11 and 15.
tap Bar; enter bar 2 as E C B A. tap Bar; enter bar 3 as C A G A.
tap Bar; enter bar 4 as B D G D. press Play: the pluck answers between bass attacks while the chords turn underneath. Stop after the four-bar loop returns.
1.5. four scenes
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Official Arrange screen illustrating patterns grouped into scenes
scenes remember pattern assignments and mix settings so one song can move between arrangements.
press Arrange. hold Shift and press accidental 1 for scene 1. press Mix, then M1; hold Shift and press track buttons 1 and 3 to mute drums and bass. leave strings and pluck on for the intro.
return to Arrange; hold Shift and press accidental 2. the empty scene duplicates scene 1. open Mix M1, hold Shift and press track buttons 1 and 3 to restore the full groove.
in Arrange, hold Shift and press accidental 3 to duplicate scene 2. in Mix M1, hold Shift and press track 1 to mute the drums.
return to Arrange; hold Shift and press accidental 4 to duplicate scene 3. open Mix M1 and unmute track 1.
press Play and choose scenes with Shift plus accidentals 1, 2, 3 and 4. hear intro, full groove, drumless break and full return, then Stop.
Official guide illustration showing Shift held while track buttons toggle mutes
reselect the mistaken scene, open Mix M1 and hold Shift: white tracks are on, unlit tracks are muted. press only the mistaken track button. audition again, then Stop.
1.6. song, save and cold replay
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Official guide illustration showing Shift held while Arrange enters Song mode
in Arrange, hold Shift and press Arrange for Song mode.
Official guide illustration showing Shift and M1 clearing all song entries
hold Shift and press M1 to clear the order.
Official guide illustration showing Shift held while scene keys build a song sequence
keep Shift held and enter scenes 1–2–2–3–2–4.
Official guide illustration showing the dark gray encoder used to enable song looping
turn the dark gray encoder to enable looping.
Official guide illustration of the Play control
with the transport stopped, press Play once. hear intro, two full passes, drumless break, return and final scene, then Stop. if playback is already running, a second press restarts from the beginning.
Official guide illustration showing Shift with M2 and M3 to navigate song entries
for a wrong entry, hold Shift and find it with M2 or M3.
Official guide illustration showing Shift and M4 deleting a scene from the song
hold Shift and press M4 to remove the entry from playback, then enter the correct scene. the source scene stays intact.
Official guide illustration showing Instrument held with a track button as a mute shortcut
press Play once. during a full scene, hold Instrument and press track 4 to mute the pluck for one chosen bar; repeat the shortcut to restore it. after playback, Stop.
Official guide illustration of M2 saving a project and creating a version
press Project, then M2 to save and create a version. the guide documents this command, not a fixed success animation.
Official guide hardware illustration showing the OP–XY power switch
power down, then power up and wait for boot.
press Arrange, then Shift plus Arrange. with the transport stopped, press Play once. finish when all six entries, four layers, break, three-hit hat and the loop from scene 4 to 1 replay.
no physical OP–XY or novice pilot was available. confirm octave and register, chord sustain, scene duplication and mute recall, save feedback and the complete cold replay on your device.
lesson PDF
lesson start
visual comparison