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Getting started

tip

New to it? Take the guide first: a few minutes a lesson, one step at a time. This manual is the reference, for looking things up.

Cardenza Groovebox is a pocket music workstation: four tracks (drums, a Juno synth, a DX7 FM synth and a sampler), each with its own sequencer patterns, plus arrangement, mixing, effects and project files.

The keyboard is split into four blocks, and colour means role: every key in this manual is drawn in its own colour, the same colours the device uses on its screen.

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  1. 1Left four keys: where to go
  2. 2Pads: play the current track
  3. 3GRID: press the cells on screen
  4. 4Right four keys: values · play
Four blocks: navigation on the left, playing in the middle, the GRID on the right matches the screen's cells, values and transport on the far right
ColourKeyLooks after
ESC red-orangescenes1 INSTR / 2 SEQ / 3 TAPE, and 0 SETUP
TAB cyantracksT1 DRUMS T2 JUNO T3 DX7 T4 SAMPLER
FN yellowsecond functionsthe menu of this screen, shortcuts
CTRL violetpagesthe tabs at the bottom of the screen, like ROLL
▶PLAY greentransportplay / stop

How to use this manual: the Map (top right) jumps straight to any key or page you click; search for any word at the top ("音量", "volume" and "too quiet" all find the same place); under every screenshot, Try it live here swaps in a running device; connect your Cardenza over USB and play the manual's device with its real keys (see Follow along in the manual, Connect your Cardenza (USB)).

One-minute start​

Follow these steps once and you know most of it:

01

After power-on you are in 1 INSTR on the VOICE page, on track T1 DRUMS, the drums (808 KIT): each column of pads is one drum, the top row hits hardest.

02ESC

Tap ESC: 2 SEQ, where the track's notes are written. Still T1 DRUMS: on a drum track this is the drum page, the drums on the left, the steps of the chosen drum on the GRID.

03HOLDKick+9G1›OG5›KG9›MG13

Hold the kick key and tap GRID 1, 5, 9 and 13: a kick on all four beats is written. Snare and hats go in the same way.

04▶PLAY

Play! Each step sounds when the green line reaches it. Press again to stop.

05TAB

Tap TAB: T2 JUNO, the Juno. Now the pads are a piano: two whole octaves, rows 2 and 4 white keys, rows 1 and 3 black keys, the gaps dark; C3 at the bottom left.

06HOLDC3+9G1

Hold a note and tap a step: the note is written. The held key is fully lit.

07HOLD↵OK

Whatever you just played is not lost: hold ↵OK to put it into a pattern.

Four more things to remember:

01HOLDESC

Tap ESC to walk the three music scenes: 1 INSTR sounds → 2 SEQ notes → 3 TAPE arrange and mix. Hold it for this map: column 1 is 0 SETUP, the project and the settings.

02HOLDFN

Hold FN: the menu of this screen on the GRID (copy, paste, save, record…); FN + a GRID key runs an item.

03HOLDFN+7

With FN held: 6 Y set the BPM, 7 U the volume, 8 I the octave.

04FN+S

FN+S saves the project; an untitled one gets the first free name, SONG 01, without asking.

What is on the screen​

The screen is 240×135 pixels in five areas, each placed where its keys are:

The screen and the key lights at that moment
12345678910111213
  1. 1Scene
  2. 2Track (in its colour)
  3. 3BPM · play state
  4. 4ESC
  5. 5TAB
  6. 6FN
  7. 7CTRL
  8. 8Content: its 16 steps = the GRID
  9. 9PLAY
  10. 10Page tabs: CTRL changes page
  11. 11Can sound: half lit
  12. 12Has a note: half lit
  13. 13Empty step: off
The SEQ note page (ROLL) with a few notes on T2. Below it the key lights of the same moment.
AreaWhereShows
Status linetopscene number and name, current track (in its colour), engine and sound, REC, play / stop, BPM, * unsaved changes
Four left stripsleft edgethe ESC TAB FN CTRL keys with their icons (back, tracks, menu, pages); a held key fills its strip
Contentmiddlea 4×4 of cells = the 4×4 GRID on the right: the key you press is that cell
Page tabsbottomthe pages of the current scene, the current one on violet ROLL; CTRL changes page
Four right stripsright edge↑← ↓SUB ↵OK ▶PLAY; the ADD / SUB icons say what they do here (+ −, ↑ ↓ in a list, → ← sideways), PLAY is green while playing, red with recording armed
tip

The cell in row 2, column 3 on screen is GRID row 2, key 3 (the [ cap). Every page follows this rule: wherever a cell is on the screen, its key is in the same place.

The edge strips show the state of their keys: off faint, half lit a 30% dither, fully lit a solid block. The eight edge keys themselves glow at most half lit, so the strip is where you read them. See Screen edges follow the key lights.