Tutorial 03 - Performance Drum Sequencing
Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2024 5:01 pm
Introduction
The final patch can be downloaded:
Following the previous tutorial, we learned about clocks, triggers, sequencers and the Drum Sampler module. This time we are going to have an introduction to the Drum Sequencer module, this will replace all the separate Seq Oct modules we used, and give us a full-screen interface, that can be used for jamming or performances.
Placing the Modules
Start a new patch, or remove all modules.
It is good practice to give the patch a name and save it at the start. On the Toolbar, press, File, Save as, Navigate to a suitable location, and give it a name.
Place the modules as shown in the image above. As previously mentioned this is the same as the last tutorial, but we have removed the Seq Oct Trigger modules and replaced them with a single Drum Sequencer module. This sequencer module comes in two parts, the module panel you see in the patch, and the full-screen interface. To have a look at the interface now, click on the "Drum Seq" tab, as the module is not connected in the patch yet, the controls will have no effect. Now we need to return the "Patch" tab to continue with building out the patch.
Connecting Audio Cables
Selecting the red cable from the toolbar, by pressing the coloured jack and selecting red. We connect the Out port on the three Drum Sampler modules to the first three In ports on the Mixer Eight module.
Connect the Out port of the Mixer Eight to the In port on the Audio In Out module, we now have the basic audio path complete, but let's add the Delay and Plate Reverb send connections as in the above image.
Connecting the other cabled
Using green cables, connect the 1/16 output of the Clock to the Drum Sequencer Clock input. Connect the resets on the Clock and Drum Sequencer modules. Next, we connect the top three Trigger ports to the In ports on the Drum Sampler modules.
Select blue cables. Connect the top three Level outputs on the Drum Sequencer to the Accent ports on the Drum Samplers.
The final connection is from the BPM outport on the Clock to the Time port on the Delay module.
Setting the module controls
The next stage is to adjust the knobs. This will just be to get a starting point, you are encouraged to come back once the patch is completed and experiment with these settings.
Let's select the samples to use for our drum pattern, On each Drum Sample module in turn, using the Drum knob set each top be Kick, Snare, Hats. You can use the sample knob to change the sound of each drum hit, this is a good knob to experiment with.
Each of the three Drum Sample modules needs the accent control reduced to the 12 o'clock position, to give an initial setting for the difference in level between a hit with and without accent.
On the Delay module turn the small Time attenuverter fully clockwise, to sync the delay to the BPM of the clock. With the large Time knob set at 0, we will have a 1/4 note delay, if we turn the knob clockwise and set a value of approximately 1 we will have an 1/8th delay. Turn the feedback knob counterclockwise to 9 o'clock. As we are using the delay as send return effect, turn the Dry / Wet knob fully clockwise.
On the Plate reverb module, turn the dry knob fully counterclockwise, the dry kob to about 9 o'clock. in the Reverb Tank section, turn the High knob to 1 o'clock, this is a high-cut filter. In the Pre-processor section turn the Delay to about 9 o'clock.
Top Parameter Bar
We shall assign some of the knobs in the patch to the top parameter bar, this will enable us to tweak our patch while using the full-screen Drum Sequencer.
At the top right corner of the app, is a large edit button, press this, and the top bar will turn red, indicating it is in edit mode. To add a parameter select a cell, it will turn bright red, then turn the parameter knob you wish to link. If you wish to remove a parameter from the top bar, while in edit mode, double press the knob.
We shall assign the following knobs
Clock - Reset button
Clock - Run button
Drum Sampler Kick - Sample
Drum Sampler Snare - Sample
Drum Samper Hat - Sample
Mixer Eight - Send A 02
Mixer Eight - Send B 02
Mixer Eight - Send A 03
Mixer Eight - Send B 03
Delay - Time
Delay - Feedback
Plate Reverb - Pre-Processor - Delay.
Plate Reverb - Reverb Tank - Size,
Plate Reverb - Reverb Tank - Decay,
Plate Reverb - Reverb Tank - High.
Jamming using the Drum Sequencer
To jam with the drum sequencer, select the "Drum Seq" tab.
The sequencer consists of eight rows, each being a track, with up to 16 steps, a mute button and a probability slider to play variations.
