Roland Zenbeats Start Guide PDF

Start Guide

Start Guide PART.1 Zenbeats Installation and Peripheral Setup

PART.5 How to Program and Edit an Instrument

PART.2 Zenbeats Home Screen Overview

PART.6 Recording Audio

PART.3 Making Music Using Audio Loops

PART.7 Mix Creation

PART.4 Making Beats with the Drum Track

PART.8 Collaboration and Sharing

1-1 How to Download and Install Zenbeats 1-2 Start / Sign in to Zenbeats 1-3 How to Set the Language 1-4 Setting up an Audio Interface 1-5 Connecting a MIDI Controller to Zenbeats 1-6 Zenbeats Interface Scale Factor 1-7 Using Third-party Plugins in Zenbeats (VST,

AU, AUV3)

P.03 P.04 P.07 P.07 P.08 P.08 P.08

P.30 P.31 P.32 P.33 P.35 P.37

P.40 P.42 P.43 P.44

P.45 P.46 P.46 P.47 P.49

P.50

P.51 P.52 P.52 P.53

P.54

P.09 P.09 P.09 P.10 P.10 P.12 P.12 P.15 P.15 P.16 P.17

P.18 P.19 P.20 P.21 P.22

P.23 P.24 P.26 P.27 P.27 P.28 P.29

5-1 Launching an Instrument and Loading a Preset 5-2 Open the Note Editor 5-3 Editing a Phrase in the Note Editor 5-4 Real-time Input Using a MIDI controller 5-5 Using ZC1 5-6 How to Use SampleVerse

2-1 Create a New Song 2-2 Saving Songs 2-3 Opening Songs 2-4 Starting and Stopping Playback 2-5 Transport 2-6 Timeline View Overview 2-7 LoopBuilder View Overview 2-8 Tools and View Switches 2-9 On-screen Instruments 2-10 Mixer View 2-11 Adding Tracks and Exploring Track Types

6-1 Recording to an Audio Track 6-2 Audio Editing 6-3 Audio Editor 6-4 Loopbuilder Audio Recording

3-1 Creating a Song and Adding an Audio Track 3-2 Adding Loops 3-3 Playing with Loops 3-4 Editing a Loop 3-5 Recording Your Loops to Timeline View

7-1 Open Mixer View 7-2 Adjusting Volume 7-3 Effect Plugins 7-4 Using a Send Track 7-5 Export/Mixdown Song

4-1 Open the Drum Track 4-2 Programming with the Drum Editor 4-3 Using Drum Patterns 4-4 Changing the Drum Kit 4-5 Changing the Sound in a Drum Lane 4-6 Saving a Drum Kit 4-7 Drum Pattern Advanced Editing

8-1 Upload to a Cloud Service (Google Drive/ Microsoft OneDrive)

8-2 Opening Songs from Cloud Services 8-3 Song Transfer 8-4 Stem Export 8-5 Exporting MIDI Data

Enjoy Zenbeats even more - About free and paid versions

How to Read This Manual Zenbeats is designed to work across all device types on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. While this guide primarily focuses on the mobile versions, all topics are applicable to the macOS and Windows versions as well with the exeption of mouse vs touch input. Tap (mobile version) click (desktop version) Long tap (mobile version) right click (desktop version)

Zenbeats Installation and Peripheral Setup First, let's install Zenbeats and set up peripheral devices to make songs. The basic functions of Zenbeats can be used free of charge by anyone.

Zenbeats can be downloaded from Roland's website (https://www.roland. com/global/products/rc_zenbeats/). There are download links at the bottom

of the web page. Tap on the button that matches your device's platform.

Mobile versions of Zenbeats (iOS and Android) are installed automatically on download. Windows and macOS versions require you to download an installer and

follow the on-screen instructions.

PART.1

1-1How to Download and Install Zenbeats

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POINT Zenbeats is compatible with 4 platforms iOS, Android, macOS and Windows. This gives you the same experience no matter which platform you use. You can also exchange files. For information on sharing files between devices, see page p.50 of this guide.

Click on the button to download the Zenbeats application for your chosen environment.

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When installation is complete and Zenbeats is launched the user is taken to the home screen for the first time. To access the store, download free content or purchase an unlock you must create a free Roland account. If you already have a Roland account skip to step 6. If you do not have an account tap "Get a Free Roland Account" on the home screen to create your

Roland account.

The default web browser will open, and the login screen Roland Account (BackStage) will be displayed. Tap "Create Account." If you you already

have a Roland Account and have forgotten the password tap "Reset Password."

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1-2Start / Sign in to Zenbeats

Follow the on-screen instructions and enter all the required information. Enter an email address you want to use with your Roland account (this must be a valid email address), and tap "submit." An email verification will be sent and is required to create your Roland account. Enter your name, password, etc. and tap "Sign Up" when you have completed entering all items.

An activation link for your account will be sent to the email you submitted. Tap the "Account Authentication" button in the email to activate your Roland account. Activation links are only valid for 24 hours after being issued.

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4 In Zenbeats, tap "Sign in with your Roland Account" (1). Enter the emai l address and the password you selected for your

Roland account, and tap the "Sign In" button (2).

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When sign-in is complete, the following screen is displayed and Zenbeats is ready to use.

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POINT About the free version and the paid version (Unlock) The free version of Zenbeats gives you all the basic tools needed for music production. You can purchase additional loops/presets/ content from the Zenbeats in-app store. Some features are restricted (locked) until the you pay for the full unlocked version. For details, see "Enjoying Zenbeats More-Free and Paid Versions" at the end of this guide. (This guide contains explanations about the features of the paid version.)

If necessary, set the buffer size and input/output. For more information, please refer to the instruction manual of your Audio Interface.

Zenbeats allows you to use the device's built- in audio drivers (speakers and microphones) or an external audio interface. If you are recording audio, for best results, connect an

external interface. Audio devices can be found in Main Menu/Settings/Audio.

Zenbeats can be used in English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, French and German. Language selection is made from the home screen under Main Menu/Language.

