Chapter 14 - Patches & Banks¶
A patch is a complete snapshot of everything you've built - the chord chain, the rhythms, the captured melody, the bass line, every track parameter, every Stepper lane, every Modulator. Load a patch and the unit is exactly as it was when you left it.
Switch to another patch within the same bank mid-performance and UNA crosses over seamlessly. This chapter covers what a patch contains, where it lives, and how to organise the patches you build into a library you can play from on stage.
What's in a patch¶
A patch holds everything that makes the music this music:
- The chord chain - your captured progression.
- The chord rhythm - the pattern that delivers the Chord Track.
- The Melody Track - every step's pitch, gate, velocity, and per-step parameters, plus all 16 Melody parameters.
- The Bass Track - its captured or generated bassline, plus all 16 Bass parameters and the full Improv configuration.
- All patch Modulation slots - each one's type, target, and timing settings.
- All Stepper lanes for Melody.
- Track mute state - but only if you've switched Menu > CONFIG > Track Mutes to Per Patch. By default mutes are device-wide and live outside the patch (Chapter 17).
- The patch name - up to 12 characters.
- The MIDI Channels - as set via the mixer. Unless you've switched Menu > CONFIG > Track Channels to Global, in which case the three channels are device-wide and the patch's stored channels are ignored (Chapter 17).
A patch does not include:
- MIDI routing - port enables, Thru behaviour. Those are Globals.
- Keyboard split - also a Global.
- Tempo - UNA's tempo is a single device-wide value that persists across patches.
- Clock and transport, Live Play, and the metronome - time signature, click, volume. All Globals.
- Track mutes - by default. Set Menu > CONFIG > Track Mutes to Per Patch if you'd rather each patch remember its own (Chapter 17).
- Track channels - if Menu > CONFIG > Track Channels is set to Global (Chapter 17).
This split is intentional. The patches you switch between mid-set should change the music, not the wiring. If you have your MIDI rig set up so Out A goes to your synth and Out B goes to a drum machine, you don't want a patch change re-routing your cables. Globals stay put; patches move freely on top.
Banks and slots¶
UNA stores patches in banks of 8. Banks are named by letter - A through H - and each holds 8 patch slots numbered 1–8, giving 64 patches in all. So a patch is always addressed by bank-and-slot: A1 is the first patch in Bank A, C5 is the fifth patch in Bank C, and so on.
Banks are folders. Use them however makes sense to you - by song, by set, by project, by instrument; they're just a way to organise your library.
Resident and browsed banks¶
UNA holds one bank in RAM at a time - the "resident" bank. When you're playing, you're playing patches from the resident bank; when you switch between patches within it, the swap is instant.
When you look at another bank, you're browsing it - UNA still knows all the patch names in every bank (they're read on boot), but the patch data only comes into RAM when you commit to a bank switch. This is why:
- Loading a patch within the resident bank is instant.
- Loading a patch from a different bank stops playback, loads the new bank into RAM, then loads the patch. UNA warns you before doing this.
So the mental model is: banks are your storage; the resident bank is what's on your workbench.
The factory patches¶
UNA ships with eight factory patches in Bank A - and, out of the box, the same eight in every bank. They are demonstrations and starting positions: each one shows a different side of UNA's sequencing, and each is built to be pulled apart. A factory reset (Chapter 17) reinstalls them.
All eight follow the same convention: every track - Chords, Melody and Bass - sends on MIDI Channel 1. Connect a single polysynth, electric piano, or any keyboard sound to UNA's MIDI out, set it to Channel 1, press Play, and every patch speaks through that one instrument. To keep three tracks legible on one sound, the dynamics and registers are deliberately spread: chords sit soft in the middle, the bass strong below, the melody brighter on top. (They were designed at the default 120 BPM - tempo is a Global, so it stays wherever you set it.)
