DYNAMIC DRUMS Thank you for purchasing Dynamic Drums, the program that turns your Amiga into a professional drum machine. We at New Wave Software are confident that you will find many hours of enjoyment using this program. To load the program on a: DUAL DRIVE AMIGA: Place disk one in drive 0 an disk two in drive 1, and then reset the Amiga. Then double lick the Dynamic Drums disk one (DD1) icon, and proceed to double click the snare drum program icon. The program's master screen will appear shortly. SINGLE DRIVE AMIGA: Insert disk one into the disk drive and reset the Amiga. Click the Dynamic Drums disk icon, and then the snare drum icon. Dynamic Drums will then load and ask youto insert the second disk, DD2. DRUMKITS Once the program has loaded, you must select a drumkit. A drumkit is a collection of coordinated drum samples that are used to produce rhythms. Included are a variety of kits that reflect today's popular music styles. A large requester box will appear in the center of the screen and you can select any one of the drumkits displayed therein. Use the slider located on the right side of the requester to browse through the list of various drumkits. When the one you wish to select is on the screen, point to it, and its name will appear in the file box located in the bottom of the requester. To verify your selection, click on the lower-left OK gadget (by pointing to it and pressing the left mouse button), and the drumkit will load. It takes a little while to load so be patient. DRUM KEYBOARD WINDOW Once your drumkit is loaded each of the drums in the kit is assigned a key on the numeric keypad of the Amiga keyboard. The drum names are displayed on the screen in the Drum Keypad Window. It is now funtime!! Press the keys and "play the drums". Don't worry if you don't sound like a pro yet, we'll fix that later. Wasn't that fun?? As you may have noticed, there are three keys that do not make sounds when you press them. They are option keys that are used in conjunction with the number keys to give the sounds a more varied range. For example, press the number key of your choice and then press it again, but this time hold the Accnet (ENTER) key while doing so. You should notice a slight difference in the sound of the drum. This is its accented version, which becomes useful when creating patterns and songs to create a more varied and realistic sound. The Alternating Accent key (-) works on the same principle as the accent key, but accents only every other beat. The Repeat key (.) does not come into use until you begin creating patterns. PATTERNS Patterns are short rhythms that are usually later combined to make a song. Before you attempt to make your own patterns, it would help to load an example. Pull down the Pattern menu and select Load Pattern. (If you are unfamiliar with Amiga menus, refer to the Introduction to Amiga book supplied with your computer.) A requester will then appear. Select any of the example patterns and click on the OK gadget. In the pattern window you will see a collection of blue and white dots on a black background, this is the Graphic Pattern Display. It is like a graph, with time (in beats) represented horizontally and the number of the drum being played at that instant represented vertically. Move the cursor to the PLAY gadget, located directly above the Graphic Pattern Display and click. Notice the moving white bar that displays which part of the pattern is being played at that precise moment. Use the STOP gadget to stop the pattern from repeating. At this time, you may load other example patterns to familiarize yourself with these concepts. One of the more important aspects of a patterns' sound is the tempo. Changing the tempo is very easy, and can be done while a pattern is playing or recording. Simply move the pointer over the tempo slider and hold the left mouse button. Move the mouse to the left to slow the tempo, or to the right to speed it up, then release the button. The tempo will immediately change. If the tempo still isn't perfect, repeat the process. Note the change in the beats per minute (BPM) indicator. This number is the standard measure of tempo used by musicians. Notice the graphic representation of a metronome located directly above the BPM indicator. It moves back and forth in relation to the tempo (i.e. the faster the tempo the faster the metronome moves). Avove that there is a numer that also changed with the tempo and more importantly can give you a "count in" that allows you to anticipate the start of the next measure. There is actually room for ten different patterns in the Dynamic Drums system. Patterns are stored in pattern banks A-J, as displayed at the top of the pattern window. The currently selected pattern is highlighted in white. Until now we have not changed the default value of "A", and loaded all of our examples into that single bank. It is very easy to change banks. Just click in the box containing the letter of the bank you wish to select. If there is a pattern in this bank it will then be displayed in the Graphic Pattern