Parameter locks

Where the tbd 16 stops being a drum machine and becomes an instrument.

You now have: a groove that varies — chance, ratchets, per-step velocity.

This lesson is being written. The outline below is what it will cover.

Planned outline

Everything so far changed whether a step plays and how loud. A parameter lock changes what the sound is on one single step.

  • A lock stores a different knob value for one step while every other step keeps the original value.
  • What can be locked: any sound parameter and any mixer parameter (level, pan, FX1, FX2, filter).
  • 96 lock slots per pattern. The Step Editor shows how many you’ve used (pl.ch. use: n/96), which is plenty until you start locking four knobs on every step.
  • The three moves worth learning first:
    • Hat decay per step — one long hat every four bars, all others short. Costs one lock, sounds like a second hat track.
    • Kick pitch on the last step — a rising or falling tail that pushes into the next bar.
    • Filter opening across four steps — the classic build, without touching a knob live.
  • Building the “dub siren” from the Audio In page is the same idea: resonant filter, cutoff locked rising across four steps.
  • Locks versus automation lanes: a lock is a fixed value on a fixed step; an automation lane is an LFO or random source that keeps moving. Eight lanes per track. Use locks for things you want exactly, lanes for things you want alive.
  • The finished exercise will let you select one hat step, change its Decay, hear the result, and remove the lock again without leaving the page.

Next: 8 · Bass · Previous: 6 · Variation

Reference: Parameter locks · Step editing · Audio In