TD-3 SLIDES AND ACCENTS
Accent and slide are what turn a row of notes into an acid line. Accent hits the step harder — the envelope opens further and the ACCENT knob adds bite. Slide glides the pitch into the next step instead of retriggering it. On the TD-3 they are set in time mode, step by step, blind. In TD3 Studio you see them: an amber dot for accent, a red dot for slide, on every cell.
Setting them: one modifier, three places
Three ways in, one set of keys. Drop a MIDI file and the sixteen steps are cut for you — or start from an empty plate. Or play the pattern in yourself, 303-style, from the on-screen keys or your own MIDI keyboard. Either way, an accent or a slide is one modifier away — hold Shift or Ctrl (⌘ on a Mac) while you play a key or click a step, and the same combination sets a tie or a rest. Fix any note later by scrolling over its cell.
- On the plate — Shift + click a cell for accent, Ctrl + click for slide. Click again to remove.
- While recording — hold the same modifier as you press a key, on screen or on your MIDI keyboard. Or switch the ACCENT / SLIDE lamps on so every new note carries it.
- From a MIDI keyboard — play hard for an accent (velocity threshold in the settings), play legato for a slide.
- From a MIDI file — velocity and overlapping notes become accents and slides automatically.
Hear the difference before you write
With the simulator as OUTPUT the pattern runs while you edit; every change is heard on the next step. Turn ACCENT and ENV MOD on the plate to hear how far the accents open the filter. Then WRITE to the TD-3 — on the hardware, tone lives on the device's own knobs.