Dave Smith Instruments TETRA - Manual (Page 39)

33
Combos
A combo is a collection of four programs—one per voice—combined to make a
sort of super program. How a combo responds to MIDI note data depends
largely upon whether or not it is monophonic (that is, unison is on) or
polyphonic. The typical uses for a combo are:
Stacked unison— All four voices play from a single key or the P
USH
I
T
button
with four different programs.
Multitimbral sequence playback— Four different programs and their sequences
play back simultaneously from a single key or the P
USH
I
T
button.
“Modular-style” polyphony— Four-voice polyphony with a different program per
voice.
Tetra has 128 combos. To access them, press the mode button to light the
C
OMBO
LED. Change combos using S
ELECT
or increment (+) and decrement (-).
The bottom row of knobs (P
ITCH
, C
UTOFF
, etc.) affects all the programs in the
combo. Though this may not make sense in all cases, changing all four programs
in a combo with a single control makes for some very interesting live editing
possibilities.
Each of the Assignable Parameters knobs controls one parameter for the
respective voice. That is, knob 1 controls a parameter for voice 1, knob 2 for
voice 2, and so on.
Creating a Combo
It probably goes without saying, but it is generally quicker and easier to create
combos using the editor. It can be done without the editor, though.
To create a combo from scratch, press E
DIT
B/C
OMBO
while in Combo Mode.
The display looks something like this:
The top line shows the program and the voice to which it is assigned, and the
bottom line shows the program name. Use S
ELECT
or the increment or
decrement buttons to choose another program. Programs can be selected from
other combos or from the regular program banks. For example, choosing Combo
55 Prt2 loads the program from voice 2 of combo 55 into the current combo
location. To access the regular program banks, hold the increment button briefly
until the next bank is displayed. Then the display will look something like the
following: