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Welcome to Electrum
Drum! Audio Gapping or stuttering ? See Performance adjustments Introduction
Please read this file for latest changes and features, as well as FAQ! PLEASE NOTE! Since the switch to 16 bit it is easier to make a sound loud enough to clip and sound distorted. If low bass kick drums sound very distorted it is because they are too loud, just turn the volume down on the kick drum sample. I currently am working on a limiter to take care of this more cleanly! Thanks! Latest Changes:
4.5.5. - Fixed error in WAV export that caused corruption 4.5.2. - Adjusted buffer size to function better on Galaxy Tab 7" models. Added "Share" option to share an exported WAV. If you install soundcloud you can share into that. 4.5.1. - Thread synchronization bugfix. Should help performance on some devices. 4.5.0. - Added ability to reverse a sample! 4.4.9.4 - Removed high priority setting in the audio thread, some devices were having issues and actually causing audio gapping with it ON. Setting it OFF BY DEFAULT. Can turn on in the BPM settings dialog. 4.4.9 - Fixed play start error, bug has always been there but now only really apparent since the stereo switch. Would mistakenly start the very first loop a bit too late. 4.4.8 - Allow full UI rotation on XLARGE screens (tablets). Fixed soft keyboard focus on BPM and Sample edit screens to not come up until you touch a text entry field. Adjusted the running lights feature to be more accurate. 4.4.7 - Fixed import from exported folder, was not importing the 22050khz stereo files properly. Fixed crash in Delay or Distortion settings if you ran out of memory. 4.4.5 - Added stereo output (Electrum now outputs 22050khz stereo 16bit) and pan controls 4.4.3 - Fixed out of memory error on multitouch pads dialog 4.4.0 - Added reset buttons to mixer. Double tap also resets a mixer slider. Added FX , delay and distortion. 4.3.2 - Added limiter code back in, works correctly now. Volume sliders now work more correctly as well. 4.3.0 - Fixed multitouch pads to fit all screens correctly, including tablet screens. Added auto loop ability to multitouch pads. Changed their graphics too to look a bit better. 4.2.2 - fixed some bugs in
the WAVE loader code, should be compatible now with almost all WAV
files (uncompressed of course). Was having problems with WAV's from
ProTools because of extra data. I wasn't searching for the chunks
properly. Recoded to search for WAV chunks now instead of hardcoded
offsets. 4.2.1 - Added delete button in the "SAVE" dialogs, fixed some save bugs that were in those dialogs. Can't delete directories just yet, but you can delete files. 4.2.0 - Added patch text to main screen, and drum names now show up in the mixer. Exporting now appends the BPM value to the filename. 4.1.1 - Fixed sound slot so "FitBPM" is sticky, so preview while playing will fit BPM when possible. 4.1.0 - All new graphics, fixed mixer to work better, fixed some more bugs, etc! 3.9.9.1 - Fixed small bug that would cause the sequencer to crash when you touched an invalid area in the sequence list window. 3.9.9 - Added Quick switch buttons to the sound slot editor dialog, so you don't have to leave the dialog to set pad sounds - you can move through all sounds now using the buttons. 3.9.8 - Layout work to support Galaxy tablet, and fixed file browser to remember where you were last time you opened it. 3.9.5 - Layout work to support small screens and large screens (tablets) 3.9.1 - Added support for 1/12 resolution, which is 1/8T, for triplet programmed beats. Set your pattern length to 12 for a full measure in that resolution. 3.9.0 - Added two more sound pads. Some more bugfixes. Can now install to sdcard on Froyo as well. 3.8.0 - Added mixer and changed global volume knob to a mixer button. 3.7.0 - Can now save and load drumkits seperately from patches, so you can load in different kits and still use the current pattern you are working on. 3.6.2 - Flipped position of - and + buttons on BPM dialog, added File overwrite warnings to saving operations. 3.6.1 - bugfix for to hide any media files that are directly in the samples folder and not in subfolders under that. 3.6.0 - Added support for loading normal 44100Khz, Stereo or Mono, 16bit WAV files. Also can load 44100Khz, Stereo, 24bit files, but it appears that android doesn't like that format and it corrupts the files. Electrum now converts the files internally to 22050Khz Mono 16bit for playing them. This should now make it easier to just grab some samples and dump then on the sdcard for electrum to use (but if they are 24bit you'll probably still have to convert them since like I said android doesn't like them apparently - even its media player can't play them), so if you load some samples and all you get is static, they are probably in 24bit format 3.5.1 - bugfix for the BPM buttons in other language systems, to handle decimal point conversion. 