An overview of the chapter
Our goal here is to build a programmable drum machine. Let's call it the Explosion Drum Machine.
The drum machine will let the user create an unlimited number of beat patterns using an unlimited number of drum samples. You can then store multiple riffs in a project and playback or edit the project later on.
To create your own drum beat patterns, simply load some drum samples (which can be any audio file with a .wav or .ogg extension) using the buttons on the left. You can design your beat patterns by clicking on the buttons on the right.
You can decide the number of beats per unit (BPUs). Most Western beats have four beats per unit, waltz would have three beats per unit, and some Indian and Arabic rhythms that I composed on this machine had 3 to 16 beats per unit!
You can also change the beats per minute, which in turn decides the tempo of the rhythm.
A single pattern like the preceding one constitutes a single beat pattern. You can design multiple beat patterns by...