Display. Ecah bank also has its own Time Signature, although the Quantizing and Repeat values are global, and affect all the patterns. One thing you will need to do before you begin to record your own pattern is clear the existing patten in the bank you have selected. If it is already empty this procedure is unnecessary, but good experience so that when you later need to clear patterns, you will know how. To clear a pattern, pull down the Pattern menu and select the Clear Pattern option. Don't be alarmed when the screen turns red, Dynamic Druyms does this during any operations that erase, so that you don't accidentally erase something important. Now, verify that you do want to erase the pattern, and the computer will complete its task. The length of the pattern is dictated by the time signature (Time Sgnt). This length contributes to the overall fell of the pattern. Most popular music today is written in 4/4 time. 8/4 time is provided because it is the same as two 4/4 patterns strung together making the pattern loop sound less repetative. A signature of 3/4 or 6/4 is useful when creating waltz-type rhythms. Quantizing, also known as automatic error correction, is great for beginners because it rounds the timing of the beats to the nearest quarter, eighth, sixteenth, or thirty-second note. So, for example, if you were entering bass and snare drums on the quarter notes you could set Quantizing to 1/4. Then no matter how far off-beat you hit the keys they will be recorded as perfect quarter notes. As your experience progresses you can adjust the Quantizing to match your rhythmic skill. The Repeat key (.) is useful when you need a drum to repeat at a specific interval. Its rates are dnoted by the note value in the box labeled Repeat. Click this box to change its value, and use the Repeat key the same way you use the Accent and AltAcc keys, by holding it down simultaneously with the drum you wish to have repeat. RECORDING PATTERNS You now have enough background to start working on creating your own patterns. This is a very difficult concept to explain on paper. It is easier if you can listen to how a pattern is assembled. That's why we have included and instructional cassette that will help you. Whether you finish reading this section, or stop and listen to the tape is up to you but we strongly suggest you use the tape, because a few beats are worth a thousand words. Move the pointer to the RECORD gadget and click. You will now hear the metronome keeping a steady beat. This is provided to assist you with the timing and placement of your own beats. Once you have established a rhythm in your pattern, you may then disable the audible metronome by clikcing on the box labeled metronome to OFF. You may now, or at any time, adjust the tempo to a rate you are comfortable with, or that sounds good. The same goes for Quantizing (beginners should use the 1/8 or 1/4 setting) and Repeat values. For now, set the Time Signature to 4/4 time. Patterns are usually entered one at a time, and are "played" into the computer using the metronome as a rhythmic guide. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, the best part of playing drums on a computer is that you can correct or erase your mistakes and keep reworking a rhythm until its perfect. Entering the bass drum portion is a good way to start recording your first pattern. Press the zero key on the numeric keypad when the pattern pointer and corresponding audible clicks mark the odd beats (i.e. 1 and 3). You will only need to play through the pattern one time. After that the drum beats are entered into the pattern's memory bank and will repeat so that you may layer more drum beats over what you have. If you made any mistakes you can erase all occurances of any drum by holding down the F10 key with the key of the drum you wish to be erased. You can then re-enter the beats. Now you can add the snare drum. Try to press the 1 key when the metronome marks the even beats of 2 and 4. Again, if you make mistakes use the F10 key to erase and try again. That sounds good but kind of thin, so add the icing on the cake, a fast pulsing high-hat rhythm. This is an instance where the Repeat key comes in handly. Set its value to 1/16 by clicking on its gadget, then hold the Repeat key (.) down while holding the 6 key down. Don't let go until the pattern has cycled once. Congratulations you have now finished your first basic drum pattern !! You can now expand on what you have learned and experiment with other drums like claps, toms, bongos, cymbals or any other sound that is contained in the drumkit you have loaded. Don't forget to also experiment using accents and alternating accents in your patterns. Remember, you can try anything, because if it doesn't sound good you can always erase it. So far you have entered beats in real time, pressing keys at the appropriate time referenced by a metronome click. Dynamic Drums offers an alternate way to enter or edit patterns however, the Graphic Editing Mode. The way it works is rather straightforward, just press the left mouse button when