Getting Started with Patchwork

Welcome to Fortnite Patchwork! The devices you are about to explore let you create and manipulate music intuitively. Get ready to unleash your inner maestro and take your creativity to new heights!

The best way to learn Patchwork is to get hands-on with it. Make sure you have Fortnite running and the Patchwork Music Gallery Island (5806-7083-7937) loaded up.

Let's get started!

For a deeper dive on each device, see Using Patchwork Devices.

Basic Controls

Have a look around the Patchwork Music Gallery island courtyard, then make your way into the building. Ensure that the Patchwork tool is equipped. This is the controller that you will use to interact with Patchwork devices in real time.

Patchwork Tool

In Create mode, you'll find the Patchwork tool under the Weapons tab in Creative inventory, and it will appear in a weapon slot at the bottom right when equipped.

Use this tool to do things like:

1. Pick up and patch (connect) devices by pressing the Fire button on the cable connectors.

   

2. Open and close Patchwork devices by pressing the Fire button. Some devices have more than one open state!

   

3. Toggle switches On and Off by pressing the Fire button.

   

4. Turn knobs by pressing and holding the Fire button and aiming the reticle up or down.

   

5. Cycle through carousel presets by pressing the Fire button while pointing at the arrows.

   

6. Add or remove notes on a Sequencer by pressing the Fire button while pointing to a specific grid cell.

   

7. You can zoom in with the Patchwork tool, to get a closer look at the controls. Use the same control you would use for using a scope on a weapon.

8. You can turn tooltips on and off. The button you use to toggle tooltips on or off is in the list of hot keys on the left of your screen. If tooltips are turned on, whatever you point at with the Patchwork tool will have a popup tooltip with information about that device or control.

   

If you feel like skipping the theory and trying things out for yourself, make your way to the courtyard and jump to Jamming with Patchwork!

Volume

As you enter the first room, you'll see a Speaker device in the middle of the room.

Press and hold the Fire button to connect the Patchwork tool to the knob, then aim up and down to adjust the volume. Notice how the knob value and speaker visual effects change as you raise and lower the volume.

Head over to the Cables room to continue the tour!

Cables

To make sounds with Patchwork devices, you have to patch the devices together with cables.

Cables for music devices come in three varieties:

Aim the Patchwork tool at the connector of the device on the left, then press the Fire button. You are now holding a cable! The color of the cable and the shape of the connector match the color and shape of the port on the middle device. This lets you know they can be patched.

Patch the cable by pressing the Fire button while aiming at the matching port.

Repeat this process to patch the teal cable to the matching port on the Speaker.

When the three devices are patched, you should hear a short audio loop playing.

You can experiment with the controls on these devices to change what you hear, or move along to the Sequencer room.

Sequencer

Now move on to the Sequencer room! With a Note Sequencer, you can visually plan out the series of notes you want to play, then make adjustments to what pitch they play, how fast they play, and so on.

When you enter, you should hear the Note Sequencer already playing a loop. This linear sequence of pitches is called a melody. This melody is monophonic, meaning it plays one pitch at a time.

Use the Patchwork tool to adjust the Octave knob on the Sequencer. Just like for the Speaker, hold down the Fire button and aim up or down. When you do this, the same loop continues to play, but you'll hear it shift up or down in pitch.

Adjust the Rate carousel on the Sequencer. Again, the same loop continues to play, but at a different speed. Note the green vertical highlight on the grid. This shows which notes are currently playing, and travels faster or slower based on the Rate setting.

Next, change the Page knob to see and hear some different looping note patterns.

Finally, practice aiming at the spaces on the grid to add and remove notes from the pattern.

Shaping Sounds

This next group of rooms shows how you can use different Patchwork devices to transform your note sequences into a variety of sounds.

An audio generator is a type of device that turns notes from a Sequencer into sound that can play from a Speaker. Each audio generator processes notes in its own way, adding unique textures to the note input.

As you move into the next room, try using the controls on the Omega Synthesizer to customize your sound. Cycle through the Presets carousel to see how the knob positions affect the audio that this synthesizer produces. You can also use the Patchwork tool to experiment with the Resonance, Bite, Glide, Sync, Overdrive and Tone knobs on this synthesizer to discover how it can make the same note input sound very different.

In the next room, you can experiment with the Instrument Player device. This is an audio generator with pre-recorded samples of real instruments, that you can use to quickly change how your sequence sounds.