Each patch also carries its own chord chain, already running, and a full set of eight Modulators, pre-configured but switched off. The modulators are the invitation to explore: open Modulate (Chapter 12), enable a slot, and something definite happens - a swell, a register jump, a bass that starts improvising. Enable them one at a time and listen; disable them and the patch returns to its plain self.
Slot 6 deserves a special mention: in every factory patch it is aimed at Bass Improv Probability. In the straighter patches it wakes the bass up; in the jazz patches it pushes an already-improvising bass further out.
A1 - FIRST LIGHT¶
A calm opening: a sustained pad, a small circling melody, a root-note bass.
- Chords - drone mode. The chain (C - G - Am - F, one bar each) sustains as a soft pad and re-voices on each chord change.
- Melody - an 8-step rise-and-fall in eighth notes, sitting above the pad with a gentle off-beat lift.
- Bass - roots only, in quarter notes, an octave below. Completely straight.
- Modulators - slow swells for melody and pad, occasional octave lifts, a breathing melody density, bass octave kicks, longer melody notes - and slot 6 to make the bass improvise.
A2 - POP ANTHEM¶
A driving pop groove: stabbed chords on every eighth, a hook of a melody, a bouncing bass.
- Chords - the doo-wop turnaround (C - Am - F - G) delivered as short stabs on straight eighths.
- Melody - an 8-step 16th-note hook with accented downbeats and a dotted feel.
- Bass - the BOUNCE preset in eighths. Straight and reliable.
- Modulators - four-bar velocity builds, register jumps, drop-in/drop-out melody steps, comp swells, a swing delay that pushes the comp off the beat, extra accents - and the bass improv switch.
A3 - NIGHT DRIVE¶
Minor and insistent: a tresillo chord rhythm, syncopated stabs, a driving bass.
- Chords - Am - F - C - G played as a 3-3-2 tresillo, short and percussive.
- Melody - 16 steps of syncopated stabs with tresillo accents.
- Bass - the DRIVE preset in eighths, straight and low.
- Modulators - ramping dynamics, random register jumps and thinning, a chord-rhythm displacement, bass octave kicks, a step-skipping Jump switch - and the bass improv switch.
A4 - SLOW BLOOM¶
Ambient: an eight-bar seventh-chord cycle, a melody that sweeps its whole range over four bars, a sparse ballad bass.
- Chords - drone mode over Fmaj7 - Cmaj7 - Am7 - Gsus4, two bars per chord.
- Melody - a full 32-step sweep in eighths, with tied, sustained notes and breathing dynamics.
- Bass - the BALLAD preset in long quarter notes.
- Modulators - everything on eight-bar tides: melody and pad dynamics, density, register drift, a pad that slowly re-voices itself, waves of bass note-length, occasional melody ornaments - and the bass improv switch.
A5 - TWELVE BAR¶
The blues. Twelve bars in E with a walking bass that already improvises.
- Chords - E7 - A7 - B7 through the classic 12-bar form, comped in quarter-note stabs.
- Melody - a question-and-answer phrase in 16ths with ghost-note dynamics.
- Bass - the WALKING preset in quarters, with a taste for improvisation already dialled in: it varies pitch, level and length as it walks.
- Modulators - swells and accents for melody and comp, phrase gaps, per-step bass level variation, a swing switch for the melody - and slot 6 turned up high: enable it and the bass takes a solo.
A6 - THE CANON¶
Pachelbel's progression, treated as a study: long descending melody, stately half-note chords, a bass that walks upward.
- Chords - the eight-chord Canon cycle in D, in sustained half notes.
- Melody - a 32-step tumbling descent in 16ths, legato, with a gentle swell.
- Bass - the WALK UP preset in quarters, straight.
- Modulators - a long crescendo, an instant second harmony voice (a Layers lift), direction flips that turn the descent on its head, chord swells, bass octave lifts, lengthening notes - and the bass improv switch.
