Tutorial 02 Simple Drum Sequencing
Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2024 8:57 am
The final patch
This is the final patch, and can be downloaded:
Place. Modules in patch from module browser
Open the Module Browser tab, and drag in the modules to match the image above.
The Clock module is a concept that may be unfamiliar to users coming from a DAW background where there is a timeline. Here we don’t have a timeline, instead, a series of triggers at a set interval are used to synchronize events. We shall connect the 1/16 output of the clock module to the trigger input on the drive the Seq Oct Trigger sequencer with a green cable.
The Seq Oct Trigger module is an eight-step trigger sequencer the interval of each step is determined by the clock input we have just connected to the trigger input, in our case 1/16 notes, the BPM can be adjusted on the clock module. When the module is initially placed in a patch all steps are active, so each time a trigger is received a trigger will be produced at the Out port.
The Drum Sample module has a predefined selection of classic drum samples, both electronic and acoustic. The Drum knob selects the family, Kick, Snare, Hat, etc. The Sample knob then selects a sound from within that bank. A kick sample will be selected when the module is placed in the patch. The sample will begin playing when the module receives a trigger, connect the Out port of the Seq Oct Trigger module to the trigger input of the Drum Sample module with a green cable. The final connection is to the audio module, this should be made with a red cable.
Now may be an ideal time to save your patch, by pressing File - Save As in the toolbar.
Playing the patch
Now it's time to listen to our patch, press the Run button on the Clock module, and you shall hear 1/16 kickdrums. Now it is time for you to experiment.
Turn off some of the steps on the Seq Oct Trigger module, they will turn dark, and the sound will not be triggered on those steps. Now you can make some rhythms.
Get a feel for the sounds available by using the Drum and Sample knobs on the Drum Sample module
When you have finished experimenting select a kick drum by turning the Drum knob fully counterclockwise, and selecting a sample of your choosing using the Sample knob.
Adding a mixer
A kick on its own is not very interesting, so let's expand the patch to use multiple sounds.
Before we add the second sound, let's add a Mixer Eight module to the second row, and move the Audio In Out module beside it. This will enable us to play multiple sounds.
The red cable that is currently connected to the In port on the Audio module should be moved to Channel 01 In port on the Mixer Eight, this can be done by dragging the end of the cable.
We also need to connect the output of the mixer to the Audio module, this should be done with a red cable.
You should now be able to play your patch the same as before.
Adding a snare
Open the Module library, and drag another Seq Oct Trig module and a Drum Sampler to the top row.
Using green cables, connect the 1/16 output on the Clock Module to the trigger on the new Sec Oct Trigger sequencer. Additional cables can be added to an output port by long clicking on the port, after a short pause you can start to drag your new cable. We can pick some steps to play on the sequencer maybe just one or two steps.
We also need a green cable to connect the Out of the Seq Oct Trigger to our newly placed Drum Sample module to trigger the playing of the sound. Turn the Drum knob until the display widget indicates a snare sound has been selected.
The Mixer Eight module is an audio mixer, it has similar controls to its physical counterpart, level, pan, high pass, aux and mute per channel, each channel in process, and summed to a stereo signal on the Out Port. We need to connect the output of the new Drum Sample module, to the In port on the second channel on the mixer.
We can press play and now listen to both the kick and the snare, but unless you have been really lucky the two sequencers will be playing different steps, so the patterns do not align as expected, we need to synchronise the start of the patterns, to do this we use a reset signal, that we connect to a central source, the Clock module. As reset signals are just triggers we shall use green cables to connect the reset output to both Seq Oct Trigger modules' reset inputs, remember to use a long click when you start a second cable. If we now press the reset button on the Clock module and then run, both the sequencers should be in sync, and you should hear the pattern as expected.
Adding the hat
Select the second Seq Oct Trigger module on the top row by pressing the panel, a white border will appear to indicate the selection. On the toolbar press Edit then clone with cables. A new module should now be on the top row with the reset and trigger input already connected.
To duplicate the Drum Sampler, select the second instance on the top row, and from the toolbar press Edit, Clone, this will duplicate the module leaving all the ports unconnected. Using the Drum knob select High Hats
Rearrange the two new modules to match the image above, to move a module long press on the module background panel, I prefer to long press on the title, then drag the module to the desired location.
Next, we need to connect a green cable from the output of the Seq Oct Trigger module to the Trigger input on the Drum Sample. We also need to insert a red cable from the Out on the Drum Sampler to the In on the mixer.
Before we press run we should press reset on the Clock module to resync all the sequencers, then press run
Experiment with the sound by adjusting the Sample knob on the Drum Sampler.
Experiment with the pattern by turn steps on and off, the length of the pattern can also be changed using the Length knob.
Accents
We have come a long way in this tutorial, but the beat could be improved by the use of accent notes, where some hits are louder than others. The Drum Sampler has an input for this, so we need an additional sequencer.
