Polypad

Standalone polymetric arpeggiator firmware for the Launchpad Pro

Latest Release

• v 1.1

Features

• Play 8 independent sequences
• MIDI out to up to 8 devices
• 8 scales to choose from
• Independently dial combinations of Euclidean rhythms

Instructions

Main View

Arpeggios

Holding a note down will trigger an arpeggiation. There can be up to 8 simultaneous arpeggiations if 8 notes are held at the same time.Each arpeggio can be latched (or held indefinitely) by using one of the play buttons long the right.

Tempo

The tempo may be set by using the ◀️ and ▶️ arrows on the top row. Alternately, a numerical tempo display can be seen by holding down the Click button.

Octave Select

The default octave is 4. But may be changed by using the 🔼 and 🔽 buttons on the top row.

Sequence Settings

Each arpeggio can be individually customized by holding down the Quantize button.

Altering an Arpeggio

• Select the track you wish to edit from the arrow buttons along the right.
• Rows 1 & 2 set the number of onsets per pattern.
• Rows 3 & 4 set the maximum length of the pattern (up to 16 notes).
• Row 5 sets the scale to one of the following: ..1. Major (Ionian mode) ..2. Minor (Aeolian mode) ..3. Dorian mode ..4. Phrygian mode ..5. Lydian mode ..6. Mixolydian mode ..7. Locrian mode
• Row 6 sets the subdivision of notes to 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2 or 4
• Row 7 & 8 sets the MIDI channel (1 through 16).

MIDI

Polypad outputs MIDI note data as well as clock through the 1/8" port or USB. At the moment, it does not accept MIDI clock in.

Uploading to a Launchpad Pro

To upload it to your Launchpad Pro, you'll need a sysex tool for your host platform (I'd love to get it working from the virtual machine, but that's for later). I recommend Sysex Librarian on macOS, and MIDI OX on Windows. On Linux, I'll bet you already have a tool in mind.

I won't describe how to use these tools, I'm sure you already know - and if you don't, their documentation is superior to mine! Here's what you need to do:

1. Unplug your Launchpad Pro
2. Hold the "Setup" button down while connecting it to your host via USB (ensure it's connected to the host, and not to a virtual machine!)
3. The unit will start up in "bootloader" mode
4. Send your polypad.syx file to the device MIDI port - it will briefly scroll "upgrading..." across the grid.
5. Wait for the update to complete, and for the device to reboot!

Tip - set the delay between sysex messages to as low a value as possible, so you're not waiting about for ages while the firmware uploads!