RATMODE - QUICK START GUIDE =========================== RatMode is a live performance groove machine for techno and electronic music. Each row in the main window is one instrument (called a "pipe"). Almost everything you do is shaping pipes and weaving them together as a performance. THE BUILDING BLOCKS ------------------- SONG A complete saved project - tempo, key, every instrument, every pattern, every effect, all your MIDI mappings. There are 8 song slots in the top bar. Click 1-8 to switch. Right-click to wipe. Use it for: keeping a setlist of finished tracks ready to jump between, or for sketching different ideas without losing the current one. PATTERN A single rhythm or melody for one pipe. Each pipe stores 8 patterns; only the chosen one plays at a time. Use it for: arranging a track live - a "verse" pattern, a "drop" pattern, a "breakdown" pattern - and switching between them as the set unfolds. PART What's actually inside a pattern - the individual hits or notes, how loud each one is, tiny timing offsets, note length, chord type. Use it for: the actual programming - the kick on every quarter, the hi-hat shuffle, the bassline notes, the velocity accents. MUTE (the on/off lamp on each pipe) Mute is gentle. It stops new sounds from starting, but anything already playing rings out naturally - a kick decays, a synth note finishes its release, a sample plays to its end. Unmute and the next hit just comes back in. No harsh cut-off. Use it for: musical drop-outs and re-entries during a performance. Pull the bass out for a bar, bring it back, no clicks or weird chops in the tails. FRAME A snapshot button. Each song has 8 frame slots. A frame remembers two things for every pipe: whether it was muted, and which pattern it had selected. Click an empty frame -> saves the current setup into it. Click a saved frame -> jumps back to that exact setup. The frame button lights up while you're sitting on its saved state. As soon as you change a mute or switch a pattern, the light goes out. Click it again to jump back. Use it for: live scene-jumps - "Frame 1 = just kick", "Frame 2 = kick + bass + hat", "Frame 3 = full mix on pattern 4". Like cue buttons on a lighting desk, but for your arrangement. THE LAYERS (toggle buttons in the top right) --------------------------------------------- Each layer is a different *view* of the same instruments. You're not switching what's playing, just what you're working on. PERFORM The live knob page (see "Perform knobs" below). Use it for: tweaking sounds in real time during a set. SEQUENCE The step editor - notes on/off, velocity, timing nudges, length. Use it for: writing the actual music - drawing in your beats and melodies. SCULPT Per-instrument tone shaping: Drive, Compress, DJ Filter, Limiter. Use it for: making each sound sit right on its own - warm up the kick, squash the bass, sweep the hats out, tame loud peaks. MIX Per-instrument sends to Reverb, Delay, Chorus + their controls. Use it for: depth and space - drench the snare in reverb, throw a delay tail on the lead, widen the pad with chorus. THE TOP BAR ----------- SONGS 1-8 Switch between your 8 saved projects. Use it for: hopping between full tracks in a set. FRAMES 1-8 Save / recall scene snapshots inside the current song. Use it for: instant arrangement jumps within one track. MIDI Pick the hardware MIDI controller you're using. Use it for: telling RatMode which knob box you plugged in. LEARN Turn on, click any RatMode knob, then wiggle a hardware control - they're now linked. Use it for: assigning your hardware to the on-screen controls so you can play hands-on. MASTER Opens the master panel - the final polish on everything: Glue, Loudness, Tone shelves, Safety limiter. Use it for: the overall finished sound, the same job a mastering engineer does on a finished track but live and always running. THE INSTRUMENTS (pipes) ------------------------ There are four kinds: KICK Drum sampler tuned for kick + sub. Has the Rumble Chain (see below). Use it for: the foundation of the track. SAMPLE General sampler for hats, perc, vocals, FX, anything. Use it for: hats, claps, risers, vocal chops, one-shots. SYNTH Monophonic synth - one note at a time. Use it for: bass and lead lines. POLYSYNTH Polyphonic synth - plays chords and pads. Use it for: chord stabs, pads, rich harmonic layers. PERFORM KNOBS (every pipe) --------------------------- Each pipe gives you 8 live performance knobs. Knobs 1-4 Pre-assigned to the most useful controls for that sound (e.g. on a synth: cutoff, resonance, decay, release). Use it for: the obvious stuff you'll always want - filter sweeps, envelope tweaks, etc. Knobs 5-8 Blank, for you to assign. Right-click to pick what they do - a sound parameter, a sculpt setting, an effect send. Use it for: anything special this track needs - a reverb send, a drive amount, a custom macro. PLUGGING IN AUDIO UNITS ----------------------- If you've got Audio Unit (AU) instruments installed on your Mac (Kontakt, Diva, ABL2, anything), the synth and dedicated AU pipes can host them. Click the plugin picker on the pipe, pick your AU, and that pipe becomes that instrument. When no plugin is loaded, the Synth pipe runs RatMode's built-in synth instead. Use it for: bringing your favourite VSTs / AUs / sample libraries straight into a RatMode set. THE RUMBLE CHAIN (Kick pipe only) ---------------------------------- The Kick pipe is really three sounds in parallel, summed together: DRY - the kick sample itself. RUMBLE A - a low sub-octave layer, own volume and tone. RUMBLE B - a second sub-octave layer, own volume and tone. Use it for: stacking a tight 909-style transient on top of a heavy sub bed without using up a second instrument slot. Classic big-room techno kick. WHERE TO LOOK (A-Z) -------------------- Audio Unit / AU . . . . Plugging in Audio Units Frame . . . . . . . . . The Building Blocks Kick / Rumble . . . . . The Rumble Chain LEARN . . . . . . . . . The Top Bar Master . . . . . . . . . The Top Bar MIDI . . . . . . . . . . The Top Bar Mix . . . . . . . . . . The Layers Mute . . . . . . . . . . The Building Blocks Part . . . . . . . . . . The Building Blocks Pattern . . . . . . . . The Building Blocks Perform . . . . . . . . The Layers / Perform knobs Pipe . . . . . . . . . . The Instruments PolySynth . . . . . . . The Instruments Sample (instrument) . . The Instruments Sculpt . . . . . . . . . The Layers Sequence . . . . . . . . The Layers Song . . . . . . . . . . The Building Blocks Synth . . . . . . . . . The Instruments