Setup

Licensing & software

This device is an Official Serato Accessory. It requires a Serato DJ Pro-supported primary device to be connected alongside it. 

The links below show a complete list of supported primary hardware.

• Serato DJ Enabled Hardware
• Serato DJ Upgrade Ready Hardware

SLAB requires Serato DJ Pro 4.0.1 or above to connect.

Please ensure you have the latest version of Serato DJ Pro installed:

• Download Serato DJ Pro

Drivers & Firmware

SLAB must be running Firmware Version 1.10 or higher in order to connect to Serato DJ Pro. 

Connecting a unit with a version lower than this will display a notification stating an update is required, with a link to download the updater from the AlphaTheta website. 

You can download the firmware update directly from the SLAB support page here -  Download Firmware

SLAB does not require a driver on macOS or Windows

Overview

Dial Mode

The Dial and Arrow buttons can be used in 2 different modes: Library Browse or Beat Grid.

Browse

Pressing the DIAL MODE button will place the DIAL controls into Library Browse mode. 

Beat Grid

Pressing the FOCUS button will place the DIAL controls into Beat Grid Edit mode. 

Encoder Section

Pressing the ENCODER MODE button switches the Encoder controls between Stems Mode and FX Mode. The active Encoder Mode is shown on the device display.

Stems Mode

FX Mode

Touch Strip

Pressing the STRIP MODE button cycles the Touch Strip through its four available modes: Pitch Bend, FX1, Note Repeat, and Roll. The active Touch Strip Mode is shown on the device display.

 

Touch Strip Modes

Pitch Bend

The top half of the Touch Strip controls (+) Nudge forwards, the bottom half controls (-) Nudge backwards

When in Pitch Touch Strip mode, holding SHIFT will change the mode to Seek.

Seek turns the Touch Strip into a waveform timeline. Touching a point along the Touch Strip moves the playhead to the position in the track that corresponds with that location.

FX

Note Repeat

The Touch Strip is divided into 8 equal zones, each assigned to a Repeat Rate from 1/16 to 1 beat (including triplets). Touching any zone activates Note Repeat. While active, pressing a pad will repeat that pad at the interval assigned to the zone you’re touching. Use with Hot Cue or Sampler Pad Modes to create rhythmic repeated Pad triggers

Roll

The Touch Strip is divided into 5 equal zones, each assigned to a Roll length ranging from 1/16 beat up to 1 beat. Touching any zone instantly activates a Roll at that length. Releasing your finger stops the Roll and resumes normal playback.

Performance Pads

SLAB has 16 performance pads and is always in Combo Pad Mode. This means it can use two Pad Modes at the same time, split across the pad layout. The active Pad Modes are shown on the device display.

• Pads 1-8 = Pad Group 1

• Pads 9-16 = Pad Group 2

Each group can have a different Pad Mode assigned, allowing separate control and behaviour across the top and bottom rows.

Parameter Controls

SLAB includes Primary and Secondary parameter controls for additional pad mode functions:

• Primary Parameter: SHIFT + OCTAVE + / - 

• Secondary Parameter: SHIFT + SCENE SIZE + / - 

These parameters allow extra control over certain Pad Modes, depending on the selected mode.

Selecting Pad Modes

Pressing a single Pad Mode button will change the Pad Mode assigned to Pad Group 1 (Pads 1-8)

Pressing and holding a Pad Mode button, then pressing a secondary Pad Mode button, will change both Pad Groups. The Pad Mode button that is held first will be assigned to Pads 1-8, and the second Pad Mode button selected will be assigned to Pads 9-16.

Pad modes

HOT CUE mode: 

Press AUTO SET to enter Hot Cue Mode

Pads 1-8 / 9-16: Trigger Hot Cue Points. If a pad slot is empty, pressing will set a Cue Point. Holding SHIFT while pressing a populated pad deletes the Cue Point.

