Circuit Rhythm includes an eight-channel mixer to let you adjust the volume of each track relative to the others. By default, all the tracks play at a volume level of 100 (arbitrary units, range 0-127), leaving you with the Master Volume control to adjust the output level as required.
Press Mixer to open Mixer View:
The illuminated pads on Row 1 are Mute buttons for each track. Press a pad to stop the sequencer triggering a track’s samples and CC automation; this will in turn mute the track. Press again to unmute. The pad’s illumination dims to indicate a Mute state.
By default, in Mixer View the Macros control volume level of each track. This is indicated by the ▼ button being lit. Macro LEDs light in the corresponding track colour, and dim as the track level is reduced.
Track level adjustment with the Macros may be automated. If Circuit Rhythm is in Record Mode, changes to the individual track levels will be recorded to the Pattern. To delete Volume Level automation, hold Clear and turn the Macro control. The Macro LED will light red to indicate that the deletion has been completed.
You can also position each track anywhere in the stereo image (but you’ll need to be monitoring both left and right outputs or using headphones to hear any effect). Pressing the ▼ button converts the Macro controls to pan controls for each track. The ▼ button goes out and the ▲ button illuminates. The default pan position of every track is stereo-centre, indicated by the Macro LEDs showing white. Panning a track left turns the LED increasingly bright blue; panning to the right turns it increasingly bright pink.
To quickly return a panned track to the centre of the stereo image, hold down Clear and turn the Macro control clockwise. The Macro LED will light purple to indicate that the action has been completed.
The Pan controls are automated in the same way as the Level controls. To delete Pan automation, hold Clear and turn the Macro control anticlockwise. The Macro LED will light red to indicate that the action has been completed.
Pressing ▲ will return the Macros to their level control function.
Muting can be used for more creative purposes than simply silencing a track; it lets you perform in real time over the unmuted tracks. When a track is muted, its sequencer step pads become inactive. However, they then become available to play samples in real time in Velocity View, Gate View or Probability View.
To experiment with this, select a Project and mute a track in Mixer View. Select Velocity View, Gate View or Probability View for the muted track: the step pads will still show the sequence in progress, but because the track is muted, no samples will be triggered by the sequencer. The step pads may now be used to play the samples “manually” – in real time. This functionality becomes especially powerful when used in conjunction with a pattern that contains macro automation, as each step will play back with its saved automation, allowing you to build up a palette of sounds to perform with.
Note that while playback of steps in this way may be recorded to other patterns using View Lock, automation data from the steps will not be recorded.
Circuit Rhythm includes a digital effects processor (FX) which lets you add delay and/or reverb effects to any or all the tracks making up your Project. There is also a master compressor which is applied to your mix by default.
Sixteen delay and eight reverb presets are provided, and you can select any one of each type. The send levels from each track – i.e., how much reverb and/or delay is added – are individually adjustable for each track using the Macro controls. Any effects added can be saved to the Project in the usual way.
Each of the “peach” pads on Rows 1 and 2 calls up a delay preset, and similarly, the “cream” pads on Row 3 enable reverb presets. By far the best way to evaluate the various effects is to listen to them, most effectively using a single repeating hit like a snare drum. As a general rule though, the reverb presets are arranged with increasing reverberation time from Pad 17 to Pad 24, and the delay presets with increasing complexity from Pad 1 to Pad 16. All the delay presets feature feedback for multiple echoes, and some include swung timing and stereo “ping-pong” effects as well. For presets 3 to 16, delay time is related to the BPM: see the table on Automating FX sends for a full list of presets.
To add reverb to one or more tracks, select a reverb preset. The pad corresponding to the active preset illuminates brightly. The Macros are now the reverb send level controls for the eight tracks: this is exactly the same arrangement as used in Mixer View. The Macro LEDs are now dimly lit cream; as you increase a send level you will hear reverb being added to the track it controls and the LED will increase in brightness.
You can add the selected reverb effect to any or all tracks to different degrees by using the other Macro controls. It is not possible to use different reverb presets on different tracks, however.
Adding delay is the same process as reverb: to add delay to your tracks, select an effect from the pads on Rows 1 and 2. The Macros are now per-track delay send level controls; you’ll see that their LEDs are now showing peach to confirm their reassignment to the delay FX.
Although the same Macros are used as reverb send levels and delay send levels, the two effects remain independent: the Macros adopt one function or the other according to whether the last FX pad pressed was a reverb preset or a delay preset.
Details of the 16 delay presets are given the table below:
|
PRESET |
DELAY TYPE |
MUSICAL DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Slapback Fast |
Very rapid repeats |
|
2 |
Slapback Slow |
Rapid repeats |
|
3 |
32nd Triplets |
48 cycles per bar |
|
4 |
32nd |
32 cycles per bar |
|
5 |
16th Triplets |
24 cycles per bar |
|
6 |
16th |
16 cycles per bar |
|
7 |
16th Ping Pong |
16 cycles per bar |
|
8 |
16th Ping Pong Swung |
16 cycles per bar with swing |
|
9 |
8th Triplets |
12 cycles per bar |
|
10 |
8th dotted Ping Pong |
8 cycles per 3 beats with Stereo Spread |
|
11 |
8th |
8 cycles per bar |
|
12 |
8th Ping Pong |
8 cycles per bar |
|
13 |
8th Ping Pong Swung |
8 cycles per bar with swing |
|
14 |
4th Triplets |
6 cycles per bar |
|
15 |
4th dotted Ping Pong Swung |
4 cycles per 3 bars with swing |
|
16 |
4th Triplets Ping Pong Wide |
6 cycles per bar |
Note that below certain BPM values, the delay presets will not match the above rates.