3.5.0 - Added shuffle feature so you can now program swing beats and hiphop style beats and get some funky rythmns going. NOTE!!!! I don't have it coded into the MIDI export yet, I will try and get that done! Also I think I finally squashed that playback lag bug for good this time. Now should play almost right away when you press play. Oh and guess what? Global volume is now also finally saved with your patch!! Took me a while to get that one in eh? Also I removed the internal volume limits check, going to rely on the hardware. This means patterns will play louder than before and may clip. For this reason I coded it so if it loads in an old pattern, it sets the volume around 65% to prevent loudness clipping. If you adjust it afterward and save the new volume will be saved with the patch from now on. 3.3.0 - Added a multitouch pad dialog that you can use to play the loaded sounds using multitouch. Be aware though that this requires android 2.0, and on some devices you are limited to how many fingers. The DROID for example can only use 2 points at once (the screen driver only allows that, it's a hardware issue) 3.2.1 - Added feature to allow playing the pads polyphony (so they don't cut each other's sound off). NO multitouch right now though. Considering also adding option to set a pad to loop auto when hit, but still in the works. Studying more MPC docs. 3.2.0 - Added Recording feature - you can now record up to a 5 second sample into a sound slot. Recordings will get saved with patterns as well when saving. 3.1.9 - Changed so drum machine will continue playing even if losing app focus or the screen turns off. Needs PHONE_STATE permission now so we can stop playing if someone calls. Also change to "singleTask" state so you can always return by using the home button, or using the launcher icon again - will return to the same current running instance of the drum machine. 3.1.8 - OOPS, lost progress bar when I got rid of the title bar. Brought one back for exporting purposes (so you know how long it's taking!). Added BPM up down buttons, they also are Auto-Repeat too. Fixed a bug where if a sound couldn't be loaded anymore from sdcard it would cause NULL errors when playing. 3.1.5 - Changed GUI around to make some things easier to use. 3.1.0 - MIDI export and PAD sound export features. 3.0.1 - ability to turn off/on the sequence running lights 3.0.0 - Lots of stuff. WAV editor, etc. some bug fixes. Sequence running lights. 2.7.0 - Sequencer! And some bug fixes here and there. 2.6.0 - Loop fit BPM feature to auto fit loops to match the current BPM. Adjusts the pitch of the loop until it matches the current BPM 2.5.5 - Added live play pattern sequencer. Allows you to play patterns in the order you want live by pressing the pattern buttons as the machine plays. Recordable sequencer to come soon. Some bug fixes. 2.5.0 - Some bug fixes. Added pattern length adjustment. Changed WAV export code to get ready for sequencer (for long songs). Can now program up to 32 patterns. Sequencer is in progress! 2.4.0 - Added sample pitch change feature, can alter pitch by semitone now. See "Setting sample pitch" 2.3.1 - allow sample preview when not playing as well (like it used to do). 2.3.0 - Now uses 16 bit samples internally and can load 8 or 16 bit external samples! Also sample loading is a LIVE preview in the drumbeat. Also added error checking to sample loader. REMOVED 606 DRUM. It has been changed to an 808 drum now. Fixed some bugs in the audio generation code that were creating clicking and popping noises, now also should run faster too! 2.2.1 - added higher priority to audio generating thread code to prevent gapping 2.2.0 - added ability to toggle a sound slot's mute by double tapping it 2.1.2 - changed accent (blue notes) to be activated with a long press 2.1.1 - added global volume knob 2.1.0 - Fixed random close bug 2.0.0 - Improved sample loading that allows subfolders, and also now supports android 1.5 (cupcake) firmware. Can play sound dynamically now (streaming live). Can edit patterns and also sound slot parameters while sound is playing. REQUIRES 1.5 FIRMWARE. 1.3.0 - Added GUI controls to set sample volume and length. 1.2.0 – Added feature to load WAV drum samples from sdcard. 1.1.0 – added export feature. WAV’s get saved to /sdcard/electrum/exported folder 1.0.3 – fixed bug in WAV file header of output file. 1.0.2 – some bug fixes. 1.0.1 – initial revision Electrum Drum is a drum pattern creator using 16 sounds (similar to a TR-909) and 16 slots per sound. You may program up to 32 total patterns. Electrum Drum works by calculating the timing required and then mixing the sound data together internally and playing the audio data as a stream fed directly to the phone's speaker. Electrum includes 6 drumkits internally. The basic drumkits included with the program are: 808 The programming slots are ordered in this manner:
The first row of 8 will play, and then the second row will play. To select a sound slot, simply touch that sound’s button to select it and then the pattern buttons will apply to that sound. If the machine is not currently running, then the pad (the sound button) will also play the sound that is assigned to it. This enables you to remember what sound it is. In the case of long sounds that are assigned to a pad, you can press the "Stop" button to force the sound to stop playing.