Primary Parameter Left / Right: Flip Record / Flip Start
Secondary Parameter Left / Right: Flip Loop / Flip On–Off

A Serato DJ Suite license or subscription is required for Flip Parameter controls

STEMS mode:

Press FAVOURITE to enter Stems Mode  

Pads 1-4 / 9-12: Toggle the four Stems On/Off(Vocal, Melody, Bass, Drums)
Pads 5-8 / 13-16 activate Stem Pad FX – Vocal Echo, Instrumental Echo, Instrumental Breaker, Drums Echo
In this mode, you can control features from the Stems Tab, allowing you to utilise real-time audio separation in Serato DJ Pro. 

Primary Parameter Left / Right: Toggle Acapella Stem / Toggle Instrumental Stem
Secondary Parameter Left / Right: Change Stem FX Echo beat value to 1/2 Beat / 1 Beat

NOTE: Using Stems is very CPU-intensive and may take some time to initialize. 

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT USING STEMS 

AUTO LOOP mode:

Press OCTAVE + or - to enter Auto Loop Mode  

Pads 1-8 / 9-16: Trigger Auto Loops of fixed sizes (range 1/8 Beat to 16 Beats). Press the same pad again to exit the loop.

Primary Parameter Left / Right: Decrease Loop size / Increase Loop size
Secondary Parameter Left / Right: Loop move left / Loop move right

MANUAL LOOP mode:

Press SCENE SIZE + or - to enter Manual Loop Mode  

Pad 1 / 9: Set Loop In point (press again to edit the In point)
Pad 2 / 10: Set Loop Out point (press again to edit the Out point)
Pad 3 / 11: Toggle Loop On / Off
Pad 4 / 12: Trigger Reloop
Pad 5 / 13: Select previously saved Loop slot
Pad 6 / 14: Select next saved Loop slot
Pad 7 / 15: Save a Loop to the selected slot

Primary Parameter Left / Right: Half Loop Length / Double Loop Length
Secondary Parameter Left / Right: Loop move left / Loop move right

ROLL mode: 

Press LIBRARY to enter Roll Mode

Pads 1-8 / 9-16: Activate a Loop Roll when held down. Releasing the pad exits the loop. Loop sizes match the sizes shown in the Autoloop area of Serato DJ. 

Primary Parameter Left: Shift Loop Range left (no Roll active), Half Loop Length (Roll active)
Primary Parameter Right: Shift Loop Range right (no Roll active), Double Loop Length (Roll active)

PITCH PLAY mode:

Press DELETE to enter Pitch Play Mode

Pads 1-8 / 9-16: Play a selected Cue Point at different pitch values.

Primary Parameter Left / Right: Shift Key range Up / Down
Secondary Parameter Left / Right: Key Shift Up / Down

SEE THE PITCH PLAY SECTION FOR MORE INFORMATION

A Serato DJ Suite license or subscription is required for Pitch Play Pad mode

SAMPLER mode:

Press SELECT ALL to enter Sampler Mode 

Pads 1-8 / 9-16: Trigger samples from the Serato Sampler. Holding SHIFT while pressing a pad stops playback or loads a sample if the slot is empty.

Primary Parameter Left / Right: Cycle Sample Banks Backwards / Forwards
Secondary Parameter Left / Right: Cycle Sampler Output Backwards / Forwards

SCRATCH BANK mode:

Press NOTE REPEAT to enter Scratch Bank Mode

Pads 1-8 / 9-16: Trigger the corresponding file to be loaded to the deck, allowing you to quickly load useful Scratch samples.

Primary Parameter Left / Right: Cycle Scratch Bank banks Backwards / Forwards

SEE THE SCRATCH BANK SECTION FOR MORE INFORMATION

Scratch Bank

Click the Scratch Banks panel toggle button (pictured below) in the top left-hand corner of the Serato DJ Pro user interface to reveal the Scratch Banks panel.

Here you can click and drag tracks into slots in the Scratch Banks panel, adjust preferences that are remembered when the respective Pad is triggered and loaded to a deck, and eject tracks. You can reveal those preferences (such as start point, Key lock on/off, and Repeat on/off) by toggling between Advanced and Simple view in the Scratch Banks panel, by clicking the toggle button (pictured below).