Tap the "Audio" tab (1) in Settings and select the name of the Audio Device you want to use (2). Set the buffer size and inputs/outputs

of your device in this section. (See your audio device manufacturer's instructions for setting buffer size and sample rate). Tap "Ok" (3) when complete.

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1-4Setting up an Audio Interface

1-3How to Set the Language

POINT What is an Audio Interface?

Audio interfaces are external sound devices with professional grade inputs and outputs. These inputs and outputs enable you to connect to professional devices such as microphones, instruments, external speakers and more. While Zenbeats works with a variety of audio interfaces, we recommend the Roland Rubix series. The Rubix series features high quality recording and playback and can be used on iOS, macOS and Windows devices. The Rubix comes in 3 different models based on your needs.

The compact Rubix22 with 2-inputs / 2-outputs. The mid range Rubix24 with 2-inputs / 4-outputs plus a high performance compressor / limiter. There is also the Rubix44 with 4-inputs / 4-outputs and 2 compressor/limters and additional monitoring options.

Rubix 22

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Tap "Settings" in the Zenbeats main menu to open the Settings window.

On install, Zenbeats will detect your screen size and selct a default interface scale factor. You can manually edit the size of the interface by opening Settings/Interface and adjust the Interface Scale Factor. The larger the scale factor number, the larger the items will appear in Zenbeats.

Tap the "MIDI Input" tab (1). Make sure your MIDI controller is attached to your device. Zenbeats has slots for up to 8 MIDI input devices. Tap the MIDI Input field (2) to display

your connected devices, and select the device from the list. Zenbeats also supports Bluetooth MIDI on iOS and Android. To connect a Bluetooth MIDI device, tap the "Bluetooth MIDI Devices" button then select the device from the list. When you are done click the "Ok" button (3) to save the changes.

Zenbeats can host third-party instrument and effect plugins. If you have plugins installed on your device and they are not displayed, go to Settings/Plugins and tap "Scan for New" (1). Be sure to set your plugin scan directories when using Windows and macOS.

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1-5Connecting a MIDI Controller to Zenbeats

1-6Zenbeats Interface Scale Factor 1-7 Using Third-party Plugins in Zenbeats (VST, AU, AUV3)

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Zenbeats Home Screen Overview

The home screen has several shortcuts to create and access song and lesson files. Let's start with creating a new song, then we'll explore a demo project.

To create a new song, tap the "New Song" button.

Once you've created a new song, you can save it by tapping on the main menu, tap "Song," then tap "Save Song As..."

To open a song, just click the "Open Song" button from the home screen to display your songs. You can also access "Open Song" functions from the Main Menu in the "Song"

sub-menu.

You can see all saved songs in the "My Songs" tab as shown below. To open a song, select the song file (1) then tap the "Open" button (2). You can also double tap a song

file to open it.

This will display the Save Song window where you can set the song's name and type, as well as location. Tap the "Save" button when ready.

PART.2

2-1Create a New Song

2-2Saving Songs

2-3Opening Songs

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With your song open, you can always see the play and stop buttons at the top of the screen. Tap the [] to play the song. You can stop playback by pressing the []

In addition to basic functions like playing, stopping and recording, the Transport section controls key elements of the song such as Tempo, Key, BPM and Metronome settings.

You can change the start time of the playback by moving the green playback marker. To do, so tap anywhere in the mini-timeline above

the tracks.

2-4Starting and Stopping Playback

2-5Transport

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Play Stop

Playback Position

Rec Play Stop Key Lock Settings

Transport Options

BPM/Metronome Setting

Grid Settinga( ) MIDI Learn

Loop()

You can adjust the Tempo, Time Signature and Metronome options here.

In the Grid Settings, you can enable/disable snap functions, enable Swing, Quantize on Record and more.

If you are using a MIDI controller with Zenbeats, you can quickly assign your controller's buttons, knobs or sliders to Zenbeats parameters. Just tap "MIDI Learn", then select the Zenbeats parameter, and finally grab the hardware controller your want to assign.

If you're new to music creation (or keyboard playing) Key Lock will make creating unique melodies and phrases easy. Simply turn it on then specify a key and mode. Once enabled, notes p l a y e d o n t h e o n - screen keyboard and in the MIDI Editor will be locked in key so you can play freely without hitting incorrect notes.

Loopbuilder

Timeline

BPM/Metronome

Grid Setting

MIDI Learn

Key Lock

Timeline view is a linear editing screen that enables you to easily arrange and edit audio and MIDI patterns by time and musical meaures. This is the most commonly used mode for creating complete arrangements with long phrases (like vocals).

2-6Timeline View Overview

Displays the mixer for the selected track.

Displays the mixer for the selected track.

Displays a list of tracks used in the song.

Displays a list of tracks used in the song.

This is the area for arranging performance information and editing performance data.

This is the area for arranging performance information and editing performance data.

TrackMixer

TrackMixer

Track

Track

Edit Area

Edit Area

LoopBuilder view is a clip-based arranger that enables you to quickly assemble a song by creating or importing loops into each cell. Unlike Timeline view (which plays all patterns from start to finish), clips in LoopBuilder view can be triggered indivdually and play until you tap stop. This allows you to create freely and focus on building ideas for your song.

2-7LoopBuilder View Overview

Track Name Displays the track name.

Track Solo Play the track solo

Freeze Freeze the truck.

Setting Displays the track's settings.

Record Arm Put track into record mode.

Level Meter Displays the input/output level.

Track Mute Mute the track.

Automation Show Automation

Track Pannel

POINT What are Tracks?

Tracks contain individual elements of your song. The most common track types for creating music in Zenbeats are instrument tracks for hosting virtual instruments, drum tracks for adding beats to your song and audio tracks for recording external sources or importing audio loops.

Track Mixer

Track Name Displays the track name.

Track Pan Set the panning of the track

Track Filter Filter to cut out low and high

frequency components of sound

Track Effects Set the track effect.

Track Sends Set a send to a track

Track Volume Volume Fader and Level Meter

Input Displays/changes the input port set for the track.

