Battery 4

A matrix of programmable drum voices

BATTERY 4 treats each cell as a configurable sample instrument rather than merely a pad that triggers one file. A cell can contain multiple layers, its own envelopes, sample-engine behavior, MIDI conditions and effects. This makes the matrix suitable for assembled drum kits, electronic percussion and more experimental collections of sound.

Separate sound, behavior and mix

The Main page handles basic envelope, engine and tonal work. Effects and Modulation add processing and movement, while Setup determines how MIDI, voice groups and triggering rules govern playback. Editor exposes waveform, loop and layer mapping work. The Master page then gathers cell outputs into buses and shared effects, separating sample design from the final kit balance.

Practical workflow

Load or replace sounds in the matrix, tune and trim each cell, then refine its response to velocity and note length. Use voice groups for mutually exclusive sounds such as open and closed hi-hats. Finally, route related cells to a bus for shared processing or separate outputs. Keep track of whether a control affects the whole cell or only its selected layer.

Source: Manual, “Quick Access Area,” pp. 24–25; “Main Page,” pp. 26–31; “Setup Page,” pp. 45–48; “Master Page,” pp. 56–57.

Cell selection and quick adjustments

Select the cell or cells you intend to edit. Tune, Reverse, Pan and the Level slider affect the complete cell, including all layers. Key Range assigns triggering MIDI notes; its Learn function can capture the endpoints. Phase Invert and L/R Swap handle polarity and stereo orientation. Layer-specific tuning, panning and level belong in the Editor instead.

Main page

The Volume Envelope offers AHD for one-shot-style shaping or AHDSR for held notes. Attack sets the onset, Hold maintains the peak, Decay drops toward Sustain, and Release determines the post-note tail. Pitch Envelope adds pitch movement, with a simple amount/decay view or a more detailed two-decay contour. Velocity To Volume/To Pitch determines how playing strength affects loudness and tuning.

Engine selects conventional Sampler, time-stretching or timing-aware Beat playback. Sampler includes Standard/Vintage choices and DFD disk streaming. Stretch separates playback speed from pitch, with grain-related controls in its Standard mode. Beat mode handles supported sliced/timing-aware files, and Expand distributes slices to separate cells. High Cut/Low Cut shape bandwidth; the one-knob Compressor Amount controls compression. Delay/Reverb sends feed the shared Master-page effects.

Effects and modulation

The Effects page provides cell processing including saturation, LoFi, Filter/EQ, compression and Transient Master. Set source tone and envelope before relying on effects to repair a poorly trimmed sample. On Modulation, two LFOs provide waveform, frequency, sync, retrigger and fade-in behavior. The modulation envelope supplies a note-shaped source. Each modulation slot selects Source, Destination and Amount, with Inv. reversing the direction.

Setup and editing

MIDI Input controls channel, velocity curve, key tracking and note latch. Voice Groups limit simultaneous playback; assign open/closed hi-hats to a one-voice group for choking, and use Fade to soften cutoffs. Cell Activation can use note-on/off conditions or round-robin cycling.

The Wave/Loop Editors handle sample and loop boundaries. In Mapping, adjust layer velocity ranges, Root, Tune, Pan and Vol. Velocity crossfades smooth overlapping layer transitions.

Master routing

Drag cells onto Bus 1–4 or Master to assign them. Each bus has level and processing; its context menu selects an output. Reorder Master-page effects by dragging their handles. Balance shared reverb/delay and bus levels after individual cells are working together.

Source: Manual, “Quick Access Area,” pp. 24–25; “Main Page,” pp. 26–31; “Effects Page,” pp. 32–40; “Modulation Page,” pp. 42–44; “Setup Page,” pp. 45–48; “Editor Page,” pp. 51–55; “Master Page,” pp. 56–57.