the mouse pointer is positioned over the exact spot in the Graphic Pattern Display where you wish to enter or modify a beat. Clicking the button will cause the dot at that location to change its present state. If there was no beat there one appears. If there was a normal beat (light blue) there it changes to an accented beat (white), and if there was an accented beat there it disappears. The Graphic Editing Mode is useful when you have completed a pattern that is perfect, except for one misplaced beat, because you can just point to the offending dot and clidk the mouse button until it is gone. Changing normal beats to accented ones is another great application of the Graphic Editing Mode. SONGS Songs are an arrangement of patterns. To load a song, pull down the Song menu, select Load Song, and choose a song from the register that appears. If the song uses a different drumkit than the one you have in memory, the program will ask if you want to load the new drumkit. Usually you should select YES, because the new song may not sound the same with a different drumkit. If for some reason you want to keep the drum sounds that are in the durrent drumkit setup, select NO. Once the song is loaded, you can play it back by clicking on the large PLAY gadget in the Song window (not the small play gadget in the Pattern window). To stop the song click on the same gadget again. Now that you have learned to make drum patterns, let's make a complete song from them. If you have a song, load it into memory, choose the Clear Song feature from the Song menu. (WARNING: do not use this option lightly, it erases not only the text in the song window, but also all of the patterns A-J). Next, work up a few patterns that sound good together. Stringing them together is not as difficult as it appears. Click the long text box next to the word SONG: in the Song Window. A cursor will appear, signalling you to type a string containing repeated sets of numbers followed by letters (i.e. 1A2B4C). The letters represent the patterns that are contained in the bank of that letter, and the number that precedes that letter tells the computer how many times to repeat that pattern. For example if SOONG: contained "5A3B" it would play the pattern in bank A five times followed by the pattern in bank B three times. If the pattern letter is not preceded by a number, it is only played once. So if SONG: was "5AB" it would play pattern A five times and pattern B only once. Under the song text box are three other boxes labeled X:, Y:, and Z:. They contain the same type of data as the SONG: box , but are actually sub-songs that can be played from the SONG: box the same way it plays patterns. For example, if X: contained "3A3B", and SONG: contained "2XB", the playback would consist of pattern A repeated three times, and finally pattern B is repeated four times (3 from the last repetition of sub-song X and one from SONG:). Using sub-songs can simplify the process of creating songs by allowing you to divide your song into recognizable parts, like the traditional verse, chorus, and bridge. DRUM CONTROLS Hidden behind the Drum Keypad Window is the Drum Control Window. This window contains a multitude of gadgets and sliders that let you change the individual characteristics of each drum within a drumkit. It is a window that most Dynamic Drum users will nto need to use, because the drumkits we have supplied are already fine-tuned to their specific style. The ability to change these characteristics, however, gives you the power to custom tailor your drum sound to the particular track you are working on. Across the window there are ten sets of controls, one for each drum in the drumkit. The topmost row of sliders, controls the volume for each of the ten respective drums. Moving a slider up or down causes the volume for that drum to increase or decrease respectively. The next row of sliders,controls the tuning. Most drums sound best at the tuning that matches the rate at which they were originally samples, but some drums are tuned, like toms and bongos, and sound good over a large runing range. Other drums lose their original characteristics at extremem tunings, and can be used to add originality to your drum songs. A drum is at its extreme highest tuning when the slider is all the way up, and is at its lowest tuning hwen the slider is all the way down. Under the tuning there are two sets of square button-type gadgets that control volume and tuning the same way as the ones above them, except they affect the accented levels rather than the normal levels. Accents are a variation on the original drum sound. Accented beats are obtained by holding the ENTER key on the numeric keypad while pressing any of the drum keys. You can set the accent levels to settings that are similar, but not exactly the same as, the normal levels to simulate the difference between a drummer's left and right hand hitting a drum. Yu can also set the accent levels to values that are quite different from the normal values, and use it as an alternate drum sound. Whenever any of the sliders