Program a break

You can now program slices one through sixteen on the track's steps. Notice how note length dictates the speed with which the sample plays through, with - in our case of the Amen break - 16 being normal speed (just like the auditioning length in the Sampler).

Program a few slices on a couple of different steps, always using note length 16 to achieve a BMP-synced playback. Notice you can use a step's Pich to pitch shift the slice (still keeping the playback time constant). Large pitch shifts create the metallic artifacts that early samplers were known for, and that Junglists used to great creative effect.

Furthermore, you are strongly encouraged to further refine the patch and exploit the real-time nature of the "Warp" algorithm for greater dynamic effects and sound design; for example, the nature of the "metallic" artifacts can be changed dynamically by modifying the amplitude of Osc2 by means of its LFO. For a quick demonstration, on the amplitude (AMPL) page, program a saw wave LFO. Set 13/A5/L.2.Wv to "SaW", depth (14/A6/L.2.dE) to 64 and rate (15/A7/L.2.rt) to 6 steps. Letting the LFO run free (rather than retriggering) further help create interest. For more information see the time and pitch warping documentation.

In general, coming up with a compelling break is surprisingly easy on the Woovebox, thanks to its conditional triggering as well as automated muting generator. A single 16-step pattern can be all it takes for a complex, energetic break that plays out over many bars.

This is a very quick example of some ingredients that might go into such a break;

• To start, set note length (hold write + turn value knob) to 16 steps. Now play/select the first slice (which should be the entirety of the drumloop) and put it on step 1. As a side note, notice what happens when you change the step's pitch; the pitch of the drumloop changes without impacting the speed with which it plays back.
• Grab (audition) slice 13 and program it on, for example, step 11. Due to the way we auto-sliced (16 even slices), this - in effect - starts playing the sample's 13th step early on the 11th step. Once the sample runs out, you should hear it "ping pong" in reverse for the last 2 steps to make up for the missing audio. As a side note, you will notice that - again because of the way we auto-sliced (16 even slices) - if you grab a slice number and put it on that same step, you restore the original flow of the drumloop.
• Create a conditional on the first step we programmed; on the fourth playthrough ("WhEn Pth4"), perform a "2 note up" ("do UP2n") command.
• Grab slice 5 and program it on step 16. Give it, for example, a x3 repeat/"ratchet" conditional ("do ][ 3") with a probability of 25%.
• Grab slice 7 and program it onto "itself" (step 7), allowing us to conditionally modify it every 8th playthrough ("WhEn Pth8") and perform a "2 note up" ("do UP2n") command.
• Grab slice 13 and program it onto "itself" (step 13), and program a tape stop effect that only gets triggered every 16th playthrough ("WhEn Pt16.").

And so on, and so forth. You should end up with the break from the example. For extra mayhem, you can use the pattern muting functionality, which will allow for certain slices to never trigger/take over, therefore allowing other slices to play out longer. You can also change the song's BPM and the break will still sound largely the same.

To see a more standard Amen chop being reconstructed in real-time from its source material, you can also have a look at the "Good Ol' Days" demo track .SYX in the resources section.