Arturia - Beatstep Pro - basic manual

Projects

BeatStep Pro allows you to store and recall 16 Projects. Each Project contains a MIDI controller map, and a bank of 16 sequences for each of the three sequencers (Seq1, Seq2, Drum).

To recall a Project:
hold the PROJECT button and press one of the 16 step buttons. The currently loaded Project will be displayed by a lit button.

When you open a new project, the default settings are:
SEQ1, SEQ2 and DRUM send and receive on channels 1, 2, and 10
Time division is set to 1/16 •
Gate time for each step is 50% •
Swing is set to 50% •
Randomness and Probability are set to 0.

As soon as you make any changes, you will have started a new project.

1. select a pattern.
 Use the <> buttons or press the SEQUENCER button + the number.

2. Clear a pattern
  hold the SHIFT button and press Step button 1.

3. Set Tempo
  Turn the RATE/FINE encoder.  or use the TAP button

4. Record a pattern
  Select SEQ1, press the RECORD button and press the PLAY button.
 Use the pads as a keyboard to enter notes in real time.

5. To Save a pattern
    a. press SAVE
    b. Press the step button - number 1 to 16

6.    To save a project:

a. Hold the SAVE button
b. Press the PROJECT button and hold it •
c. Press the Step button number you chose earlier. (number 1 to 16)

When you follow these instructions you will overwrite the selected Project and all of its patterns.
Be sure this is what you want to do! If not, be sure to find out which memory location is available and store the Project there instead.


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Sequence Length

The default length is 16 steps, but a sequence can be up to 64 steps long.

If you’d like your sequence to be less than 16 steps long, simply hold the LST STEP button and then press the Step button that corresponds to the desired setting.

To make longer sequences:

(Chapter 4.3.5.1 of manual)

1.  press the << and >> buttons at the same time . The buttons should be dark.

Hold the LST STEP button. •
Press the >> button once. A white LED will appear above the number 32.
Press Step button 16 (technically it’s button 32 now). It will turn green. •
Release the LST STEP button. Step 32 has now been defined as the last step in the sequence.

Now press << and >> at the same time to enter Sequence Follow mode (the buttons should be lit).

Next, press Play. You should see the Step buttons cycling through two sets of 16 steps, one with data and one without. You should also see the Step Group LEDs changing every 16 steps:

Steps 1-16: Red LED over #16, White LED over #32 •
 Steps 17-32: unlit LED over #16, Pink LED over #32 (White + Red)

The Red LED indicates the current position of the sequence. The White LED means that the last step in the sequence is during steps 17-32.

If you decide you want more than 32 steps for this sequence, hold the LST STEP button and press >> until the White LED is over the right number. Then press the appropriate Step button and you’re ready to create.