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7.9 KEYBOARD MODE

7. INTERACTING WITH THE SYNTAKT > 7.9 KEYBOARD MODE · PDF p. 24–25 · OS 1.40A

# 7.9 KEYBOARD MODE

7. INTERACTING WITH THE SYNTAKT
7.8 THE NAMING SCREEN
The naming method is identical for the various naming situations that appear when you save sounds and
projects et cetera.
The [LEFT] and [RIGHT] arrow keys are used to navigate between the characters. Turning the LEVEL/
DATA knob or pressing the [UP] or [DOWN] arrow keys selects the characters. [FUNC] + [NO] erases
characters. [FUNC] + [YES] inserts space. Press [SETTINGS] to create a random name. Press and hold
[FUNC] to access the Pop-up Naming menu.
7.8.1 POP-UP NAMING
A convenient way of naming is to open a pop-up menu that shows all available letters, symbols, and
digits. Press and hold the [FUNC] key when you are on the NAMING screen to access the Pop-up
Naming screen.
Keep [FUNC] pressed and use the [ARROW] keys to highlight the character you want to insert. Once
there, release [FUNC] to add the character.
Copy, paste, and clear commands are available on the NAMING screen.
7.9 KEYBOARD MODE
Press [FUNC] + [TRK] (short press) to enter KEYBOARD mode. In this mode, you can use the [TRIG] keys
play the sound of the active audio track (or send MIDI notes if is has a MIDI machine assigned) in a number
of selectable scales. With KB SCALE set to CHROMATIC and KB FOLD set to OFF the [TRIG] keys will
light up in a pattern that resembles an octave of a piano keyboard layout. Only lit keys are playable. Press
[TRK] + [TRIG 1–12] keys to select the track you want to play.
Press the trig keys to change the note pitch of the sound. The full range you can trig for audio track with
Digital voice types spans 10 octaves: middle, 4 up and 5 down. The full range you can trig for audio track
with Analog Drum and Analog Cymbal voice types spans 8 octaves: middle, 2 up and 5 down. The full range
for MIDI tracks spans ten octaves. Press the [ARROW] keys [UP] or [DOWN], to transpose the virtual key­
board up or down in octave steps.
Notes trigged in KEYBOARD mode can be recorded on the sequencer in LIVE RECORDING mode. For
more information, please see “9.3.3 LIVE RECORDING MODE” on page 38.
Press [FUNC] + [TRK] to exit KEYBOARD mode.
7.9.1 KEYBOARD SETUP MENU
Press [FUNC] + [TRK] (long press) to open the KEYBOARD SETUP menu. Here you get a graphical
view of which notes the [TRIG] keys play. Press [UP]/[DOWN] to transpose the keyboard up or down an
octave. In this menu, you can also set different musical scales, and select the root note of the scale. Use
the DATA ENTRY knobs to change the settings. Press [NO] to exit the menu. Press [FUNC] + [TRK] to
exit KEYBOARD mode. The settings are stored in the active pattern.

7. INTERACTING WITH THE SYNTAKT
KB SCALE sets the track’s scale. This setting governs which notes are playable on the Syntakt’s [TRIG]
keys to allow only notes in the set scale. For a list of all selectable keyboard scales, please see “APPEN­
DIX E: KEYBOARD SCALES” on page 122.
ROOT NOTE sets the root note for the chosen scale.
KB FOLD When set to ON, KB FOLD changes the way the notes are laid out on the [TRIG] keys and how
they are played from external MIDI devices. Now all the [TRIG] keys trigger a note. The [TRIG 9] key
plays the lowest note of the selected octave, root note and scale. The notes are then played upwards
through the scale to [TRIG 16] and then further upwards on [TRIG 1–8]. When a scale contains less than
eight notes in an octave, the “remaining” [TRIG] keys on the lower row will play the same notes as the
first [TRIG] keys on the upper row. Blue [TRIG] keys signal that they contain notes that are one or more
octaves distanced from each other.
In the following example of the whole tone scale [TRIG 15–16] keys play the same notes as the [TRIG
1–2] keys. [TRIG 1] and [TRIG 15] both plays a note that is one octave above [TRIG 9]. [TRIG 7] plays a
note that is two octaves above [TRIG 9].
You can also use an external keyboard to play the active tracks sound instead of using the
[TRIG] keys. Connect the keyboard to the Syntakt and configure the external keyboard and
the Syntakt MIDI Auto Channel (SETTINGS > MIDI CONFIG > CHANNELS) to the same MIDI
channel. Then play the keys on the external keyboard to play the active tracks sound chro­
matically. You can then play the active track’s sound even if the Syntakt is not in KEYBOARD
mode.
7.10 MUTE MODE
You can use MUTE mode to mute any of the 13 sequencer tracks (including the FX track). All tracks are
accessed simultaneously. Press any of the [TRIG] keys to mute the corresponding track. Press again to
unmute. The color of the [TRIG] keys indicates its tracks mute status. Lit keys signify unmuted tracks.
Dimmed keys signify muted tracks.
There are two different versions of MUTE mode on the Syntakt:
• GLOBAL MUTE MODE In GLOBAL MUTE mode, the muted tracks are muted in all patterns. In this
mode, the [TRACK] keys are lit green. If a track with trigs placed on it is muted in GLOBAL MUTE mode,
its [TRACK] key blinks green when the pattern plays.
Press [FUNC] + [BANK] to enter GLOBAL MUTE mode.
Press [FUNC] + [BANK] to exit GLOBAL MUTE mode.
• PATTERN MUTE MODE In PATTERN MUTE mode, the muted tracks are muted only in the active pat­
tern. In this mode, the [TRACK] keys are lit magenta. If a track with trigs placed on it is muted in PAT­
TERN MUTE mode, its [TRACK] key blinks magenta when the pattern plays.
Press [FUNC] + double-press [BANK] to enter PATTERN MUTE mode.
Press [FUNC] + [BANK] to exit PATTERN MUTE mode.
The GLOBAL MUTE mode settings are saved together with the project. The PATTERN MUTE mode
settings are saved together with the pattern.
If a track with trigs placed on it is muted in PATTERN MUTE and GLOBAL MUTE mode, its [TRACK] key
blinks magenta in both modes when the pattern plays.

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