Chapter 4
The drum track
16 sounds on the white keys, 37 kits, ghost notes, ratchets, the grid and kits of your own.
The 16 drum sounds
Track 4, the orange one, is a drum machine. Select it with ALGORITHM and every white key plays a different drum sound, from the kick on the lowest F to the cowbell on the top G. The layout is the same in every kit, so your fingers learn it once.
| Key | Note | Sound | Also on |
|---|---|---|---|
| KEY 1 | F3 | KICK | F#3 |
| KEY 2 | G3 | KICK 2 | G#3 |
| KEY 3 | A3 | SNARE | A#3 |
| KEY 4 | B3 | CLAP | — |
| KEY 5 | C4 | HAT (closed) | C#4 |
| KEY 6 | D4 | OPEN HAT | D#4 |
| KEY 7 | E4 | PEDAL HAT | — |
| KEY 8 | F4 | RIM | F#4 |
| KEY 9 | G4 | SNARE 2 | G#4 |
| KEY 10 | A4 | LOW TOM | A#4 |
| KEY 11 | B4 | HI TOM | — |
| KEY 12 | C5 | CRASH | C#5 |
| KEY 13 | D5 | RIDE | D#5 |
| KEY 14 | E5 | SHAKER | — |
| KEY 15 | F5 | CONGA | F#5 |
| KEY 16 | G5 | COWBELL | — |
Key combinations
- Tap BLACK KEY
- Plays the same sound as the white key just to its left, so two fingers can alternate on one sound.On the drum track
The black keys aren’t extra sounds: each one repeats the white key on its left. That gives you two keys per sound for fast rolls — alternate KEY 5 and C#4 for a hat run, or KEY 1 and F#3 for a double kick.
- Choke
- As on a real kit, closing the hi-hat cuts off an open one: a closed HAT or a PEDAL HAT stops a ringing OPEN HAT.
- Six drum voices
- The drum track has six voices of its own, apart from the eight the synth tracks share (Polyphony and voice modes). When all six are busy, a new hit first reuses the voice of the same sound if it is still ringing — a hat cuts the previous hat, as on a drum machine — and otherwise takes the oldest voice, with the kick always taken last. Since 2.8.3 that keeps the kick from dropping out of a busy beat.
Ghost notes, hard hits and ratchets
The FM-1’s keys have no velocity (Levels and force: dynamics without velocity), so on the drum track the two OCT keys — which shift the octave on a synth track — become dynamics keys instead. Hold one while you play and the hits come out softer or harder, and are recorded that way.
Key combinations
- OCT- + KEY
- Plays and records the hit as a GHOST note.On the drum track
- OCT+ + KEY
- Plays and records the hit as a HARD hit.On the drum track
The four levels
| Level | How to get it |
|---|---|
GHOST | Hold OCT- while you hit, or set it in the sequencer |
SOFT | Set it in the sequencer |
NORM | Just play — this is the level of a normal hit |
HARD | Hold OCT+ while you hit, or set it in the sequencer |
Softer hits are darker as well as quieter, so a ghost snare sounds like a drum played gently rather than a turned-down copy. In the sequencer you change a hit’s level with KNOB 4 on the DRUMS grid (The DRUMS screen) or with SEQ held on the step (The SEQ layer: steps under your fingers); the grid shows levels as shades.
A ratchet repeats a hit inside its own step — ×1 (a single hit) up to ×4 — for flams, rolls and stuttering hats. There are two ways to make them:
- Record a roll: hold ARP and hold a drum key while recording, and the note-repeat roll is written as ratchets. A 1/32 roll on a 1/16 track becomes ×2 on every step. Add OCT- or OCT+ for ghost or hard rolls (Note repeat).
- Set them by hand: hold SEQ, hold the step and turn KNOB 3 (The SEQ layer: steps under your fingers), or use
RATCHETon the DRUMS grid’s step sheet (The step sheet: slide, nudge, fill, move, copy, delete).
The 37 drum kits, and yours
With the drum track selected, PRESETS changes the kit instead of the sound. You can also pick it with KNOB 1 on the DRUMS kit page (The DRUMS screen) or from the web editor. Swapping kits never touches the pattern, so you can audition a beat through every kit while it plays.
