Deton8

User's Manual

Open web editor

Start

Get Oriented

Controls At A Glance

Part / Solo Selects the voice you are editing. Hold Shift while turning Part to solo a voice.
Sound / Ring Changes the selected voice character. Hold Shift for master ring modulation.
Pitch / Bend Tunes the selected voice. Hold Shift to tune all drum voices together.
Decay / Delay Sets the selected voice length. Hold Shift for delay on/off.
Drive / Pump Sets voice level and crunch. Hold Shift to add pump/ducking from the selected voice.
Pattern Hold Pattern and press a pad to select or chain patterns.

Quick Start: Make A Pattern

  1. Press Play to start the sequencer.
  2. Hold Pattern and press pad 1 to work on pattern 1.
  3. Hold Shift and press Clear twice to clear the whole pattern.
  4. Turn Part fully left to select Kick, then press pads to add kick steps.
  5. Turn Part to Metal for hats, then add steps on the pads.
  6. Turn Part to Snare, add snare steps, then use Drive to balance the voice level.
  7. Hold Shift and press Record to enter record mode. Press Record again to arm writing when you are ready.
  8. Tap the top-row voice pads to record live hits. Deton8 quantizes them to the pattern.

Add A Synth Line

While record mode is armed, tap the Synth voice to place notes. Move Pitch to record a melody and move Decay to record note length changes. Use Part at any time to select a different voice before recording more pitch or decay movement.

Press Shift to leave record mode.

Patterns

Steps, Recording, Chains

Step Editing

Select a voice with Part, then press pads 1-16 to toggle steps for that voice. Pattern edits can be made while the sequencer is running.

  • Shift + Clear once: clear the selected voice.
  • Shift + Clear twice: clear the entire pattern.
  • Shift + Clear three times: randomize the selected voice.
  • Shift + Clear four times: randomize all voices.

Copy And Paste

Hold Shift and press Copy to copy the current pattern. Hold Shift and press Paste, then press the destination pad for the slot you want to overwrite.

Real-Time Recording

Hold Shift and press Record to enter record mode. The top row becomes a voice trigger row. Press Record again to arm writing; the top pads flash while writing is armed.

  • Use the flashing Tempo pad to toggle the metronome.
  • Press the flashing Clear pad to start over while recording.
  • Pitch and Decay movement is recorded for the selected voice while writing is armed.

Switching And Chaining

Hold Pattern and press a pad to cue another pattern. If the sequencer is running, the change happens when the current pattern reaches its end.

To chain patterns, keep holding Pattern and press a sequence of pads. Chains can contain up to 16 pattern slots, giving a maximum chain of 256 visible steps when all patterns are 16 steps long.

Shorter Patterns

Hold Shift and press Reset to enter reset mode, then press pad 2-16 to choose the step that resets the pattern. To return to 16 steps, enter reset mode again and press the lit pad to cancel it.

Saving

Pattern changes are saved shortly after playback stops. Do not power off immediately after editing; give Deton8 a moment to write the latest changes.

Sound & FX

Voice Controls And Performance Effects

Sound Knob

The Sound knob changes the selected voice character. Its result depends on the current voice.

  • Kick: adds a sub sine layer.
  • Snare: adds noise.
  • Metal: below halfway uses the kit sample; above halfway switches to a synthesized noise wavetable. Pitch changes that wavetable texture.

Pitch, Decay, Drive

Pitch Tunes the selected voice. Hold Shift to affect all drum voices at once, except Synth.
Decay Controls how long the selected voice rings out.
Drive Sets voice level. At higher settings it adds crunchy bit reduction.

Ring Modulator And Filter

  • Ring mod: hold Shift and turn Sound. Releasing Shift turns the live ring modulation off.
  • Filter: hold Shift + Pattern. Sound changes cutoff and Pitch changes resonance.
  • Ring mod and filter are master effects, so they process the full mix.

Delay, Pump, Reverse

  • Delay: hold Shift and turn Decay above halfway to activate delay on the selected voice.
  • Delay speed: hold Shift + Play and turn Decay.
  • Delay pitch drift: hold Shift + Play and turn Pitch. Center is neutral; below center falls, above center rises.
  • Pump: hold Shift and turn Drive. The selected voice ducks the other voices like a side-chain compressor.
  • Reverse: hold Shift and press Reverse to make the selected sample voice play backward.

