Twisted-Electrons Crazy8 Beats MIDI and Trigger Sequencer User Manual

: June 6, 2024
: Twisted-Electrons

CRAZY8 BEATS
USER’S MANUAL
MARCH 19 2021
Twisted-Electrons.com

FEATURES

Hybrid digital (MIDI) and analog (Trigger/CV) Sequencer All-in-one desktop and 40HP Eurorack module

8 MIDI tracks on 2 ports
8 Analog Trigger outputs
16 illuminated Pads
71 LEDs
0-5V Accent/CV output per step
MIDI velocity, CC, per step.
Trigger Input/Output to sync Crazy8Beats to other devices
MIDI input to receive MIDI clock and setup parameters
MIDI Clock sent on both ports
16 patterns per track
Live recording of patterns with undo
Up to 16 steps per pattern
Different length, rate and direction per track (Polyrhythms)
Patterns can be changed individually per track or all at once
Up to 16 patterns can be chained to create a song
4 play modes per track (forward, reverse, ping-pong, random)
Copy, Paste, Clearing of patterns
8 Levels of Swing per track
The crazy feature enables probability and lives remixing of patterns
Drill effect (AKA ratcheting) with variable rate and programmable pattern

GLOBAL FUNCTIONS

Run (Play/Stop)
Used to start and stop the sequencer
Tools
Press the TOOLS <| button to activate or deactivate the tools menu.
More details on the tools are in chapter 4.
Tempo change:

Change the tempo incrementally by holding TEMPO and rolling the data wheel. Clockwise increases the tempo, Counter-Clockwise decreases it. There are 64 tempo
increments displayed on the 64 step LEDs

You can also tap the tempo at any time simply by tapping the TEMPO button

Change selected Track

Roll the encoder to select any track 1-8. The Pads brieﬂy light up to indicate which track is selected

Change Modes

Press the encoder down to jump between PLAY and EDIT modes described in chapters 2 & 37.

PLAY MODE

Play Mode is like a playlist editor where we can choose which pattern a track is currently playing, and chain patterns to create a song.

Mute/Un-mute Tracks Individually or all at once

Press and hold the encoder knob for at least a second. Now the top row of pads 1-8 will light up to show the enabled tracks. Now you can mute or un-mute tracks 1 through 8 by pressing the respective top pads.
Hold shift at the same time to enable/disable all tracks at once

This information is automatically stored in EEPROM memory and loaded at startup

Change Patterns

Press any of the pads to change the pattern of the selected track.

Hold shift to change all tracks to the same pattern.

A Solid lit pad indicates the current pattern of the selected Track, ﬂickering pads indicate the tracks that are currently being triggered.

The current pattern of each track is automatically stored in EEPROM memory and loaded at startup

Chain Patterns

Activate/Deactivate Pattern Chain Mode

Press rec to toggle pattern chain mode on & off at any time When rec is lit, Crazy8Beats will chain patterns to make songs.

Tip: Rec has a different function in edit mode!

Pattern Chain Slots

The chain slots are the building blocks for our song playlist. The patterns to be played are stored in up to 16 slots that can be individually enabled or disabled.

To enable or disable a slot hold rec and press any pad.

When the sequencer is playing and rec is lit, the pad corresponding to the slot that is currently being played will ﬂicker.

These chain slots are automatically stored in EEPROM memory and loaded at startup

Skip or “Jump” to Step

Hold skip then press any pad to temporarily jump the sequencer to that step. When you release skip the sequencer will resume at the expected step

Tip: Skip has a different function in edit mode!

EDIT MODE

Here we can edit the content of the patterns

Enable & Disable Steps

Press any pad to enable or disable an individual step. To instantly enable or disable all steps of the pattern, hold shift ﬁrst then press any pad.

Live

Recording Patterns

Press rec to arm the recorder. Now you can play the tracks using the pads. The recording is automatically quantized to the nearest step.
To clear a recording hold shift and press the pad corresponding to the track you wish to erase. To clear all tracks at once hold shift and press rec

Setting Accent/Velocity/CC per Step

Depending on how the track is set up (see settings section) each step can send MIDI velocity, CC or both.
An equivalent Analog voltage is automatically sent out of accent jacks too.

You can set the accent amount in coarse and ﬁne increments: To set the accent value of a step hold a pad and turn the rotary encoder. The top row of step LEDs indicates the coarse value (16 steps)

To ﬁne-tune, the accent, hold shift while turning the rotary encoder. The ﬁner increments are displayed on the second row of step LEDs.

Skip Steps

You can shorten patterns by skipping up to 15 steps. Hold skip and press any pad to set the step to skip (lit pad=skipping step)

Tip: Skip has a different function in play mode!