Key combinations
- Turn PRESETS
- Changes the drum kit; the pattern stays as it is.On the drum track
| Numbers | Kits | What they are |
|---|---|---|
| 1–5 | ACOUSTIC, DEEP, TIGHT, BRIGHT, DUST | A sampled studio kit made from CC0 recordings, and four treatments of it |
| 6–37 | 808, 909, 606, 80S, VINTAGE, TRAP, DRILL, BOOMBAP, LO-FI, PHONK, HOUSE, D.HOUSE, TECHNO, MINIMAL, ELECTRO, DISCO, GARAGE, JUNGLE, DUBSTEP, DEMBOW, AMAPIANO, AFRO, LATIN, TRIBAL, SYNTHWV, CHIP, ARCADE, GLITCH, INDUSTR, HYPER, AMBIENT, JAZZ | 32 synthesised kits, each with 16 sounds of its own; they take almost no memory |
| 38–41 | USR1, USR2, USR3, USR4 | Your own sampled kit in one sample slot, about 7.4 s (Your own sampled drum kits) |
| 42 | USR3+4 | A bigger kit of yours spread over two slots, about 15 s |
| 43–46 | SYN1, SYN2, SYN3, SYN4 | Your own synthesised kits from the editor’s Drum synth page, shown under the name you gave them (Your own synthesised kits (SYN1–SYN4)) |
Where to start, by style
| Style | Kits |
|---|---|
| Hip hop and trap | 808, BOOMBAP, LO-FI, PHONK (with a melodic cowbell), TRAP, DRILL (UK drill) |
| House, techno and club | 909, HOUSE, D.HOUSE, TECHNO, MINIMAL, 606 (acid), ELECTRO, DISCO |
| UK and bass music | GARAGE, JUNGLE (drum & bass), DUBSTEP |
| Latin and African | DEMBOW (reggaeton), AMAPIANO (with a log drum), AFRO (afrobeat), LATIN, TRIBAL |
| Retro and 80s | 80S, VINTAGE (rhythm box), SYNTHWV (synthwave) |
| Games and experimental | CHIP (chiptune), ARCADE, GLITCH, INDUSTR (industrial), HYPER (hyperpop) |
| Ambient and jazz | AMBIENT, JAZZ (brushes) |
| Acoustic | ACOUSTIC (studio), DEEP (soft), TIGHT (punchy), BRIGHT, DUST (dusty) |
In the synthesised kits, KICK 2 and SNARE 2 are sounds in their own right rather than retuned copies, and each kit has its signature sounds — TRAP’s long 808, AMAPIANO’s log drum, TECHNO’s rumble. Every kit is level-matched, so switching kits doesn’t make the drums jump out of the mix.
The DRUMS screen
The DRUMS screen is where you program and mix the drum track without recording. Select the drum track, then tap SEQ or EDIT on the TRACKS screen. It has three pages — grid, kit and sound — and each further tap of SEQ or EDIT moves to the next one; SELECT walks back and forth through them.
Key combinations
- Tap SEQ
- Opens the DRUMS screen; tap again for the next page.On the TRACKS screen, drum track selected
- Tap EDIT
- Opens the DRUMS screen; tap again for the next page.On the TRACKS screen, drum track selected
- Tap WHITE KEY
- Sets that step for the chosen sound, or clears it if it is set.On the DRUMS grid
- Tap BLACK KEY
- Chooses the sound to program, silently; the same key again picks the other sound of its pair.On the DRUMS grid
- Tap OCT-
- Shows the previous 16 steps.On the DRUMS grid
- Tap OCT+
- Shows the next 16 steps.On the DRUMS grid
The grid page shows the 16 sounds against 16 steps, levels as shades and ratchets as notches. The white keys are the steps of the sound you have chosen, and they light where that sound plays. Setting a step is silent — you hear it when the pattern reaches it. OCT- and OCT+ page through steps 1–16, 17–32, 33–48 and 49–64, as far as the track’s length, wrapping round.
SOUND
Chooses the sound (lane) to program; heard only with DRUM PREVIEW on.
KNOB 1Range The 16 drum sounds
Black keys on the grid
| Black key | Chooses | Black key | Chooses |
|---|---|---|---|
| F#3 | KICK, then KICK 2 | F#4 | OPEN HAT |
| G#3 | SNARE, then SNARE 2 | G#4 | LOW TOM, then HI TOM |
| A#3 | RIM | A#4 | CRASH |
| C#4 | CLAP | C#5 | RIDE |
| D#4 | HAT, then PEDAL | D#5 | SHAKER, then CONGA |
| F#5 | COWBELL |
The kit page shows 16 pads that flash as they play, and the keys play the pads. Its knobs pick the kit and set the drum track’s level, reverb send and pan. The third page tunes each sound (Tuning and shaping each drum). On any page, PRESETS changes the kit, SAVE opens the SONG screen and HOME goes back to TRACKS.
KIT
The drum kit, as PRESETS chooses it.
KNOB 1Range 1–46
Tuning and shaping each drum
The third page of the DRUMS screen lets you retune any of the 16 sounds and change how long it rings, whatever kit is loaded. Play a key (or turn KNOB 1) to choose the sound — you hear it, its pad gets a frame, and any sound you have changed carries a small square.
SOUND
Chooses the sound to edit, and plays it. A key does the same.