To set a sound to play on a specific beat in the pattern, simply touch the pattern button to turn it on. It will display as orange when on.
If you Long Press the pattern button, it will turn yellow.
Blue means that the sound will now play a bit louder in that slot, to add some “Accent” to the sound. This allows you some sound variety. If you then touch the button a third time, it will now again be OFF. To play the pattern, simply touch the “Play current pattern” button. The "Play current pattern" button is the button with only one Play symbol on it. The sound will be generated and then played. You may push the STOP button at any time to cancel sound generation and / or playing. You can edit patterns while the sound is still playing to find the right beat that you are looking for.
That’s the basics!
You can also MUTE a sound using the MIXER You can toggle a sound slot's MUTE by double-tapping it while it is playing in pattern or sequence mode. It will display an icon indicating it is muted.
You can open the mixer to mix all sound levels from one screen, as well as control the mute of each sound. You can also adjust the global output level using the mixer. Press the "mixer" button to bring up the mixer dialog
The mixer sliders go from 0% to 200% volume. Simply touch the slider and move it with your finger. Press the mute button to toggle a sound's mute on/off. The "Reset" button resets all sliders to 100% volume. You can also double-tap on a slider button to reset it to 100% volume
You can also adjust the Pan left/right of a sound with the slider on the bottom. To adjust pan for a sound, first touch its volume slider (anywhere along the length of the slider will work) and the pan slider will then switch to that sound. The text to the right of the pan slider will show you which sound it is currently editing.
Getting to the other 8
faders
Let’s make a basic 4 on the floor beat. The default BPM is 120 and the default resolution is 1/16. This means that we will divide a measure into 16 pieces. So in this case every four slots will be a beat, for a four on the floor. Select the first drum sound, usually a Kick
Now simply turn every fourth pattern button ON by touching it.
Now you can push the “Play” button to play the current pattern. The "Play current" button is the button with only one play symbol on it. If you set the resolution to 1/32, then for a four on the floor beat, you would need an ON button every 8 slot, because a whole measure would now be 32 slots long. That means to do a full four on the floor beat, you would need to use 2 patterns in a row. You can program two patterns and then use the “Play all” button to play all patterns in sequence. The advantage of 1/32 resolution is you now can make very fast drum patterns; for example, a fast snare roll. To add another pattern, simply touch the “Pat Up” button. You will now have an empty set of patterns for each sound where you can input the next pattern. The "Play" button plays only the currently selected pattern. Add some funk to your beats with Shuffle! Shuffle is a feature on a drum machine that gives a swing feeling to the beat. It works by putting a delay in the 8th notes that are between the 16th notes. In Electrum this delay is variable so you can adjust it to your liking. The knob for shuffle is found on the BPM settings dialog:
The Shuffle knob works just like any other knob, press down to select it, and then move up to raise the amount (rotate clockwise) or down to lower the amount (counter-clockwise). When at 0%, no shuffle is applied. Also be aware that since shuffle is a delay on 8th notes that are between 16th's, shuffle will not take place if you are running in 1/8 note resolution, since there are no 16th notes! It only works in 1/16 and 1/32 resolutions. Shuffle is global and affects ALL patterns. It will be saved with the patch when you save.
