Red Panda Tensor Owner’s Manual

Advanced Configuration 11

Setting maximum input level 11 Setting bypass mode 11 Setting MIDI channel 11

Reset to Factory Defaults 12 Sample Settings 13 Additional Techniques 14

Stutter 14 Transformer loops 14 Pitch up / speed down 14 Loop splicing 14 Reverse soloing 14 Looping what you already played 14

Using the Control Port 15

Expression Pedal 15 Control Voltage 16 Remote Switch 17

Using MIDI 19

MIDI Continuous Controller Messages 20 Speed (CC 20) Mapping 21 Time (CC 21) Mapping 21 Pitch Semitone (CC 30) Mapping 22 Loop / Sample (MIDI CC 87) 23 MIDI Program Change Messages 23 System Exclusive (SysEx) Messages 24

Support, Repairs, and Warranty 26

Technical Support 26 Repairs 26 Warranty 26

Firmware Updates 27

Specifications 29

Credits 30

Getting Started

The Tensor performs realtime tape stop/slowdown/reverse, time stretching, and pitch shifting. The hold footswitch can loop and manipulate phrases up to 4.8 seconds. Both footswitches can be set to momentary or latching mode. The Tensor is always listening to what you play, so you can switch from bypass to eect with no gap or delay. Intelligent randomization adapts to the current knob settings to add random glitches, stutters, and pitch changes.

The Tensor maps between real time (as you play) and an alternate time based on the combination of control settings. It takes some practice to play and hear in disjoint time bases, but in most cases you can concentrate on what you are playing and let the Tensor stretch, shift, and warp the sound.

In addition to its front-panel knobs and switches, the Tensor supports USB MIDI to record, playback, and sequence sound changes.

To get familiar with the Tensor, start with a full wet, normal playback setting:

Play a loop or some music through the Tensor and turn each of the knobs to see its eect on the sound. Try the SPEED, TIME, and PITCH knobs one by one, then combine them. Next, slowly turn up the RAND (random) knob and hear how it interacts with the other controls.

In live play mode, the Tensor does tape speed, time stretching, and pitch shifting while maintaining a real-time feel. It will fall behind when slowing down or stretching the audio, but tries to ﬁnd good points to jump back so that it remains playable.

With a MIDI controller or remote footswitch, you can also use the Tensor as a looper / sample playback pedal.

Overview

Controls

7 8 9 11 12

6 5 4 3 2

Hold switch

101

Time stretch

13 14 15 16 17

Momentary hold

Hold indicator

Wet/dry blend

Hold mode

Tape speed

USB MIDI

9 VDC 250 mA

Output

Expression/control port

Input

Pitch shift

Loop direction

Randomization

Bypass indicator

Momentary eect

Bypass switch

Stop

SPEED: -100% to +100% —Tape speed eect. Smoothly changes the playback speed, from forward (clockwise) to reverse (counter clockwise). In the middle, the sound is stopped. Reverse playback will play short segments of audio backwards, simulating studio tricks where a tape is ﬂipped over to create a reverse guitar solo. The Tensor analyzes your playing to automatically adjust the size and timing of the reversed segments (See “Hold/Next (NXT) mode” on page 10

100%-100%

or “Drift” on page 8 if you need more control).

1:1

1:2

1:4

The right LED turns magenta when time stretching is active and cyan when time compression is active.

4:1

-1

-2

RAND: Randomization. Rotating the knob clockwise will change the amount and type of randomization. Lower settings will add occasional stutters, in the middle it will randomly repeat short segments, and at maximum setting it shues short slices of sound. Speed and pitch will be randomized based on the knob settings. For example, if the PITCH knob is at 12:00, no pitch randomization will happen.

TIME: 1:4 to 4:1—Time stretch/compression. Normal playback is in the middle position (12:00). To the left, playback is stretched without pitch shifting. To the right, playback is compressed without pitch shifting. Time compression only

2:1

works during loop playback; during live play and recording it will play at normal speed (since it cannot hear the future). Stretching or compressing more than 2x will introduce glitches, which you can use to create new textures.

PITCH: -2 to +2 octaves—Pitch shifting. No pitch shift in middle position (12:00). In live play mode, pitch shifting happens in realtime. In hold modes, the loop

playback speed is changed to maintain the best ﬁdelity. You can combine the PITCH and TIME controls to adjust the pitch and loop length independently. The

PITCH knob is quantized to intervals.

BLEND: Wet/dry blend, from 100% dry to 100% wet.

HOLD: Hold (looping) mode. See “Hold Modes” on page 9 for more information.

OVR: Overdub (sound on sound) REC: Record (replace) NXT: Next (dual buer)

DIR: Hold loop direction. FWD—Loop plays forward. ALT—Loop alternates between forward and reverse. REV—Loop plays in reverse.

