All the words you need to know; a drummer's guide to drum machines.

ANALOGUE

Relatively simple electronic design using no computer or DIGITAL technology. Used for sound creation in cheaper drum machines.

AUTO-CORRECT

Facility on DIGITAL drum machines for re-timing sounds to fall on certain beats however sloppily you've played them. See RESOLUTION.

BUBBLE MEMORY

The coming thing — cheap, hard-wearing digital memory using "bubbles" of electric charge in a semi-conducting medium. Not common yet though.

BAR

Where to hang out while the guitarist is re-programming the LinnDrum for the hundredth time. Also the basic unit of musical composition.

BIT

A single "letter" in a digital language consisting only of 1's and 0's. 8-bit machines can only deal with words as long as 11111111 (binary) — 255 (decimal to you) 16-bit machines can cope with 1111111111111111 — 65535 in decimal. Oddly enough, this makes a hell of a difference to how clear your SAMPLED drum sounds are.

BYTE

A digital "word", such as the eight-bit word 1000100010. In a rare example of scientific humour, half a Byte is called a Nybble.

CHIP

Semi-conducting electronic component usually protected by a black epoxy casing from which many metal "legs" emerge for connection. Different chips are used to run drum machines, to hold the software instructions which tell them how to operate, and to record and store real sounds. See EPROM.

CLOCK

Records the amount of your studio time the guitarist has invested in reprogramming the LinnDrum. Also the circuit which controls the speed of the drum machine by stepping along its SHIFT REGISTERS with a stream of TRIGGER pulses once he's finished.

COPY

Common function on digital drum machines which allows you to transfer a PATTERN from one memory to another. Useful either if you decide you need the pattern somewhere else, or if you want to record lots of minor variations on the same pattern and don't want to have to re-write it from scratch every time.

DIGITAL

Operating with numbers in the form of thousands of electrical on/off signals rather than with simple varying ANALOGUE voltages. Universally used in computer technology, for storage of drum pattern information and for recording of drum sounds.

DIN

Deutsche Institut fur Normen, or German Standards Institute. Bet you always wanted to know that.

DIN SYNC

Also SYNC 24, a synchronisation standard developed by Roland and adapted by Korg. Takes the external form of a five-pin DIN socket with CLOCK pulse, earth and start/stop connections, and two pin unused. Roland equipment uses 24 clock pulses per quarter note, Korg uses 48. Definitely not to be confused with a MIDI connection, although interestingly enough you could send MIDI and SYNC 24 from the same five-pin socket since MIDI uses the two spare pins and could happily share the earth pin. Must remember to patent that idea.

EPROM

Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. A chip which can be filled with digital information by specialised equipment such as an EPROM Blower. The information can relate to a SAMPLED sound or to the operational system for a digital drum machine. An EPROM can be erased with ultra violet light and re-programmed about thirty times.

HUMAN FEEL

Common facility on digital drum machines which allows them to re-create drum patterns with a life-like feel by inserting small variations in timing. Sounds will come before or after the beat by a random but programmable amount. Known in the US as Swing. Also a serious sexual offence, so watch it.

MIDI

Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a universal communication method for synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines. Drum machines are generally only concerned with the MIDI clock pulse, but many can also respond to a synth keyboard which will play the drum sounds from certain keys, and some such as the SCI Drumtraks (Rev 0.5) will allow you to play different pitches and volumes from the keyboard too. MIDI often allows you to dump information from a drum machine to another of the same make virtually instantaneously.

ORGANIST

Responsible for the development of the drum machine as we know it, but in every other way highly undesirable.

OSCILLATOR

Electronic circuit producing a regularly varying voltage which can produce a sound when sent to a speaker, or step along a SHIFT REGISTER (that is, act as a CLOCK) when designed to give off sharp, regular pulses.

PROM

Programmable Read-Only Memory. Like an EPROM, programmable with specialised equipment, but not erasable. A sound put into a PROM is stuck there, as is an operational system or set of patterns. Also an annual concert of classical music noted for its total neglect of digital drum machines.

