Working with looping drums in the MOX SONG mode

Working with looping drums in the MOX SONG mode

You can use the 1900 preset drum type arpeggios to build your tracks. It is also possible to record your own original drum tracks. PATTERN mode is the looping mode and is ideal for building drum Parts. However, some people simply like to start work in SONG mode and play along with a drum groove - because it can deliver more “feel” than simply playing along with a dry metronome. If you’d like you can take a drum phrase you have recorded and set it to loop while you are working in SONG mode (the linear mode). The MO-X has a feature that allows you to set a phrase to loop in SONG mode. This feature is extremely useful when you are writing a composition in Song mode and wish to play along to a basic drum groove, rather than just simply playing with a metronome. Often a drum groove can give a better “feel” for what you want to accomplish. This is particularly true on the MO-X with its very adjustable library of arpeggio pattern Types – there are over 1900 drum grooves, all fully adjustable as to “feel” and “attitude”. Therefore you may want to temporarily assign a drum groove to cycle while you are recording “linearly” in SONG mode. Later you can go back and construct a more complete drum track adding fill-ins and variations.

From the main Song screen press the [F3] TRACK and then [SF3] TR LOOP (TRACK LOOP). Here you can set any track to loop from measure 001 to any measure (over and over). See page 99 of the Reference Manual for details. There is a loop icon – when showing this will indicate that the track is set to cycle. The LOOP will always be from measure 1.

So say you record the first four measures with a drum kit, you can then set measures 1-4 to loop continuously by setting the LOOP On while the MEASURE COUNTER shows Measure 004. This will loop the first four measures.

Workflow:
• Record 4 measures of a drum groove
• When you have completed this, locate the measure counter to Measure 004.
• Press [F3] TRACK
• Press [SF3] TR LOOP
• Highlight your track and turn LOOP = ON
• Press [INC] or [ENTER] to confirm

The loop can be set to start at measure 001 and continue though any particular point in the composition. This is designed simply and specifically for working out ideas. This looped drum groove is taking the place of the metronome and is by no stretch of the imagination useful as your finished drum track (no more than letting a metronome tick away during your song would be). The reason is it will not do anything but repeat – it has no instructions other than that. The drummer will loop forever paying no attention to the song form.

The SONG LOOP function is here as a ‘working tool’ and you will probably finalize a complete drum track before completing the SONG. It is extremely useful when you want to play along with drums as opposed to just the click of the metronome. You can use the arpeggiator or the MOX6/MOX8 PATTERN mode to create specific drum measures to finalize a complete drum performance.