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VoltSeq Cheat Sheet

github-actions[bot] edited this page Apr 12, 2026 · 2 revisions

VoltSeq Cheat Sheet

Quick reference for Catalyst VoltSeq. See Catalyst VoltSeq for full documentation.


Main Mode

Default state on boot and after exiting any modal. Play, navigate pages, and edit steps directly.

Action Result
Play/Reset Toggle play / stop
Shift + Play (tap, < 600 ms) Reset all channels to step 1
Hold Page N + turn Enc M Edit channel M step at position N
Hold multiple Page buttons Edit same enc across all held steps simultaneously
Turn Enc M (no page held) Focus chaselight on channel M (no step edited)
Shift + Page N Navigate to page N
Hold Chan. Encoder LEDs show channel type colors (CV = grey, Gate = green, Trigger = green/teal)
Chan. + Page N Arm channel N

CV step editing: ~1 semitone per detent. Hold Fine for sub-semitone. Fast spin accelerates.
Gate step editing: gate length 0–100%. Trigger step editing: ratchet/repeat count.


Channel Edit

Per-channel settings: type, length, direction, clock division, voltage range, and more.

Entry: Shift + Chan. (short tap — release before 1 s)
Exit: Shift + Chan. or Play/Reset

Press a Page button to focus a channel. Chaselight shows that channel's playhead.

Enc Panel label Parameter
1 Start Output delay (0–20 ms)
2 Dir. Direction: Forward / Reverse / Ping-Pong / Random
3 Length Step length 1–64
4 Phase Phase rotate (destructive)
5 Range Voltage span (CV) / Pulse width ms (Trigger)
6 BPM/Clock Div Per-channel clock division
7 Transpose Floor voltage (CV only)
8 Random CV deviation range: CW = unipolar (+N V), CCW = bipolar (±N V), 0 = off

Shift held: Page buttons show current page indicator instead of chaselight.


Armed Mode

Focus on a single channel for detailed step editing and real-time slider recording.

Entry: Chan. + Page N
Exit: Chan. + Page N again, or Play/Reset

CV channel

Action Result
Enc N Edit step N CV value
Fine + Enc N Sub-semitone editing
Slider Record CV into current step (motion-gated)
Shift + Enc 5 Adjust voltage span (Range)
Shift + Enc 7 Adjust floor voltage (Transpose)

Gate channel

Action Result
Tap Page N Toggle step N on / off
Enc N Adjust gate length for step N

Trigger channel

Action Result
Tap Page N Toggle step N between rest and single trigger
Enc N CW Increase ratchet count (subdivide, 1–8×)
Enc N CCW Increase repeat count (extend, 1–8×)

GLIDE Modifier

Adjust glide time, gate lengths, pulse width, and per-step ratchets. Works in both main and armed mode.

Hold Glide

Unarmed — channel-level adjustments

Channel type Action Result
CV Glide + Enc N Glide time for channel N (0–10 s)
Gate Glide + Enc N Offset all gate lengths for channel N
Gate Glide + hold Page N + Enc M Set ratchet count for step N on channel M
Trigger Glide + Enc N Pulse width for channel N (1–100 ms)
Trigger Shift + Glide + Enc N Offset all ratchet/repeat counts for channel N

Armed — per-step glide time (CV)

Action Result
Glide + Enc N Set glide time for step N; encoder LEDs show brightness = glide amount
Glide + Enc N CCW to minimum Disable glide for step N

Armed — per-step ratchet count (Gate)

Action Result
Glide + Enc N Set ratchet count for step N; encoder LEDs show ratchet counts

Probability / Random

Per-step probability of a step firing, and random CV deviation amount. Active while armed.

Hold Shift + Glide while armed

Encoder LEDs show a violet → grey → white ramp — violet = 0% (always fires), white = 100%.

Action Result
Shift + Glide + Enc N CW Increase probability for step N
Shift + Glide + Enc N CCW Decrease probability; fully CCW = 0 (always fires)

Gate / Trigger: non-zero probability suppresses the step's output randomly.
CV: non-zero probability applies a random voltage offset. Deviation range and polarity set in Channel Edit enc 8.


Performance Page

Phase Scrub orbit engine for live performance — granular looping and beat repeat.

Entry: hold Fine + Glide for 1.5 s
Exit: Play/Reset (saves performance settings automatically)

Control Function
Slider Orbit center position
Page N Toggle channel N orbit follow on/off
Shift held Freeze orbit center (beat-repeat staging)
Shift + Page N Navigate pages

Settings shown on entry (encoder LEDs):

Enc Parameter LED
1 Quantize orbit center Orange = on
2 Mode Off / green (granular) / blue (beat-repeat ×8) / cyan (beat-repeat ×4)
3 Granular width or beat-repeat debounce Dim→bright orange / dim→bright white
4 Orbit direction (granular only) Green / blue / orange / lavender
8 Phase Scrub Lock Red = locked; blinks red during pickup

Short Fine + Glide (release before 1.5 s): toggle Phase Scrub Lock from main mode or within Performance Page.


Clear & Save

Clear step data from individual channels, or commit all changes to flash.

Clear Mode

Entry: hold Fine + Play for ~500 ms — page buttons fast-blink to confirm
Exit: Play/Reset

Action Result
Page N Clear steps + glide + probability for channel N (preserves channel settings)
Shift + Page N Full factory reset for channel N (steps + flags + all channel settings)

Multiple channels can be cleared before exiting.

Saving

No data is written to flash automatically except Performance Page settings.

Save gesture: hold Glide, then press and hold Chan. — page buttons fast-blink during hold, then blink 6× to confirm.

Glide must be pressed first. Pressing Chan. first shows channel type colors instead and does not save.


Global Settings

System-wide settings: play/stop reset behavior, master loop length, and internal BPM.

Entry: hold Shift + Chan. for 1 s
Exit: Play/Reset

Enc Panel label Parameter LED
1 Start Play/stop reset mode Red = on (Stop also resets all channels)
3 Length Master loop length (0 = off; all channels reset together every N 16th-note steps) Off / orange / red at bar-aligned values (8, 16, 32, 48, 64)
6 BPM/Clock Div Internal BPM Color zone: red < 50 / orange 50–79 / yellow 80–99 / green 100–119 / blue 120–149 / teal 150–179 / lavender 180+

Mode Switch

Switch between Catalyst Sequencer and Catalyst VoltSeq without reflashing.

Combo Result
Hold Shift + Tap Tempo + Chan. for 1 s CatSeq → VoltSeq
Hold Fine + Play/Reset + Glide for 1 s VoltSeq → CatSeq

Mode is saved to flash. Switching does not erase the other mode's data.

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