PROGRAMMABLE

Can be filled with information by the user. In a drum machine, this means you can create your own drum patterns to suit a song — in a sound chip, it means you can record your own sound.

PCM

Pulse Code Modulation, a relatively inexpensive method of digitally recording or transmitting sounds. Widely used in modern communications technology, so you should be able to reprogram your RX11 over the telephone soon (Shurely shome mishtake here? — Ed.)

PATTERN

Short repeating set of drum sounds, the basic compositional unit on programmable drum machines. Can be many BARS long if desired. See SEGMENT.

ROM

Read Only Memory. Chip which cannot be re-programmed and which cannot have new information written into it. Suitable for storing sound presets or preset patterns which don't need to be altered, cheaper than RAM or EPROM.

RAM

Random Access Memory. Chip which can be freely re-programmed, consulted for information or used to hold new information. Used for user-programmable memories of a drum machine, some RAM assigned to PATTERN storage and some to SONG storage.

RING MODULATION

Electrical process which takes two input signals and generates the sum and the difference of their frequency values. These figures are mathematically but not musically related, so unharmonious results can be expected. Ideal for turning WHITE NOISE into metallic cymbal-like effects with lots of overtones; the name comes from the original design based on four diodes in a ring, but other methods including digital methods are now used to achieve the same results.

RESOLUTION

Degree of accuracy of AUTOCORRECT functions, the length of the beat your playing will be timed to; so auto-correction with 16th-note resolution will move all your sounds to the nearest 16th beat.

REALTIME

Recording exactly as played "live", with all mistakes and expression reproduced exactly. See STEP TIME.

SEGMENT

"Oberheimese" for PATTERN.

SAMPLING

Digitally recording real sounds for playback under control of a keyboard or drum machine. Recordings can be made into ROM, into RAM, onto EPROM or even directly onto floppy disks.

SHIFT REGISTER

Electronic store for pattern information. When CLOCKed, it sends out TRIGGERS to the sound-producing circuits in the order determined by its programming.

SONG

Selection of different patterns intended to back an entire composition. Also known as "Track".

STEP TIME

Recording method by which every beat entered is reproduced with the same length, regardless of how irregularly it's played in. The length used can be set in advance or often altered during the programming process. See REAL TIME.

2716,2732,2764

EPROM's commonly used for storing both sound and operational information. The 2716 holds 16k (just over 16 thousand) BYTES, the 2732 holds 32kB, the 2764 holds 64kB. A typical drum machine would use four 2764's reading them out one after another to hold the sound of a long crash cymbal.

TAPE DUMP

Method of recording digital information on cassette tape for cheap bulk storage. Information is actually converted into a rapid series of bleeps and recorded in the normal way; many drum machines are able to save PATTERNS and SONGS this way, and some will even save sounds to tape. Not a recommended procedure during a live set due to its unreliability when anybody's looking — although the Human League have been known to do it successfully with a Linn LM-1.

TAPESYNC

Ensures that a drum machine keeps time with music recorded on other tracks of a multi-track tape by over-riding its internal clock with a pulse recorded on the tape. Most drum machines prefer to read their own tape clicks, but there is some interchangeability. Tape sync makes it possible to change or add to a drum pattern at the last minute, or even to run the drum machine "live" into the final mix (with all the advantages of individual equalisation of the sounds and track saving) without ever committing it to tape.

TRACK

Alternative word for SONG.

TRIGGER

Electrical pulse which sets off another circuit. A trigger applied to a sound generating circuit from a shift register, synth, sequencer or drum pad causes it to sound. See also CLOCK.

WHITE NOISE

Random sound of all frequencies which takes the form of a steady hissing. Can be heard on a radio tuned between stations, and forms the basis of ANALOGUE cymbal and snare sounds.

ZENER

Type of diode used to produce WHITE NOISE.

ZIF

Zero Insertion Force Socket — the type that allows you to interchange your drum machine sound chips regularly without snapping their legs off.