Stutter Modes

Deton8 continuously records a short audio buffer. Hold Shift + Stutter, then press one of the top eight pads to choose a buffer playback mode.

1Beat repeat. Decay changes repeat rate.
2Forward grain/buzz. Pitch sets grain pitch; Decay sets grain size.
3Reverse grain/buzz with the same Pitch and Decay controls.
4Ping-pong grain for scratch-like forward/backward motion.
5Variable grain. Decay selects the buffer index.
6Falling buzz. Pitch changes fall speed.
7Rising buzz. Pitch changes rise speed.
8Performance slot reserved by the firmware stutter bank.

Use Part while stuttering to isolate a single voice.

Ring / Filter Automation

Deton8 can capture Ring, Filter Cutoff, and Filter Resonance movement as a temporary automation lane. Entering record mode clears the existing FX automation lane so a new pass can be recorded.

  • Record deliberately by entering record mode, arming writing, then moving Shift + Sound for ring, or Shift + Pattern with Sound/Pitch for filter.
  • The lane wraps at the earlier of four 16-step pattern passes or roughly 30 seconds.
  • FX automation is stored in RAM and is cleared on power-up.
  • For live-only sweeps, make sure writing is not armed before moving the ring/filter controls.

Sync & MIDI

Clocking And External Control

Tempo And Swing

When Deton8 runs as the master clock, hold Shift and tap Tempo several times to set the tempo. Hold Shift + Tempo and turn Decay to add swing.

Analog And MIDI Sync

Deton8 can follow MIDI clock from hardware MIDI or USB MIDI, or 5V analog sync pulses on the sync input jack. When it runs as master, the sync output sends 5V pulses. PPQ means pulses or clock ticks per quarter note; in a 16-step pattern, 4 PPQ equals one pulse per 16th-note step.

Clock Resolution Step timing
Analog sync 2 PPQ One pulse advances two 16th-note steps. In slave mode, Deton8 inserts the in-between step halfway to keep the 16-step grid moving.
Analog sync 4 PPQ One pulse advances one 16th-note step.
MIDI clock 24 PPQN Standard MIDI clock. Six MIDI clock ticks advance one 16th-note step.
MIDI clock 4 PPQ One MIDI clock tick advances one 16th-note step.

Change these modes from the online editor's Settings tab. Use 24 PPQN for normal MIDI clock sources, 4 PPQ for one-tick-per-step MIDI sources, 2 PPQ for classic two-step analog pulses, and 4 PPQ for step-level analog sync.

MIDI Input Channel

By default, Deton8 listens on MIDI channel 10. To change it from the hardware, stop playback, hold Shift + Pattern, then press pad 1-16. The selected pad blinks to confirm the channel. You can also set the MIDI input channel from the online editor's Settings tab.

MIDI CC Reference

Parameter CC
Master volume7
Voice volume 1-810-17
Voice decay 1-820-27
Voice pitch 1-830-37
Stutter on/off40
Stutter pitch / grain rate41
Stutter size / repeat rate42
Filter on/off43
Filter cutoff44
Filter resonance45
Ring mod on/off46
Ring mod frequency47

Web Tool

Browser Editor And Kit Transfer

Use The Online Editor

The current Deton8 workflow includes an online editor for Chrome, Edge, and other Chromium browsers with WebSerial support. It can load factory kits, import audio, crop samples, transfer kits, edit patterns, build pattern chains, and update device settings.

  1. Open the online Deton8 editor in Chrome or Edge.
  2. Click Connect and choose the Deton8 serial device.
  3. Drop WAV, MP3, AIF/AIFF, or D8 kit files into the editor.
  4. Crop waveforms, transfer the kit, or save a D8 backup.
  5. Use the Pattern and Settings tabs for live pattern sync, chain editing, clock resolution, and MIDI channel setup.
Open the web editor

Sample Format Notes

Deton8 has limited kit storage, so short samples work best. The browser editor converts imported audio to the hardware format and compresses the buffer when needed. Higher sample rates and longer files can fit, but they may lose quality or shift in pitch after conversion.

Windows Driver Notes

Windows 10 and later generally do not need an extra driver. Older Windows systems may need the included virtual COM port driver before the online editor can see Deton8 as a serial device.

Support

Firmware And Help

Firmware Updates

Firmware updates may be released to fix issues or add features. Visit twisted-electrons.com/update for update instructions.