Lesson 12
Capture: never lose an idea
Use Capture to keep something you just played, even though you never pressed Record.
- A Move that is switched on
- The Set with your beat from Lesson 9 (it started as a brand-new Set, which is what this lesson expects)
The idea
Ever played something great, and then realised you weren’t recording? On Move, that idea isn’t lost. In Note Mode, Move is always quietly listening to what you play on the pads. Press Capture afterwards, and it turns your last bit of playing into a clip. That’s Capture.
It’s the perfect tool for noodling. You don’t have to count in, or even decide on a speed first. Just play until something sounds good, then press Capture.
If Move was stopped when you capture, it also works out the tempo you were playing at, and sets the whole Set to match. It even offers three guesses, because the same groove can often be counted in more than one way, such as at double or half the speed. Your notes play back just the way you played them, whichever guess you choose.
Move treats the first note you played as the start of the loop, and every note you played goes inside it. So begin your phrase right on the first hit.
Once a clip is playing, Capture works for overdubbing too: jam along, press Capture, and the new notes join the clip. (Recording with the Record button is covered in Lesson 11.)
Because Move keeps everything you play, it also keeps your mistakes and your searching around. So you’ll also learn how to wipe its memory before the take you want to keep.
Make sure Move is stopped. Then press Note/Session to switch to Session Mode, so you can pick an empty spot for your idea.
Didn’t work?
If music is playing, press Play to stop it first. The tempo guessing only happens when Move is stopped.You should see: Session Mode: each row of pads is one track, and each pad in a row is a place for a clip.
Press a dark pad in the row that belongs to your drum track. In a brand-new Set, the drums are on the top track. The drawing marks one example pad; any dark pad in that row will do.
Didn’t work?
Pads lit in colour already hold clips. Choose a dark pad so your capture becomes a new clip.You should see: The pad you pressed turns white: an empty clip slot is selected.
Press that row’s track button (the top track button in a brand-new Set) to open Note Mode on the drum track.
Didn’t work?
If the pads play notes of a melody, you’re on a melodic track. Demo Sets and swapped sounds can differ from a new Set. Find the track that sounds like drums, and pick an empty slot in its row.You should see: Note Mode opens on the drum track. The pads play drum sounds.
Tap the pads in the left block and find three sounds by ear: a deep kick, a sharp snare and a short, ticking hi-hat. Remember where they are.
Didn’t work?
Lesson 9 has tips for telling the drum sounds apart.You should hear: Different drum hits, one pad at a time.
Hold Shift and press Capture. This wipes what Move heard while you were searching, so those taps can’t end up in your clip.
Didn’t work?
Pressing a track button, or starting and then stopping playback, clears it too, but without a message. Either way, the Capture button goes dark once the memory is empty.You should see: The display shows a message that the capture input was cleared.
Now play a simple beat with the kick and the snare, steadily, four or five times round: kick, snare, kick, snare. Start right on your first kick.
Didn’t work?
Keep a steady pace, a bit like walking. A steady beat gives Move a much better chance of guessing your tempo.You should hear: Just your own drumming. Nothing else plays, because Move is stopped.
Press Capture. Move makes a new clip from what you just played and starts playing it.
Didn’t work?
The display now shows the tempo Move picked, in BPM (beats per minute). It should match the speed you played at.You should hear: Your beat comes back straight away as a loop, and it keeps playing.
Right away, turn the wheel to try the other tempo guesses. Pick the one where the loop sounds right to you.
Didn’t work?
Unlike changing the tempo by hand, these guesses don’t speed up or slow down your notes. They only change how Move counts them, which can change where the loop ends. If turning the wheel does nothing, just keep the tempo Move chose.You should hear: The notes play at the same speed, but the loop may get shorter or longer.
While the loop plays, tap the hi-hat you found a few times between the kicks and snares. Keep going for one or two rounds of the loop.
You should hear: Hi-hat taps on top of your looping beat.
Press Capture again. Because your clip is already playing, the new notes are added to it.
Didn’t work?
Don’t like how it came out? Press Undo. It takes back the last thing you did.You should hear: The hi-hat taps are now part of the loop.
Lesson complete! Try the challenge below, or keep going.
Next lesson →Try it yourself
Go to your bass track, pick an empty slot in its row and stop the music. Hum a little tune in your head and play it on the pads, without worrying about timing. Press Capture when you like it, and try the tempo guesses until the loop feels right. Then do it again on another track: every idea you capture is a clip you can come back to.
Good to know
- Capture also works while you play along to your clips, but Move only guesses the tempo when it was stopped. When music is already playing, the tempo stays as it is.
- Besides notes, Capture keeps knob movements. Turn a knob while a clip loops, then press Capture, and the sound changes are saved into the clip. Lesson 17 shows more about recording knob moves.
- You can still set the tempo by hand afterwards, as in Lesson 10. That changes the playback speed of your notes. Because the tempo belongs to the whole Set, a capture made while Move was stopped also changes the speed of your beat from Lesson 9. If you liked the old speed better, set it back the same way.