DUB-1

The pieces

PRESETS: the eight recipes, each after one record, as of 1.4.0 (build 671d9be). FM-1 firmware.

A piece

A recipe for the whole machine: key, tempo, the voices, the groove, the space, how much it changes. Each remembers how you left it; GLO held 1.5 s puts it back to its recipe.

These values

The recipes at build 671d9be: each piece's Vary, trims, Motion and Drift measured on the albums it's after. Vary on its scale: 50 the classics' middle.

Basic F Dorian · 122after Basic Channel, BCD (1995)

Its idea

The source: the loop held, short saw stabs into a clean echo, almost no hats, narrow and dark, the kick on the floor.

Sound

Saws · Blip · Sub on Offbeat · Tight, Four · Vinyl · echo 1/8. (corchea con puntillo, dotted 8th)

Form

Vary 50 · Motion 12 (Breathes) · Drift 50 · Change 64 bars · Hits 8 (Shaker) · Pulse first

Try

Hits past 40 (Offbeats): the open hat on the "ands", Maurizio's way. Motion to 40 for its first sections.

Steppers D Dorian · 126after Maurizio, M-Series (1997)

Its idea

A frozen loop: one chord held, short stabs, a dotted bass, the open hat on the four "ands", real swing, clean.

Sound

Saws · Marimba · Punch on Dotted · Punch, Four · Vinyl · echo 1/8. · Swing 59%

Form

Vary 58 (drums -33) · Motion 8 (Breathes) · Drift 35 · Change Hold · Hits 41 (Offbeats) · Pulse

Try

Swing (the Key page) down to 0, then back: how much it carries. Change to 32 bars to let the chord walk.

Concrete C pent. minor · 136after Monolake, Hongkong (1997)

Its idea

The fastest: chords in fourths, short bright noise stabs, glassy pings, a rolling bass, loud hats, deep sweeps.

Sound

Noise · Glass · Pluck on Roller (Density 80) · Punch, Four · Vinyl · echo 1/8.

Form

Vary 86 (chord -2, noise +4) · Motion 16 (Breathes) · Drift 90 (the Chord LFO's +50) · Change 64 bars · Hits 58 (Offbeats) · Pulse

Try

Hits past 70: the rim joins. The Chord LFO's Target to Reso for a metallic sweep.

Pressure E Phrygian · 126after Porter Ricks, Biokinetics (1996)

Its idea

It never breaks: the kick and the bass forward, one chord held, a wide bed of tape noise under it.

Sound

Tonewheel · Wood · Growl on Offbeat · Deep, Four · Tape · echo 1/8. · Duck 70

Form

Vary 76 (chord, pings, drums -45: the stabs nearly held; bass -3; noise -14) · Motion 8 (Breathes) · Drift 50 · Change Hold · Hits 39 (Open hat) · Pulse

Try

The noise's Density (SAVE) up from 18: the bed turns to a groove. The bass's Bite for more growl.

Chamber A minor · 128after Fluxion, Vibrant Forms (2000)

Its idea

The steadiest loop: one chord that never moves, warm organ stabs up front, a long echo, a drone bass, a ghosted four.

Sound

Organ · Glass · Sub on Drone · Deep, Ghost · Room · echo 1/2 (blanca, half)

Form

Vary 31 (drums, noise -31: held) · Motion 12 (Breathes) · Drift 30 · Change Hold · Hits 41 · Ambient first

Try

Change to 32 bars: the chord moves at last. Kick to Four for a firmer floor.

Fog G minor · 120after Echospace, The Coldest Season (2007)

Its idea

Pad stabs lost in the echo and a big plate, very wide, hiss, a drone bass an octave down, a kick that comes and goes.

Sound

Pad · Blip · Sub on Drone, Octave -1 · Soft, Ghost · Tape · echo 1/4 (negra, quarter) · Width 85 · Rumble 62

Form

Vary 82 (chord, pings -28; bass, drums +8; noise -20) · Motion 42 (Sections) · Drift 100 · Change 64 bars · Hits 41 · Ambient

Try

Motion past 70: a Break now and then, as the record has. Cloud (FX again) up for more wash.

Night Drive Bb Dorian · 120after Intrusion, The Seduction of Silence (2009)

Its idea

The US branch's played desk: FM keys, falling pings, an offbeat bass, very wide, a filter that moves, more throws.

Sound

Keys · Drop · Sub on Offbeat · Tight, Four · Tape · echo 1/4. (negra con puntillo, dotted quarter) · Width 85 · Throws 80

Form

Vary 82 (chord, pings -9; bass, drums, noise -10) · Motion 28 (Breathes) · Drift 85 (the LFOs' +25, +30) · Change 32 bars · Hits 33 (Open hat) · Ambient

Try

Motion 12 clicks up, into Sections: Thin and Groove phrases. Hits to 40 for the offbeat hats.

Haze Eb major · 116after Parting Ways' sparse intro; Liumin's softer side

Its idea

The softest: long pad stabs, the most echo, pings an octave up and the most of them, a half-time kick, dry dust.

Sound

Pad · Glass, Octave +1 · Sub on Drone · Dusty, Half · Dust · echo 1/4. · Echo 80

Form

Vary 40 (chord, pings, drums, noise -15) · Motion 4 (Breathes) · Drift 55 (both LFOs the wander alone) · Change 64 bars · Hits 33 · Ambient

Try

Kick to Four and Hits to 40: it turns into dub techno. Or Kick to One for a near-ambient piece.

How to read a card

Sound: the chord's voice · the pings' · the bass's voice on its groove · the kit, the kick's shape · the noise's character · the echo's time. Form: Form's Vary (and the trims not 0), Motion and its zone, Drift, Change, Hits and its zone, the song's Kind.

Every piece

Endless at first (Song mode, GLO again: the player's). In a song, 32 bars of intro, 160 of main, 32 of outro: 7:20 at 122 (6:35 to 7:43; sheet 12). The bass dry; the kick on the key's root (below F, its fifth). None of the recipes in Breaks.