Setting Displays the track's settings.

Cell It contains performance data.

Start Recording Recording.

Song Parts Play all cells in the same

column at once.

Playing Loops Play a loop.

Loopbuilder View

Timeline View

Edit Area

Pattern It contains performance data.

Screen Zoom Adjusts the screen size.

Screen Zoom Adjusts the screen size.

Timeline Displays the time axis (number of measures).

Playback Position Displays the current playback timing. Tap on the screen to move to that position.

Mode switching Toggles between the Timeline view

and the Loopbuilder view.

Song Management Save the current song.

System Stats Toggle the system stats, send track,

master track and mini-timeline display.

Mixer View Display Mixer View.

Song Open Open the song file.

Undo / Redo

Share Export and share your songs.

Tool Change the operation of the tap.

On-screen instruments Disply On-screen keyboard or drum pads

Display Area Adjusts the display area of On-screen instruments

Instruments Track

2-8Tools and View Switches

2-9On-screen Instruments

To the right of the Transport bar there are tools for common functions and view switches to change sequencer modes and views.

When instrument or drum tracks are selected, you can enable on-screen instruments to play them using the touch screen. Instrument tracks will display a keyboard and drum tracks will display drum pads.

Keyboard range Sets the range of the keyboard.

Display Mode Switches the display of the On-screen instruments

Drum Track

2-10Mixer View

The Mixer view will display all of your tracks in one view. You can quickly make adjustments to volume and pan settings along with adding and editing effects.

Display Area Adjusts the display area of On-screen instruments

Display Mode Switches the display of the On-screen instruments

Audio Track

Drum Track

Instrument Track

Send Track

2-11Adding Tracks and Exploring Track Types

Zenbeats has four track types available. Choose from audio tracks, instrument tracks, drum tracks and send tracks. To add tracks, just tap the "+" button located at the bottom left side of the screen.

Use audio tracks when you want to make music using audio loops or for recording audio from an external source. Audio is displayed as a wave form and can be edited in the Audio Editor.

Use drum tracks when programming rhythmic instruments such as drums and percussion. Each track contains a drum machine as well as a step sequencer view that makes programming drum beats fast and easy.

Use instrument tracks to create music using virtual instruments. Performances can be recorded using the on-screen instruments or an external MIDI controller. Unlike audio tracks, instrument tracks have more editing flexibility as you can add and edit notes in the MIDI Editor.

Use send tracks to host common effects (like reverb or delay) that can be used on all other tracks by connecting them via the send section on the mixer.

POINT What is a Track Template? Track templates are custom track configurations (or presets) that can save you time. For example, let's say you add an audio track and then add 4 custom effects that you like to use on your vocal performance. You can save that track as a Track Template by tapping on the Track Settings menu and tap "Save Track Template..." From there, you can add your vocal track template on any song, by tapping "+ Track" and tap "Track Template" from the menu.

Making Music Using Audio Loops Zenbeats includes a wide variety of audio loops that can easily be used to build a song.

From the home screen, start by tapping the "New Song" button to create a song file.

To begin building your song using audio loops, start by adding an audio track. Tap the "+" button at the bottom left of the screen and tap "Audio Track." *Audio Loops can be used

in both LoopBuilder and Timeline views.

By default, new songs start with a single drum track and show you the drum editor. Tap the "X" button in the upper right to close out of the Drum Editor.

PART.3

3-1Creating a Song and Adding an Audio Track

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POINT Deleting unused tracks

POINT What is a loop? Loops are short phrases of audio material that are designed to be repeated in your song. Although loops do not have the editing flexibility of MIDI, you can freely adjust the tempo and pitch of any audio loop in the Audio Editor.

Tracks can easily be deleted from a song by long tapping on a track, then tap "Delete" from the pop-up menu. Please note: deleting a track will remove any instruments, effects and patterns as well. If you accidentally delete one by mistake, you can recover it by tapping the "Undo" button.

To add a loop, select a loop cell, then tap on the [] button to open the Loop Browser. The Loop

Browser will appear on the right side of the screen and display all available loops.

Zenbeats contains a wide variety of loops to choose from such as drums, basses, keyboards and more. You can quickly search for specific loop types

by using the search and filter options. You can audition loops by tapping the [] located to the right of each loop.

When you find a loop you like, tap the [] button to add it to your empty loop cell. Tip: you can also drag and drop loops from the browser to any

empty cell on an audio track.

Repeat the steps above to add additional loops to your song. You can audition new loops while your project is playing. This will help you decide if

the new loops fit your existing ones. Use the "Audition Mix" slider to adjust the volume of the loops you are previewing. Tip: while you can add loops in any cell on an audio track, try to keep them organized by putting similar instruments on the same track.

3-2 Adding Loops

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Preview

Import Loop

Playback Volume

Stop Preview

Search and Filters

LoopBuilder makes it easy to audition and arrange loops into song parts. You can freely play loops in any section to experiment with different arrangement

ideas. To play a loop, just tap the [] on the loop cell. *Note: only one loop can be playing on a track (horizontally), but you can mix and match loops on different tracks from any song part.

If you want to play all loops in a column simultaneously, tap the [] on the song part at the bottom of the column.

If you wish to replace an existing loop, you can drag and drop another loop on top of it from another cell or from the Loop Browser. You can also rearrange song parts on the

Master Track by tapping and dragging them left or right.

Enable Part Follow to play your song parts sequentially. With Part Follow on, tap play on song part A and it will automatically play the next part when part A has

completed a loop.

3-3 Playing with Loops

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Swipe

POINT Song Parts Settings You can customize song parts by tapping on the menu button on the song part. This wil l display a menu that gives you common functions such as copy, paste, duplicate and individual Part Follow options.

You can edit several properties of a loop in the Audio Editor. Get started by double tapping on any loop to open the Audio Editor

You can change the length of the loop by adjust the top handles on the left or right side of the loop range. If you need to make fine adjustments, tap the menu button

in the upper left of the editor window and turn off "Snap." You can also crop and fade loops in and out with the crop and fade handles in the waveform view.

