OrDrumbox v2 User Manual

1. Getting Started

OrDrumbox v2 is a browser-based drum machine and pattern sequencer. When you open the application, you see:

• Toolbar at the top — main controls
• Pattern Panel — the step sequencer grid

Basic Workflow

1. Select a Pattern from the Pattern dropdown
2. Click Start to begin playback
3. Click on the grid to add/remove notes
4. Click a track name to open the Track Editor
5. Click a note cell to open the Note Editor
6. Use Auto Gen to enable automatic pattern regeneration (toggle)

2. Toolbar

The toolbar is the fixed control bar at the top of the screen.

Controls

3. Pattern Panel

The Pattern Panel displays all tracks as horizontal step grids below the toolbar.

Display

• Pattern name (red), BPM, beat count, and track count are shown in the header.
• Each track row shows: track name + step grid.

Cell Colors

Interactions

4. Track Editor

The Track Editor opens when you click a track name. It contains all track-level parameters organized in groups.

Basic / Transport

Variation

The Variation slider (0–100%) controls the intensity of automatic beat randomization applied on each loop iteration. At 0%, the pattern plays as-is. As you increase the value, the sequencer randomly adds anticipation notes, doubles, ghost notes, silences, and tweaks velocity or pitch — making the beat evolve over time without manual editing. Each loop gets a fresh set of variations, so the pattern never repeats exactly the same way.

Levels / Pitch

All four parameters support LFO modulation (click the row to open LFO settings).

Filters

The Freq and Q parameters support LFO modulation.

Effects

Each effect has an LED toggle (green = active). Tabs 1/2/3 are on the same line as the "Effects" title.

Reverb

Reverb Presets:

• room — Small room (0.8s decay)
• hall — Large hall (2.4s decay)
• plate — Plate reverb (1.6s decay)
• spring — Spring with ripple (1.2s decay)
• gated — Gated reverb (0.7s, cuts off at 65%)

Delay

Delay Types:

• slap — Single echo, short feedback
• tape — Tape delay with filter, warm feedback
• pingpong — Stereo ping-pong between left and right

Saturation (Sat)

Saturation Types:

• soft — Smooth tanh-based clipping
• hard — Hard clipping
• tape — Analog tape warmth

LFO Sub-Panel

Click any LFO-capable row (Velo, Pan, Pitch, Freq, Q) to open the LFO editor.

Sound Sub-Panel

Loop / Pattern Sub-Panel

5. Note Editor

The Note Editor opens when you click a note in the Pattern Panel. It shows per-note parameters.

Header

• Track name, position (beat X step Y), and close button.

Vel / Pitch / Pan

Triggers

How triggers work:

A note triggers when: (currentLoop + pos) % every === 0

Retrig

Euclidean fill: Adds N evenly-spaced notes between this note and the next note in the track, creating complex rhythmic patterns.

Retrig Prob: This probability controls whether retrig sub-hits, euclidian fill sub-hits, and arp sub-notes are actually played. The base note (first hit) is always played.

Arpeggiator

How arpeggiator works:

• When Range > 0, generates pitch offsets from the selected scale
• Arp sub-notes use the Retrig Prob probability

6. Tools Panel

The Tools Panel opens when clicking the "Tools" button in the toolbar.

Pattern Settings

Export

Export filenames: ordrumbox-{patternName}.{ext}

MIDI Export details:

• Track 0: Tempo + time signature
• Track 1+: One MIDI track per instrument
• Drum tracks → MIDI channel 10
• Muted tracks are excluded

Import

7. Output Panel

The Output Panel opens when clicking the "Output" button in the toolbar. It provides master mixing controls and a real-time spectrum analyzer.

Master

Filters (Master)

The filters section is part of the master bus signal chain, applied after the compressor.

Compressor

The compressor section uses a 2-column grid layout and includes pre-gain, compression, and makeup gain controls. The signal chain is: Pre-Gain → Compressor → Low-cut → High-cut → Master Gain.

Spectrum Analyzer

A real-time frequency spectrum display updated via requestAnimationFrame. Bars are colored from dark (low amplitude) to red (high amplitude).

8. Synth Editor

The Synth Editor is a full-screen overlay for editing soft synthesizer parameters. It opens from the Track Editor's "Edit" button when a generated sound is selected.

Header: OK (saves changes) / Cancel (reverts) buttons.

Master Volume

Oscillators (VCO1, VCO2, VCO3)

Three independent oscillators with PolyBLEP anti-aliasing. Each oscillator has:

FM (Frequency Modulation)

How FM works:

• The modulator waveform (VCO2 or VCO3) is computed first, then added to the carrier's base frequency.
• At amount = 0, oscillators run independently (standard subtractive mode).
• At amount = 1, maximum frequency modulation is applied, creating complex sidebands.
• FM chain: VCO3 → modulates VCO2 freq → modulates VCO1 freq.

Filter

Filter envelope behavior: When Env > 0, the cutoff frequency sweeps from its base value toward 20 kHz during the attack time, then returns to the base value during the decay time. At Env = 1, the sweep reaches the full 20 kHz range.

LFO

There are two independent LFOs (LFO and LFO2) with the same parameters:

LFO Targets:

Noise

Envelope (ADSR)

9. Keyboard Shortcuts

10. Audio Signal Flow

Per-Track Signal Chain

Sample/Synth → Filter → Saturation → Dry Gain → Reverb → Delay → Stereo Panner → Mixer Bus
    

Master Bus Signal Chain

Mixer Bus → Pre-Gain → Compressor → Low-cut Filter (35 Hz) → High-cut Filter (18.5 kHz) → Master Gain → Analyser → Speakers
    

All tracks feed into a shared mixer bus. The master bus applies pre-gain, then compression, then filters and final gain before reaching the output.

11. Installation & Offline Use

orDrumbox v2 can be used in three different ways:

1. Web Application

Simply visit the website in any modern browser. Note that an internet connection is required for the initial load.

2. Progressive Web App (PWA)

You can install orDrumbox directly from your browser:

• Desktop (Chrome/Edge): Click the "Install" icon in the address bar.
• Mobile (iOS/Android): Use "Add to Home Screen" from the browser menu.

Once installed, the application will have its own icon and window, and can function offline thanks to the integrated Service Worker.

3. Desktop Application

orDrumbox will be available soon