The #brew time three-against-the-bar hold

pad · soft · 88 BPM (80–96) · C major · 8 bars

#brew timeArpArpeggiator over held major-seventh voicings

Every patch on the KORG minilogue xd

The technique

Set the arpeggiator to sixteenths, rising, and hold. Four chords, two bars each: a major seventh on I, then vi, then IV, then a seventh on V. The first and last are four notes; the two in the middle are three, and the count is the whole figure.

Four notes at sixteenths is one pass a beat. The bottom note lands on every beat, and the pattern sits on the grid where you can stop hearing it.

Three notes is a pass every three sixteenths, and three does not go into sixteen. Whatever note the bar head catches, the next bar head catches the note after it, and the one after that the note after that. The same held chord arrives somewhere different in every bar, and you played nothing to move it.

Hold the root, third, fifth and seventh of the I for two bars, on the grid. Then lift the top two and put the key’s sixth under the other two: three notes, and listen to the pass slide off the beat over the next four bars. For the IV, raise only the top note, a semitone, and keep the other two.

On the V go back to four: its root, third, fifth and seventh. Whichever note the downbeat catches now comes round on every beat after it, and the pattern is back on the grid. That is what the fourth note is for.

Never hold the key’s fourth while the first chord is sounding. It sits a semitone over the third, and the arpeggiator will play that clash on every pass.

The chords

4 chords over 8 bars, in C major.

DegreeChordNotesBarsUnder the figure
ICC · E · G1–2●
viAmA · C · E3–4●
IVFF · A · C5–6●
VGG · B · D7–8●

The figure is played over these chords; supply them separately if your rig allows.

The rules

  • Over I, never the 4th — it sits a semitone over the major third and the arpeggiator plays it on every pass.

The notes

8 bars in C major. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

  • steps 1–32·over I C·C3 E3 G3 B3·degrees 1 3 5 7·MIDI 48 52 55 59
  • steps 33–64·over vi Am·A2 C3 E3·degrees 6 1 3·MIDI 45 48 52
  • steps 65–96·over IV F·A2 C3 F3·degrees 6 1 4·MIDI 45 48 53
  • steps 97–128·over V G·G2 B2 D3 F3·degrees 5 7 2 4·MIDI 43 47 50 53

On the KORG minilogue xd

minilogue xd · Voice

Settings for this voice

Settings for a pad · soft voice on this box, written here. They are not the preset’s own values: load the preset to hear it as it ships.

Settings

MASTER

  • PORTAMENTO12(0…127)
  • SWING0%(-75…75 %)

    0 is straight; the arpeggiator uses the same value

    EDIT MODE, PROGRAM EDIT, button 7

VOICE MODE

  • VOICE MODE TYPEPOLY
  • VOICE MODE DEPTH0(0…1023)

    Left at 0 — turning right crosses into DUO, which spends two voices on every key

VCO 1 / VCO 2 / MULTI ENGINE

  • VCO 1 · WAVETRI
  • VCO 1 · OCTAVE8'
  • VCO 1 · PITCH0c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 1 · SHAPE300(0…1023)

    Shape, complexity, or duty cycle of the selected wave

  • VCO 2 · WAVETRI
  • VCO 2 · OCTAVE8'
  • VCO 2 · PITCH7c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 2 · SHAPE240(0…1023)
  • VCO 2 · SYNCOFF

    Locks oscillator 2 to the phase of oscillator 1

  • VCO 2 · RINGOFF

    Oscillator 1 ring-modulates oscillator 2

  • CROSS MOD DEPTH0(0…1023)

    Oscillator 1 modulating the pitch of oscillator 2

  • MULTI ENGINE · NOISE/VPM/USRNOISE
  • MULTI ENGINE · TYPELow
  • MULTI ENGINE · SHAPE900Hz(10…21000 Hz)

    CUTOFF — the low-pass filter on the noise

MIXER

  • VCO 1720(0…1023)
  • VCO 2600(0…1023)
  • MULTI90(0…1023)

FILTER

  • CUTOFF430(0…1023)

    Set too low and the patch may be barely audible

  • RESONANCE120(0…1023)
  • DRIVE0%

    The filter drive circuit, in three stages

  • KEYTRACK50%

    100% moves the cutoff with the key, centred on C4

AMP EG / EG / LFO

  • AMP EG · ATTACK560(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · DECAY700(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · SUSTAIN830(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · RELEASE720(0…1023)
  • EG · ATTACK400(0…1023)
  • EG · DECAY620(0…1023)
  • EG · INT22%(-100…100 %)

    Negative applies the envelope downwards

  • EG · TARGETCUTOFF
  • LFO · WAVETRI
  • LFO · MODENORMAL
  • LFO · RATE150(0…1023)
  • LFO · INT90(0…511)

    Hold SHIFT, turn INT to invert

  • LFO · TARGETSHAPE

EFFECTS

  • DEL/REV/MODREV

    Selects which effect the two knobs below are setting; the other two keep their stored values

  • OFF/ON/SELECTON

    Hold SHIFT, flip to SELECT

  • DEPTH55%(0…100 %)

This block draws on the minilogue xd Owner's Manual E 9, pp.17-41; its values are starting points.