You can edit more in the Audio Inspector. Tap the [] located in the lower left to show the inspector. The inspector allows you to play the audio backwards by tapping the "Reverse" button. You can also adjust the gain of the loop as well as the

pitch by semitone or ocatve if "Stretch" is enabled. In addition to controlling pitch, Stretch is also used to conform the loop to your song tempo.

3-4 Editing a Loop

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The Audio Editor can edit stock loops as well as recorded audio files in both LoopBuilder and Timeline views.

Drag to range

You can record individual loops and song parts to Timeline view for more editing capabilities. To get started, tap and hold (or right click) on the Record button and select

"Record to Timeline."

This will enable the mini-timeline view to appear. You can place the playback marker anywhere on the mini-timeline to specify where you want to begin recording.

To start recording, tap play on a loop or song part. This will begin recording the loops to the Timeline view. You can play the loops or song parts in any order and record more than one arragement.

3-5 Recording Your Loops to Timeline View

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Tap to select

POINT Switch to Timeline view for more editing capabilities. As you can see all loops are recording on their respective tracks. After recording is complete, you can switch to the timeline view to edit them in detail.

Making Beats with the Drum Track With a drum track, you can easily make beats using the step sequnencer.

To create a drum track tap the [] button at the bottom left of the screen and then tap "Drum Track."

Double tap the pattern to open the Drum Editor view.

In LoopBuilder view, double tap on an empty cell to open the Drum Editor. In Timeline view, an empty pattern is created by double tapping on a drum track.

PART.4

4-1 Open the Drum Track

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Loop Builder View

Timeline View

double tap

double tap

Drum Pattern Menu

Drum Inspector

Drum lanes

Drum sequencer

Drum Kit Menu

In the Drum Editor, the vertical axis (drum lanes) represents each drum sound, and the horizontal axis represents the notes to be played. You can audition each drum lane by tapping a lane's play button. You can also edit the pattern as it plays. To add notes, tap an empty note cell.

To delete a programmed note, tap an existing note to delete it. If you want to delete all the notes in a row, you can long tap the drum lane and tap "Clear Row of Notes" from the drum lane menu.

To adjust the velocity, tap and swipe up and down on a note. The velocity of the note is represented by the intensity of the color of the drum cell. Lighter colored cells show weaker hits and darker cells show stronger hits.

4-2Programming with the Drum Editor

4-2-1Adding Notes

4-2-2Deleting Notes 4-2-3Adjusting Velocity

Tap and Swipee to the right

POINT Use Auto-fill to add multiple notes. You can program phrases quickly by tapping and holding a note, then swiping to the right. This will add notes at regular note intervals.

Velocity can be adjusted from the Drum Automation Editor.

Swipee up and down. long tap

The Drum Editor builds beats in one bar increments. To change the pattern size open the drum pattern menu. If you select Custom Pattern Size, you can set the pattern to any size.

Pattern sizes larger than one bar will use page buttons at the bottom of the screen. If "Follow" is on, the page will automatically switch to the next page as the pattern plays.

If you want to add groove or swing to a rhythm, use the Swing function. Open the Grid settings in the Transport and set the "Swing" to on. Use the "Swing Preset" and "Swing Strength" sliders to adjust the groove.

4-2-4Changing the Length of the Pattern

4-2-5Using Swing in a Beat

POINT What is Swing? Swing is a parameter that causes the rhythm to shuffle. By moving the pronunciation timing closer to triplets, you can give the rhythm a unique groove. The Swing Preset from Zenbeats includes 16th/8th/4th notes, as well as three specialized swing presets; dubstep swing, hip-hop swing and house swing. The groove will vary depending on the tempo and genre of the song, so try adjusting the strength of the swing as you play.

POINT Locating your saved Drum Patterns To quickly find original patterns in the Drum Pattern Browser, use the filter (at the top) and select "User" from the list. With "User" selected, only patterns created by the user will be displayed. The Drum Pattern Browser also has a keyword search function to search for specific patterns by name.

4-3Using Drum Patterns

Zenbeats has various types of drum patterns. They can be loaded from the Drum Pattern Browser or menu. Tap the drum pattern menu on the Drum Editor screen to open the browser.

S e l e c t a p a t t e r n a n d a p r e v i e w performance will begin. Find the Drum Pattern of your choice. Once you have decided on a pattern,

tap the [] button to the left of the pattern name, and the pattern will be loaded into the Drum Editor.

You can ed i t an imported Drum Pattern. The new pattern can be saved as an original pattern by tapping the "Drum Pattern" icon and tap "Save

Pattern As..." The saved pattern will be available for loading from the Drum Pattern Browser or menu.

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4-4Changing the Drum Kit

4-5Changing the Sound in a Drum Lane

Zenbeats drum kits cover a wide range of drum sounds, from classic drum machines to the latest dance music. If you want to change the drum kit, tap the drum kit menu to open Drum Kit

Browser.

You can change sounds not only for the entire drum kit, but also by changing each drum sound. With the drum lane you want to edit selected, tap to open the Drum

Inspector

When you select a Drum Kit, that kit will play with the current pattern as a preview. Once you have decided on the kit you want, tap the [] button to

the left to load the kit.

You can customize a drum sound by using the parameters in the Drum Inspector. If you want to change the sound itself, tap "Change Sound" from the "Setting" menu, search for a drum hit in

the browser, and load it by pressing the [] button.

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4-6Saving a Drum Kit

Customized drum kits can be saved as new kits. Tap the drum kit icon and select "Save Drum Kit As..." and save it with a name of your choice. The new kit you created can be recalled from the Drum Kit Browser.

Tone Parameters

Gain: Adjusts the volume. Tune: Changes the pitch. Low: Cuts off the low frequency range. High: Cuts off the high frequency range. Pan: Adjusts the position of the sound in the left/right stereo field. Choke: Sounds selected with choke on will be cut short when the next choked sound plays.

Displays the edit menu (shown at right). You can change sounds, save tones and configure automation settings.