The left set of pads will load Scratch Bank assigned tracks to Deck 1, and the right set of pads will load assigned tracks to Deck 2. Holding SHIFT on your device, while pressing an assigned/loaded Pad, will reload the previously loaded track to the relevant virtual deck.

Pitch Play

There are 3 key ranges to choose from, and the following tables show the pitched key ranges (in Semitones) while using the 8 performance pads in Pitch Play mode.

The root keypad (0) is always lit white, which will play the cue point at its regular pitch. 
Use the Parameter Left & Right buttons (only available on certain devices) to move the Key Range up or down. 
In Pitch Play mode, pressing a pad will pitch the currently selected cue point up or down the following ranges:

Up Range: (Up 7 Semitones)

Middle Range: (Up 3/Down 4 Semitones)

Down Range: (Down 7 Semitones)

When Pitch Play mode is first enabled, the middle range is selected. Pitch Play mode will default back to the middle range if a new track is loaded. The selected range is recalled if another pad mode is selected, then
the user switches back to Pitch Play mode.

Pitch Play can only pitch one Cue point at a time. To change the selected Cue, hold the SHIFT button and press a performance pad where the cue point you want to select would be (as shown in the HOT CUE performance pad mode). 

While holding SHIFT, press the corresponding performance pad for:

The selected cue point defaults to Cue Point 1 on track load, even if instant doubled. A new cue point will be created if a pad with no cue point is selected. Deleting a cue point is not possible in Pitch Play mode. 

NOTE: Pitch Play mode is available once the Pitch 'n Time DJ Expansion has been activated in the Expansions window, under the My Account drop-down. Then ensure Pitch 'n Time DJ is checked in the Expansion Pack tab of the Setup screen.

Beat Jump

To activate Beat Jump, open the Setup screen, navigate to the DJ preferences tab and turn on “Show Beat Jump Controls”.

When you close the Setup screen, you will see Beat Jump controls underneath the existing Auto Loop values on each deck. Checking this box will turn on Beat Jump features in the deck area and let you control Beat Jump from your supported Serato DJ Pro hardware.

When the Beat Jump option is enabled, performance pad modes AUTO LOOP or ROLL mode (where applicable) will use the bottom row of 4 pads (pads 5-8) as Beat Jump controls. This is designed to mirror the change in the deck Auto Loop area (from 8 Auto Loop sizes to 4 Auto Loop sizes + Beat Jump controls).

MIDI

The MIDI feature in Serato DJ Pro allows you to remap Serato DJ Pro software functions to your primary Serato controller, interface or mixer. You can also assign controls to a secondary MIDI controller to further enhance your performance.

For more information on MIDI mapping with Serato DJ Pro, click here.

To remap your supported Serato device, open the SETUP screen and click the MIDI tab. If your Serato device supports hardware remapping, it will appear in the MIDI DEVICES list.

Select your connected device from the MIDI DEVICES list and check the Allow Serato Hardware Remapping option.

Once checked, the MIDI assign button at the top of the main Serato DJ Pro interface will become available for you to start remapping.

You can save, edit or delete MIDI presets in the MIDI tab of the SETUP screen. Clicking Restore Defaults will erase any custom mappings for all connected devices and revert their functions back to default.

Help

Show Tooltips

Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then Show Tooltips to enable Tooltips. Tooltips provide a handy way to learn the various features of Serato DJ Pro.

Move the mouse over a section of the software to bring up a context-sensitive tooltip that describes the feature.

Click on the Help button again to turn off Tooltips.

Show Shortcut Keys

Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then click Show Shortcut Keys to launch a pop-up window displaying shortcut keyboard combinations.

These shortcuts can help you perform various actions quickly, such as triggering specific deck functions, controlling playback, or navigating the library.

Watch Tutorials

Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then Watch Tutorials to launch
your default internet browser and watch tutorials to help you get familiar with Serato DJ Pro.

Get Support

Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then Get Support to launch your default internet browser and navigate to the Serato DJ Pro knowledge base, where you can find helpful articles and guides on Serato DJ Pro. Alternatively, type keywords in the Search Help box to search the Serato DJ Pro knowledge base for specific, related topics.