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concepts - about patterns - pattern writing - about tracks - track writing
About Patterns
Patterns have a memory location. They are organized in Banks, called a "Pattern Group" (A and B, or I and II), containing the Patterns, which usually are numbered from 1 to 8 or from 1 to 16. The length of a Pattern is set with the "last step", which can be any step from the 1st Pattern step to the full 16 Pattern steps.
| Pattern steps | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
Each step of the Pattern can have a note or a rest. The 303 also has a "sustain pitch" step, which is a way to keep the Gate open for an extra step.
| Pattern steps | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| Note | o | - | - | o | o | - | - | o | o | o | - | o | - | - | - | - |
The timing of the Patterns can be 3/4 or 4/4, a choice that has consequences for the synchronization of the machines in a master/slave situation. One machine can have a 4/4 time, the other can have a 3/4 time, and still be in sync with each other, as long as the number of steps set for both Patterns match the fixed synchronization steps for both timings.
| 4/4 beat steps | 1 | 2-3-4 | 5 | 6-7-8 | 9 | 10-11-12 | 13 | 14-15-16 | ||
| 3/4 beat steps | 1 | 2 - 3 | 4 | 5 - 6 | 7 | 8 - 9 | 10 | 11 - 12 | 13 | 14 - 15 |
| --sync step-- | x | x | x | x | x |
The table shows that as long as a 4/4 time Pattern has 4, 8, 12 or 16 steps, it will be in sync with a 3/4 time Pattern that has 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15 steps.
- the 303 can not have more that 15 steps in 3/4 time.
- the 606 and 707 also have a "double speed" time mode, so you need 2 Patterns for 1 Bar.