M/L (HOLD) —Sets HOLD footswitch to momentary or latching mode.

HOLD footswitch —See “Hold Modes” for more information. If the pedal is bypassed, pressing HOLD will

engage the eect and it will return to bypass after exiting hold mode.

M/L (ON) —Sets ON footswitch to momentary or latching mode.

ON footswitch —Switches the eect between engaged and bypass. If the SPEED control is stopped

(12:00), engaging the pedal will ramp the speed down for a turntable stop eect.

Presets

Presets store knob and toggle switch settings, expression pedal assignment, loop decay, and glide parameters. You can change presets without interrupting the sound, allowing you to change settings while playing. The right LED blinks green when a preset is loaded.

The Tensor can store 31 presets that can be recalled using a MIDI controller. See “MIDI Program Change Messages” on page 23 for more information.

Drift

While the Tensor is engaged (blue LED on), holding down the ON footswitch will cause the tape speed eect to continue playing at the set speed without splicing back to the current time. Releasing the footswitch will snap back to the current time. If playback falls too far behind, it will stop (tape stop effect). The Tensor will continue recording in “real time” as it plays.

When the ON footswitch is set to momentary mode, drift mode is always active. This is useful for instant rewind eects and reverse solos. With BLEND 100% wet (5:00) and SPEED set to -100% (7:00), pressing the ON footswitch will rewind what you just played (up to about 2.4 seconds). It continues recording, so you can instantly ﬂip between forward and reverse.

To play a reverse guitar solo with precise control over each segment, brieﬂy lift your foot and re-press the ON footswitch for each segment. It is similar to a horn player pausing to breath, but it takes some practice to get the timing down because you are playing notes ahead of when you hear them. (Hold NXT mode or the automatic reverse playback function are other options for reverse soloing.)

Control Port

The CTRL (control) port can be used to connect an expression pedal or remote switch. See “Using the Control Port” on page 15 for information on supported devices and how to conﬁgure them.

• Expression pedal: assignable to any combination of knob settings.

• Control voltage: 0-3.3V on tip, sleeve grounded.

• Remote switch: 1- to 4-button switch to select presets or access pedal functions.

By default, the control port is conﬁgured for an expression pedal that morphs from the current knob settings (toe down) to normal playback (heel down). For example, if the SPEED knob is set to 12:00 (stopped), you will get a tape stop eect as you push the pedal down.

Hold Modes

The Tensor has three hold modes for recording and manipulating short loops (up to 4.8 seconds). You can switch between modes while playing. The momentary/latch (M/L) switch determines how the hold function responds. You can jump straight from bypass into hold mode.

Recording and playback

Press the hold button to start recording a loop:

M (momentary): press HOLD to start recording, release to stop recording and play back loop. L (latching): press HOLD once to start recording, press again to stop recording and play back loop.

Momentary mode is useful for short loops/stutters, or o-beat loops. Latch mode is useful for longer loops, and behaves like a traditional looper or tap tempo.

The left LED will be red during loop recording. It is green during loop playback, but blinks red at the beginning of the loop.

Press the HOLD footswitch again to replace, overdub, or update the loop.

Press the ON footswitch to stop loop playback. The Tensor will record to live play or bypass, whichever was active when you entered hold mode.

Hold/Record (REC) Mode

The loop is replaced each time you start recording. The loop is recorded in “real time” (as you play), and played back based on the control settings.

Hold/Overdub (OVR) Mode

Recording the ﬁrst loop sets the loop length. After recording the initial loop, pressing the HOLD footswitch will turn on overdub mode (LED will turn red). Live audio is added to whatever is currently looping (sound on sound), based on the control settings. For example, if you overdub while playing back a loop at +1 octave, the new sound is recorded at 2x “tape speed”. If you turn the PITCH knob back to 12:00 (unison), the ﬁrst pass will return to normal speed and the second will be shifted down one octave. This works with all of the controls, so you can:

• Get longer, low-ﬁdelity loops by overdubbing with the speed control set near 12:00.

• Overdub with time compression or expansion.

• Randomization will scatter small fragments of sound randomly throughout the buer.

Some limitations:

• Some settings will result in noise and low ﬁdelity artifacts, especially with time stretching and compression.

• Recording a sustained note on the ﬁrst loop can cause a click, if the Tensor is not able to ﬁnd a good loop point.

Overdub with the HOLD switch set to M (momentary) will punch in the overdubbed sound, which can turn sustained sounds into rhythmic bursts similar to a transformer scratch. You can record a silent loop initially to set the loop length.

+ 21 hidden pages

Red Panda Tensor Owner’s Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual