Roland x0x Programming - About Patterns

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About Patterns

Patterns have a memory location. They are organized in Banks, called a "Pattern Group" (A and B, or I and II), containing the Patterns, which usually are numbered from 1 to 8 or from 1 to 16. The length of a Pattern is set with the "last step", which can be any step from the 1st Pattern step to the full 16 Pattern steps.

Pattern steps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Each step of the Pattern can have a note or a rest. The 303 also has a "sustain pitch" step, which is a way to keep the Gate open for an extra step.

Pattern steps  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Note o - - o o - - o o o - o - - - -

The timing of the Patterns can be 3/4 or 4/4, a choice that has consequences for the synchronization of the machines in a master/slave situation. One machine can have a 4/4 time, the other can have a 3/4 time, and still be in sync with each other, as long as the number of steps set for both Patterns match the fixed synchronization steps for both timings.

4/4 beat steps  1  2-3-4  5  6-7-8  9  10-11-12 13 14-15-16    
3/4 beat steps  1  2 - 3  4  5 - 6  7  8 - 9 10 11 - 12 13 14 - 15
--sync step-- x   x   x   x   x  

The table shows that as long as a 4/4 time Pattern has 4, 8, 12 or 16 steps, it will be in sync with a 3/4 time Pattern that has 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15 steps.
- the 303 can not have more that 15 steps in 3/4 time.
- the 606 and 707 also have a "double speed" time mode, so you need 2 Patterns for 1 Bar.

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