The reverb and delay send levels may be automated by turning a Macro control while Record Mode is active. You can alter the amount of an effect during a sequence. The Clear button can be used to delete automation data for the FX send control: hold Clear and turn the send control for which you no longer require automation; the LED turns red to confirm the action.
This is enabled or disabled by the FX button in Advanced Setup View: see Advanced setup view.
Each of the tracks may be independently Side Chained. Side Chain allows the hits of one track to duck the audio level of another track. Using Side Chains, you can add a pumping feel to your beats - this is a staple sound of hip-hop and EDM. Try Side Chaining your bassline or main chord sequence with your kick.
Seven Side Chain presets are available, each allowing the selected Side Chain trigger source to duck the track with increasing intensity from the leftmost preset to the rightmost preset. The default state is for Side Chain to be OFF for all tracks.
Side Chain View is the secondary view of the FX button . Open by holding Shift and pressing FX, or press FX a second time if already in FX View to toggle the View.
Side Chain View will display either the Side Chain controls for the track which was displayed when Shift + FX was pressed. You can use the ▼ and ▲ buttons to scroll through the four pages of Side Chain Views: each page displays the Side Chain controls for a pair of tracks (as shown above).
The two lower rows of pads correspond to the seven Side Chain Presets (Pads 2 to 8 in each row) for an odd-numbered and even-numbered track respectively; the first pad in each row is the ‘OFF button’ – this disables side chain processing for the track. Pad 1 is illuminated bright red when the Side Chain is OFF; press any other pad in the row to enable one of the Side Chain Presets: Pad 1 becomes dim and the selected Pad shows bright in the track colour.
Pads 1 to 8 on the top row let you select which track will be the Side Chain trigger source for the chosen track (selected by pressing a Side Chain Preset for the track).
As with many of Circuit Rhythm’s other features, by far the best way of understanding Side Chain processing is to experiment and listen. A good starting point is to set a track to play a long sample so that it sounds continuously, and make another track play a few kick drum samples. As you select different Side Chain Presets, you’ll hear the different ways in which the continuous sample is “interrupted” by the drum. Also note that the effect will be more or less impactful depending on the relative timings of the sample being ducked and its trigger source.
Side Chain ducking will continue even when the level of the source track is reduced to zero in the Mixer View. This is a feature which can be used quite creatively! However, if you mute the drum track selected as the key in Mixer View, side chain triggering is disabled.
The entire audio output of Circuit Rhythm – the sum of the sounds from all eight tracks - is fed through a traditional DJ-style filter section. The control for this is the large Master Filter knob . The Filter knob is one of the key performance controls and can be used to radically change the overall sound.
The Filter encompasses both low-pass and high-pass types. A high-pass filter removes low frequencies (bass) from the output and a low-pass filter removes high frequencies (treble).
The Master Filter knob controls a low-pass filter when you turn it anticlockwise from the centre position and a high-pass filter when you turn it clockwise from the centre position. Note that the control has a detent in the centre – in this position, no filtering takes place and the LED below the knob is dimly lit white.
As you turn the knob clockwise, you’ll hear the lower frequencies disappear leaving you with a much thinner sound; in the opposite direction, the high frequencies disappear first, leaving you with a muffled sound. The LED changes to pale blue when either filter type is active, with the brightness increasing as the control is turned.
Circuit Rhythm’s Grid FX let you rapidly add a range of additional audio effects from a dedicated set of pads: it’s a great way of adding variations to your patterns in live performance.
Grid FX are accessed in Grid FX View, which is the secondary view of the Mixer button . Open by holding Shift and pressing Mixer, or press Mixer a second time if already in Mixer View to toggle the View. The Macro controls remain active as the Mixer’s track level controls and the top row of the grid is also unchanged from Mixer View, continuing to be the Mute buttons for each track. The two lower rows (Pads 17 to 32) are available as Grid FX performance pads. By default, the Grid FX on Circuit Rhythm are:
|
SLOT |
EFFECT |
|---|---|
|
1 |
Beat Repeat, 1/4 rate |
|
2 |
Beat Repeat, 1/8 rate |
|
3 |
Beat Repeat, 1/16 rate |
|
4 |
Beat Repeat, 1/32 rate |
|
5 |
Beat Repeat, 1/8T rate |
|
6 |
Beat Repeat, 1/16T rate |
|
7 |
Reverser, 1/4 rate |
|
8 |
Reverser, 1/16 rate |
|
9 |
Gater, 1/4 rate |
|
10 |
Gater, 1/8 rate |
|
11 |
Gater, 1/16 rate |
|
12 |
Gater, 1/32 rate |
|
13 |
Phaser, light |
|
14 |
Phaser, heavy |
|
15 |
Vinyl, light |
|
16 |
Vinyl, heavy |
Grid FX may be configured using Novation Components. In Components you may assign each effect to any of 16 slots. Seven different effect types are available, each with its own set of parameters to explore. You are able to use multiple versions of the same effect with different parameters on different pads. The set of Grid FX is saved with each Pack (see Using Circuit Rhythm's Packs) and any Project within that Pack can access the Grid FX configurations that were saved with the Pack.