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POINT

Drum Inspector Settings

Get new Drum Kits and Patterns

The drum kits and rhythm patterns available for drum tracks can also be expanded by purchasing additional drum kits and patterns from the "Presets" tab in the Zenbeats in-app store. The Zenbeats store offers a large selection of drum kits and patterns to choose from covering a wide variety of musical genres. Tapping on each title will give you a description, and tapping the play button will allow you to sample the demo sounds.

4-7Drum Pattern Advanced Editing

Using the Automation function, you can make various changes to the drum pattern over time. Tap the "Pattern Automation" button and then select the desired parameters from "Add New Automation." Swipe on the screen to draw the automation. The parameters that can be automated are Volume, Pan, Mute, Solo, Low Cut and High Cut.

Automation can also be set per Drum Lane. Tap the "Drum Graph Automation" button t o o p e n t h e A u t o m a t i o n for the selected drum lane. Tap the button to open the automation for the selected drum lane.

Tap the button to open the drum pattern in the Note Editor, which will be introduced in PART 5. With the Note Editor, you can precisely time each note and create phrases that are finer than 16th notes.

4-7-1Using Pattern Automation

4-7-2Using Drum Graph Automation

4-7-3Editing Drums in the Note Editor

Swipe

Swipe

POINT Adding a Sub Step

Automation's Sub-Divide is useful for creating phrases with finer resolution than 16th notes, such as the hi-hats often heard in music genres like Trap. As you increase this value, you can add a series of beats by splitting the notes. You can easily create mechanical grooves by adding beats that cannot be played by hand.

How to Program and Edit an Instrument This chapter will show you how to use and edit instruments such as piano, bass and synthesizers in Zenbeats.

Zenbeats in lcudes 9 d i f fe rent instruments. Tap the [] button at the bottom left of the screen and then tap "Instrument Track."

Each instrument has preset sounds. Tap the instrument preset menu to open the Preset Browser. Tap a preset name to preview it (you can play it with a MIDI keyboard or programed data). When you decide on a tone, tap the button to load the preset.

An Instrument track wi l l be created and the Instrument Browser will be displayed on the right side of the screen. Tap the name of the instrument you want to use from the list.

PART.5

5-1Launching an Instrument and Loading a Preset

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POINT Changing an Instrument After loading an instrument. If you want to set up a different instrument for a track, long tap the t rack i con and t a p " C h a n g e I n s t r u m e n t . " The Instrument B r o w s e r w i l l launch again, and you can specify the inst rument y o u w a n t t o change.

POINT Grid Setting

The MIDI Editor's grid size (the vertical lines displayed on the screen) can be fine-tuned and snapping can be set. Snapping is useful when you want to create a well-timed phrase, as it acts as a grid sticker when editing the Note. On the other hand, if you want to reproduce nuanced performances and off-grid timing variations, you need to turn off snapping.

The Note Editor is a phrase editing screen that allows you to fine-tune the pitch, length, timing, etc. The vertical direction shows the pitch, the horizontal direction shows the time, and the pronunciation is displayed as a Note on the screen.

In Loop Builder view, double tap on the empty cell of an instrument track to open the Note Editor. In Timeline view, double tap to create an empty pattern. You can then double tap on the pattern to open the Note Editor.

5-2Open the Note Editor

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Loop Builder View Timeline View

Double tap Double tap

Timeline

Inspector

Grid Setting Quantize

Automation

Tool

Note

To add a Note, you can double tap anywhere in the Note Editor Grid or you can use the Paint tool for faster editing. To use the Paint tool, select it from the tool menu located in the upper right of the Note Editor window. With the Paint tool selected, you can add or remove notes anywhere with a single tap. Tip: to create long notes with the Paint tool, just tap and swipe right.

By selecting Select tool and swiping the Note up, down, left and right, you can adjust the pitch (up and down) and timing (left and right).

Tap the button at the bottom left of the screen to display the Inspector for the Note Editor. Select the Note you want to edit and change the parameters in the Inspector.

By swiping the left and right edges of the Note with the Select tool, you can adjust the note length (right end) and the start timing of the phrase (left end).

5-3Editing a Phrase in the Note Editor

5-3-1Adding or Removing a Note

5-3-2Moving a Note

5-3-4Note Editor Inspector

5-3-3Adjust the Note Length

Note Length and

Timing Parameters Move: moves the timing of the Note. Velocity: adjusts the strength of the Note. Start: adjusts the start timing of the Note. End: adjusts the end of the Note.

Note Pitch Parameters Change the pitch and timing of the selected Notes by semitone or by octave.

Swipee

Swipee

Swipee

Using a MIDI controller, it is possible to record the performance directly into Zenbeats. Select an instruments track and tap the button on the transport to start recording. When you finish playing, tap the button to end recording.

You can combine this with the Key Lock function (p. 11), which allows you to play only with specific keys or scales, to make real-time input easy, even for people who are not very experienced at playing musical instruments.

5-4Real-time Input Using a MIDI controller

POINT When programing in the Note Editor

You can also double tap on the screen with the Select tool to create a new event. Notes will be created the same size as the grid (e.g. if the grid is 1/16, a 16th note) will be added.

MIDI data being input

Double-tap to enter

POINT Quantize on record and Quantize editing.

By using the Quantize function, you can create a perfect performance by correcting the timing. In addition, during real-time input, quantize can also be automatically applied at the time of input by setting the "Quantize On Record" in the Grid settings in the Transport (on by default). Try it on both settings and see which works best for you.

You can also quantize manually per Note after recording. In that case, select the relevant Note in the MIDI Editor and tap the "Q" button located in the upper right of the Note Editor.

Quantize Available

Quantize Disabled

New in Zenbeats 2.0 is ZC1, a new flagship instrument based on Roland's ZEN-Core Synthesis System. ZC1 includes 60 presets in the free version and over 800 prests and 90 MFX in the Unlocked version. ZC1 also supports importing and exporting tones from other ZEN-Core products like Zenology and compatible hardware.

