Chapter 8

Play melodies and rhythms

Keyboard modes, scales, note repeat, velocity, the arpeggiator and pitch bend.

Written in our own words from the Koala manual’s sequence chapter. The Koala manual

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In this chapter · 7

8.1Play a pad like an instrument
8.2Play in key on the grid
8.3Play on a piano keyboard
8.4Control loudness with velocity mode
8.5Roll rhythms with note repeat
8.6Arpeggiate the notes you hold
8.7Bend notes with the BEND strip

8.1Basics

Play a pad like an instrument

Keyboard mode spreads a single pad out across the screen, so you can play it at different pitches, stay inside a scale, control how hard each hit lands or fire off rhythmic repeats. It’s how you get melodies and basslines out of one sample.

Turn it on and pick a mode

On the SEQUENCE screen, tap KEYBOARD.
Tap the pad you want to use.
To change mode, tap the dropdown arrow on KEYBOARD and choose one of the four.

Gestures

Tap KEYBOARD, then PAD: Plays that pad in keyboard mode.

The four modes

Mode	What you get	More
`GRID`	Cells of notes locked to a scale.	Play in key on the grid
`KEYBOARD`	Regular piano keys, which you can also lock to a scale.	Play on a piano keyboard
`VELOCITY`	A single large key across the pad area, for control over loudness.	Control loudness with velocity mode
`NOTE REPEAT`	The pad retriggering in a rhythm.	Roll rhythms with note repeat

The KEYBOARD menu also has PITCHBEND, covered in Bend notes with the BEND strip, and the scale dropdown has ARPEGGIATOR, covered in Arpeggiate the notes you hold.

Good to know

Your song remembers the scale and the keyboard mode you chose.
Look for a keyboard icon on the SAMPLE screen: it marks the pad that’s in keyboard mode.
Select a different pad and it goes into keyboard mode by itself, so you can move between sounds without setting anything up again.
The padlock button holds the keyboard or grid where it is, so an accidental swipe can’t scroll it.
To clear what one pad has recorded, see Clear a sequence.

From the community

The Best App For Beatmakers (Koala Beginner's Tutorial)
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A 32-minute tour with chapters, from mic sampling and editing to sequences, the Perform page, resampling and the Mixer. Sponsored by Synido, and filmed before Koala 2.0.

Koala's New Keyboard
elf audio
A tour of the piano-style keyboard from when it arrived in 2021. Today it’s one of several keyboard modes.

8.2Basics

Play in key on the grid

GRID mode shows the pad’s notes as a block of cells, locked to the scale you choose. Everything you can touch belongs to that scale, which makes it a good place to hunt for melodies and chords.

Set up the grid

With keyboard mode on, tap the dropdown arrow on KEYBOARD and choose GRID.
Use the selector to choose a scale.
Open GRID SETTINGS with the cog on the grid, and arrange it the way you like.
Tap a cell to play a note, or several cells at once to play a chord.

The scales

Scale	Notes per octave
`CHROMATIC`	12, so every note
`PENTATONIC`	5
`MAJOR`	7
`NATURAL MINOR`	7
`HARMONIC MINOR`	7
`WHOLE TONE`	6
`DIMINISHED`	8
`HEXATONIC`	6
`JAPANESE`	5
`PELOG`	5
`YING ZHONG`	5

In GRID SETTINGS

Rows and columns: How many of each the grid shows.
Vertical moves in 4ths: When on, each step up the grid is a fourth, like the strings of a bass guitar.
Show note names: Puts a label on every cell.

8.3Basics

Play on a piano keyboard

KEYBOARD mode gives the selected pad a set of piano keys, a familiar layout if you already play. You can lock the keys to a scale, and you can make where you press on a key decide how strongly the note plays.

Reach another octave

Tap the lock button to unlock the range of keys you can see.
Drag the keyboard to bring other octaves into view.
Tap the lock button again when you’re there, so it can’t scroll while you play.

