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FRIZZ

Tempo

The effects that follow a tempo (the delay, the filter LFO, the freezer, the slicer, the tape stop) take it from one of three places, the first that applies:

  1. The loop, while there is one, with or without MIDI clock. Beat 1 is the loop’s start, so the slicer chops on the loop’s beat from the first pass and the delay’s echoes land on it. The effects follow the transport knob: at half speed the tempo halves and in reverse the beats run backwards. While the loop is paused, the beat runs on by itself at the loop’s tempo, so the effects keep working on the input; scrubbing doesn’t move it. When the loop resumes, the beat snaps back onto it at the next 1/48 of a bar: a filter LFO or slicer can jump there. Once a loop exists, MIDI clock no longer matters: a tempo change in your DAW moves neither the loop nor the effects.
  2. MIDI clock, when there’s no loop.
  3. The last tempo: tapped, from the last loop or from the clock. 120 BPM at power-on.

A loop gets a whole number of beats:

  • Quantized: its bars from the clock it was recorded to, exactly.
  • Unquantized, after a tempo was set (by a clock, taps or an earlier loop): the number of beats closest to that tempo. Record at the tempo you tapped and the loop takes it on.
  • Unquantized, with no tempo set: a guess: 1, 2, 4, 8 … beats, whichever puts it between 80 and 160 BPM. It goes wrong on loops of 3 or 6 bars, or with a pickup, and may come out at half or double the tempo you had in mind. Tap to correct it.

Tap tempo (SHIFT + LOOP): tap at least three times, at the tempo you want; the last five taps (four gaps) count, and a pause of over 2 s starts over. LOOP flashes on each tap: white, or dark when it’s already lit nearly white.

  • With a loop, the taps pick how many beats the loop holds; the loop’s length then gives the exact tempo, so the effects’ beats stay locked to it even if the taps were a little off, delay times and freezer lengths included. Tapping at double the loop’s tempo, for example, doubles the effects’ tempo.
  • Without a loop, the taps set the tempo, and the last tap lands on a beat.
  • Without a loop while MIDI clock runs, the clock is the tempo: LOOP blinks red 3 times.

The tempo is limited to 50-300 BPM: at very slow loop speeds the effects stop slowing down at 50 BPM.