In the Main View, you can adjust basic settings for the voices such as Filter and Amp Envelope, etc. The Cutoff and Resonance of Filter can be adjusted with the XY pad in the center of the screen.

In MFX View, you can edit the MFX effects. By tapping the effect name, you can switch effect type. The screen displays the parameters for the selected effect. Also, the effect can be turned off (bypass).

5-5Using ZC1

ZC1 Main View

ZC1 MFX View

By tapping an effect name, you can switch the effect type. A wide variety of effects are included in ZC1, from standard effects to combination effects that combine multiple effects.

ZC1 can import hardware/software tones that support the ZEN-Core Synthesis System. ZC1 can export tones to play. ZC1 -> Import SVZ from "Advanced Features" to import the desired tones. To export a tone, use "Export SVZ" to export a SVZ tone file.

Import/Export ZEN-Core Synthesis System Tones

POINT ZEN-Core compatible products

Sounds created on the ZEN-Core Synthesis System can be played on a completely different ZEN-Core product. Product specific tones are not compatible.

HARDWARE JUPITER-X JUPITER-Xm FANTOM Series MC-707 MC-101 RD-88 AX-Edge

SOFTWARE ZENOLOGY ZENOLOGY Pro ZC1

JUPITER-X

FANTOM ZENOLOGY Pro

SampleVerse is a unique instrument that allows you to record, edit and play samples that you import or record. Recorded samples can easily be combined with up to three oscillators, LFOs and an arpeggiator to create original sounds and phrases.

Play View is a quickstart page that allows control of the Arpeggiator, Filter and Reverb parameters. Play View also contains the pattern preset information.

You can edit each module, such as Oscillator and LFO, by tapping the button of each module. By tapping the button of each module, you can open the module's edit view. Modules can be added by tapping the button.

5-6How to Use SampleVerse

SampleVerse Play View

Edit View

The Oscillator Module creates the basic sound of the Synthesizer voice: Waveform (Sine / Square / Triangle / Saw / Inverted Saw), Pitch, Amp Envelope, Filter, etc. Each Oscillator Module allows you to combine up 5 waveforms at once.

Sample Bank Module allows you to use imported audio files and audio sampled from the Record Page describe below. By tapping on the Sample Bank item, you will be able to import various pre-loaded Sample Banks.

LFO Module allows you to have various modulations to your sound. LFOs can be customized by selecting the waveform (Sine / Square / Triangle / Saw / Inverted Saw / Step). Swipe directly on the parameter or waveform to modify the waveform.

The master ouput section is for editing Level, Filter, Reverb, etc., for the entire preset.

The Arpeggiator Module allows you to play complex phrases easily. You can create your own patterns in the Arpeggiator, or you can load preset patterns.

Oscillator Module Sample Bank Module

LFO Module

Master Module

Arpeggiator Module

In Record View, you can sample from your microphone or an instrument input. After you set a input source to an Input channel, tap the Rec button to start sampling. SampleVerse will automatically record mulitple samples and assign them to notes based on their detected pitch. When you are done sampling, you can edit the playback direction, loop section and amp evelope. If you save the sample to a Sample Bank, you can load it into the Sample Bank Module and play it in combination with other synth sounds or play it in the Arpeggiator in any project.

Record View

Recording Audio

You can record, edit and save audio in Zenbeats using an external audio interface or the device's built-in microphone (if available).

Tap the [] button at the left- hand bottom of the screen to open the track menu. Tap "Audio Track." This will add an audio track

to the song.

Select the audio track you want to record on using a mouse or the touch screen. Tap the show/hide arrow at the bottom left-hand side of the screen to show the channel strip for

the track.

Tap the routing menu on the channel strip header to reveal the audio input options. Here you can select the audio input channels you want to record from.

Connect a microphone or audio line input to your audio interface. If using the device's built-in audio device, please make sure the microphone is active. If using an external audio interface please refer to the

manufacturer's instructions on connecting the device.

PART.6

6-1Recording to an Audio Track

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If you want to set audio playback of a track to monoaural select the routing menu on the channel strip and select "Force Mono." This will force the track audio to play back

in mono. If you select "Monitor" any incoming audio signal will now be heard during recording.

The Input Meter responds to the signal s t r e n g t h o f y o u r i n p u t . I n p u t l e v e l adjustments are made on the audio interface if you want to increase or decrease the audio

input strength.

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POINT Mono vs Stereo

there are two types of audio input devices, mono and stereo. An example of a mono device is a microphone or a guitar cable. An example of a stereo device is usually an electronic drum set or a synthesizer. These devices usually have a Left and a Right input. In Zenbeats you can set a track to record in Mono or Stereo. Recording a Mono input as stereo will just mirror the input and create a 2-channel file. If you wish to record in stereo tap "Audio Input" on the channel strip header menu and select "Channel 1/2" (Note: this will only be available if your audio device has two available inputs. Some built-in sound interfaces only have 1 input channel).

Tapping the Record button on the Transport bar will engage recording. Tapping the Record button a second time will stop the recording process. Metronome count and volume options can be found under the "BPM" menu.

Audio patterns can be moved left or right or be moved to another audio track. This is done by selecting the audio pattern and dragging the audio pattern to the desired location. This applies to both Timeline and Loopbuilder views.

Audio patterns can be resized by selecting the audio pattern and the far left or right patern resize arrows. The pattern resize arrows appear at the bottom left and bottom right-hand side of a pattern. Simply drag left or right to resize the pattern as desired.

Timeline audio patterns can be split by tapping the tool menu on the top bar and tapping the Split tool. With the Split tool tap the areas of the audio pattern where you want the split. The split tool can also be accessed by long tapping a pattern to display the pattern menu option.

To engage pattern fade tap an audio pattern to select it. When the pattern is selected pattern fade arrows will appear at the upper left and upper right-hand sides of the pattern. Select these arrows and drag the pattern fades in or out. This allows you to fade a patern in or out in timeline view without opening the audio editor.

