Making Programmed Beats Funkier

The DrumBrute has plenty of options for tweaking groove and making beats less predictable

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You may have wondered how to add faster rhythmic parts to a pattern’s fixed grid. Step Repeat divides steps by a factor of 2, 3 or 4. Simply select and hold a Step, then press in the Roll/Loop strip above the relevant number.

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Swing can be added both globally (for the whole pattern), or per instrument when the Current Track button is engaged. Slower and sparser percussion parts can often take a bit more swing then denser elements. Adjusting the overall swing also increases settings you’ve applied to individual tracks.

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For more precision, each step can have its own timing set (shorter or longer) by holding the relevant Step button and turning the Swing knob. All steps for the selected instrument can be moved by holding Shift and turning Swing.

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Randomness can be introduced for a whole pattern or per instrument. Though it naturally works better for glitchy rhythms, it can be used quite subtly if needed. Try small amounts for a pattern and more for other parts.

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Though strictly only available as a live performance tool (and therefore not recordable on the DrumBrute), the Looper can make a repeating pattern more interesting. Luckily, the latest firmware update adds the ability for the Touch Strip to send and receive CC messages.

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The Mute and Solo buttons are useful for auditioning smaller instrument groups. Each track’s Solo/Mute status is stored when moving between modes, making it a useful performance tool. This also affects MIDI/USB note output.