When the SL MkIII is controlling tempo (not following an external device’s tempo) you can adjust the tempo by:
When the SL MkIII receives MIDI clock (and MIDI Clock Rx setting is on), the tempo screen will show ‘External’.
The tempo value may fluctuate at first, but it will settle to a received clock value. Since the keyboard is ‘following’ an external clock, it is not possible to change the tempo using the above rotary control.
If the SL MkIII’s loses clock or its clock signal stops, then it will revert to its internal tempo, and you can use the rotary knob to adjust the tempo.
Clock source can only change while Transport is stopped. If the Sequencer is running synced to an external clock, and the signal stops or is lost, the display will show ‘Sync Lost’. The Sequencer will remain in this state until the Transport stops. After pushing Stop on the Transport, the Sequencer will revert to external clock if the external signal is available. Otherwise, it will use the internal clock.
The SL MkIII’s Swing function moves MIDI notes off their mathematically precise positions to achieve a more natural or human sound.
The result is more ‘swing’ or ‘feel’. In other words, if your arpeggios or patterns feel rigid, try adding some swing to them.
Swing works by pushing even-numbered beats of the swing sync rate closer to the odd-numbered beats. For example, with a common beat pattern of ‘1-2-3-4-1’ etc.:
You can adjust global swing from 20% to 80%. By default, swing is 50%, which applies no swing (i.e., no change in the rhythm). Greater than 50% adds positive swing, and less than 50% results in negative swing.
Swing can be enabled or disabled per track. You can find this in the Tempo menu. When swing is set to ‘Off’, both the sequencer and arpeggiator steps for that track will not follow global swing (it will default to 50% swing). Tracks set to ‘On’ will follow the global Swing value.
Swing per track information is stored in the session when you save that session.
Changing the Swing Sync Rate adjusts the length of the swing period. The setting defines the tempo interval the Swing parameter will shift alternate notes.
The default is set to 1/16, meaning the Sequencer and Arp will swing in pairs of 1/16ths. Triplet sync rates are denoted with a “T” after the sync rate.
If you want to match the tempo to an existing piece of music but you don’t know its BPM, you can use Tap Tempo.
To set a tempo press the Tap button at the intended tempo. Before a SL MkIII calculates the tempo you must press the Tap button at least three times. If the SL MkIII is synchronised to an external clock, tap tempo will be unavailable.