The Pressure repeated-note build

lead · dirty · 128 BPM (120–136) · F minor · 4 bars · 64 steps

PressureLeadLead for lines that build by hammering one note

Every patch on the KORG minilogue xd

The technique

Four bars. The fifth in eighths for two bars and nothing else, then the line starts to lean: the sixth, a semitone above, at the end of bar two, the seventh and the sixth through bar three, and the root on the head of bar four, held.

Every eighth the same length and the same weight until the lean begins. The build is in the repetition, and a repeated note that changes shape is not repeating.

The first strike of every bar is the loud one. The eighths after it sit under it, so the bar has a pulse even though the note does not move.

Bar four is the arrival. The root held for two beats, then the seventh a tone below it, then the fifth, and the loop returns to the hammering. The held root is the only long note in the figure.

Never raise the seventh. One raised seventh turns the arrival into a cadence. This line arrives by weight.

The chords

3 chords over 4 bars, in F minor.

DegreeChordNotesBarsUnder the figure
iFmF · Ab · C1–2●
ivBbmBb · Db · F3–3●
iFmF · Ab · C4–4●

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

The rules

  • Never the raised 7th, on any chord — over i, the raised seventh turns the arrival into a cadence, and this line arrives by weight.

The notes

4 bars in F minor. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

  • steps 1–2·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 3–4·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 5–6·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 7–8·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 9–10·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 11–12·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 13–14·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 15–16·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 17–18·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 19–20·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 21–22·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 23–24·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 25–26·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 27–28·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 29–30·over i Fm·Db5·degree 6·MIDI 73
  • steps 31–32·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 33–34·over iv Bbm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 35–36·over iv Bbm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 37–38·over iv Bbm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 39–40·over iv Bbm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72
  • steps 41–42·over iv Bbm·Eb5·degree 7·MIDI 75
  • steps 43–44·over iv Bbm·Eb5·degree 7·MIDI 75
  • steps 45–46·over iv Bbm·Db5·degree 6·MIDI 73
  • steps 47–48·over iv Bbm·Db5·degree 6·MIDI 73
  • steps 49–56·over i Fm·F5·degree 1·MIDI 77
  • steps 57–60·over i Fm·Eb5·degree 7·MIDI 75
  • steps 61–64·over i Fm·C5·degree 5·MIDI 72

The grid

Every step below strikes the note in force at that point. The grid is where the figure is played.

  • —1, 17, 33, 49 (all vel 116)
  • —3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39, 43, 47
  • —5, 9, 13, 21, 25, 29, 37, 41, 45, 57, 61

On the KORG minilogue xd

minilogue xd · Voice

Settings for this voice

Settings for a lead · dirty 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

  • PORTAMENTO36(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 DEPTH820(0…1023)

    Right of 0 is DUO: two voices stacked and detuned per key, so this patch plays two notes at a time

VCO 1 / VCO 2 / MULTI ENGINE

  • VCO 1 · WAVESAW
  • VCO 1 · OCTAVE8'
  • VCO 1 · PITCH0c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 1 · SHAPE660(0…1023)

    Shape, complexity, or duty cycle of the selected wave

  • VCO 2 · WAVESQR
  • VCO 2 · OCTAVE8'
  • VCO 2 · PITCH-18c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 2 · SHAPE720(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 DEPTH520(0…1023)

    Oscillator 1 modulating the pitch of oscillator 2

  • MULTI ENGINE · NOISE/VPM/USRVPM
  • MULTI ENGINE · TYPECreep

    SHAPE sets MOD DEPTH here, on a scale the manual gives no bounds for

    Hold SHIFT, turn SHAPE

MIXER

  • VCO 1680(0…1023)
  • VCO 2600(0…1023)
  • MULTI320(0…1023)

FILTER

  • CUTOFF540(0…1023)

    Set too low and the patch may be barely audible

  • RESONANCE600(0…1023)
  • DRIVE100%

    The filter drive circuit, in three stages

  • KEYTRACK50%

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

AMP EG / EG / LFO

  • AMP EG · ATTACK70(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · DECAY500(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · SUSTAIN700(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · RELEASE420(0…1023)
  • EG · ATTACK50(0…1023)
  • EG · DECAY460(0…1023)
  • EG · INT44%(-100…100 %)

    Negative applies the envelope downwards

  • EG · TARGETCUTOFF
  • LFO · WAVESQR
  • LFO · MODENORMAL
  • LFO · RATE260(0…1023)
  • LFO · INT140(0…511)

    Hold SHIFT, turn INT to invert

  • LFO · TARGETPITCH

EFFECTS

  • DEL/REV/MODDEL

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

  • OFF/ON/SELECTON

    Hold SHIFT, flip to SELECT

  • DEPTH40%(0…100 %)

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