live mode is the best place to start composing a track.
This mode turns Hapax into a MIDI controller that you can use to experiment and record your music using the built-in pad matrix or an external keyboard. Depending on the current type of your track, you will have access to three different live modes.
Livemode SCALE
On POLY or MPE tracks, play some notes on the built-in isomophic keyboard, and add a scale to quantize their pitch. Hold live + Rotate the main encoder to switch to livemode scale.
Livemode CHORD
On POLY or MPE tracks, effortlessly build and play some colorful chords. Hold live + Rotate the main encoder to switch to livemode chord.
Livemode DRUM
On DRUM tracks, play your drum kit with the pads, divided into zones of 16 velocities. A simple Press on the live button will lead you to the livemode drum.
You will find many useful tools in those modes, such as a quantizer, scales and chords generators, hold/relatch options, chord recognition, a live looper, and of course a lot of real-time effects (arpeggiator, harmonizer, swing...).
Record your performance
PressO (and if your sequencer is stopped) to record your performance. When you will start playing, you will notice that notes are starting to appear on the piano roll screen.
It is possible to record events on several tracks at the same time. To learn about this feature, please check the Multitrack recording chapter on this pagethis page.
Recording settings can be accessed through the REC menu. Press 2ND + settings to enter this menu.
LEARN OFF ON Toggle this parameter off to completely disable the note learn in step mode.
NOTES HARD REC OVERDUB When hard recording is selected, the previously recorded notes will be erased upon a new recording. Overdub allows to merge incoming notes with the existing ones.
COUNTDOWN OFF ON (1 BAR) ON (2 BARS) ON (3 BAR) ON (4 BAR) When enabled, Hapax will play a countdown before the recording starts. The track must be armed beforehand with a Press on rec O. The countdown time can be set from 1 bar to 4 bars.
METRONOME OFF ON Enabling Metronome will output a quarter note when the sequencer is playing. The output routing and other parameters of the metronome can be set in the settings MISC.
PUNCH IN OFF ON PressO to arm your track. If punch-in is enabled, Hapax will wait for the first incoming note to automatically start recording.
LOOPER OFF 1 BAR 1/16 This option provides a way to capture your performances as if you were using a looper pedal. The length of your track is not predefined, and will be determined by the final length of your recording. The looper is only available on an empty track (no notes and automation). First, Press rec O to start recording a loop. Press rec O a second time to stop recording. The track length will now be set, and the track will start to loop.
New! 1 BAR will set the pattern length to the closest bar while 1/16 will set the pattern length to the closest sixteenth note.
Tip When recording with auto-loop, press the live-looped-track button to set the track length while keeping REC enabled.
REC OFF OFF END PATTERN If enabled, this parameter will allow the recording to stop automatically when the sequencer reaches the end of the pattern.
QUANTIZE OFF 1/64 1/32 1/24 1/16 New! When enabled, the notes will be destructively quantized to the selected rate. Destructive quantization means that no micro-timings will be added to recorded events. To use non-destructive quantization, use the track quantizertrack quantizer .
Hold and Rotate to set the note end quantization behavior. By default, notes are moved altogether on the grid, including their start and end points. When activated, this setting allows for quantizing the start point alone, leaving the end of the note at its original position, unquantized.
Quantize your performance
The real-time quantizer is very useful for correcting the timing of a live played recording, or for applying rhythmical variations on a pattern.
Each track quantize parameters can be set independently. Hold 2ND + Press track to enter the track secondary setting window:
Rotate encoder ① to enable and set the rate of the quantizer. 1/16 is the coarsest setting, 1/64 is the most precise.
Rotate encoder ② to set the strength value of quantization. While 100% strength value will apply maximum quantization to the notes, lower values will allow the notes to be slightly off-grid. Tweak this parameter to taste to find the balance between straight and swung feel in your tracks.
The track quantizer is non-destructive, meaning that the original micro-timings of the sequence are preserved and can be restored at any time. If you prefer a destructive quantization, use the quantize option in rec settingsquantize option in rec settings.
Across live and step mode
Any note recorded in live mode can be seen and edited in step mode.
Moreover, all notes and chords played on an external controller or using the live mode keypads are captured in step mode and displayed on the left screen under LEARN. Those learned notes can be added with a single press of a pad in step mode.
In this mode, the pad matrix is used as an isomorphic keyboard. This leverages the property of transpositional invariance, very useful for playing chords in various keys:
Any given sequence and/or combination of musical intervals has the same shape when transposed to another key. - Wikipedia
By default, this isomorphic keyboard is chromatic, with a row-jump of 3 semitones : for any given pad, the pad to its right plays 1 semitone up, and the pad above it plays 3 semitones up.
When applying a scale, the keyboard will no longer add 1 or 3 semitones, but will move up by 1 or 3 degrees of the scale. For example, in chromatic mode, a pad up would translate into a minor 3rd jump, whereas in a major key, it would give us a fourth jump.
Basic operations
Press or to set the octave of the lowest note of the pad matrix.
Rotate encoder ① in order to set the lowest note of the pad matrix.
Rotate encoder ② to enable hold or relatch.
Rotate encoder ③ to set the velocity of the played notes.
Rotate encoder ④ to set how many notes separates a given row from the row above it.
Rotate encoder ⑤ to change the scale color.
Rotate encoder ⑥ to change the scale type.
Rotate encoder ⑧ to set the way that notes are displayed on the pad matrix:
KEY Displays a simple layout indicating the different positions of the root note and of the played notes.
NOTES IN PATTERN Only displays the notes that are stored in the step mode of the current pattern.
CHROMATIC+SCALE Always displays the chromatic scale (all the 12 notes), but highlights the notes of the currently selected scale.