6-2Audio Editing

6-2-1Moving Audio Patterns

6-2-2Audio Pattern Resize

6-2-3Splitting Audio Patterns

6-2-4Pattern Fade

Swipe

Swipe

You can cut, copy and paste audio patterns on both LoopBuilder and Timeline views. Audio patterns can be pasted on their original track or another audio track. To copy a pattern long tap an audio pattern to open the pattern menu. The copy, cut, and paste functions are located there.

Audio patterns can be deleted by selecting the pattern and then selecting the "delete" key on a QWERTY keyboard. The delete pattern function is also located in the pattern menu. Long tap a pattern to show the pattern menu and select the "Delete" option in the pop-up menu.

6-2-5Copy Pattern 6-2-6Delete Audio Pattern

To open the Audio Editor double tap an audio pattern. The Audio Editor allows the user to change the pitch, bpm and gain of an audio pattern. The user can also reverse the audio pattern and use pattern fading and pattern resizing in the Audio Editor.

6-3Audio Editor

Users can record audio to an empty audio cell in LoopBuilder view. The user will need to select the record button on the blank audio cell to engage recording. To record into a loop cell and keep other loops in the song part playing, select the blank audio cell and select the record button on the Transport bar to engage recording on a desired cell.

6-4Loopbuilder Audio Recording

POINT LoopBuilder Patterns

Audio patterns in LoopBuilder can only be edited in the Audio Editor. There you can edit the pattern length and loop region.

To open the Mixer View tap the Mixer icon on the upper right-hand side of the screen. This will open the channel strips for all the tracks in the song including the sends and the master track.

When all the song parts are recorded, you can adjust the volume and effects settings to your desired levels.

7-1Open Mixer View

Show Switches the display items on the mixer screen.

Track Name Displays the track name.

Track Pan Set the panning of the track

Track Filter Filter to cut out low and high

frequency components of sound

Track Volume Volume Fader and Level Meter

Input Displays/changes the input port

set for the track.

Settings Displays the track's settings.

Track Solo Play the track solo

Record Arm Put track into record mode.

Track Mute Mute the track.

Mix Creation PART.7

By moving the faders up and down you can adjust the volume of each track. The volume settings range from +10 dB to off on each channel. The VU (Volume Unit) meter indicates the track volume level. If the volume level is too strong, the meter will be red to indicate channel clipping. Track Pan (Left and right) and Track Filter adjustments are also found on the channel strip.

Zenbeats includes effect plugins that can help you shape your mix. Third-party plugins can be used as well (Android excluded).

7-2Adjusting Volume

7-3Effect Plugins

In Mixer view tap the Plugin icon on the master track. This will switch the mixer view to display the plugin racks for each track.

Tap the "+Audio Effect" button on a track. This will open the Effect Browser on the right side of the screen. Here you can view, sort, search and add an effect plugin to the track.

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In the Plugins section of each channel strip you can view the effects that are loaded on each track. To open the effect on a channel strip simply tap the plugin's name, and the plugin editor will open.

In addition to being used as track effects, effect plugins can be used on a send track. Send tracks allow you to load multiple effects on the track and send the audio signal from your track to the send track.

7-4Using a Send Track

Tap the send track icon on the master track in Mixer view to show send slots on each track.

Tap "+Send" on a track to create a new send track.

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If you want to add an effect to a track from the Effect Browser simply tap the "+" beside an effect's name. This will add the effect to the track and close

the browser. If you want to add more than one effect to a track you can tap the "+" beside an effect and drag/drop the effect to the track.

If you want to remove an effect from a track's effect rack you can do so by long tapping the effect's name to show the delete option. Effects can also be deleted in the plugin editor by

selecting "Delete" in the plugin menu.

Parameter adjustment and preset changes can be made in the plugin editor.3

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The Effect Browser will open. Here you can add any avaible effect to the send track. Send tracks can load up to 8 effects. Send track naming will

automatically be set to the name of the first loaded effect. You can rename the send track by switching to the channel strip view, tapping the track menu (gear icon) and tap "Rename."

Once a send effect is loaded in the plugin view, you can adjust the plugin parameters in the plugin editor.

The amount of the effect applied is controlled by the amount of feed from each channel to the send track. You can ad j us t t he f eed amoun t b y

manipulating the slider below the send name.

If you want to create other send tracks you can tap "+Send" and assign an effect. Up to 8 sends can be assigned per track.

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POINT Creating a send track

Send tracks can also be created by tapping the "+Track" button and then tap "Send Track." Send tracks can also be loaded from "+Track" menu and tapping "Track Templates" (this case only works if there are saved send tracks as templates).

In this section you set the mix name, audio format (.wav/.flac/.ogg), mixdown mode (Loop Region and Entire Song for Timeline or Entire Song or Part Follow for LoopBuilder). Note: Zenbeats renders mixdowns quickly offline. Some external plugins do not support offline rendering. Please enable the Real-time Render option if errors occur.

Completed songs can be exported as a stereo audio file (.wav/.flac/.ogg).

7-5Export/Mixdown Song

To create a mix, tap "Export Song..." under main menu/Song or tap the "Share" icon on the Top bar.

Tap the "Create Mix" tab. This will display the stereo mixdown options for the song.

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POINT About Audio Format

Zenbeats can export audio in three formats: flac, ogg, and wav. Each format has the following characteristics:

FLAC An abbreviation for Free Lossless Audio Codec, a lossless compression method that can be reverted to its original form without altering the sound as in mp3, etc., and is also used in high-resolution distribution.

OGG A multimedia container format capable of compressing file sizes while preserving sound quality; unlike FLAC, it cannot be completely undone after compression (lossy compression).

WAV It is the most widely used digital audio format and is characterized by its high quality sound due to its uncompressed nature. This makes it ideal for files that need to be stored in high quality for use in professional applications.

Zenbeats songs can be saved locally to the device or to a cloud storage service (Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive). This allows the user to save and download songs from a cloud service or to share their song with another user through the cloud service.

Zenbeats is a multi-platform experience that runs on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Zenbeats songs can be created on one device and loaded on another device regardless of platform.

