A LITTLE MUSCLE MEMORY
Your keyboard is an instrument. Choose Piano or Pads above the piano to route your computer keys and MIDI controller.
For Piano, play the letters printed on the white and black keys. Hold several for a chord; release them to lift the notes. Z / X shift octaves. Choose Grand or Electric piano, Strings, Nylon guitar, Concert harp, Upright bass, or one of the three synths: Analog lead, Warm pad and Sub bass. Adjust Volume or turn on Sustain. All notes off stops the piano. You can play along while your beat runs.
In Pads mode, play the 16 pads with these keys, from top row to bottom.
1 2 3 4 Q W E R A S D F Z X C V
Space Play / pause ⌘ / Ctrl + Z Undo
Choose a Hip-hop starter kit for South, West Coast, East Coast or Chicago. Choose Darker, Classic or Modern melodic for each region. Each has its own 16-bar sketch with Intro, Groove, Break and Hook sections, built around a repeating phrase, bass locked to the kick, and a quiet response in the final hook. Beat only starts on; switch it off to hear the arranged loops. Preview it, load a full beat, or load just its sounds. Undo restores the previous session; your uploaded files stay in the library.
Choose Versilian recordings in the library Collection menu for grand piano, recorded FM electric piano, concert harp, upright bass and viola strings. Each has soft and strong recordings. Drag a sound onto a MIDI pad or select it in the pad’s Sound menu. The starter kits also use these recordings.
Set Pad volume to balance each sound. Shift-click a sequencer step to cycle its hit strength. Arm the red record button to capture pad hits into the repeating 16-step pattern. Select a pad, then use Load song or choose an uploaded file from its Sound selector. Use Quick cut to choose a short sample, then drag the Whole song overview to find your section. Drag IN / OUT in the enlarged waveform to trim it, or drag the middle to move it. Hold Shift while dragging for finer control. Preview sample plays just your selection. Use Pitch & Speed to shift octaves or slow the sample; pitch and speed are linked. Reset sound restores normal tuning. You can also drag a library sound or file onto a pad.
In Piano mode, MIDI plays your selected keyboard sound with note release, playing strength and sustain-pedal support. In Pads mode, MIDI notes 36–51 trigger pads 1–16. MIDI access needs a supported browser and your permission. Loops with a source BPM follow the project tempo; imported files start at their original speed. Pad octave and speed settings also affect playback.
Let’s make something THE SOUND BEHIND THE STUDIO
Recorded instruments & synths. Grand piano, recorded FM electric piano and concert harp from the Versilian Community Sample Library .
Upright bass and viola strings from VSCO Community Edition , recorded by Sam Gossner and Simon Dalzell, with sample cutting by Elan Hickler / Soundemote.
The Nylon guitar uses the FreePats Spanish classical guitar , recorded by roberto@zenvoid.org and released under CC0. The Analog lead, Warm pad and Sub bass are generated by Looproom.
These recordings are released under CC0 1.0 and prepared for Looproom. The drum sounds, 808 bass and West Coast analog lead use Looproom synthesis.
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