A Song is the sequence you have programmed in the sequence editor screen. When you push the "Play All" button, the one with two play symbols on it, the drum machine will play the patterns that have been programmed into the sequence. Once the sequence ends, it then loops back to the beginning of the sequence and continues playing
Multitouch Pad playing (only supported in Android 2.0 and up) If your device has Android 2.0 and higher, and if the hardware supports it, the drum machine can also allow you to play pads in multitouch mode. The multitouch pad screen however, is a seperate dialog that will appear when selected from the menu. Go to "Menu->More->Play Multitouch Pads" A new screen will appear with pads you can hit to play the same sounds that were loaded on the pads in the main drum machine screen. You currently cannot adjust any sound parameters from this screen, it's designed only for playing. PLEASE BE AWARE that the pads will cutoff or play poly based on the setting in the "Menu->More->BPM/Res/Len" screen, the checkbox that says "cut pads when played". If this is checked, then when you press a pad, it will cut off any other sound currently being played. This allows you to play actual "pad" sounds and they will cut each other off if desired. ALSO PLEASE NOTE: While the code has no limit on the amount of pads you can hit "at once", it will depend on your device. For example, the Motorola DROID only supports up to 2 fingers hitting at the same time. This limitation is actually in the device's hardware.
The names that appear on the pads are the same names that appear on the pads on the main programming screen (which you can modify there if you wish) You can press the "Loop" area button to set a pad to auto-loop mode, when a pad in loop mode is hit, the sound will start, and continuously loop. You can use this to play a beat which will automatically loop, allowing you to play along with the other pads. To STOP the pad playing, hit the loop mode button again. It definitely takes some practice to play sounds at the exact same time. Due to some small lag in the screen messages and the audio buffers you'll need to practice a while to get it down.
Playing Electrum with a MIDI controller Starting in Android O.S. Version 3.2 and higher, you can use USB devices plugged into your android phone or tablet. NOT ALL devices will support this in hardware, even if they have Android 3.2 or higher, but most do. This allows the Android device to act as a USB Host to a MIDI keyboard or MIDI controller. To use this MIDI connection, you need to have what is called an “OTG” cable (On-The-Go). This cable tells the phone or tablet to put it's USB connector into USB Host mode. You can find these cables on websites such as Amazon. Connect your MIDI keyboard or Pad controller to the OTG cable, and then connect the OTG cable to your phone or tablet. In Electrum, go the Menu->More->Play pads using MIDI USB. This will start a new small dialog which will attempt to connect to a MIDI device if it sees one.
Mapping MIDI controller pads/keys to Electrum Pads To play the pads in Electrum, you will probably need to map the MIDI controller pads or keys to tell Electrum which pad/key on the controller you want to use to play which pad in Electrum. To do this, in the MIDI CONTROL dialog, press the “Map Notes” button. Then, sequentially press the pads or keys on your MIDI controller to set all 8 pads or keys you want to use. As you press each one, Electrum will play the pad that you have assigned to that control. One you have set all 8, it will exit mapping mode and now you can play normally. The mapping gets saved and you only need to set it once. PANIC button The PANIC button is used to stop all sounds playing in case any sound gets stuck, or if you have an extremely long sound playing and you simply want to stop the sounds without exiting the MIDI CONTROL dialog.
Pad cutoff is used in some cases where you want to play pads, but you want it so when you play a pad, it will cut off the sound from any other pad that may be currently playing. In some cases such as when you are playing long drones or "pad" sounds, you might want this. Many MPC's have this option. This option is found in the BPM settings dialog found in the "Menu->More->Set BPM/Res/PattLen" menu item.
If the checkbox is ON then the pad sounds will cut each other off. If it's OFF then the pad sounds will play over each other (polyphony).
Live And Sequencer Pattern Play Live pattern play allows you to program up to 32 patterns, and then use a seperate set of buttons to tell the machine which pattern to play and when. You enter Live mode using the "Seq. Edit" Play button.
The machine will help you to sequence the patterns by highlighting the center of the current pattern that is playing. This allows you to tell which pattern is currently playing so you can choose the next pattern in time for it to be sequenced correctly.
You can program a song by using the "Record" button. To record a series of patterns quickly, make sure the machine is not currently playing, and then press "Record". The button will display as red to indicate that recording is active.
Then you can simply press the pattern buttons in the order that you want the patterns to play. They will be "recorded" into the list in on the side of the screen.
Push "Stop" or press "Record" again to turn off recording. You can then play the sequence by pressing the "Sequence Play" button. It will start at the beginning of the sequence. The sequence list will move, showing each pattern that is currently being played. Of course, sequences are also saved when you save the current drum patterns file.
You can also record what you play during live mode playing! If you enable recording, and then press the "Live Play" button. After you do so, each time the pattern changes, it will be recorded into the sequence. You can use the "Delete All", "Delete", and "Insert" buttons to edit the sequence in the sequence list. "Delete All" does what it says, it clears the entire sequence so you can start over. To use "Delete", you select the pattern in the list that you want to delete. It will turn green. Then press "Delete", that pattern will be removed from the sequence.