A7 - HAVANA¶
Latin: son clave chords, a montuno-flavoured melody, a tumbao bass with loose timing.
- Chords - Am - Dm - E7 - Am comped on the 3-2 son clave.
- Melody - a pedal-tone-and-rise figure in 16ths with clave accents.
- Bass - the TUMBAO preset in eighths, already improvising a little in pitch, level and timing.
- Modulators - swells, register jumps, thinning, a rotate that flips the clave to 2-3, extra accents, looser bass timing - and slot 6 to push the improvisation harder.
A8 - AFTER HOURS¶
Late-night jazz: a ii-V-I, Charleston comping, and a bebop bass given real freedom.
- Chords - Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7 comped on the Charleston rhythm, fading soft.
- Melody - a 32-step songlike line in 16ths with expressive ties, slides and scattered accents.
- Bass - the BEBOP preset in eighths with the heaviest improvisation of the bank: pitch, level, length, timing and octave all in play.
- Modulators - slow comp fades, sparser phrasing, register jumps, longer comp notes, a drunken-swing melody delay - and slot 6 at maximum: the bass in full flight.
Any of these can be overwritten - they are ordinary patches in ordinary slots. Copy one to a free slot before you dig in if you want to keep the original (Copying a patch), or get them all back with a factory reset.
Autosave - you never have to think about saving¶
UNA autosaves. Every parameter you change, every chord you record, every melody you capture is written to the current patch as you go. You don't have to remember a save gesture; you don't have to confirm before powering off. If you make an edit, it's saved.
Three practical consequences:
- The patch you're on is always the current state of the unit. Power-cycle UNA and it comes back exactly as you left it.
- If you don't want to keep edits, copy the patch first. Make a copy into a fresh slot, then experiment in the copy. The original stays untouched.
- You can roll back to the patch's last-saved state via RESET. Go to Patch Edit and press RESET - see below. This wipes the current session's edits and restores the patch to its saved state on disk.
¶
The copy and reset mechanisms are covered below.
Patch Load - the grid browser¶
UNA's patch browser is reached from Performance Mode by holding the CONTROL Knob and rotating it. This drops you into Patch Load.
What's on the screen¶
The display shows a 4×2 grid of the 8 patches in the current bank. Each cell shows:
- The patch's tag - the bank letter and slot number (e.g. A1, A2 … A8).
- The patch's name, truncated to fit the cell.
Two visual cues:
- The currently-loaded patch (the one playing) is drawn in cyan.
- The selected patch has a white border.
Selecting a patch¶
Two ways to move the selection around the grid:
- Rotate the CONTROL Knob - walks the 8 patches.
- Press a PARAMETER Knob (1–8) - jumps directly to that knob's associated patch.
The controls¶
| Function | What it does |
|---|---|
| EDIT | Open Patch Edit for the highlighted patch (rename, reset, copy). Disabled while browsing a non-resident bank. |
| CHAIN | Opens Patch Chain mode; allowing you to automate patch changes and create song arrangements. See below. |
| BANK A (the letter shows the current browsed bank) | Quick press to engage bank-select mode; then use CONTROL Knob to rotate through banks. Details below. |
| PLAY / STOP | The transport. Stays live throughout Patch Load. |
| APPLY | Load the highlighted patch. Blank if the highlighted patch is already the active one. |
| CANCEL | Leave Patch Load without loading. |
Loading a patch¶
Three flavours of load, chosen by what you press:
- Same-bank APPLY - press APPLY with a patch highlighted in the resident bank.
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UNA swaps to the new patch instantly, preserving playback position. The new patch enters at the same step/bar the old one was on, so the audience hears a clean crossover rather than a restart.
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Cross-bank APPLY - press APPLY with a patch highlighted in a different bank. UNA shows a confirmation screen:
- Cross-bank loads are heavier: the whole 8-patch bank has to move into RAM, and the sequencer has to stop while that happens.