KNOB 1Range The 16 drum sounds
What DECAY can do
| Kit type | Kits | DECAY |
|---|---|---|
| Synthesised | 808, 909 and the rest of 6–37, plus SYN1–SYN4 | Changes the sound itself, shorter or longer |
| Sampled | ACOUSTIC, DEEP, TIGHT, BRIGHT, DUST and USR | Can only shorten it, with a fade; +3 plays the sample untouched |
Hats, shakers and claps have no real pitch, so on the synthesised kits TUNE shapes their brightness instead (2.8): turn it down for a duller, darker hat, up for a crisper one.
Where the settings are kept
- With the project, and separately with each section A–D, so every section can be tuned its own way.
- Through kit changes: switch kit and your tuning stays.
- Until
NEW, which puts every sound back to 0. - Projects saved before these settings existed open with every sound untouched, exactly as the kit defines it.
Your own sampled drum kits
The FM-1 has four sample slots, USR1–USR4, each holding about 7.4 s at 22 kHz mono. A slot holds either an instrument for a synth track (Your own samples) or a drum kit — your choice. A sensible split is two slots for instruments and the last two joined as one big kit, USR3+4. You build the kit in the web editor (The web editor), on the Drum kit page.
- Drop a WAV on any of the 16 pads, named after the drum sounds (KICK, KICK 2, SNARE … COWBELL). To load several at once, use Choose files: the editor places them by file name — “kick” or “bd” on KICK, then “snare”, “hh”, “open”, “crash” and so on, with a second kick going to KICK 2. Click a pad’s waveform to hear it.
- Adjust each pad: Pitch (up to 12 semitones either way), Gain, and Length (a cut ends with a short fade, so it doesn’t click). Match levels evens the kit out as the ear hears it, turning the loud pads down — then fine-tune by ear.
- Choose where it goes: USR3+4 (about 15 s; the editor splits the sounds over the two slots itself) or a single slot from USR1 to USR4 (about 7.4 s). Each choice shows what is there now and what a send would replace, and a meter shows how much time you are using.
- Too long? Trim the long sounds — crashes and open hats — or press Fit the slot.
- Name the kit, press Send, then Use … on the drum track to select track 4 with your kit. You can also pick it later with PRESETS on the drum track, like any kit (The 37 drum kits, and yours).
On the FM-1, your kit behaves like a factory one: steps, levels, ratchets, fill conditions, the DRUMS grid, the keys, MIDI on the drum channel (each note plays its lane), the filter, the slicer and mutes all work, and the closed hat still chokes the open one. A pad you left empty is silent, as is an empty slot.
Your own synthesised kits (SYN1–SYN4)
The synthesised kits are built from parameters, not recordings, and the web editor’s Drum synth page opens them all up. You edit four kits of your own, SYN1–SYN4 (kits 43–46). Until you store anything they are copies of 808, 909, TRAP and TECHNO. Every change plays on the FM-1 straight away.
- Pick SYN1, SYN2, SYN3 or SYN4 and give it a name of up to 8 letters — the DRUMS screen shows it. To begin from another kit, choose it under Start from and press Copy; any of the 32 synthesised kits will do.
- Pick one of its 16 sounds: KICK, SNARE, CLAP, HAT, OPEN HAT, LOW TOM, HI TOM, CRASH, RIDE, SHAKER, CONGA, RIM, COWBELL, CLAVE, KICK 2 or SNARE 2. It plays as you pick it; Play plays it again, and Play on change plays it after every edit.
- Change its values: drag a tile up or down, or move a bar. Double-click a value to put back what the starting kit had.
- Use on the drum track sets the drum track’s kit to the one you are editing. Store on the FM-1 keeps all four kits in flash — stop the song first.
The values, by group
| Group | Values | What they shape |
|---|---|---|
| Tone | WAVE (OFF, SINE, TRI, SQUARE, FM, BELL), PITCH and FINE, BEND and B.TIME, HOLD and DECAY, LEVEL, 2ND and 2ND LVL, CLICK | The pitched body. BEND is how many semitones the pitch drops from at the hit and B.TIME how fast; HOLD is the time at full level before DECAY; 2ND adds a second partial, like a drum head’s second mode; CLICK is the beater or stick attack. |
| Noise | NOISE (OFF, WHITE, METAL, CYM, CHIP), CLAP, LEVEL, HOLD, DECAY, HPF, CHIP | The noisy part. METAL is the 808’s six square waves, CYM mixes metal and white, CHIP is 8-bit noise whose clock the CHIP value sets. CLAP makes three bursts before the tail; HPF high-passes the noise. |
| Filter | FILTER (OFF, LP, BP, HP), ON, CUTOFF, RES, ENV | A resonant filter on the noise, or with ON set to ALL, on the tone as well. ENV starts the cutoff some octaves higher and lets it fall with the pitch. |
| Out | DRIVE, LEVEL | Saturation, and the sound’s output level in dB. |
Two more controls act on the whole kit rather than one sound: CRUSH takes bits away and S&H lowers the sample rate.