If you continue to push delete after the first time, it will continue deleting the patterns that were "after" (below) the pattern you first deleted. To Insert a new pattern in the middle of the sequence, you first select the pattern that is "before" (above) where you want to insert. THen press the "INSERT" key to activate "Insert Mode". Insert Mode is a toggle style mode. You press once to enable Insertion mode, and press it again to turn off Insert Mode. Press Insert to activate Insert Mode, and then also make sure you are currently recording (record is ON). Then you can simply press the patterns you want to insert. They will be put in order as you press them, in the middle of the sequence.
Press Insert mode button again to turn of Insert Mode. Using the sequence mode along with the edit buttons should allow you to make a whole song using up to 32 different patterns in your chosen sequence. The "Export" feature will also then export the sequenced song in WAV format.
Setting pattern length, and using time signatures You can set the length of the pattern from 2 slots to 16 slots. Go the "Menu->Set BPM/Res./Patt Len". The Pattern length setting in in the dialog that comes up. Note: Pattern length is global and all patterns will have this same length. When you set the pattern length, the extra slot buttons will be disabled. If you had a pattern that was longer then the new length, however, your old slot buttons will still remain programmed! They just won't play or render during an export. Time signatures Ok, the reason we added variable pattern length: to allow different time signatures. Here are some examples: 3/4 time - Resolution 16, Patt length 12, min note length 1/16 (each slot is 1/16)
6/8 time - Resolution
16, Patt length 12, min note length 1/16
Of course the real "swing" to a time signature is putting accents on the correct notes. 9/8 time and 12/8 time. Unfortunately you CAN do 9/8
and 12/8 time, but it would not allow However, here's an example in 1/8 resolution. 9/8 time - Resolution 8, Patt length 9. Min note length 1/8
You could do 12/8 time the same way. Just set Patt Len to 12.
TRIPLET TIME (1/8T) You set 1/8T time by setting the resolution to 12. (it's basically 1/12). If you then set the pattern length to 12 as well, you will have one full measure. Triplet time fits three 1/8 notes into the same amount of time a 1/4 note would usually take. This gives a "swing" feel to the beat, like jazz or a type of old school hip-hop style swing. In the picture below you can see a basic 4 on the four beat programmed in 1/8T resolution.
You are not stuck with only the built-in drumkits. Electrum can also act as a sampler. As of version 1.2.0, electrum drum now has the ability to import your own audio samples from the sdcard. NOTE: The samples can be 8 or 16 Bit, MONO, 22050Hz WAV files, or, normal 44100Khz, Stereo or Mono 16 bit files! 24bit 44100khz Stereo is also supported but android doesn't seem to like those files and corrupts them. WAV samples that are 44100Khz Stereo, etc, will be automatically converted internally to 22050Khz, mono, 16bit for playback. I recommend using the program Goldwave to edit an MP3 or other media file to change it into the required format for Electrum Drum. It has a nice batch processing feature that allows you to quickly change large amounts of files automatically to work with Electrum Drum. Electrum drum will verify the format is correct when you go to load a sample! How to import audio samples:
Loading a custom sample Long press sound slot, it will flash a red border. Then release the slot button and a new dialog will appear. Sound slot options dialog appears You may edit the drum’s name (to make it easier to see) – limited to 8 characters. This text will appear over the drum button on the main screen. Press the “Load Sample..” button to get a new dialog which will list all samples found in the /sdcard/electrum/samples directory. You may also browse subfolders.
Subfolders in the list will start with the "/" character, such as "/goa". If you are in a subfolder, you may browse up a level by touching the "/\" button, which will navigate up to the parent directory. You can use the thumbwheel to scroll through the list of samples, and to click to select a sample. CLICK on, or touch, a sample to select it. When you do so, it will play the sample in the current beat so you can hear how it will sound. Then press OK to choose that sample and exit the dialog. Now you will have a custom sample loaded into that drum slot. You can also Save and Load patterns that have custom samples.