Play with velocity

Tap VEL to turn on velocity mode for the keys.
Press towards the bottom of a key for more velocity, and towards the top for less.

Gestures

VEL: Turns on velocity mode for the keys.In KEYBOARD mode

From the community

8.4Basics

Control loudness with velocity mode

Sometimes it matters less which note you play than how hard it lands. In VELOCITY mode a single large key fills the space where the pads were, so where you press sets the strength of the hit.

Use it

With keyboard mode on, tap the dropdown arrow on KEYBOARD and choose VELOCITY.
Aim high in the area for a loud hit, and low for a quiet one.

8.5Intermediate

Roll rhythms with note repeat

NOTE REPEAT fires the pad over and over at a rate you control, which suits rhythmic parts such as hi-hats and stabs. You decide whether the repeats lock to your tempo or begin the moment you touch the screen, and you can add a slide that changes their pitch or velocity.

Get started

With keyboard mode on, tap the dropdown arrow on KEYBOARD and choose NOTE REPEAT.
Tap SNAP if you want the repeats locked to the tempo.
Touch the pad area to start the repeats, and move your finger to change their rate.

What SNAP changes

`SNAP`	When repeats begin	How the rate changes
On	Snapped to the first beat of the bar.	In clean jumps, from 1/4 of the bar to 1/64.
Off	As soon as you tap.	Gradually, as you move from left to right.

Other controls

TRIPLETS: A button that adds triplet rates, such as 4T and 8T, to the repeats. Koala’s manual only shows it with SNAP on.
PITCH: In the dropdown. Slide up or down to change the pad’s pitch.
VEL: In the dropdown. Slide up or down to change the velocity.
OFF: In the dropdown. Removes those extra slide controls.
PITCH SCALE: A menu for the PITCH slide’s reach.Range 1, 2 or 3 OCTAVES

8.6Intermediate

Arpeggiate the notes you hold

Hold a chord and the arpeggiator breaks it up, playing its notes one by one in tempo. It isn’t tied to one layout: you can use it in every keyboard mode, from incoming MIDI, and while you’re recording into a sequence.

Switch it on

With keyboard mode on, open the scale dropdown and tick ARPEGGIATOR.
Hold some notes. They now take turns in time with the song.
Tap ARP, which has now appeared in the sequence controls, to open its settings.
Choose a RATE and a mode.

Gestures

ARP: Opens the arpeggiator settings.With the arpeggiator on

Settings

RATE: How fast the notes go, in steps per bar.Range 4, 4T, 8, 8T, 16, 16T, 32 or 64
FREE: A tick box in the mode menu. It replaces the stepped RATE with a continuous slider that ignores the grid, letting you sweep smoothly between speeds.

Modes

Mode	How the held notes play
`UP`	Going up through the notes.
`DOWN`	Going down through the notes.
`RANDOM`	In a random order.
`RAND OTHER`	At random, except that no note plays twice running.
`ORDER`	Following the order you pressed them in.
`REPEAT`	All together, retriggered as a group.

From the community

The Koala Sampler Update Nobody Is Talking About (Arp Edition)
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JFilt breaks down the arpeggiator added in 2.0.3, then resamples and chops the result into a new groove.

8.7IntermediateNeeds Samurai

Bend notes with the BEND strip

Some parts need to slide between pitches rather than step from note to note. The BEND strip gives you a control that works like a pitch wheel, right beside the keys. It’s part of Samurai: see Samurai, Mixer and sample packs.

Add the strip

With keyboard mode on, tap the dropdown arrow on KEYBOARD.
Tick PITCHBEND. A BEND strip appears next to the keyboard.
Hold some notes and move your finger along the strip to bend them.

Gestures

Slide on BEND: Bends the pitch of the notes you’re holding.In keyboard mode

If you’re recording, your bends go into the sequence along with the notes. You can reshape them afterwards as automation: see Record and edit automation.

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