With a set of Grid FX loaded, pressing a pad that has an effect loaded to it triggers the effect, which remains active until the pad is released. You can press multiple Grid FX pads to trigger several effects at once, but if you have variants of the same effect on multiple pads (i.e., with different parameters), only the last pressed will be active. If you then release the pad while another pad for a variant of the same effect is being held down, the earlier one will take over.
The seven types of effect available in Grid FX are:
|
Effect |
Pad colour |
|---|---|
|
Beat Repeat |
Red |
|
Reverser |
Amber |
|
Gater |
Sand |
|
Auto-Filter |
Green |
|
Digitise |
Blue |
|
Phaser |
Indigo |
|
Vinyl Simulation |
Magenta |
The effects are colour-coded, so you can identify the various types available once you have uploaded them into Circuit Rhythm.
As with many other features of Circuit Rhythm, we recommend experimentation with Grid FX to gain an understanding of which type and setting of effect works well in your particular style of choice of samples. Briefly, the basic effects are:
-
Beat Repeat – capture a short segment of tempo-synced audio from the master mix and repeat it for a stutter effect. Beat Repeat playback is not synced to sequencer playback.
-
Reverser – immediately reverse playback of the master mix in short tempo-related segments. Reverser playback is not synced to sequencer playback.
-
Gater – a square-wave LFO that affects the volume of the master mix at tempo-related rates. When pressed, the Gater will always be at maximum volume. Gater playback is not synced to sequencer playback.
-
Auto-Filter – a variable state (Low/Band/High-Pass) 12/6 dB/octave filter with a tempo-synced LFO. The LFO shape may be set to Triangle, Square, ramp-up, or ramp-down, and key-synced such that it restarts when the effect is triggered. The modulation depth may also be customised.
-
Digitise – reduce the sample rate of the master mix and apply a bit-crush effect.
-
Phaser – a 4-pole phasing effect to the master mix with a tempo-synced LFO. The LFO depth may be customised, and feedback may be introduced.
-
Vinyl Simulation – a Lo-Fi effect to the master mix that simulates the sound of a bad vinyl record. Apply varying degrees of pitch-wobble, crackle, and hiss, alongside a width parameter that cuts high and low frequencies.
Pad 16 in Grid FX View enables a Latch function. By default, it is dimly lit white; when pressed it illuminates bright white, and any Grid FX effect pad now selected will remain active until either it, or the Latch button, is pressed again. Note that when disabling an effect directly (i.e., not via pressing the Latch button), the effect will be disabled upon release.
When latching is enabled, multiple effects will be latched on when they are selected, however, only one effect of each of the seven types may be latched at any one time.
The Latch state for each effect type is saved with the Project, so that some or all effects can be made active immediately on loading the Project.
In Grid FX mode you can edit the parameters for the active (audible) effect using the macro pots. To access the parameters, enable an effect (in either latch or momentary) and the LEDs under the macro pots light to show you which parameters you can access with the colour showing the effect.
Macro pot two (Start) always changes the effect type. Changing the effect type preserves the state (i.e., latch) of the previous effect patch. You can’t select effect types that are either pressed or latched this way. If you pressed a latched patch, it would not release the latch state if you have edited the patch.
The parameters you can control (and their default values) relating to the macro pots are:
By default, all effects (edited or not) save with the current session ‘Performance Mode’. While in Performance mode with the Edit toggle ‘off’ changes you make to Grid FX parameters reset when you release the effect. This allows you to relaunch performances starting from the same place each time.
To make permanent changes you can enable the ‘Edit’ toggle (second to last pad on the second row) (See diagram below). While Edit is active, any changes are kept once you release the effect. This allows you to set up new Grid FX layouts from Circuit Rhythm
You can page through to edit all currently active effects using the up and down arrow buttons (see diagram). You can still reach the mixer volume and pan macro layouts by paging down while grid effects are active.
Audio signals applied to the external audio inputs will be processed by Grid FX. While monitoring is enabled in Sample Record View, incoming audio will be routed through Grid FX (in stereo). This allows Circuit Rhythm to be used as a stereo FX unit. Furthermore, with resample enabled in Sample Record View, Grid FX active during sample recording will be committed to the recorded sample as heard.
Enhanced control of Grid FX parameters is possible using external MIDI control, e.g., from a MIDI controller or sequencer. Full details are available in the separate document Circuit Rhythm Programmer’s Reference Guide, which may be downloaded from novationmusic.com/downloads.