Tempo, swing and bars

Tempo

BPM opens the tempo editor, from 40 to 240 beats per minute. Tempo only changes how fast the pattern plays, not the pattern itself, so you can change it at any time.

Tap sets the tempo by feel. Tap along to the beat you want to match four or five times, and the tempo is set from the average gap between taps. Pause for two seconds to start over.

Length

Bars sets the loop length, from one to eight bars. The grid’s bar tabs follow.

One bar is where a new pattern starts, and usually where it should. Write one bar, duplicate it, then change the last one.

Swing

Swing delays every second step, so steps fall long-short instead of evenly. It is the setting that most changes whether a beat sounds programmed or played.

• 0% is straight: every step exactly on the grid.
• Low amounts loosen a stiff pattern without being obvious.
• 66%, the maximum, is close to a triplet feel.

Like tempo, swing affects playback only, so you can change it at any time.

Quantize

Quantize snaps live-played hits to the nearest step as they are recorded. With it off, hits are stored exactly where you played them. It is a settings row, under the sliders icon in the bottom bar.

Quantize applies as you record. It cannot fix a take afterwards, so decide before you play.

The metronome

The metronome plays a click to keep time. It helps most when recording the first part of a beat, when there is nothing else to play along to. Desktop has a Metro key for it; on a phone it is a settings row, beside Quantize.