- Press YES to commit - UNA stops playback, shows a "Loading Bank B" progress bar as the 8 patches load, then loads the patch you picked.
- Press NO to abort without loading anything.
Quick Load shortcut
Hold the CONTROL Knob and quick press a PARAMETER Knob (1–8)
UNA loads that patch instantly, no APPLY needed, and can be use as a performance tool. Try creating some related patches and triggering them while the sequencer is running.
(Note. This gesture works only within the resident bank).
Switching banks¶
Press BANK to engage bank-select.
BANK lights up and now the CONTROL Knob picks banks instead of patches.
- Rotate CONTROL to step through banks A → B → C → D. The grid updates to show each bank's contents.
- To commit to the new bank, press APPLY with a patch selected in the new bank. If it's a cross-bank load, UNA shows the confirmation above.
- To stay in the new bank as a browse target without loading yet, press BANK again to disengage bank-select. EDIT is disabled here since the browsed bank isn't resident; APPLY works as expected.
- To abort and revert to the resident bank, press CANCEL while in bank-select - the highlight jumps back to your resident bank.
Patch Edit - rename, reset, copy¶
From Patch Load, press EDIT.
Patch Edit is the hub for changing an individual patch's data - its name, its state, or its slot.
| Function | What it does |
|---|---|
| RENAME | Open the 12-character name editor. |
| RESET | Reset the patch to factory defaults. |
| GENERATE | Reserved - future feature. |
| COPY | Copy this patch to another slot within the current bank. |
| BACK | Return to Patch Load. |
Resetting a patch¶
Press RESET. UNA shows a confirmation prompt.
- Press YES to commit.
- UNA resets every parameter on this patch back to factory defaults. The patch's name is kept.
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If the patch you're resetting is the one currently loaded and playing, UNA rebuilds the live runtime so you hear the reset instantly. If it's a different slot, the reset writes to disk and takes effect the next time that slot is loaded.
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Press NO to back out without resetting.
Copying a patch¶
Press COPY in Patch Edit.
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Rotate CONTROL to pick the target slot in the current bank. As you scroll, the header updates to show the target's tag and name.
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Press APPLY. UNA shows an overwrite confirmation:
- Press YES to commit. (Takes a moment).
- Press NO to back out.
After copying: the source patch is unchanged, the target slot now holds a duplicate.
If you copied over the currently-loaded patch, UNA reloads it live so you hear the new content.
Copy is within-bank only - you can only pick a target among the 8 slots of the resident bank.
To move a patch across banks, use Midicake CONNECT (see the Backup section below) to export it and re-import it into the target bank.
Renaming a patch¶
From Patch Edit, press RENAME to open the 12-character name editor.
Moving the cursor and changing letters¶
- CONTROL Knob rotate - move the cursor left or right between the 12 character positions.
- CONTROL Knob press-and-rotate - change the letter at the current cursor position. Rotate up the alphabet (or down) within the active character set.
The controls¶
| Function | What it does |
|---|---|
| ABC / abc / 123 / *#! | Cycles the active character set. Quick press to toggle (see below) |
| SPACE | Replaces the current character with a space. |
| DELETE | Removes the current character |
| SUGGEST | Replaces the name with a randomly generated one. Press again for another. |
| APPLY | Commits the new name and returns to Patch Edit. |
| CANCEL | Discards the name change and returns to Patch Edit. |
The character sets¶
| Set | Characters |
|---|---|
| ABC | A–Z |
| abc | a–z |
| 123 | 0–9 |
| *#! | ' ! ? . , : ; + - * = ( ) [ ] < > # @ { } |
Patch Name Suggest¶
Stuck for a name? Press SUGGEST and UNA invents one for you.
Each press replaces the name entirely with a fresh, randomly generated name. Keep pressing until something sticks.
