21—Using the Phrase Pads

Roland VS-2480 Owner’s Manual www.rolandus.com 279

Step Entry

In step entry phrase sequencing, the VS-2480 doesn’t play through the project as it
normally does—you control when and how the sequencer moves forward in time. With
the sequencer stopped, you enter phrase pad strikes where you want them.
With the AutoLoc (“AutoLocate”) feature, the timeline moves forward by a specified
amount each time you strike a pad—after it moves, it waits at the next location for you
to strike a pad and move it forward again. You can also record phrase pad strikes by
manually moving the timeline to a location and playing the pads you want to hear at
that location. You can use either method, turning AutoLoc on and off as desired.

Phrase Sequencing Using Step Entry with AutoLoc

1. Navigate to a PHRASE SEQUENCE screen (Page 276).
2. If”AutoLoc” isn’t visible above F1, press PAGE.
3. If AutoLoc isn’t highlighted—turned on—press F1 (AutoLoc) so it is.
When you strike a phrase pad with AutoLoc turned on, the sequencer records the
strike—including how long you hold down the phrase pad after hitting it—and
then moves the timeline forward by one step. You set the size of the step using F2.
4. Press F2 repeatedly to choose from its three possible step values. You can select:
•

Length

—so that the timeline moves forward after recording by an amount of
time equal to what you’ve just played.
•

Meas (“Measure”)

—so that the timeline moves forward to the next measure in
the project’s tempo map after recording each phrase pad strike.
•

Beat

—so that the timeline moves forward to the next beat in the project’s tempo
map after recording each phrase pad strike.
5. If PHRASE PAD PLAY•PHRASE SEQ isn’t already red, hold down SHIFT and
press PHRASE PAD PLAY•PHRASE SEQ so it turns red.
6. Press the desired phrase pad’s PHRASE SEQ STATUS button until it’s red.
7. Press PHRASE PAD PLAY•PHRASE SEQ once more—it flashes red to show that
the phrase sequencer’s now recording.
8. If you want to sequence from the top of the project, press ZERO. Otherwise, move
the timeline to the desired location in the project.
9. Play the desired phrase pad—if a pad’s PlyMOD parameter is set to Gate
(Page 274), hold down the pad for as long as you want its phrase to play. When you
release the pad, the timeline moves forward by the amount of time shown above F2.
10. When you’re done, press PHRASE PAD PLAY•PHRASE SEQ so that it lights solid
red to show that the phrase sequencer’s no longer recording.
During step entry, you won’t hear your hard disk recorder tracks as you enter phrase
pad strikes. You can hear them when the sequence is played back.
Step entry is great for quickly building a drum loop from a phrase that contains a
rhythm pattern.
When you’re phrase sequencing a drum loop, use AutoLoc to zip right through the
process. Simply strike the loop’s pad repeatedly until you get to the end of the project.
When you want two phrase pad strikes at the same location, use step entry without
AutoLoc—AutoLoc moves forward one step with each phrase pad strike.
If you view one of the PHRASE SEQUENCE screens as you sequence, you can turn on
its grid to check the timing of your sequenced data once it’s recorded.
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