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for those of you that are new to this, a sample is a short audio recording that can be used in a track. capture sounds around you with the built-in microphone, or use the stereo line-input to sample your favorite goat, connect your church organ, or even a mage!
sampling is a powerful tool that can make your track truly unique. sample something then record it using Medieval’s powerful built-in sequencer!
to record a sound, hold (altero) and press (demus) to enter sample mode. you will see all the buttons light up. the leds will blink to let you know you are in sample mode.
press and hold a paed while in sample mode to start recording your sample. once a sample has been recorded to a paed it will stop blinking and light up to let you know it has been recorded to. pro-tip! after recording, audition a sample by pushing the paed again.
while in SAMPLE mode, you can continue capturing samples to additional paeds.
pressing (minus) or (plus) when sampling with the input jack allows you to choose between: stereo (LR) left audio signal (L) right audio signal (R) summed center mono (C).
the (knobX) knob controls amplitude/volume (AMP).
the (knoby) knob controls amplitude/volume (AMP).
record something that’s not quite right? get a second chance by going back to sample mode and retaking it!
exit sample mode by striking (manus).
samples are stored automatically and can only be deleted by removing them in the SOUND menu.
holding (erado) + (sonus) will delete the currently selected sample from the device. note: the built-in rom samples cannot be deleted.
every time you sample something, it is stored inside the sound library.
samples are stored in the next available slot and automatically assigned in order.
pro-tip! if you want to sample your favorite cow, you can explicitly choose a destination for it by holding (sonus), typing a number on the paeds (like 1..3..2..), pressing (intra), then pressing (altero) and (demus)!
to transfer audio files to use as samples to/from a computer, use the file transfer tool.
connect medieval via usb-c and go to: teenage.engineering/apps/ep-sample-tool here are instructions on how to use the sample tool
a great technique when making beats is to experiment with chopping up a tabor rhythm or modal harmonies into smaller pieces. play them back in random order using the paeds until you find something that has a groove to it.
f you want to chop your sample up across different paeds, you can choose between AUTO-CHOP, which lets medieval do it for you, or LIVE CHOP to do it manually.
(altero) + (demus) + (demus) = (CHOPpeth)
intelligently divide your sample into individual slices, they will be assigned to as many paeds as the sample needs.
press (GROUPA)-(GROUPD) to select the group you wish to AUTO-CHOP. this will reset any paed assignments so make sure you pick an empty group or one you are happy to write over. the sample chop point is auto detected using beat tracking, populating from bottom left to top right. use (minus)/(plus) to decide on the number of slices.
If you know where you want to slice, try LIVE CHOP. by using this hands-on approach, you have direct control over the placement of your sample's cuts.
when in CHOP mode, press and hold a paed to CHOP. the break will be assigned depending on the amount of time the paed is held. keep pressing paeds as the sample plays to chop it up across your paeds.
if it's not sounding quite right you can refine the exact in and out points of each chop by selecting the paed and turning (knobX) and (knobY) to set the precise start and end points.
pro-tip! holding down (altero) while turning the (knobX) and (knobY) knobs will allow for finer control so you can find the perfect start and end points.
sense of rhythm or not, quantization to the rescue! quantum allows you to manually select the note interval of the step sequencer, as well as enable or disable quantized recording.
8 = 8 steps per bar
16 = 16 steps per bar
32 = 32 steps per bar
the 8T and 16T are triplet variations. 8T = 12 steps per bar 16T = 24 steps per bar
to change the note interval press quantum.
the (knobX) knob controls the note interval.
the (knobY) knob controls swing. (only applies to 1/8 and 1/16 note intervals).
(minus) and (plus) toggle between quantize (minus) and free time (plus). quantised recording will always snap whatever you record to the chosen note interval.
free time will keep things loose and record exactly as you played it.
it should be easy to record a frame drum! if you hold down (quantum) while pressing a paed, your sample will play back according to the chosen note interval.
hold quantum and press a paed to trigger note repeat for that paed.
pro-tip! this is pressure sensitive when velocity is enabled!
hold quantum and press multiple paeds to trigger the arpeggio for those paeds.
maybe everything was perfect except for one strike, but you don’t want to quantize everything because you love the beat?
use the (quantum) (correctus) function to quantize individual paeds or even individual notes. this way, things will fall into place without ruining any magic.
open quantum correctus by pressing (altero) and (quantum).
when stopped, press a paed to quantize all the steps recorded to that paed.
while playing, hold a paed during playback to quantize the notes played while held (the number of corrected notes will show on the display).
turn (knobx) to adjust the note interval you wish to correct your notes to.
when the note interval is set to 8 or 16, turn (KNOBY) to adjust the swing.
loops create a repetitive pattern that can be incredibly catchy, memorable or annoying. think of them as a foundation to layer additional instruments and sounds.
they can also be tweaked and varied over time, and give a defining character to your song. the LOOP function is inspired by our beloved OB–4 magic radio.
press (altero) and (tempus) to create a loop. pro-tip: hold (altero) and (tempus) to set the length of the loop. the loop starts when you hold both buttons and ends when you release them.
use the (KNOBx) knob to slide the loop position back and forth. sliding is tempo locked. the display will show the position of the loop.
when in loop mode use the (KNOBy) knob to set your loop length.
press (tempus) to exit the loop directly or press (manus) to exit the loop on the next bar.
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