Phrase

A phrase is the main note-entry grid. Chains refer to phrases, and each phrase contains 16 steps. NullPerator provides phrase IDs 00–FE.

Phrase keeps NOTE, INS, FX1, and FX2 aligned across all sixteen steps.

Fields

Column	Meaning	Empty display
NOTE	Note trigger, note off, or no event	----
INS	Instrument slot 00–3F	I--
FX1	First three-character effect command	---
FX1 value	Four hexadecimal digits interpreted by FX1	0000
FX2	Second effect command	---
FX2 value	Four hexadecimal digits interpreted by FX2	0000

The bottom bar normally shows the latest live note on each track. A populated NOTE or INS cell can replace it with instrument context; a non-empty FX pair replaces it with that command's help. Selection and clipboard notices take priority over both.

Try this

1. Put the cursor on an empty NOTE cell and tap Enter. The most recent note and instrument are inserted together.
2. Hold Enter on the note to preview it. While holding, tap Right to move to the next note in the project scale, then release Enter.
3. Tap Play to hear the Phrase in sequence; tap Play again to stop.

For a complete guided example, follow Make your first loop.

Navigation

Directions move through the six editable columns and 16 steps. At row 00, Up opens the previous populated phrase in the current chain and lands on 0F. At row 0F, Down opens the next populated phrase and lands on 00. An empty adjacent Chain row blocks the move.

Hold Option to change context without moving the cell cursor:

• Left / Right selects the previous or next track at the current Chain row.
• Up / Down selects the phrase in the adjacent Chain row while preserving the current Phrase step. An empty adjacent row blocks the move.

Editing

Press Enter on an empty NOTE or INS cell to insert the remembered value immediately. On NOTE or INS, holding Enter also auditions the current step until it is released. A step without a playable instrument or note may produce no sound. Audition does not interrupt an already-running Song, Chain, or Phrase transport.

Creating a note in an empty NOTE cell also writes the last explicit instrument into INS. This makes the new note immediately playable. A deliberately empty I-- on an existing note still keeps its normal playback-time instrument inheritance behavior.

Hold Enter and use the directions:

Column	Left / Right	Down / Up
NOTE	Previous / next note in the project scale	Down / Up one octave
INS	-1 / +1 slot	-10 / +10 in hexadecimal (-16 / +16)
FX command	Move left / right in FX Select	Move down / up in FX Select
FX value	Move the active digit	Decrease / increase that hex digit

For sliced sample instruments, NOTE editing stays inside the instrument's slice-note range. Otherwise NOTE editing follows the project's root and scale.

Hold Enter on an FX command to open FX Select. Six-row columns form a fixed directory: Standard, Sample, MIDI, and Synth. All groups stay accessible; the top bar shows the current instrument type. Directions move without wrapping and scroll the list horizontally as needed. Release Enter to close it. Unsupported FX stay in their normal group, grey but selectable, with Not Supported / On This Instrument in the two-line help bar. See Choose an available command for instrument inheritance, Table context, and the capability list.

FX values have a four-digit cursor. While Enter is held, Left and Right choose the digit; Up and Down edit it with steps of 1000, 0100, 0010, or 0001. The effect command clamps the final value to its valid range.

On INS, a second consecutive Enter allocates a new empty instrument slot. On the parameter of a TBL effect, a second Enter allocates a new table. This replaces an existing number too; it does not copy the old instrument or table. These allocation gestures do not apply to NOTE or ordinary FX cells.

Hold Enter and Option together to cut a cell. Cutting NOTE also clears its paired INS assignment; cutting an FX command clears the command and its value.

If Enter first fills an empty cell, pressing Option while Enter remains held cuts the newly displayed value. To insert Note Off in an empty NOTE cell, hold Option first, then press Enter.

With a Drum instrument, NOTE shows D01–D12. Hold Enter and use Left / Right to change the drum by one, or Up / Down by ten. The kit wraps at both ends without following the project scale.

Selection and clipboard

Begin a selection with Shift → Option, release Shift, and extend it with the directions.

Input while selected	Result
Shift → Option	Expand across all six columns; repeat to select all 16 rows
Option	Copy and exit Selection Mode
Enter + Option	Cut and exit Selection Mode
Enter + direction	Adjust every selected cell
Play	Play the current Phrase context

Paste with Shift + Enter after the selection has closed. Phrase clipboard columns remain type-aligned: a copied note returns to NOTE, and values cannot be pasted into command cells. Compatible FX command/value pairs can also be transferred between Phrase and Table.

Clone referenced data

The clone gesture is Shift → Option, keep Shift held, release Option, then press Enter immediately:

• On INS, it duplicates the referenced instrument into a new slot and updates this cell.
• On an FX value whose command is TBL, it duplicates the referenced table and updates the value.
• It does not clone from NOTE or FX command cells.

Playback and track state

• Play starts or stops the current phrase on the selected track, using its position in the current chain.
• Shift + Play starts or stops the whole Song from the stored Song cursor.
• Option + Play toggles solo for the selected track.
• Option → Shift toggles mute for the selected track.
• Shift + Option + Play clears all mute and solo state.

Next

Hold Shift and press:

• Left → Chain
• Right → Instrument
• Down → Phrase Table
• Up → Groove