alter audio Timetosser OT15 Standalone Effects Unit Instrument User Manual

alter audio Timetosser OT15 Standalone Effects Unit Instrument User Manual

Introduction

Timetosser is a new kind of live performance tool. It enables you to playfully loop and reorder any kind of musical input in real time. Use it as a standalone device or connect it to your computer to control the Timetosser audio plugin in your favorite DAW software.

Timetosser focuses on re-arranging audio in a performative way. Timetosser uses a continuous audio buffer. With the top row of keys, you select where you listen within that buffer. This allows you to not only loop, but also bring back sounds from the past in a different order. By playing patterns on the top row of keys, you are able to reconstruct the incoming audio in any rhythmical pattern.

The novelty of Timetosser lies in the way it is used: one could simply enable a single effect, but we would like to encourage you to actively play the instrument and make infinite variations to your tracks and loops. Timetosser was born out of a need for a standalone device that endorses live improvisation. We hope it may inspire you in new ways and bring you many extended periods of fun and creativity.

Setting up

From left to right, the connections are:

USB power / host connection.

Depending on how you connect Timetosser, it operates in one of two modes.
When you connect the unit directly to a standard USB power supply it operates in Standalone mode.

When the unit is connected to a computer directly (or via a USB-hub),
Timetosser operates in USB-mode. In this mode, it functions as a control surface for the VST plugin. The MIDI-jacks function as a USB-to-MIDI interface. Any input audio is routed directly to the outputs unaffected.

Note: In this mode, the keys light up in a bluish-white and have a fluid- like animation. Also, the presence of input audio colors the keys with a greenish color.

MIDI-output.

Connect the supplied 3.5mm jack to DIN-5 (type B) adapter. Timetosser sends MIDI-clock and Note-On / Off messages on channel 1 in standalone mode. In plugin mode, the port acts as a USB-to-MIDI output.

MIDI / Sync input:

MIDI-mode: Connect the supplied 3.5mm jack to DIN-5 (type B) adapter.
Timetosser can sync to MIDI-clock and responds to MIDI-note messages on channel 1 in standalone mode. See “MIDI mapping” for details. In plugin mode, the port acts as a MIDI-to-USB input.

Gate-sync mode: Connect a standard mono(!) 3.5mm jack to a device that has an analog clock or gate output.

Note: Make sure you connect the MIDI or sync input before powering on Timetosser. Plugging anything in while it is turned on will make it confused. This is a known issue and will be resolved in a future firmware version.

Audio outputs. Plug in two ¼” audio jacks to connect Timetosser to any
device with a stereo audio input, like a mixer, amplifier, or even effect pedals.

Audio inputs. Plug in two ¼” audio jacks to hook up Timetosser to any line-level audio source.

After making your connections, turn on Timetosser with the power button.

Playing Timetosser

This quick-start guide assumes there is nothing plugged into the MIDI- / Sync-input.

In essence, Timetosser is a tempo-quantized delay unit. Think of it as a classical audio delay with the dry/wet knob set all the way to wet. Timetosser’s delay time is determined by what step-length is selected and what you play on the upper row of keys:

delay time = step length x step number

Playing the step keys sets different delay times and jumps to different parts of the buffered audio. This allows you to repeat the same note (by going from left to right on the step keys), or to completely reconstruct the beat by playing more complex patterns. Some examples of this can be found on ourYouTube channel.

Start off by playing some music. If not already on, press the leftmost step- key:

The delay-time is now set to 0 and you’ll hear the music unaffected.
Now tap the tap tempo key along to the beat.

After three taps, Timetosser will start picking up the tempo and try to lock it to the music. The behavior of the tap-tempo key depends on your syncconnections. See “Tap-tempo key” for a detailed explanation.

The step-length can be selected with these keys:

With shift, you can select triplets. Selecting a step-length will also select a sequencebank. This is explained further in “Step-length keys”.

As stated, the Top row of keys work like a multiplier of the selected step length, ranging from 0 through 7 steps. Holding down the shift key gives you steps 8 through 15.
When the “0”-step is active, there is no delay in the audio signal (step- length x 0 = 0).
Therefore, it’s recommended to return to the “0”-step after playing something. We marked this key with a circle to emphasize its importance.

Holding down any key not only jumps to that part of the buffer, but also starts the selected sequence. By default, this just repeats the current note. This is explained in detail in “Sequence Select”.

