ellitone instruments' groov-e device #01

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the ellitone groov-e firmware v1.0 is a fun and mysterious interactive drum-machine and polyphonic-synthesizer engine that automatically generates musical “grooves”

A “groove” consists of 3 individual sound layers: a drum-machine layer, an ambience-sample layer, and a synthesizer sequence layer. Each of these 3 sound layers can be individually tweaked and swapped to find the right mixture of sounds to make you say “WHOAH, that’s funky!”

The magic behind the groov-e firmware lies within the sequencing and rhythm creation engines. Rhythms and note sequences are NOT simply selected from a list of premade patterns, groov-e generates one-of-a-kind rhythms and note patterns using a series of decision-trees and probabilities. A NEARLY INFINITE number of possible note patterns and rhythm combinations are possible. To make things even more mysterious, these one-of-a-kind note patterns and rhythms are all temporary. Once you make the decision to generate a new drum pattern or synth sequence, the old pattern is gone FOREVER! The temporary nature of the grooves you discover makes them precious. You will NEVER hear the same combination of sounds twice while using this device. Cherish your grooves!


Lets break down a “groove” and take a look at each of the 3 sound layers individually:

Drum Machine: (rotary encoder on left)

Push and release the rotary encoder knob button on the left to generate a new drum machine sound layer. A drum machine sound layer consists of 3 randomly selected drum samples taken from a master list of (150) included drum sound samples. This collection of drum samples are hand-selected from a variety of sources including video games, vintage drum machines, sound fx, and synthesized. The 3 drum voices are now each assigned a newly generated rhythm pattern and tempo division, resulting in a fresh new drum beat. Turn the rotary encoder knob to change the pitch (sample rate) of the drum voices, or push and turn the knob at the same time to change the master tempo of the entire groove.

Ambient Sample: (rotary encoder in center)

Push and release the rotary encoder knob button in the center to activate a new ambience sample sound layer. Included in groov-e firmware v1.0 are (75) looping audio samples that serve as a texture layer that sonically sit nicely between the drum beat and synth sequence. These ambience sound samples are sampled musical drones, vocal talking sounds, large sampled pads, symphonic chords, and multiple flavors of world noise. Use the rotary encoder knob to change the pitch (sample rate) of these looping audio samples.

BONUS: push and turn the center rotary encoder knob to activate a LOWPASS FILTER that effects the entire groove (all 3 sound layers)

Polyphonic Synthesizer: (rotary encoder on right)

Push and release the rotary encoder knob button on the right to generate a new polyphonic synthesizer sequence sound layer. A new sequence note pattern is freshly generated using a decision-tree approach, this process starts with randomly selecting one of the 12 included musical scales and mapping it onto a 64X64 note grid. Next, a travel path is created to guide the sequence through the 64x64 note grid. Rhythms, octaves, and envelopes are also generated and attached to the individual synth voices to create an interesting and musical synth patch. The synthesizer has 4 voices that each consist of 2 oscillator layers, we can select different waveforms to assign to each oscillator layer for more interesting tones. Use the rotary encoder knob to select one of the (65) waveform shapes to assign to the first oscillator layer, Push and turn the rotary encoder knob to select one of the (65) waveform shapes to assign to the second oscillator layer.

*Additional operating instructions:

-when the device first powers on, only the drum machine sound layer will be active. DOUBLE CLICK the rotary encoder knobs to turn each of the 3 sound layers ON AND OFF. This functionality gives your grooves more playability as you can mute and unmute layers to create more dynamics in the groove.

-SINGLE CLICK the rotary encoder knobs to generate new instances of each sound layer.

-This version of groov-e is powered by a micro-usb cable (not included). The slot to connect the cable is located on the bottom of the burlap

-audio is output through a 3.5mm (1/8th inch) headphone jack. Output is line-level and can be used to drive headphones.

- Shipped from Missouri next day