Let's start with a basic 4-to-the-floor kick, press the first step of each block on the top row, so we look like the following image.
Press the run button on the top parameter bar, you should hear the pattern play, a steady kick.
On the right of the track is a probability slider, slowly slide it to the left, and you will hear some of the beats are missing, moving the slider all the way to the left will result in no hits. Lifting your finger from the slider will return it to the centre position and play the pattern as programmed.
Move the probability slider to the right will start to play additional hits, this is good for fills. If you move the slider all the way to the right all hits will be played.
Probability can also be set on individual hits. If you drag horizontally on a cell it will change the chance of the hit being played. Each cell can also be dragged vertically this will set the velocity. Our current setup using the Drum Sampler modules uses an accent system like many popular drum machines, so just two levels, you may have to move the vertical level of a cell to about 1/4 height before to will hear the difference.
Let's use these features to add a snare pattern on track two, with some incidental ghost notes.
Copy the pattern on the second row of the sequencer from the image above, and note the steps that have been turned on but with a lowered velocity and probability. You may wish to adjust the accent control on the snare Drum Sampler to suit.
For the Hats we shall use another method, On the toolbar press on Random, then on any call in the third row, the more to the right you select, the more hits will be turned on.
Jam Time
Now you have done that hard work and set up this patch, now it is time to have some fun. Using the top parameters that we assigned earlier gives you a lot of control over the sounds, you can change the patterns manually, randomly, or experiment with the options in the toolbar for pattern manipulation.
The final patch can be downloaded:
Following the previous tutorial, we learned about clocks, triggers, sequencers and the Drum Sampler module. This time we are going to have an introduction to the Drum Sequencer module, this will replace all the separate Seq Oct modules we used, and give us a full-screen interface, that can be used for jamming or performances.
Placing the Modules
- 36011638-626B-444D-9BD0-BD2B9BDEF092_1_105_c.jpeg (175.36 KiB) Viewed 113 times
Start a new patch, or remove all modules.
It is good practice to give the patch a name and save it at the start. On the Toolbar, press, File, Save as, Navigate to a suitable location, and give it a name.
Place the modules as shown in the image above. As previously mentioned this is the same as the last tutorial, but we have removed the Seq Oct Trigger modules and replaced them with a single Drum Sequencer module. This sequencer module comes in two parts, the module panel you see in the patch, and the full-screen interface. To have a look at the interface now, click on the "Drum Seq" tab, as the module is not connected in the patch yet, the controls will have no effect. Now we need to return the "Patch" tab to continue with building out the patch.
Connecting Audio Cables
- 6EFC54B8-6D1B-426B-8C7A-897E213065BE_1_105_c.jpeg (191.34 KiB) Viewed 113 times
Selecting the red cable from the toolbar, by pressing the coloured jack and selecting red. We connect the Out port on the three Drum Sampler modules to the first three In ports on the Mixer Eight module.
Connect the Out port of the Mixer Eight to the In port on the Audio In Out module, we now have the basic audio path complete, but let's add the Delay and Plate Reverb send connections as in the above image.
Connecting the other cabled
- F2297335-38BB-4C48-B175-74943AC91A60_1_105_c.jpeg (201.04 KiB) Viewed 113 times
Using green cables, connect the 1/16 output of the Clock to the Drum Sequencer Clock input. Connect the resets on the Clock and Drum Sequencer modules. Next, we connect the top three Trigger ports to the In ports on the Drum Sampler modules.
Select blue cables. Connect the top three Level outputs on the Drum Sequencer to the Accent ports on the Drum Samplers.
The final connection is from the BPM outport on the Clock to the Time port on the Delay module.
Setting the module controls
The next stage is to adjust the knobs. This will just be to get a starting point, you are encouraged to come back once the patch is completed and experiment with these settings.
Let's select the samples to use for our drum pattern, On each Drum Sample module in turn, using the Drum knob set each top be Kick, Snare, Hats. You can use the sample knob to change the sound of each drum hit, this is a good knob to experiment with.
Each of the three Drum Sample modules needs the accent control reduced to the 12 o'clock position, to give an initial setting for the difference in level between a hit with and without accent.
