Tap this button along with the beat, four or more times, and the song tempo follows your taps. Stop for two seconds and the next tap starts counting again. Handy when you know how fast a song should feel but not its number.
Song settings
Delay The delay is an echo: it plays back what you hear a little later, again and again, like shouting in a canyon. The echoes line up with the beat.
Bounce Straight keeps every echo in the middle. Ping-pong bounces them from side to side: the first echo comes from the left, the next from the right, then left again, so the sound seems to fly around your head. Best on headphones.
Reverb The reverb makes it sound like the music is playing in a room, a hall or a huge cave, with the sound bouncing off the walls and ringing on after each note.
Chorus The chorus makes a sound wider and richer by adding copies of it that drift slightly in and out of tune, like a choir instead of one singer. Switched to Flanger, it makes a swooshing, jet-plane sweep instead. Each instrument has its own send to it.
Type Chorus adds copies of the sound that drift slightly in and out of tune, so one instrument sounds like several playing together, wide and shimmery. Flanger is the same idea made shorter and fed back on itself: a metallic, swooshing sweep, like a jet plane flying over.
Sends Sends choose how much of each instrument goes into the echo, the room sound and the chorus. Off keeps that instrument dry; turn one up to put it in the effect. The synth sends cover the loop pads too.
Sidechain Sidechain makes the synth duck out of the way every time the kick drum hits, then swell back up, so the whole song pumps and breathes with the beat. It's the classic house and trance sound, and it keeps the kick punchy instead of buried under pads and bass. It follows the drums' kick wherever it plays: the drums' own Play, the song, and beats you preview in the Loop Browser.
Bitcrusher The bitcrusher makes the whole song sound like it's coming out of an old computer or game console: it rounds the sound off into a few steps, adding grit and fizz. The synth's sounds (in FX) and the drums (in Kit) have their own too.
Master The last stop before your speakers, for the whole song: a compressor that glues everything together, a DJ filter for sweeps, then a limiter that is always on and stops the loudest peaks from distorting when lots of sounds, echoes and drive pile up.
Compressor The compressor evens out how loud the whole song is, turning the loudest moments down and the quiet ones up, so the drums and synth sound "glued" together like a finished record. Off leaves the song as it is.
Tracks 104 bars
8
bars
16
bars
8
bars
8
bars
16
bars
8
bars
8
bars
8
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16
bars
8
bars
How loud the synth is overall, loops included.
Pad 1
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Pad 2
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Pad 3
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Pad 4
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Pad 5
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Pad 6
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Pad 7
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
Which bar of this pad's loop to start from when it begins in this section. 1 plays from the beginning; 5 skips straight to the second half of an eight-bar loop. It wraps back to bar 1 at the end, or stops there if the pad plays once. A pad carried over from the previous section keeps its place instead: this setting doesn't restart it.
How loud the drums are overall, compared with the synth and the loops.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Fill Plays this section's drum pattern with its fill on the last bar: a drum fill that leads into the next section, like a drummer's roll before the chorus. Off keeps the pattern all the way through. Write the fill on the drums' Steps tab: pick the pattern, then Fill.
Synth filteroct Opens or closes the filter on every synth sound at once, the keys and all the loop pads, by up to 4 octaves each way. 0 leaves each sound as it is; below 0 makes them darker and more muffled, above 0 brighter. Ramp it up over a section for a build-up that opens the sound, or down for a breakdown.
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Master filter A DJ filter on the whole song. Slide left and the sound gets darker and more muffled, as if it's coming through a wall, until only the bass is left; slide right and the bass drains away, leaving it thin and tinny. Sweep it slowly for build-ups and breakdowns, and drag it back to the middle (off) for the drop.
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Synth to delay% How much of the synth (and the loop pads) goes into the echo.
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Synth
Tap an empty pad to record, tap again to loop it · the pencil edits its notes · the corner arrow makes it play once A pad normally loops: it plays its notes over and over until you stop it. Click the arrow in a pad's corner (it turns into a 1) and the pad plays once instead, then stops by itself: right for a riser, a crash of sound or a one-off effect. In the arrangement it plays once from the start of each section it's in, and stays quiet for the rest.
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Octave
4
Arp The arpeggiator plays the notes you hold one at a time instead of all together, in a pattern: Up goes low to high, Down high to low, Up-Down climbs and comes back, and Random jumps around. It keeps in time with the song.
Play with A–; keys · Z/X change octave · 1–8 trigger loop pads · hold keys to arpeggiate
Drums
Every pattern has a fill: one more bar that a section can play last instead, for a drum fill into the next section (turn Fill on in the arrangement). Pattern shows the pattern, Fill its fill. A fill starts as the same as its pattern's last bar; change it (a snare roll, a tom run, a crash) and it becomes its own. Reset makes it the same again. While the drums play on their own, they loop whichever one you're editing.
Editing
A Click a square to turn a drum hit on or off. The lit squares play when the beat reaches them, from left to right. How hard each drum is hit: click a lit square to go from 100% (loud) to 75, 50 and 25% (soft). Quiet "ghost" hits between the loud ones make a beat feel groovy and human. Softer squares look dimmer. Click a lit square to make that hit extra loud and punchy (it gets a red dot). Accents on the big beats help the rhythm stand out. The chance that a hit plays each time round: click a lit square to go from 100% (always) to 75, 50 and 25%. Lower chances make the beat change a little every time, like a real drummer who doesn't play exactly the same thing twice. Squeezes 2, 3 or 4 quick hits into one square instead of one, like a tiny drum roll. Click a lit square to go through them. Great for trap hi-hats and build-ups. Gives one hit its own Tune and Decay, just for that square: click a square to pick it (it plays), then move the sliders. Tune the toms on each step to play a melody, give a long 808 kick a different note on each hit for a bassline, or cut a single open hi-hat short. Locked squares get a blue dot; Clear gives the hit back its track's own settings from the Kit tab.
Euclid Spreads a number of hits as evenly as it can over a number of steps, the way drummers around the world have for centuries: 3 hits over 8 steps is the "tresillo" of Latin music, 5 over 8 a Cuban "cinquillo". Rotate slides them later. The pattern repeats to fill every bar, and Apply writes it into the track you picked.
Length How many squares this track plays before it starts over. Every track plays the whole pattern by default; a shorter one loops on its own and drifts against the others, like hi-hats over 12 squares against a kick over 16, so the beat changes from bar to bar before it lines up again. Squares past the end are dimmed and stay silent. Everything starts over when a new pattern or section starts.