Patch Name Reset¶
If you press SAVE with the entire name blank (all spaces), UNA reverts to the default name for the slot. e.g. "Patch A1"
Patch chains - sequencing your patches¶
A patch chain is the patch-level parallel of the chord chain. Where a chord chain steps through a progression of chords over time, a patch chain steps through a progression of patches - automatically switching the resident patch as each link's duration elapses.
Build one and UNA can choreograph a whole set on its own: verse patch for two bars, chorus patch for two bars, bridge patch for four, looping round.
A chain is a list of links. Each link holds two things:
- the patch number: 1-8, from the current bank
- the duration: how long to hold it before moving on (from a quarter-bar up to many bars).
A patch chain belongs to the bank, not to a patch. So each bank has one patch chain, and it can only point at that bank's own 8 patches. Switch banks and you get that bank's chain.
Because a chain only references patches within one bank, the same in-bank crossover applies, so the switches are seamless.
Building a chain¶
From the Patches mode, press CHAIN.
The grid shows the chain links, labelled with the patch number.
The selected link's patch and duration, and enabled state are show above, the total chain length and shows the selected position are shown below.
| LOAD | EDIT | SAVE |
| CAPTURE | PLAY/STOP | BACK |
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Rotate the CONTROL Knob to select a chain link.
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Quick press the CONTROL Knob to switch the chain on and off
- When it's on and you press PLAY, UNA starts advancing through the links. While the sequencer is running the selection follows playback , so you can see the chain move.
Loading a chain¶
Press LOAD to drop in a starting chain.
| Function | What it does |
|---|---|
| FACTORY | Browse the built-in arrangements. |
| USER | Your own eight saved chains (see SAVE, below). |
| GENERATE | Rolls a random chain. Every rotate of the CONTROL Knob rolls a fresh one. |
| APPLY | Keep the previewed chain and return to Patch Chain Mode. |
| CANCEL | Returns without applying the new chain. |
With FACTORY or USER armed, rotate the CONTROL Knob to browse the eight slots - the number shows in the header.
Everything previews live: if the sequencer's running you'll hear the arrangement immediately.
LOAD turns the chain on. Previewing engages the chain, so a chain that was OFF when you entered Chain Load will be ON when you APPLY.
Editing a chain¶
Press EDIT to shape the chain link by link.
If you've used Chord Chain Edit (Chapter 8), this will all feel familiar.
With nothing armed, rotate the CONTROL Knob to move the selection.
| Function | What it does |
|---|---|
| TIME | Change the selected link's duration. |
| MULTI | Select a range of links instead of a single one - a "block" selection. |
| PATCH | Change which patch (1–8) the selected link points at. |
| APPLY | Return to Patch Chain Mode. Edits save live as you make them. |
| CANCEL | Return and discard all changes. |
To change the link's duration, quick press TIME, then rotate the CONTROL Knob. (Alternatively, hold TIME and rotate CONTROL).
Hold MULTI and rotate CONTROL to extend the block outward from the selected link. (Or, quick press MULTI to latch it on/off). With MULTI select active, a TIME or PATCH change affects every link in the selection block.
To change the link's target patch, quick press PATCH, then rotate the CONTROL Knob. (Alternatively, hold PATCH and rotate CONTROL).
Durations run from a single tick up to 256 bars. New links default to 1 bar.
The chain holds still while you edit. Entering Edit holds the chain on the active link.
Patch Chain Length¶
A patch chain can be anywhere from 1 to 32 links.
To add or remove links in the chain, press and hold the CONTROL Knob and rotate.
The button strip will add or remove the visible links and set the chain length accordingly.
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Added links will default to patch 1.
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Removed links will remain, so if you increase the length your existing data is still there.
Saving a Chain¶
Press SAVE to store the current chain to one of 8 slots.
The screen shows two summaries:
- ACTIVE - the chain you're about to save
- SLOT - the target save slot.
The summary shows the chain's link count and the first few patches.
Rotate the CONTROL Knob to pick the target slot.
