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Chapter 2 - Quick Start

This chapter gets you to a sound in about two minutes. Nothing here needs explaining first - the ideas behind it are in Chapter 5, and they'll make more sense once you've heard UNA do its thing.

Connect

  1. Power UNA from the USB-C cable - a wall adapter or a computer, either is fine. UNA wakes on the patch it was last using; a new unit starts on A1.
  2. Connect a sound source. Run a cable from MIDI Out A to your synth. For 5-pin DIN gear, use one of the TRS→DIN cables from the box.
  3. Connect a keyboard, if you have one - into MIDI In, or straight into the USB Host port. You don't strictly need one, but UNA is much more fun with a keyboard.

Make a sound

Hold a chord on your keyboard.

That's it. UNA starts playing melody, bass and chords together, and stops when you let go. This is Live Play, and it's the fastest way to hear an idea.

Now, change the chord. The melody, bass, and chord tracks shift with you, staying in key. That's the whole instrument in one gesture: you supply the notes, UNA supplies the harmony.

Two ways to let go of the chord and play over the top:

  • Press PLAY if you'd rather UNA kept running with your hands free.
  • Hold a sustain pedal (CC 64) and Live Play latches - it keeps running while you lift your hands and change chord.

UNA ships with eight factory patches in Bank A - each one a different way of sequencing a single instrument. Load them from the patch browser and use them as starting points; the full list is in Chapter 14.

If you hear nothing

Three things, in order:

  1. Is your synth listening on the right channel? The factory patches send all three tracks on Channel 1, so a synth on Channel 1 hears everything; your own patches can put each track on its own channel. The quickest general fix is to set your synth to receive on all channels (omni). Chapter 15 covers channels in depth.
  2. Is the cable in the right socket, the right way round? It should run from UNA's MIDI Out A or B to your devices MIDI IN.
  3. Is anything actually running? Hold a chord, or press PLAY / STOP. If the transport is running and you still hear nothing, quick press the CONTROL Knob to open the mixer - a grey slider means that track is muted. Press PARAMETER Knob 1, 2 or 3 to unmute.

Some key principles

The chords lead. Hold a chord. Change it. Everything follows. Turn Listen off (quick press the CONTROL Knob, then LISTEN) and UNA locks to the last chord or chord progression - now you can solo over the top without your playing changing the harmony.

Shape the melody live. Press and hold the MELODY button to make it the active track, then turn any PARAMETER Knob. The display names the parameter and its value as you move it, and the melody reshapes under your fingers while it plays.

The change sticks - patches save themselves as you edit. If you'd rather push a value just for a moment, hold the CONTROL Knob while you turn: it springs back the instant you let go.

Drop the band. Quick press the CONTROL Knob and press PARAMETER Knob 1 to mute the Chord Track. The chords fall silent, but the progression keeps driving the melody and bass underneath. Press it again and the chord track comes back in. That's dynamics, with one finger.

Where to go next

You've heard what UNA does. Chapter 5 - Core Concepts explains why, and it's the one chapter worth reading in full. After that, jump to whichever track you want to dig into: Chord (Chapter 8), Melody (Chapter 9), or Bass (Chapter 11).