Keys explained

Step keys

Mostly used for playing patterns: see “Playing Timetosser”.

Mode key

Standalone mode:

• When not pressed, the mode key flashes to indicate the input audio level. It will turn red to indicate the input level is too high.
• Hold shift and press mode to toggle the input audio level meter.
• Holding down shift + mode + tap-tempo to enter clock select mode.

Plugin mode:
Works like in standalone, but also lets you select which plugin instance to control.
The step keys will light up in green for every available plugin instance.
For instance, instance number 2 is selected out of 3 available instances:

Up to 8 instances can be controlled by up to 8 hardware units.

Tap-tempo key

‘In standalone mode, Timetosser can synchronize from three different tempo sources. Depending on the active sync-source, tap-tempo behaves differently:

Beat finder:
This is the default sync-source when no external source is connected and/or received.
Tap three or more times in time with the music to make the beat finder start looking for beats at that tempo.
Tapping more than three times will make it more accurate. Tapping only two times (in time with the music) will reset the beat finder’s internal position.
The tap-tempo key will light up orange while it is finding beats and will turn greenish when it has locked onto the music’s tempo.

MIDI-sync:
After receiving a MIDI-start message, the sync-source will switch over to MIDI. The tap-tempo key will now light up blue and flash in time with the received tempo. When receiving a MIDI-stop message, the sync-source will switch back to the beat finder.
By tapping three times or more, you can set a multiplier of the received tempo. For example: tapping twice as fast will double Timetosser’s tempo.

Gate / clock sync:
The sync source will switch over to Gate / clock when receiving an analog signal. Just as with MIDI-sync, you can use the tap-tempo key to tap a multiplier.
The sync source will automatically switch back to the beat finder after not receiving a signal for over two seconds.

In plugin mode, there is only one sync source: the DAW’s tempo and position.
You can still use the tap-tempo to enter a tempo multiplier / divisor.

MIDI-out resync

Pressing shift + tap-tempo sends out a MIDI-stop message, immediately followed by a MIDI-start message.
This allows you to sync-up any devices connected to the MIDI-out port. MIDI- out resync is only available in standalone mode.

Clock Select Mode

While holding down mode + tap-tempo, you can use the step-length keys to choosefrom different tempo-modes:

Synced & quantized (1/4 note key).

Your actions (step, reverse, record-stop & mute) are quantized to the selected step-size.
The tap-tempo key flashes in a pulsating way, the color indicates the active sync-source.

Synced & unquantized (1/8 note key).

Your actions are not quantized: the tap-tempo key flashes in a “breathing” way.
The color indicates the active sync-source.

Unsynced & unquantized (1/16 note key).

Your actions are not quantized. This mode ignores the sync-source and instead takes your tap-tempo.
The tap-tempo key flashes in a “breathing” way.
The color is white.

Shift key

Holding down shift while pressing a step-key will give you steps 8 through 15, instead of 0 through 7. Accessing the extra steps can be useful when playing longer patterns.
Holding down shift also toggles the step length page: If a “regular” steplength is active, holding shift will display the triplet page (purple).
If a triplet step-length is selected, holding down shift will display the “regular” (yellow) page.

Holding down shift and pressing the mode key will toggle the input audio level meter.

Step-length keys

Depending on the active step-length, the step-length keys are colored either yellow or purple:

When the keys are yellow, you are on the “regular” page. Here you can select between 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16 note step-lengths.
When the active step-length is in the “regular” page, holding down shift will display the triplet page:

When the step-length light up purple, you are on the triplet page. Here you can select between 1/4T , 1/8T and 1/16T note step-lengths.
When the active step-length is in the triplet page, holding down shift will display the “regular” page again.

Sequence Select

While holding down a step length key, you can also select a sequence and play it.
Each individual note-length has up to 8 pre-programmed sequences that can be selected by pressing a step-key. The sequence will play while that key is held down.

When you let go of the step-length key, you will go back to perform-mode. Here you can now play that sequence by holding down any step key. Note that the default sequence (under the “0”-step) always just repeats the current step.

Reverse key

Hold to reverse the audio. Hold shift + reverse to start a “record-stop” action. These actions are quantized when “synced and quantized” mode is active (tap-tempo key lights up in a pulsating way).

Mute key

Pressing only the mute key toggles mute on or off.
Holding a step key and pressing mute works as a momentary mute: audio is un- muted as soon as you let go of the mute key.
Holding mute and pressing a step key works as a momentary un-mute: audio is re-muted as soon as you let go of the step key.
These actions are quantized when “synced and quantized” mode is active (taptempo key lights up in a pulsating way).

VST3 Plugin

The VST plugin offers the same functionality as the standalone-mode, but now inside your DAW software. You can place up to eight instances on your audio tracks and use the hardware unit to play them. Selecting an instance is done with the mode key.

The plugin instances receive and send MIDI, so anything you play on the control surface can be recorded in your DAW and played back again.

The VST Plugin is part of the “Timetosser Software Installer” package. An installer for both Mac (10.11 minimum) and Windows (7 and up, 64-bit only) can be found on our website.

Installation

Make sure your Timetosser is connected to your computer and is powered up.
Close your DAW, download & run the package and follow the onscreen instructions to install. After the installation completes and you reopen your DAW, it should pick it right up. Depending on your DAW, you simply drag & drop the plugin onto an audio track. Below are a few screenshots of Ableton Live 10 showing the plugin in the browser and an audio track containing a loop and the Timetosser plugin.

Please note that the plugin needs the hardware unit to be connected to your computer for it to function. If the plugin cannot detect a connected unit, it will be disabled and display a message in the UI.

In the screenshot below, you can see an extra Midi track. This track is set up to accept MIDI input from the track containing the Timetosser plugin (“TT”), and to send its MIDI notes back to the “TT” track:

In this example, we again used Ableton Live 10. Please consult your specific DAW’s manual on MIDI routing between tracks.

For best playability, it is advisable to minimize your DAW’s audio output latency. This is achieved by setting the smallest buffer size your audio device supports without causing dropouts, clicks or glitches. Please consult your DAW user manual on how to adjust these settings.

MIDI Mapping

In standalone mode, Timetosser receives MIDI note-on/off messages and transmits keypresses as note-on/off messages on channel 1:

Setup Recommendations

Timetosser can accept quite a “hot” signal so it can accept input from “hot” outputting devices like analog synths and pro audio gear.

To avoid possible noise, it is advisable to get the input audio be as loud as you can make it without clipping. You can toggle the input level meter on/off by pressing “shift” + “mode”. Make sure the meter is on average between somewhere in the middle and full capacity, without any LEDs glowing red:

Secondly, you would typically need some form of volume control “after” the Timetosser unit. The examples that follow are to help you on your way setting up your Timetosser.

Recommended setups:

• I. DJ mixer with Send/Return feature.
• II. DJ mixer combined with amplifier.
• III. Timetosser on the output of an audio interface.
• IV. Recording/monitoring Timetosser on a drum machine.
• V. Studio mixer with a submix feature.
• VI. Studio mixer with Timetosser on the mix insert.

Non-recommended setups:

• VII. DJ mixer with Timetosser on the Master outputs
• VIII. Studio mixer with Timetosser on the Master outputs

DJ mixer with Send/Return feature

DJ mixer combined with amplifier

Timetosser on the output of an audio interface

Recording/monitoring Timetosser on a drum machine

Studio mixer with a submix feature

Studio mixer with Timetosser on the mix insert

DJ mixer with Timetosser on the Master outputs

Studio mixer with Timetosser on the Master outputs

Troubleshooting

Why is my Timetosser not showing its colors?

Probably Timetosser is detecting a computer, or any other USB-host. Or perhaps you have it powered through a USB-hub with other devices interfering.

When connected to a computer, Timetosser starts in plugin mode. When you power Timetosser with a separate USB charger it should start in standalone mode and the keys should look like normal.

Try to unplug all cables and power Timetosser to a wall socket with the supplied USB cable and a standard USB power adapter, like a smartphone charger. The quality of the charger can make a difference in the sound quality, so be sure to use a good one. To avoid ground loops, it is best to power Timetosser from the same wallsocket or extension cord as your other music gear.

When for some reason Timetosser is still not starting in the right mode, please let us know by sending an email to support@alter.audio

© alter.audio – 2021 – All rights reserved.

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Information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of alter.audio. The software described in this manual is provided under the terms of a license agreement or non-disclosure agreement. The software license agreement specifies the terms and conditions for its lawful use. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any purpose other than purchaser’s personal use, without the express written permission of alter.audio.
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