User guide

This guide is for you if you have a finished CrossPad in your hands. Everything it needs is already installed. You need no programming and no tools: only the CrossPad, a USB-C cable and, for some pages, a computer.

Want to write apps or firmware for CrossPad instead? Go to Start here.

Your path through the guide

Read the pages in this order the first time. Later, jump straight to the one you need.

1. Get startedCharge it, switch it on, learn the controls and play your first beat.

2. PlayKits, pads, lights, volume, the transport bar, vibration and Motion MIDI.

3. Your soundsPut your own samples on the SD card, record and slice new ones.

4. Make a trackLoops in the Sequencer, songs, the four-track Arrange and the Mixer.

5. With a computerUSB MIDI and audio, Bluetooth MIDI, MIDI clock, the MIDI jacks, Ableton Live and DAW Control.

6. UpdatesKeep the firmware up to date, and fix a failed update.

7. SettingsEvery setting, one line each, with its default.

8. Built-in appsEach app on the CrossPad: its screens, buttons and shortcuts.

9. ProblemsThe common problems and how to fix them yourself.

CrossPad at a glance

What each part of the CrossPad is for, and where the guide covers it.

On top

• 16 pads. Pressure-sensitive, each with its own RGB light. They are numbered 1 (bottom-left) to 16 (top-right). Each pad has two sensing cells, left and right, so it feels how hard you hit, how hard you keep pressing and where on the pad your finger sits. See Play.
• Touch screen. A colour touch screen. Tap to choose; swipe to go back and to switch screens. See Get started.
• Encoder. The knob you turn and press. Turn it to move the highlight, press it to choose or to start changing a value. See Get started.
• Power button. Hold it to switch on and off. A short press is “back”. See Get started.
• Speakers. Built-in stereo speakers. They switch on by themselves when there is something to play. See Play.
• Built-in mics. A stereo pair for recording without a cable. See Your sounds.

Sockets

• Headphone out and line out. Two audio outputs for headphones and for a mixer, an amplifier or a recorder. See Play.

• Line inputs. Two line-in sockets for a synth, a phone or a mixer. The Mixer calls them Line 1/2 and Line 3/4. You hear and record them through the Mixer and the Recorder. See Your sounds.

• MIDI IN and MIDI OUT. Two 3.5 mm MIDI jacks (TRS) for other MIDI gear: play the CrossPad from a keyboard on MIDI IN, and play a synth or a drum machine from MIDI OUT. For gear with the large 5-pin MIDI socket, use a 3.5 mm-to-5-pin MIDI adapter. See With a computer.

• Two USB-C ports.

  • The main USB port is the one on the top edge. It charges the battery and is the one to use with a computer: USB MIDI, USB audio, the SD card as a USB drive, and updates from the browser. In the default USB mode a computer sees it as Crosspad Audio.
  • The second USB port is the other USB-C port. It is a second USB MIDI port. It does not charge the battery. A computer sees it as CrossPad MIDI+Serial.

  If you charge from the second USB port, the charge screen says Not charging and shows a note to charge from the top port. See With a computer.

• microSD card slot. The card holds your kits, recordings, songs and settings backups. The CrossPad needs it to play kits. See Your sounds.

Inside

• Battery. A built-in rechargeable battery. Charge it from the main USB port. The battery icon at the top right of the screen shows how full it is, and turns red when it runs low. See Get started.
• Motion sensor. Tilt and turn the CrossPad to send MIDI. It is off until you switch it on. See Play.
• Vibration motor. Short buzzes you feel under your fingers. See Play.