On the Delay module turn the small Time attenuverter fully clockwise, to sync the delay to the BPM of the clock. With the large Time knob set at 0, we will have a 1/4 note delay, if we turn the knob clockwise and set a value of approximately 1 we will have an 1/8th delay. Turn the feedback knob counterclockwise to 9 o'clock. As we are using the delay as send return effect, turn the Dry / Wet knob fully clockwise.
On the Plate reverb module, turn the dry knob fully counterclockwise, the dry kob to about 9 o'clock. in the Reverb Tank section, turn the High knob to 1 o'clock, this is a high-cut filter. In the Pre-processor section turn the Delay to about 9 o'clock.
Top Parameter Bar
- F01F738E-94DC-4D41-9B76-3AA3DD68024F_1_105_c.jpeg (201.39 KiB) Viewed 113 times
We shall assign some of the knobs in the patch to the top parameter bar, this will enable us to tweak our patch while using the full-screen Drum Sequencer.
At the top right corner of the app, is a large edit button, press this, and the top bar will turn red, indicating it is in edit mode. To add a parameter select a cell, it will turn bright red, then turn the parameter knob you wish to link. If you wish to remove a parameter from the top bar, while in edit mode, double press the knob.
- EE5681DF-23B3-4B7F-B021-C274366295AB_1_105_c.jpeg (219.08 KiB) Viewed 113 times
We shall assign the following knobs
Clock - Reset button
Clock - Run button
Drum Sampler Kick - Sample
Drum Sampler Snare - Sample
Drum Samper Hat - Sample
Mixer Eight - Send A 02
Mixer Eight - Send B 02
Mixer Eight - Send A 03
Mixer Eight - Send B 03
Delay - Time
Delay - Feedback
Plate Reverb - Pre-Processor - Delay.
Plate Reverb - Reverb Tank - Size,
Plate Reverb - Reverb Tank - Decay,
Plate Reverb - Reverb Tank - High.
Jamming using the Drum Sequencer
- 6DC3327E-E1FB-4920-890F-2BA64A8DBA87_1_105_c.jpeg (144.85 KiB) Viewed 113 times
To jam with the drum sequencer, select the "Drum Seq" tab.
The sequencer consists of eight rows, each being a track, with up to 16 steps, a mute button and a probability slider to play variations.
Let's start with a basic 4-to-the-floor kick, press the first step of each block on the top row, so we look like the following image.
- 4A144A45-F8B1-4BA5-BE5C-44D8B4B86280_1_105_c.jpeg (145.64 KiB) Viewed 113 times
Press the run button on the top parameter bar, you should hear the pattern play, a steady kick.
On the right of the track is a probability slider, slowly slide it to the left, and you will hear some of the beats are missing, moving the slider all the way to the left will result in no hits. Lifting your finger from the slider will return it to the centre position and play the pattern as programmed.
Move the probability slider to the right will start to play additional hits, this is good for fills. If you move the slider all the way to the right all hits will be played.
Probability can also be set on individual hits. If you drag horizontally on a cell it will change the chance of the hit being played. Each cell can also be dragged vertically this will set the velocity. Our current setup using the Drum Sampler modules uses an accent system like many popular drum machines, so just two levels, you may have to move the vertical level of a cell to about 1/4 height before to will hear the difference.
Let's use these features to add a snare pattern on track two, with some incidental ghost notes.
- B413D07F-CF09-40EA-933D-F5C65E2FF1AF_4_5005_c.jpeg (48.64 KiB) Viewed 113 times
Copy the pattern on the second row of the sequencer from the image above, and note the steps that have been turned on but with a lowered velocity and probability. You may wish to adjust the accent control on the snare Drum Sampler to suit.
- D28BE022-88A4-463D-AF23-D4EDEC96CC4D_4_5005_c.jpeg (48.61 KiB) Viewed 113 times
For the Hats we shall use another method, On the toolbar press on Random, then on any call in the third row, the more to the right you select, the more hits will be turned on.
Jam Time
Now you have done that hard work and set up this patch, now it is time to have some fun. Using the top parameters that we assigned earlier gives you a lot of control over the sounds, you can change the patterns manually, randomly, or experiment with the options in the toolbar for pattern manipulation.