Press SAVE, then YES to commit, or CANCEL to back out.
Saved chains reappear under the USER source in Chain Load mode.
Saved Patch-chains are device-wide. Unlike saved chord chains, which pool per bank, the 8 patch-chain slots are shared across every bank - so a chain you like is available everywhere. It'll still only point at the resident bank's 8 patches, though, so loading a chain built for Bank A into Bank C gives you Bank C's patches in Bank A's arrangement.
Capturing a chain¶
Press CAPTURE for Patch Chain Record.
Patch Chain capture works almost identically to Chord Chain Capture (Chapter 8).
Here the parameter knobs (1–8) are your input - pressing knob n chooses patch n, the way you'd play chords into a chord-chain capture.
Two ways to record (set under OPTIONS):
- Step Record - press patches one at a time; each press adds a link.
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Press the same patch again and it extends the current link rather than adding a duplicate.
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Realtime - arm, then play patch changes against the running sequencer.
- UNA quantises each change to the grid. Optionally start with a one-bar metronome count-in.
When you finish, the captured chain becomes the bank's active chain, engaged and ready to play.
Turning it off by hand¶
If a chain is running and you load a patch manually, the chain switches off. So a manual load always wins; re-engage the chain with a CONTROL-knob quick press in Patch Chain Mode when you want it driving again.
Patch chains and chord chains happily run at the same time - the patch chain swaps patches while each patch's own chord chain does its thing.
In Performance, when both are active you'll see two thin strips stacked at the top: the patch-chain strip above, the chord-chain strip below, each with a marker creeping across the current link.
How Patch and Chord Chains interact can be controlled with the Patch Chain Keep Chords setting in the MENU (see Chapter 17).
Backup and restore - Midicake CONNECT¶
For backing up patches, sharing them with another UNA owner, or pulling a curated library from a sound designer, use Midicake CONNECT - a web app at connect.midicake.com.
Plug UNA into your computer with a USB-C cable, open the page, and CONNECT can read out your patches, write new ones in, and export individual patches or whole banks as files.
Backing up before a firmware update is recommended - see Chapter 18.
CONNECT itself has its own documentation; this manual just points you at it.
Worked Recipes - for Patches¶
The "save before you experiment" recipe. You like the patch you're on but want to try a wild Modulate setting. Hold CONTROL Knob and rotate → Patch Load. Press EDIT → COPY. Rotate CONTROL to a fresh slot. APPLY → YES. Wait for the copy progress bar. BACK to Patch Load, then load the copy: APPLY. Experiment freely, the original is safe.
The "name it before you forget" recipe. From Patch Load, highlight the patch you just built. EDIT → RENAME. Use the CONTROL Knob and the ABC / abc / 123 / *#! character-set selector to type "VerseA1" or whatever. SAVE.
The "set-list bank" recipe. Pick a bank in Patch Load, BANK, CONTROL rotate to Bank C say, disengage bank-select by pressing BANK again. Now within Bank C, EDIT each slot and RENAME to your song names in playing order (C1 = Opener, C2 = Song Two…). On stage, you only have to remember which bank you're in and the slot numbers; you can use CONTROL + PARAMETER Knob n for the fastest possible song jumps within the bank.
The "choreograph the arrangement" recipe. Build your song's sections into slots of one bank - for example: B1 = intro, B2 = verse, B3 = chorus, B4 = bridge. From Patches, press CHAIN → CAPTURE, arm in Step Record, and quick press the parameter knobs in arrangement order (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3…), giving each the length you want with the TIME control. END the capture, quick press the CONTROL knob to engage, and press PLAY. UNA now plays the whole arrangement, switching patches with each link. Grab a patch by hand at any point to break out; quick press CONTROL again to hand control back to the chain.
The "back it up monthly" recipe. Plug UNA into your computer. Open connect.midicake.com. Click Backup. Save the file to wherever you keep your projects. Do this before any firmware update.