8-1Upload to a Cloud Service (Google Drive/Microsoft OneDrive)

Tap "Save Song As..." from main menu/Song or tap the "Save Song" icon on the transport to bring up the Save Song dialog.

If you have not previously uploaded or saved to your cloud account, you will be prompted with the cloud login dialog.

After you log into your cloud account, tap the "Save" button. The song file will be saved to the cloud account. Depending on the size of the song and your internet connection this

may take several minutes.

Note the Location field. Here you can select Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or the Local Device as the song's save location. 1

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POINT Upload from the the My Songs page You can also upload saved songs from the Open Songs/My Songs page. Tap a song tile to expose the share menu. By selecting this menu you can now upload it to your cloud account.

Collaboration and Sharing PART.8

Song files stored on Google Drive/Microsoft OneDrive can be opened on all versions of Zenbeats. The following section will explain how to open a song from a cloud account to Zenbeats on an iPad.

8-2Opening Songs from Cloud Services

Open Zenbeats and tap "Open Song."

Log in to Google Drive.

"If you want to share the song files with other Zenbets users, log in to Google Drive (via app or browser) and share the song folder via their native sharing methods.

#For more information on how to share files with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, please refer to the help for each service."

Zenbeats now shows the songs that are saved on Google Drive. Select a song to open from the Google Drive location.

Tap the "My Songs" tab to see your saved songs. Then Select "Google Drive" from the location drop down.1

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If you have two devices with Zenbeats installed you can transfer songs between them using Song Transfer. Note: to use Song Transfer both devices must be on the same network.

Zenbeats has a stem export option to mixdown individual tracks for use in other DAWs.

8-3Song Transfer

8-4Stem Export

Tap "Export Song..." from main menu/ Song.

Tap "Export Song..." from main menu/ Song or tap the Share icon on the transport bar.

Tap "Transfer Song" and select the device you wish to transfer to. From there, tap the transfer button to begin. (Note: Song Transfer can only be done between two devices using the same user account

on the same network. Transfer does not work between user accounts.)

Tap the "Create Stems" tab on the left tab. Here you can set the audio format and mix options. To mixdown your tracks to stems tap "Create Stem Archive" and Zenbeats will mix each track in your

song to a separate audio file.

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Instrument and drum patterns can either be saved for recall inside Zenbeats pattern save/load options or you can export them as MIDI files. Exported MIDI files will only contain the raw note information and will not retain instrument or plugin sounds.

8-5Exporting MIDI Data

To export a MIDI pattern in Zenbeats long tap a MIDI/ drum pattern and tap "Export MIDI File."

MIDI patterns can also be exported from their pattern menus located in the Note or Drum Editors.

Name the MIDI file and tap "Ok", and your MIDI file will be exported from Zenbeats. You can find your exported MIDI files in the Zenbeats User/MIDI Patterns directory.

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POINT Why Export Stems?

Song files created in Zenbeats will not be able to be opened in any other software. The two avenues a user has to move their Zenbeats project are: 1. Create Mix (stereo mixdown of the song) or 2. Export Stems (stereo mixdowns of all the tracks in their song). Stem export allows you to share your projects with others regardless of what DAW they use.

Zenbeats features, instruments and effects can be unlocked from the Zenbeats in-app store from the Unlocks tab.

With the free version of Zenbeats, you get music production essentials plus the ability to purchase additional loops and presets in the Zenbeats in-app store. When you're ready to expand, there are three ways to unlock the full Zenbeats experience:

Platform Unlock : get all features, instruments and effects on your favorite platform devices. Includes: 2,500+ presets, loops and sounds (1.5 GB), full ZC1 synthesizer with 90 built-in MFX, full SampleVerse modular synthesizer with editor, VST/VST3/AU/AUv3 plugin support, and unlimited mixing and export capabilities.

Ultimate Unlock : get all features, instruments, effects and store packs on all platforms and devices. Includes: 10,000+ presets, loops and sounds (7 GB), full ZC1 synthesizer with 90 built-in MFX, full SampleVerse modular synthesizer with editor, VST/VST3/AU/AUv3 support, and unlimited mixing and export capabilities.

Roland Cloud Core Membership : sign up for Roland Cloud Core Membership and receive Zenbeats Ultimate Unlock including everything above. Plus, you'll get access to the wider world of ZEN-Core, including ongoing expansions. With this flexible workflow, you'll be able to use the same tones in ZC1 as in ZENOLOGY and ZEN-Core-compatible hardware.

Enjoy Zenbeats even more - About free and paid versions

MAIN FRATURES FREE UNLOCK ULTIMATE Platforms Supported All 1purchased per OS All

Number of Tracks Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

LoopBuilder Mode

Timeline/Automation Mode

Saving/Sharing/Song Transfer

Stem/Loop Exporting -

Track Freeze

Mixer View

Track Effect Slots 2 8 8

Track Sends 2 Unlimited Unlimited

Audio Editor(Reverse Added)

MIDI Editor(V2)

VST/AU Support -

Ableton Link

Bluetooth MIDI(iOS/Android)

Included Preset, Loops and Sounds 450(1 GB) 2,500(1.5 GB) 10,000+ (7 GB)

INSTRUMENTS FREE UNLOCK ULTIMATE ZC1 Limited

57 Preset Tones 3 Drum Kits

Full 837 Preset Tones 3 Drum Kits

Full 869 Preset Tones 3 Drum Kits

SampleVerse Limited 25 Preset 25 MB - Size

Full 125 Preset 900 MB - Size

Full 365+ Preset 5.2+ GB - Size

Drum Machine Full 5 Drum Kits 78 Patterns

Full 55 Drum Kits 240 Patterns

Full 435+ Drum Kits 800+ Patterns

ElectroSeries - 7 Instruments Full 56 Preset

Full 175 Preset

Full 365+ Preset

EFFECTS FREE UNLOCK ULTIMATE EQ Full Full Full

Reverb Full Full Full

Compressor Full Full Full

Delay Full Full Full

Chorus Full Full Full

Flanger Full Full Full

AutoWah Full F