BELOW THE SURFACE

While the majority of sound-shaping functions are controlled by the central bank of rotaries, each drum machine has a number of additional sonic parameters hidden below the surface, requiring a combination of button presses to access them. On the Tanzmaus, these include selecting attack transients for the snare, clap and tom, and changing the active samples. The Tanzbär Lite, meanwhile, offers selectable transients for the clap, volume for the rimshot, pan position for the tom and tuning for the cymbal. The Tanzmaus has an additional Data rotary too, which affects different parameters depending on which instrument is currently selected. It will add drive to the kick, alter the pitch envelope of the snare, adjust the pan position of the tom and control the attack phase of the two sample channels. Both instruments feature LFOs on several drums too – kick, clap, tom, cowbell and clave on the Lite, and kick, clap, tom and the sample tracks on the Maus – each of which offers wave, speed and depth controls. This is a really nice touch, adding an interesting extra layer of sound shaping along with the ability to add a little movement to your beats.