Recording Audio Samples with the Microphone
Please note that not all devices will support recording! It is up to the hardware, not Electrum! If the hardware doesn't support it, there are NO workarounds! You can record audio using the phone's (or device you are running on) microphone. The recording feature allows you to sample an external sound up to 5 seconds long. This allows you for example to record a drum sample of your own, or a quote, or even a beat that is playing on the radio. You can record while the drum machine is playing for stuff like rapping to a beat, etc. To record, simply select the "Record" button in the sample slot's settings dialog:
If your hardware supports it, the next dialog will then open:
Press the "Start Recording" button to begin. The "10" you see on the right is a 10 second recording countdown. WHen you are done recording, you can play back the recording to see if you like it. If you choose "Ok, keep it", then the sound will be saved into a temporary directory, and the current sound slot will be assigned that sound. That's pretty much it to recording! Recorded sounds get saved to the SDCARD. See the section about "File save locations" near the end of this document, as to the exact location that recordings go to.
Sample Retrigger sets whether a sample “starts over” again as soon as it hits another programmed slot. For example, if you have a 4 bar loop, and you programmed it to start at the first slot, at each measure (1 bar), the loop would “retrigger”, starting over. This would only then play 1 bar of the loop. If you have a sound or loop that is longer than 1 bar, you can turn Retrig OFF, and the sample will not be allowed to retrigger until it's played all the way through first. This is very useful for loading loops to a pad, because now a single pattern can play a loop as long as you want with only having to trigger it once at the beginning of the measure (1st slot).
Setting audio sample volume and pitch Note: You can also set sample volume using the MIXER! Once you Long press a sound slot (see the help section about loading your own audio samples) the dialog that appears will have two knobs, one for adjusting the volume and the other for the sample length. You can adjust these settings even while the sound is playing. There will of course be a small delay between adjusting the setting and hearing the change, because of the small audio buffer (around 1 or 2 seconds length audio buffer)
Simply touch the knob and continue to push down while sliding your finger up / down to spin the knob. Up turns the knob clockwise (value up), Down turns it counterclockwise (value down). The knob will turn red when it has the current focus. You can set the sample's pitch by using the pitch up/down buttons: The Pitch adjustment allows you to move the pitch of the sample in semitone steps. You can go all the way to down one whole octave, to up to one whole octave. So you have 24 steps in total (12 down, and 12 up). NOTE: The pitch change may not be 100% musically accurate, but it should be very very close. Once you have the volume and pitch the way you want, simply press OK. Volume and pitch settings also get saved with the pattern when you save.
Editing the sample WAV (start/end points) You can also now edit the start and end points for a sample by using the WAV editor screen. This screen will appear when you tap the WAV display on the Drum Slot settings dialog
When you tap this area, upon release, a new dialog will appear which allows you to edit the sample.
You can move back and forth thru the sample by pressing down on the waveform and moving your finger (click and drag). Zoom in and out using the Zoom buttons. To set the sample's start point, press the "Set Start Point" button, and then click and drag on the waveform to move the start point.
You can then set the end point the same way using the same method. Note: if you have picked up your finger, you will have to press the button again to move the start or end points. Once you have selected the region you think you want, then press the "Apply/Preview" button.
If the machine is currently running, it will apply the settings to the sample and you will hear them the next time the sample is played. If the machine is NOT running, it will play the sample by itself with the modifications so you can hear it. To exit the dialog simply press your phone's back button. The sample settings will remain. Another nice feature is that if you later wish to change the pitch of the sample, doing so will not harm your sample selection. Electrum will recalculate the proper start/end points to match the new pitch change!
Loop Fit is a feature that shrinks/stretches the sound sample to fit the current BPM. This allows you to load a loop and fit it to your current project. Note: Loop Fit resamples the sound to fit the BPM. The pitch WILL change! It does not retain pitch at this time. (However, I've found that it's nice to have it change pitch, it gives you more variety) In order for Electrum Drum to change the sample's BPM, it needs to know what it is first - the sample's filename needs to have it's BPM in the name in the following format: <samplename>_<bpm>_<rest of name> So basically if you just add a string "_<bpm goes here>_" to a sample's filename, now the program will be able to see what BPM the loop is and be able to stretch/shrink the sample to fit the current BPM. So as an example you could take "MyLoop.wav", and it would then say "MyLoop_126_.wav". If there are more than one _XXX_ text in a filename, the first one is used as the BPM. One you have loaded an audio sample you can check the option in the Sound Slot dialog, to fit it to the current BPM:
This setting will remain in effect as long as it's checked. If you change the project's BPM, it will re-adjust all sounds that have the set to once again make them fit the current project BPM.
