User Manual

6.3. Polyrhythm mode
This feature is as interesting as it is unusual. And it has the potential to unleash creative
explorations you might never have considered otherwise.
6.3.1. What is Polyrhythm mode?
Usually a drum machine pattern will operate within a single time signature, such as 4/4 or
12/8. For example, with a single measure of 4/4 there are sixteen 16th notes, and if a drum
only plays on the downbeat it must wait another 15 steps before it plays again.
But with the DrumBrute’s polyrhythm feature you can specify a different time signature
for each instrument track! This could mean you’d have 16 loops of different lengths all
happening at the same time.
6.3.2. What it does
Here’s an example: What if you wanted a pattern with this mixture of time signatures:
Instrument
Kick 1 Kick 2 Snare Clap Rim
Time signature
3/16 1/4 5/16 3/8 4/4
The Rim track is the longest, so we’ll use that as the timing reference for our discussion.
Here’s how those tracks would look in the MIDI Control Center:
But here’s a visual representation of how they would sound during the first bar:
And during the second bar:
The second loop, Kick 2, is highlighted as a rhythmic reference. It plays on quarter notes 1,
2, 3, and 4, and the Rim will play on beat 1 every time.
But the other instruments will continue their shorter loops: Kick 1 will play its cycle of 3, the
snare a cycle of 5, and the clap a cycle of 6. They will play at different times in relationship
to each other for quite a while.
In this example it will be 360 bars of 4/4 time before the first bar is heard again!
To toggle Polyrhythm on and off, hold the Shift button and press Step button 16.
Arturia - User Manual DrumBrute - Advanced Features 48