Drum machine + sampler · R36S

RHYTHM

A drum machine and sampler for the R36S, the handheld game console that costs about $40. Program twelve tracks with the D-pad, play them on the buttons, bend them with the sticks.

Runs on ArkOS, and on a Linux computer. Free software, GPL-3.0.

Download for R36S Source on GitHub

RHYTHM's PATTERN screen: twelve coloured tracks of sixteen steps, and under them the CHOP track's break cut into eight slices — PATTERN: twelve tracks, sixteen steps, a break sliced in eight. Every picture here is the instrument's own screen.

What it does

Twelve tracks

Each one a synthesized drum or a sample. 58 drums to start from, every part of them a knob; your own WAV files, cut into up to 32 slices at their hits.

Patterns

128 of them, up to 64 steps. Per step: velocity, nudge, ratchets, chance, conditions, accent, flam. Per track: its own length and speed.

Pads

Hold L1 and the D-pad and A B X Y play eight tracks; L2 plays the other four and a fill. With REC on, what you play goes into the pattern.

Two sticks

The left bends the drum, live or locked onto a step. The right plays repeat, reverse, tape stop, gate, filter, crush, dub and freeze, from any screen.

Sample and render

Record the master or one track and put the take back on a track, sliced. Render a pattern or the song to WAV.

MIDI and sync

Notes and clock in and out, MIDI learn, a monitor. Or a sync pulse on the headphone jack for Pocket Operators, volcas and modular.

Screens

PADS: eight coloured pads in two diamonds, under the pattern — PADS: hold L1, play eight tracks

STEP: one step's velocity, nudge, ratchet, chance and condition — STEP: everything one step can do

PERFORM: the right stick's position on a grid, filter on one axis and repeat on the other — PERFORM: two effects on the right stick

SOUND: the kick's knobs and its waveform — SOUND: the drum engine, a knob for everything

SAMPLE: a break's waveform with eight slice markers — SAMPLE: start, end, slices, loop

SAMPLING: the source, start and length of a recording, and the take — SAMPLING: record the beat, play it back sliced

GENERATE: a Euclidean circle of 3 hits in 16 steps, and the dice — GENERATE: Euclid, dice and fills

MIXER: twelve channel strips and the master — MIXER: twelve strips and the master

SONG: a chain of patterns on a timeline — SONG: patterns in a chain

FX: the tape delay and reverb knobs, and each track's sends — FX: tape delay, reverb, sends

MIDI: the settings, each track's channel and note, and a monitor — MIDI: channels, notes, learn, monitor

SYNC: tempo, tap, swing and the headphone jack's modes — SYNC: clock, tap tempo, jack sync

Seventeen screens in all; the README lists them. The design mockups show how they were drawn before the code.

Get one

What you need

An R36S with ArkOS on its SD card, and a computer with a card reader to copy RHYTHM and your samples onto it.

Headphones, or a cable to a mixer. Optional: a Pocket Operator, a volca or a modular clock input to sync, and a USB MIDI keyboard or controller.

Download for R36S

r36s-rhythm-port.zip · under 1 MB

An ArkOS port: unzip it into the ports folder on the card and it shows up under Ports.

Download How to install

Run it on a computer

No R36S? It builds on Linux with SDL2 and ALSA, and the keys sit where the R36S's buttons do. All of it is open: code, tests, the port.

Read the guide

Install on the R36S

Download r36s-rhythm-port.zip.
Turn the R36S off and put its SD card in the computer. Open the EASYROMS partition and the ports folder in it. (On an R36S with two cards, the games may be on the second card.)
Copy Rhythm.sh and the rhythm folder from the zip into ports.
Put the card back and turn the R36S on: Ports > Rhythm. A beat is loaded: press START.

Hold SELECT + START for a second and a half to leave. Your WAV files go in ports/rhythm/card/SAMPLES; projects, renders and recordings are saved next to it. It saves by itself a few seconds after every change.

Controls

START

Play and stop.

SELECT

The menu of every screen. Held with the D-pad, it jumps to PATTERN, MIXER, SOUND or PERFORM.

D-pad and A

Move, and set steps. With A held, the D-pad changes the value under the cursor.

X and Y

X opens a step's details; Y listens to the track, and with ←→ tries the next drum.

L1, L2

Held: the pads. SELECT in the pads turns recording on.

R2

Held: copy, paste, clear, undo, and the next pattern.

The sticks

Left: bend the drum, or lock the bend onto a step. Right: two effects at once; R3 holds them.

SELECT + START

Held for a second and a half: back to ArkOS. Your work is already saved.

Status

Plays on the maker's R36S under ArkOS; the first public version. The checks pass on a PC. The R36S has no audio input, so SAMPLING records RHYTHM itself. USB MIDI on the R36S is not confirmed yet.