Cycle through the available samples on the carousel to hear your sequence played by different instruments!

This room also has a Note Sequencer! Experiment by stacking notes on top of each other to make chords. Stacking notes vertically creates polyphony.

Unlike the Instrument Player, the Omega Synthesizer is monophonic, meaning it can only play one note at a time. You can toggle the Monophonic option on your Note Sequencers depending on which audio generators you patch them to.

Hold the Fire button and drag a note across two or more grid columns to achieve a Sustain effect. You can drag to the onset of the next note, or to the edge of the grid if there are no other notes in that row.

Making Beats

You're coming up on the Drums room!

This room has a Drum Sequencer, and a Drum Player. Like the Note Sequencer plans out your notes, you can use the Drum Sequencer to plan out your beat pattern. The Drum Player, like the Instrument Player, has samples of different drum and percussion sounds. Some of those sounds are from real drums, and some are from synthesized drums.

The Drum Sequencer has five unique shapes along the right side, and a 4x4 grid that you can fill with the shapes of your choosing. Each grid cell can hold all five shapes at once, but use that feature sparingly to avoid a cacophony!

Add or remove some shapes to hear how that changes the beat.

Cycle through the Presets carousel to get a feel for the kinds of grooves you can get straight out of the box!

Walk over to the Drum Player and change the drum kit. You can adjust the Volume, Tune, and Shape knobs for each sample to customize your kit even further!

Adding a Chord Progression

The next room shows how to add interesting changes to your music.

Chords are groups of notes played simultaneously, and are usually used to accompany a melody.

A chord progression is a series of chords that are played one after another.

Browse the Presets carousel to try some chord progressions commonly found in Western music.

The Global toggle (set to On by default) will ensure that your Note Progressor syncs with the currently set chord progression. In music theory, Roman numerals are used to represent how far the notes are transposed from the root in a progression. The Maj: Jazzy chord progression, for example, will set knobs 1 through 4 to I - vi - ii - V respectively.

Each knob on the Note Progressor corresponds to a transposition of the note inputs. The I chord is the root, which means if the knob is set to I, the notes you input to the Progressor will play unchanged. On the Note Progressor’s knobs, up or down arrows next to the Roman numerals indicate when you’re transposing the notes up or down from the root. Experiment by turning knobs up or down to see what kinds of progressions you can come up with.

Adding Modulators

A Modulator is a type of patchwork device that can automatically adjust settings on other devices. Think of them like friendly robots that can turn knobs for you!

In this room, you'll use Low Frequency Oscillators or LFO modulators to continuously change the sound of the Omega Synthesizer.

The modulator on the left is already patched to the Volume knob on the synth. Adjust the Rate carousel on this modulator to hear how that changes the sound.

The modulator on the right isn't patched to anything. Modulator cables can be picked up and patched like other cables, but they need to be patched into device knobs and carousels instead of ports. Pick up the cable and patch it to the Bite knob.

Experiment with the controls on both modulators to explore the range of patterns you can create.

Adding Effects

The next two rooms will show you how to take your sound customization game even further!

Distortion Effect

The Distortion Effect device can simulate the warm sound of a signal being overdriven through an analog tube amp, or create an unsettling digital processing and warping sound.

Turn the Drive knob all the way up to see how crunchy you can get the music to sound.

The Mix knob will change the percentage of the distortion that is mixed into the original dry signal.

Echo Effect

The Echo Effect device repeats the incoming audio signal at a specified delay and feedback level. It can be used to fill out a thin synth sound, for instance, or to mimic familiar echo effects found in the world, like yelling into a canyon.

Adjust the Mix knob to 0.5 and turn up the Feedback. You'll immediately see how the amount of echo goes up.

Adjusting the Sync Timing carousel will bring the echoes closer together or further apart.

Jamming With Patchwork

Ready to put your skills to the test?

Enter the Jam Zone!

The towering device in the middle of the courtyard is the Music Manager. This device can change the tempo and the key of every Patchwork device placed in the level.

The courtyard has four sections:

• Bass
• Lead
• Drums
• Chord

No need to follow any particular order, trust your intuition!

Add notes to a sequencer, then select which instrument or kit will play those notes. Tweak the settings on the audio generators, then add or remove distortion and echo effects. Play around by adding modulators to different knobs and carousels.

Try creating patterns on multiple pages and enabling Auto-Page on the Sequencers to make your song longer.

Check out the Patchwork Club (6730-0905-0185) if you want even more control over sections of your track!