are moved, the large-sized fine tuning slider assumes the same function, until another small-sized slider is moved. With the fine tuning slider it is easier to get precise tuning and volume levels. The square button-type gadgets that contain numbers inside them are the channel controls. The Amiga has only four sound channels, meaning it can only play four sounds at once. Although we have ten drum sounds in a drumkit, there is never a need to play all ten drums at once. In fact, it is a rare occurance in most drum patters for more than three drums to play on the same beat. Dynamic Drums allows you to select the channel (1-4) for each of the drums contained in your drumkit. It is best to assign drums that don't normally coexist on the same beat to the same channel. Snares, claps, and toms could also share the same channel, because they are rarely played together. You must also take into account the length of a sample when choosing which channel it should reside in, because a long sample, such as a cymbal, could be cut short by another drum that uses the same channel. Randomizing is a unique Dynamic Drums feature that varies the colume and tuning between the normal and the accented values. When the normal and accented volume and tuning are similar, the effect is a humanizing, dynamic "feel", because real drums make a slightly differnt sound each time they are struck. If the normal and accented volume/tuning settings are far apart the effect is an unpredictable drum, and can be useful to make even very repetitive patterns sound DYNAMIC. Randomizing affects only normal drum beats, accented beats retain their accented volume and tuning levels. MIDI Dynamic Drums will sync to external MIDI devices, such as sequencers, and other drum machines. Connect the MIDI in of the Amiga to the MIDI out of the external device, and select the MIDI ON feature from the MIDI pull down menu. Dynamic Drums will not receive its timing information from the external device, making the Tempo control inactive. Whenever Dynamic Drums plays a pattern, records a pattern, or plays a song it now waits for you to press start on the external device. Also, when you press stop on the external device it will stop Dynamic Drums from playing/recording as well. SOUND DISKS To use samples from store bought IFF sample libraries, use the Load Drum option of the Drumkit menu to load the individual samples in as drums. The directory heading loacated at the top of the file requester should then be changed to the appropriate disk unit (DF0: DF1: HD0: RAM: VD0:) and the correct directory name (i.e. DF1:SOUNDFILES for a FutureSound disk in drive one). To make your own sound disks enter the following commands from the CLI: FORMAT DRIVE DF1: NAME "DD2" MAKEDIR DF1:Song MAKEDIR DF1:Pattern MAKEDIR DF1:Drumkit MAKEDIR DF1:Soundfiles To use your own samples you must first copy them into the Soundfiles directory. Then make your own drumkit by loading ten of your samples, one at a time, using the Load Drum option of the Drumkit menu. Adjust the controls in the Drum Control Window and save the completed drumkit by selecting the Save Drumkit option. CONCLUSION You have now learned the basics of Dynamic Drumming. The rest is up to you. Practice and experimentation are the keys to creating professional sounding drum tracks. Good luck !! APPENDIX A LIST OF DRUM SAMPLES BlackSnar Bark Bass1 Bass2 Bass3 Bass4 Bass5 Bass6 Bass7 Bass8 Bass9 Bass10 Bass11 Bass12 Bass13 BassGuitar BassSynth Beep Bell1 Bell2 Block Bongo1 Bongo2 Bongo3 Bongo4 Burp Cabasa Clap1 Clap2 Clape Clave Conga Cowbell1 Cowbell2 Cymbal Ding Drums Dum Dynamic EPiano Hey HighHat1 HighHat2 HighHat3 HighHat4 HighHat5 HighHat6 HighOp1 HighOp2 HighOp3 HighOp4 HornBlst Noice1 Noise2 Orchest Perc Pop Reverb Ride Shaker1 Shaker2 Smak Snap1 Snap2 Snape Snare1 Snare2 Snare3 Snare4 Snare5 Snare6 Snare7 Snare8 Snare9 Snare10 Snare11 Snare12 Snare13 Snare14 Snare15 Snare16 Snare17 Snare18 Snare19 Spit Tambo1 Tambo2 Tambo3 Tom1 Tom2 Tom3 Tom4 Tom5 Tom6 Ungk Vibe Xylophon APPENDIX B LIST OF DRUMKITS Demo Fun Funk Latin 0 Bass13 Bass12 Bass3 Bass11 1 Snare17 Snare7 Snare12 Snare16 2 Dynamic Grunts Smak Bongo1 3 Drums Spit HornBlst Tambo3 4 Tom1 Bark Tom3 Conga 5 Tom2 Burp Tom3 Conga 6 HighHat3 HighHat3 HighHat1 HighHat3 7 Shaker2 Unk HighOp2 Shaker2 8 Cymbal Hey Tambo2 Clave 9 Block Beep Block Block Modern NeoCountry Reverb Rock 0 Bass2 Bass11 Reverb Bass2 1 Snare2 Snare11 Clap3 Snare2 2 Snap2 Smak Snap3 Snap2 3 Cowbell2 Clap2 Tambo3 Cowbell2 4 Tom1 BassGuitar Clave BassGuitar 5 Tom2 BassGuitar Noise1 Guitar1 6 HighHat1 HighHat1 HighOp2 HighHat1 7 HighOp2 HighOp4 Tambo3 Guitar2 8 Tambo2 Guitar1 Ride Tambo2 9 Block Block Block Block Standard Techno1 Techno2 0 Bass11 Bass4 Bass3 1 Snare11 Snare1 Snare7 2 Cymbal Clap1 Snare9 3 Clap2 Bongo4 Snare5 4 Tom4 Tom5 Bongo4 5 Tom4 Tom5 HighHat2 6 HighHat1 HighHat2 HighHat5 7 HighOp4 Noise1 Pop 8 Ride Cabasa Clave 9 Block Beep Block --------------------------------------------------------------------------- These complete Dynamic Drums docs brought to you by Southern Star.