Select the last Sec Oct Trigger sequencer, then on the toolbar Edit, Clone with Cables.
On the new module turn all the steps off, then just select a single step that aligns with one on the hat sequencer.
On the Clock module, press reset then run, the pattern will start playing.
On the hat Drum Sample module, adjust the Accent knob to suit, my preference is most of the way counterclockwise.
Delay and Reverb
Nearly there but this beat will sound better when it is placed in a time and space, for this we will use reverb and delay.
Select the Mixer Eight module, and a white border will appear around the module.
Open the module library tab.
Double press on the Delay module, it shall be placed in the patch next to the mixer, and now be the currently selected module. Next double press the Plate Reverb module.
Next we shall connect the effects to the send returns of the mixer. Using red cables, connect Send A to the In port on the delay, Return A to the Out of the Delay, Send B to the In port on the Plate Reverb, and finally Return B to the Out port.
Lets start with some Delay, To sync the delay with our Clock, using a blue cable, connect the BPM output on the Clock to the Time input on the delay. Turn the small Time knob fully clockwise. Now we are in sync, we can turn the Dry / Wek knob fully clockwise. If we turn the large Time knob to have a value of about 1, we will have an 1/8th delay.
Om the Mixer, channel 03, we have the hats, Turn the knob marked "A" up a bit and you will hear the decay being applied to the hats.
The ultimate step, is some reverb. Let's adjust some knobs, turn the wet knob to 0.2, Dry fully counterclockwise, and the high knob on the third row to 2.6.
Adjust the knobs marked "B" on channels 1, 2, and 3 on the mixer, I would suggest turning these knobs slowly to taste.
Conclusion
We have learned a lot in this tutorial, the concept of a clock, trigger sequencers, and setting up a mixer with audio effects, we have used the small but effective Seq Oct Trigger modules, and these have many uses. In our next tutorial, we will be covering the full-screen Drum Sequencer, designed for jamming.
- A411FD3C-A8CD-4EAB-B874-8B288ED1D78A_1_101_o.jpeg (575.63 KiB) Viewed 123 times
Place. Modules in patch from module browser
- B02E77CD-B38A-4EBE-A0D4-B8C8D71766C4_1_105_c.jpeg (90 KiB) Viewed 115 times
Open the Module Browser tab, and drag in the modules to match the image above.
The Clock module is a concept that may be unfamiliar to users coming from a DAW background where there is a timeline. Here we don’t have a timeline, instead, a series of triggers at a set interval are used to synchronize events. We shall connect the 1/16 output of the clock module to the trigger input on the drive the Seq Oct Trigger sequencer with a green cable.
The Seq Oct Trigger module is an eight-step trigger sequencer the interval of each step is determined by the clock input we have just connected to the trigger input, in our case 1/16 notes, the BPM can be adjusted on the clock module. When the module is initially placed in a patch all steps are active, so each time a trigger is received a trigger will be produced at the Out port.
The Drum Sample module has a predefined selection of classic drum samples, both electronic and acoustic. The Drum knob selects the family, Kick, Snare, Hat, etc. The Sample knob then selects a sound from within that bank. A kick sample will be selected when the module is placed in the patch. The sample will begin playing when the module receives a trigger, connect the Out port of the Seq Oct Trigger module to the trigger input of the Drum Sample module with a green cable. The final connection is to the audio module, this should be made with a red cable.
Now may be an ideal time to save your patch, by pressing File - Save As in the toolbar.
Playing the patch
- 752F7A0E-C0D9-4F58-A028-73DB6DA08AC9_1_105_c.jpeg (89.53 KiB) Viewed 119 times
Now it's time to listen to our patch, press the Run button on the Clock module, and you shall hear 1/16 kickdrums. Now it is time for you to experiment.
Turn off some of the steps on the Seq Oct Trigger module, they will turn dark, and the sound will not be triggered on those steps. Now you can make some rhythms.
Get a feel for the sounds available by using the Drum and Sample knobs on the Drum Sample module
When you have finished experimenting select a kick drum by turning the Drum knob fully counterclockwise, and selecting a sample of your choosing using the Sample knob.
Adding a mixer
- B2707F51-EF76-4A58-8113-4F6BAF81DA88_1_105_c.jpeg (125.48 KiB) Viewed 118 times
A kick on its own is not very interesting, so let's expand the patch to use multiple sounds.
Before we add the second sound, let's add a Mixer Eight module to the second row, and move the Audio In Out module beside it. This will enable us to play multiple sounds.
The red cable that is currently connected to the In port on the Audio module should be moved to Channel 01 In port on the Mixer Eight, this can be done by dragging the end of the cable.
We also need to connect the output of the mixer to the Audio module, this should be done with a red cable.
You should now be able to play your patch the same as before.