Layering loops on each other (How to use more than 8 sounds) On of the big benefits of allowing sample loading is you can overcome the 8 sound limit by doing a “mixdown” of a drum pattern and then loading it up as a custom sample. Note: It is not advisable to try to load a very long exported song as a sample. It's better to just use shorter loops. A song will take up a lot of memory and will probably not be able to load and instead cause an error. Programs on the android platform are only allowed to load up to 16MB of data (some devices allow up to 24MB). A song could easily reach that in only 1 minute length. For example, you could make a drum loop with the 909 drumkit. Then you use “Export” to export the drum loop into the /sdcard/electrum/exported folder as a WAV file. You may now reset your drum machine and long press a sound slot, and then choose the “Load Sample..” button to load a custom sample into that drum slot. When the list of samples dialog appears, click the drop down selection box to select “Exported” and it will now instead list the exported loops that you have created.
As a further example, if you set the custom sample of the very first drum to a loop you have already made:
Then you can then simply set it to play on the very first pattern button, and the loop will play and sound just as it did before. The only limitation is that you must have the SAME BPM as the loop you imported as a custom sample, so you can match up with it. ince now one sound slot has a pre-mixed beat, you now have freed up the other 5 slots for new sounds that you can put over that beat. You can continue this process as much as you want, creating a thicker and thicker beat. Simply keep exporting the beat and then bringing it back in as a custom sample for the first drum.
Electrum has FX which you can apply to a sound on a pad. The FX in electrum are "static". They are not meant to be used real time. An effect will be applied to entire sample at once. Although you can adjust them while playing, there will be stutters in playback while adjusting, etc, since the entire sample is adjusted at once. The FX are more meant to modify samples and then leave it. Fx are applied by clicking the DLY or DIST button on the drum sample adjustment dialog.
Reverse effect: Reverse the sample for some variety in the sound Reverse is just a toggle on / off. Press to turn on, again to turn reverse off.
Delay effect: Conventional echo type delay with feedback. Delay on/off - turns the delay on or off When you adjust a slider, after you "let up" your finger, the delay will be applied and you can then hear it
Distortion effect: Foldback distortion effect. Works great on basslines and drums! Distortion On - Turns the distortion setting
on or off
Reverb effect: Reverb effect. Can be set individually on each sound pad Reverb on - Turn the reverb effect on or off for
this pad Note! : When you turn on Reverb, it will create a sound buffer exactly 4 times the size of the current sound, to allow for reverb falloff. Because of this, if you use a very large sample, applying Reverb will make it consume 4 time the memory it normally does. Be aware of this if you have a lower end device the reverb may fail on very large samples!
You can use the menu button to bring up the program’s menu for various options. The Save and Load options are under the “More..”. option. When Electrum Drum starts, it creates a folder called “electrum” and a subfolder to that called “patterns”, on your sdcard. Saved patterns are stored to the “patterns” folder. When you choose to save a pattern, a screen will appear asking you to name it. Simply enter a name and press OK and the pattern will be saved to the “patterns” folder. You may want to organize your patterns to make them easier to find in the future. You can save a pattern into a subfolder simply by entering a subfolder name; for example, to save a pattern named "mybeat.pat" into a folder called "testing", simply input the following text in the save dialog: The file extension (".pat") is added automatically. Like so:
Loading gives you a simple list of the available patterns in the patterns folder. You can also browse into subfolders from the loading screen, to find the pattern you want.
Click on, or touch, the pattern you want to load, and then press OK. When you load a pattern, if it was using custom sounds then these will also be loaded. However, if those sounds no longer exist on the card, you will either get a message stating that a sound failed to load, or the slot will be marked “Empty” if some other error occurs when trying to load the custom sample audio file. All other options are available thru the menu, such as the ability to change the BPM’s and the resolution of the beat, as well as loading different drumkits.
Starting in Electrum 3.7.0 you can now save and load drumkits. A drumkit will store all information about each sound on each pad (pitch, start/end point, etc) into a *.kit file. This allows you to program a pattern and load different kits into it for experimentation. To save a drumkit use the "Menu->More->Save Drumkit"
Just as in other save operations a new dialog will appear that allows you to enter a name of the drumkit. If you want to save to a subfolder simply append the folder name to the front of the filename (So to save "mykit" to a folder, simply type in <foldername>/mykit)
To load a drumkit simply use the "Menu->More->Load Drumkit" and a new dialog will appear allowing you to browse through the kits available and select one.
