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Alesis Micron

Create and tweak custom beats.

The Micron’s rhythm mode makes it easy to find a pattern you like and change the sounds and feel, or to create your own original beat on the fly. Here’s how to make a beat and change the quantization feel:

1. Press Rhythms and select an existing rhythm. For this example select “Basic 1.”

2. Tap the scroll knob and turn it until the display shows “Record rhythm? <Push or play>.” Tap the knob again.

3. The display shows “A1:4 (Push->wipe).” Try holding down the scroll knob. You’ll see the note data erasing but the beat will keep playing; when you release the scroll knob you won’t hear the wiped notes anymore.

4. Play in a new beat. If you make a mistake, just hold down the scroll knob and it will erase what you’ve done and you can start again.

5. Done? Turn the scroll knob one click counter-clockwise; the beat will stop and you’ll see “Rhythm grid.” Tap the encoder knob.

Press any key in the lowest octave of the keyboard; your beat will play. Now turn the scroll knob to hear your straight-16 beat change to different quantize values: 8 steps = straight eighths, 12 steps = eighth-note triplets, and so on.