TOOLS

There are 8 tools to manipulate our beat

Press the tool button to enable the toolbar. It can be enabled in either mode and will override the 16 pads.

Now that the toolbar is active, select a tool by pressing pads 1 through 8

The bottom row of 8 pads applies the tools to tracks 1 to 8 respectively see the next sections for details.

Play Modes (Direction)

Each track can play in 4 directions. Press bottom pads 1 through 4 to change the modes of the selected track.
Hold shift to change the mode of all tracks at once.

Crazy

The crazy function can either add some randomness or improvisation to your pattern.
1-4 reduces the probability of the step being triggered.
Pad 5 is normal, the pattern is unaffected Pads 6 to 8 enable remixing of your patterns.
As you dial up the crazy, the sequencer is more and more likely to play snippets of other patterns at random.

Press lower pads 1 to 8 to input the crazy amount of the selected track.
Hold shift to apply that amount to all tracks at once

Drill

Hold Drill to program on which steps the drill will work by toggling bottom pads on or off. Release Drill to conﬁrm.

Hold a bottom pad to rapidly repeat the corresponding track for a drilling effect. The rotary encoder sets the repeat rate

Rate

Each track can run at different speeds. Press a lower pad to change the speed of the selected track.
Hold shift to change the rate of all tracks at once.

Swing

You can add swing to any track using pads 1 to 8.
Hold shift at the same time to apply swing to all tracks at once.

Copy

In copy mode, press a lower pad to copy its corresponding track to the memory clipboard.
Hold shift and press the 6th upper pad (copy) to copy all tracks to the memory clipboard at once.

Tip: Accents are copied too.

Paste

In paste mode, press a lower pad to paste its corresponding track from the memory clipboard.
Hold shift and press the 7th upper pad (paste) to paste all tracks from the memory clipboard at once.

Tip: Accents are pasted too.

Clear

In clear mode, press a lower pad to clear it.
Hold shift and press the 8th upper pad (clear) to clear all tracks at once.

Tip: Accents are cleared too.

SETTINGS

In settings mode we can set the MIDI note, MIDI channel of each track, and whether a step sends MIDI velocity, MIDI Control Change, both or neither.

Access the settings mode at any time by holding the encoder down for 4 seconds. You can exit the settings mode by pressing the encoder again.

Setting MIDI Note of a track

Each track outputs the MIDI note of your choice.
The default notes are the following:

36 – C2 – Kick
38 – D2 – Snare
43 – G2 – Lo Tom
50 – D3 – Hi Tom
42 – F#2 – Closed Hat
46 – A#2 – Open Hat
39 – D#2 – Clap
49 – C#3 – Crash

MIDI notes are deﬁned by playing a note into Crazy8Beats via the MIDI input. You can use a MIDI sequencer, keyboard, or computer to set the notes. In this example, we’ll use a MIDI keyboard connected to the Crazy8Beats MIDI input.

To select the track you wish to conﬁgure, press a corresponding pad.

The upper row selects tracks 1 to 8 of MIDI port 1.
The lower row selects tracks 1 to 8 of MIDI port 2.

Now play a MIDI key on your MIDI keyboard, the selected track will now play this note when triggered.

Enabling Velocity, MIDI CC

Each track can send variable MIDI velocity, or a MIDI CC of your choice, both or neither.

To select the track you wish to conﬁgure, press a corresponding pad.

The upper row selects tracks 1 to 8 of MIDI port 1.
The lower row selects tracks 1 to 8 of MIDI port 2.

The run button enables/disables velocity, indicated by the LED above the button
The rec button enables/disables CC, indicated by the LED above the button

Setting the MIDI CC number of a track

To select the track you wish to conﬁgure, press a corresponding pad.

The upper row selects tracks 1 to 8 of MIDI port 1.
The lower row selects tracks 1 to 8 of MIDI port 2.

Now a move a fader on your MIDI keyboard to send
Crazy8Beats a MIDI CC message, the selected track will now
transmit the same CC number when CC is enabled.

Setting the MIDI output channel of each port

Press any upper pad to select port1 or any lower pad to select port2.
Now turn the rotary encoder to set the MIDI output channel the
top row of step LEDs indicates the channel (1 to 16)

MIDI SYSEX DUMP/UPLOAD

You can backup and restore entire pattern banks by sending and receiving MIDI SYSEX ﬁles to and from a computer via MIDI port 1

To send a MIDI dump hold skip during startup. The SYSEX is automatically sent out of MIDI port 1. The skip LED will blink during the transfer.
To receive a previously saved MIDI dump hold tools <| button on startup. The LED will blink indicating that the unit is ready to receive the ﬁle.

Now you can transfer the SYSEX ﬁle from a computer. After a while, the unit will restart, and you are ready to enjoy some beats!