Activating and Editing Steps: Pacer

Pacer Support

Each of Pacer’s controls can be configured for up to 6 functions. Each of those functions is setup as part of a ‘Step’. Steps can occur all at once or one at a time in a sequence.

A separate control can also be used to increment the sequence. This allows you to use one Stomp Switch to choose one of 6 different functions for another control. With some clever programming, this feature can be used to create 6 sub presets for 6 of Pacer’s controls.

Setup

First, select how Steps should function, from the ‘Setup’ option in the Control Edit menu.

  1. Press the [Preset] Stomp Switch, then Load the preset you would like to edit.
  2. Turn the Data Encoder to select ‘CTRL’, then press the Encoder Button.
  3. The display will show the name of the currently selected control, then after a moment, the display will say ‘SETUP’. From this option, you can press another Stomp Switch or move an expression pedal to select it.
  4. Press the encoder button with the ‘SETUP’ option selected. Turn the encoder knob to see the available options (note: the ‘SEq’ option is only available for Stomp Switches and foot switch inputs):
    • ALL: The functions of all Steps are executed at once. Use this when you want to activate/deactivate several effects at once or play chords. Up to 6 Steps can occur at once. This is the default behavior.
    • SEq: The functions of Steps occur one at a time in sequence. This is useful if you want a Stomp Switch to do one thing the first time it’s pressed and something else the second time it’s pressed. Sequences can be up to 6 Steps long.
    • ESS: Another control is used to choose which Step is currently active. This can be useful for changing the function an Expression Pedal.
  5. Select a SETUP option and then press the encoder button to confirm the change or press the [Preset] Stomp Switch to return to the top of the Control Edit menu without making any changes.

Activating Steps

Turn the Data Encoder to select ‘STEPS’. With this option selected, Stomp Switches [1]-[6] represent the Steps for the selected control (the Stomp Switch whose LED is flashing represents the selected control). Stomp Switches with blue LEDs represent inactive steps and Stomp Switches with White LEDs represent active steps. When this option is selected, the LED for Stomp Switch [1] will always be lit white (or flashing white if Stomp Switch [1] is the selected control), because Step 1 cannot be turned off.

Press the Stomp Switches for Steps you would like to activate. If you only need two active steps, press Stomp Switch [2] so that Steps 1 and 2 are active. The LEDs for those Stomp Switches should now be lit white.

Selecting Steps & Editing the Active Step

After you have activated more than one Step for a control, turn the Data Encoder to select ‘TYPE’.

Stomp Switches [1]-[6] still represent Steps 1-6. The LED for the Stomp Switch which represents the Step which you are currently editing will be lit red. The LEDs for Stomp Switches which represent active steps will be lit white and the LED for Stomp Switches which represent inactive steps will be lit blue.

Now, with the ‘TYPE’ option still selected, the LED for Stomp Switch [1] should be lit red, which indicates that you are editing step 1. If you have activated Step 2, the LED for Stomp Switch [2] should be lit white and pressing that Stomp Switch should result in the LED turning red (the LED for Stomp Switch [1] should now be white). At this point you are editing Step 2 for the selected control.

In most user presets the ‘Type’ for Steps 2-6 is set to ‘OFF’. Press the data encoder to access the list of different Message types. Once you have selected the function you want for the current step, press the encoder button to return to the top level of the menu or press Stomp Switch [C] to select the next  Control Edit option.

Once you are done setting up the current Step, press the Encoder button to confirm your changes. You can then press Stomp Switches [1]-[6] to select a different step for editing.

External Step Select

If you selected ‘ESS’ from the ‘SETUP’ option, turn the Data Encoder to select ‘SETUP’ now and then press the ‘Stomp Switch’ you would like to use to select the active Step.

Turn the Data Encoder to select ‘TYPE’ and then press the encoder button. As you turn the Data encoder you will find two message types which can be used to select the Step of another control.

  • STEP: This message type is for selecting a specific Step for the target control.
  • STP-+: This message type is for incrementing/decrementing through the active steps for the Target Control.

Once you have chosen the Message Type you want, press Stomp Switch [C]. The Display will say ‘TRGT’.

Turn the data encoder to select the target control, for which you would like the selected control to choose steps.

Once you have chosen the target control, press Stomp Switch [C]. The Display will say ‘STEP’ if you chose the ‘STEP’ message type or ‘DIR’ if you chose ‘STP-+’. Turning the data encoder will either select the step which should be activated or whether steps for the target control will be selected in descending (Dec)/ascending (Inc) order.

Press the encoder button to accept the changes or press the [Preset] Stomp Switch to exit without confirming the changes.

Once you have setup your multi-step controls and external step select controls, make sure to save your changes before loading another preset!

A common point of confusion is the meaning of the flashing LED. The Flashing LED is not related to Steps, rather it indicates which control is currently being edited. So if the LED for Stomp Switch [1] flashes on and off, it means you are editing Stomp Switch [1], if the LED for Stomp Switch [A] is flashing, you are editing settings for Stomp Switch [A].
Tags: Pacer