Adding a snare
- BFC7358B-439A-423B-92DD-214A1A2901EB_1_105_c.jpeg (154.38 KiB) Viewed 123 times
Open the Module library, and drag another Seq Oct Trig module and a Drum Sampler to the top row.
Using green cables, connect the 1/16 output on the Clock Module to the trigger on the new Sec Oct Trigger sequencer. Additional cables can be added to an output port by long clicking on the port, after a short pause you can start to drag your new cable. We can pick some steps to play on the sequencer maybe just one or two steps.
We also need a green cable to connect the Out of the Seq Oct Trigger to our newly placed Drum Sample module to trigger the playing of the sound. Turn the Drum knob until the display widget indicates a snare sound has been selected.
The Mixer Eight module is an audio mixer, it has similar controls to its physical counterpart, level, pan, high pass, aux and mute per channel, each channel in process, and summed to a stereo signal on the Out Port. We need to connect the output of the new Drum Sample module, to the In port on the second channel on the mixer.
We can press play and now listen to both the kick and the snare, but unless you have been really lucky the two sequencers will be playing different steps, so the patterns do not align as expected, we need to synchronise the start of the patterns, to do this we use a reset signal, that we connect to a central source, the Clock module. As reset signals are just triggers we shall use green cables to connect the reset output to both Seq Oct Trigger modules' reset inputs, remember to use a long click when you start a second cable. If we now press the reset button on the Clock module and then run, both the sequencers should be in sync, and you should hear the pattern as expected.
Adding the hat
- B4E90EC0-D716-4179-883D-18833656900D_1_105_c.jpeg (181.43 KiB) Viewed 122 times
Select the second Seq Oct Trigger module on the top row by pressing the panel, a white border will appear to indicate the selection. On the toolbar press Edit then clone with cables. A new module should now be on the top row with the reset and trigger input already connected.
To duplicate the Drum Sampler, select the second instance on the top row, and from the toolbar press Edit, Clone, this will duplicate the module leaving all the ports unconnected. Using the Drum knob select High Hats
Rearrange the two new modules to match the image above, to move a module long press on the module background panel, I prefer to long press on the title, then drag the module to the desired location.
Next, we need to connect a green cable from the output of the Seq Oct Trigger module to the Trigger input on the Drum Sample. We also need to insert a red cable from the Out on the Drum Sampler to the In on the mixer.
Before we press run we should press reset on the Clock module to resync all the sequencers, then press run
Experiment with the sound by adjusting the Sample knob on the Drum Sampler.
Experiment with the pattern by turn steps on and off, the length of the pattern can also be changed using the Length knob.
Accents
- 8C645A9F-E1EE-4F89-8613-F79359ADC73F_1_105_c.jpeg (194.96 KiB) Viewed 121 times
We have come a long way in this tutorial, but the beat could be improved by the use of accent notes, where some hits are louder than others. The Drum Sampler has an input for this, so we need an additional sequencer.
Select the last Sec Oct Trigger sequencer, then on the toolbar Edit, Clone with Cables.
On the new module turn all the steps off, then just select a single step that aligns with one on the hat sequencer.
On the Clock module, press reset then run, the pattern will start playing.
On the hat Drum Sample module, adjust the Accent knob to suit, my preference is most of the way counterclockwise.
Delay and Reverb
- A411FD3C-A8CD-4EAB-B874-8B288ED1D78A_1_105_c.jpeg (223.46 KiB) Viewed 121 times
Nearly there but this beat will sound better when it is placed in a time and space, for this we will use reverb and delay.
Select the Mixer Eight module, and a white border will appear around the module.
Open the module library tab.
Double press on the Delay module, it shall be placed in the patch next to the mixer, and now be the currently selected module. Next double press the Plate Reverb module.
Next we shall connect the effects to the send returns of the mixer. Using red cables, connect Send A to the In port on the delay, Return A to the Out of the Delay, Send B to the In port on the Plate Reverb, and finally Return B to the Out port.
Lets start with some Delay, To sync the delay with our Clock, using a blue cable, connect the BPM output on the Clock to the Time input on the delay. Turn the small Time knob fully clockwise. Now we are in sync, we can turn the Dry / Wek knob fully clockwise. If we turn the large Time knob to have a value of about 1, we will have an 1/8th delay.
Om the Mixer, channel 03, we have the hats, Turn the knob marked "A" up a bit and you will hear the decay being applied to the hats.
The ultimate step, is some reverb. Let's adjust some knobs, turn the wet knob to 0.2, Dry fully counterclockwise, and the high knob on the third row to 2.6.
Adjust the knobs marked "B" on channels 1, 2, and 3 on the mixer, I would suggest turning these knobs slowly to taste.
Conclusion
We have learned a lot in this tutorial, the concept of a clock, trigger sequencers, and setting up a mixer with audio effects, we have used the small but effective Seq Oct Trigger modules, and these have many uses. In our next tutorial, we will be covering the full-screen Drum Sequencer, designed for jamming.