Drums performance

Drums mode shows a grid of drum pads from the selected track's kit. Each tap plays a short sample — holding your finger doesn't lengthen the sound.

Drums are a track instrument, just like the synth and sampler: any track (T1–T8) becomes a drum track when you record drum hits on it, and each drum track has its own kit — so you can layer multiple drum machines alongside synths and samples.

Drum grid

• The grid adapts to kit size: 4 columns (up to 16 pads, e.g. 4×4), 5 columns (17–24 pads, e.g. 20 → 5×4), 8 columns (25+ pads)
• Each pad shows the specific drum name
• Tap the kit pill above the grid (grid icon + kit name) to open the kit picker sheet
• Tap Pads next to the kit pill to open Drum Settings (per-pad volume, pan, and pitch) — the same instrument-driven pane as Sound Design → Track (iPad focuses the right pane)
• Tap FX in the extras row for the track's full FX sheet (same as Mixer → FX)

If the selected track is already locked to another instrument (it has recorded synth notes or sample hits), Drums mode shows a banner instead of the pad grid, with two shortcuts: Use T[N] jumps to the next empty track (or, when every track is in use, the next existing drum track), and Clear Track [N] deletes the selected track's loop (after a confirmation) so it can be reused for drums.

Selecting a track also works the other way around: tapping a track that already holds recorded drums automatically switches the performance surface to Drums, so the pads always match the track you're on.

Arming drums for recording

Drums arm exactly like every other mode — there's no separate drums pill:

1. Switch to Drums mode and select a track tab (an empty track becomes a drum track automatically)
2. Tap the record arm button (red when armed)
3. Press Play and hit pads

Switching tracks or modes clears the current arm, same as Notes, Chords, and Sampler.

Playing without recording

Tap pads anytime to play — you don't need to arm. Hits are only recorded when playback is running and the drum track is armed.

MIDI drum pads

With Enable MIDI Input on in Setup → MIDI, consecutive chromatic MIDI notes from the Pad Base Note (default 36) trigger kit pads — note 36 = pad 1, 37 = pad 2, and so on. Each pad shows its MIDI note name under the sample label. Velocity scales hit level. The selected track must be a drum track.

Adjust the base note in Setup → MIDI if your controller uses a different layout — Setup lists the full note range the current kit needs.

See MIDI input.

Overlapping hits

Many drum hits can overlap — open hi-hats, crashes, and fast rolls can all play together. Very dense playing may occasionally cut off the oldest hits to make room for new ones.

Kits and pad tuning

Change the selected track's kit via the kit pill or its Drum Settings pane. Adjust volume, pan, and pitch per pad from Pads on the performance screen. Drum tracks get the full channel FX chain — EQ plus the whole Mixer → FX rack (Character, filter, dynamics, color, flanger, delay, tone reverb, Atmosphere). See Drum sound design.

Tips

• Quantize is on by default for drum tracks (1/16 grid at 100%) — change it in Sound Design → Track → Recording
• Use the track's Mixer strip for level, pan, mute, solo, EQ, and FX
• Layer multiple drum tracks with different kits for richer patterns
• MIDI — map controller pads from Setup → MIDI → Pad Base Note; see MIDI input
• See Recording for undo and clear