Getting started

In this walkthrough you connect RigAstra to a MIDI device or app, play the Quick Start sample scene, and then create your own scene with a first control.

What you need

• A device or app that receives MIDI: a synth, a drum machine, a virtual instrument or your DAW.
• A connection between your phone or tablet and that device: a USB cable, Bluetooth, or a network MIDI session.

1. Choose where MIDI goes

1. Open RigAstra. The scene list appears.
2. Tap the gear to open Settings.
3. In MIDI Outputs, tap Destination. You'll see the list of detected destinations, tagged [USB], [BLE] or [NET].
4. Check the device or app you want to control. You can check several at once, or All Outputs.
5. If your device doesn't show up, check the connection and tap Scan Outputs.
6. Go back to the scene list.

If you don't check any destination, RigAstra picks one automatically. All the details are in MIDI and OSC connections.

2. Open the Quick Start scene

Quick Start is a factory scene with 7 sample pages:

• Guitar and bass with pitch bend.
• 8 faders, 8 knobs and 2 States.
• A Drone Pad.
• Two pages of GM drum pads, one of them with velocity based on how high you touch the pad.
• An orchestral set with key switches.
• An Arpeggiator with a Drum Player.

1. In the scene list, tap Quick Start. It opens in Perform.
2. If it isn't in the list, go to Settings > Backup > Quick Start > Restore Scene and confirm. The scene is added at the top of the list.

3. Play

1. Look at the pills under the top bar: each one is a page. Tap one to switch pages. If they don't all fit, drag the row with your finger.
2. On the faders and knobs page, move a control and check that your device responds.
3. On the pad pages, tap the pads to send notes.
4. On the Arpeggiator and Drum Player page, tap Play on the Drum Player to start the pattern. On the Arpeggiator, tap Play and hold notes on its keyboard: the pattern plays while you hold them.
5. Tap the tempo pill in the top bar to open the Tempo Inspector. There you can change the BPM and stop every engine with Stop All. Tap Done to close it.

If you move controls and hear nothing, check the MIDI destination in Settings and the channel your device listens on. See Troubleshooting.

4. Create your own scene

1. Tap ≡ on the left of the top bar to go back to the scene list.
2. Tap [+].
3. Type a name (up to 32 characters) and tap Create.
4. Tap the new scene to open it in Perform.

The new scene starts with one empty page.

5. Add your first control

1. In Perform, tap the grid button on the right of the bar to enter the Editor.
2. Tap + to open the Add Control palette.
3. In the MIDI section, choose Fader. It's placed in the first free space on the page.
4. Drag it to move it. With the fader selected, drag the corner handles to resize it.
5. Double-tap the fader to open its inspector. Check the Channel and the CC: RigAstra has already assigned the first free CC on that channel.
6. Tap Save.
7. Tap the back arrow to return to Perform and move the fader.

If your DAW or instrument has a MIDI learn function, turn it on and move the fader to assign it to a parameter.

Your work saves itself

RigAstra saves scenes automatically, for example when you enter Perform and when you leave the Editor. There's no button to save the scene. The Save action in the scene list does something else: it stores a copy of the scene in Saved Scenes (see Scenes and pages).

Next steps

• Build full pages in the Editor.
• Learn everything the Perform screen does.
• Control software over the network with OSC.
• Move several parameters with one gesture using MACRO mode.