You can export a pattern’s WAV file by
using the Menu button, going to “More..”, and choosing
“Export”, and then choosing "Export WAV (Loop)"
or "Export WAV (Song)". You can then name the file
what you want first, and when you choose OK the pattern will be
generated and put in the /sdcard/electrum/exported folder, as an 16
bit Mono 22050hz WAV file.
Electrum can also export MIDI data, enabling you to take a project and bring it into your PC's DAW at a later time to continue working. You simply use the "Menu->More...->Export->" and then choose "Export MIDI (Loop)" or "Export MIDI (Song)" options. The export dialog will then appear, allowing you to enter a name for the MIDI file. You may use subfolders as well by typing the name of the folder first, such as "/testing/mymidifile.mid" The .mid file extension is added automatically.
You can then load this MIDI file unto your PC/MAC and into the DAW of your choosing. It's a format 1 MIDI file, with each PAD in its own track. You can load MIDI files into Electrum now as well, this allows you to load a pre-made MIDI drum file. Electrum also comes with an assortment of premade MIDI files you can use to get your beats started. Go the Menu->More->Load MIDI File and from there you can browser your SDCARD for the MIDI file of your choosing. NOTE: MIDI Import does not set up your drum samples! You will still have to choose the samples and load them to the pads – basically just find the sounds you like for the beat. Current only MIDI type 1 files are supported, with 4/4 time. Also, MIDI files with “running status” inside them will not work yet, I will add this feature if it turns out it's needed.
You can export all the pad sounds into a subfolder, which allows you to also bring the modified sounds into an external DAW or sequencer. When you save the pad sounds, the start/end points and pitch will all be applied to the sound and it will be ready to use. If you use the sounds along with a MIDI sequence you should be able to completely recreate your pattern and sound in an external program and work with it from there! To export Pad sounds, use "Menu->More..->Export->Export Pad sounds". You will then get the export dialog In this dialog, type in a name for the folder to put the sounds into. You MAY NOT use subfolders in this case!
The sounds will then be exported into that folder. See below (File locations for exported data) for the location that they go
File locations for exported data Here's a list of the file locations where Electrum outputs exported items: Please note that <user chosen folder> is always optional EXCEPT for PADS. WAVS: /sdcard/electrum/exported/<user
chosen folder>/wav file
Just like music software on the PC, the performance of Electrum such as the ability to playback without gapping or skipping, or other audio glitches, is entirely dependent on two things: 1. How many sounds you are trying to use at
once. An older device may have trouble playing all 8 sounds at once especially if they are all loops. It just won't have the CPU power for it. Audio Thread Priority If you have any gapping or stuttering, try adjusting this setting to see if it helps
Some devices work better with the high priority turned off! Try it both ways! The only way to ensure good performance is to either get a higher power device, or use less sounds as once and do mixdowns if you want thicker beats. See Layering here.
Q: What WAV file formats does Electrum support? A: You can load 22050Khz, mono, 8 or 16 bit files, OR you can now also load "normal" wav's which are 44100Khz, Stereo or Mono, 16bit. Electrum will internally convert the 44100Khz files into 22050Khz, mono 16 bit. Q: When I load a sample all I hear is static !?? A: Check that the sample is not 24bit. While I coded electrum with the ability to load 24bit files, android doesn't like them and all you get is static (it seems to corrupt the file). Also on some custom ROMS I've heard reports of static too - don't know why in that case but it may be a similar problem. Q: How can I get new drumkits? A: There are 6 drumkits built into the program. If you want more sounds you can now load custom samples into the drum machine. See the help section about importing audio. Also check on the market for custom sound kits that you can download and install. Q: Why is my sound distorted at times? A: Sounds can only be set to a certain maximum value when they are in a digital format. If the sounds are turned up too loud, the software cuts the signal off at maximum value. This will cause some artifacts which are heard as distortion. Turn one or more of the sounds down (or turn down the global volume) until the distortion goes away. I plan on trying to add a soft knee limiter to the code eventually once I figure out how to write it! Q: Why does the program sometimes seem to "stutter" or “gap” if I try to change the pattern on the fly or try to load many sounds? A: Electrum is programmed about 90% in java code, which requires a good processor. Android 2.2 is even more efficient and will perform very well because of a JIT. On older phones, if the processor gets too busy, it may not be able to keep the audio buffer full enough to keep the music playing without breaking up.
Thank you for using Electrum Drum!
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