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SpecDrum Digital Drum System for the ZX Spectrum
Cheetah Marketing Ltd
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CONTENTS

SECTION 1: SETTING UP AND LOADING

SECTION 2: WELCOME
  General description, loading Demo Songs, creating new Songs

SECTION 3: GENERAL FEATURES
  INPUTing numbers and NAMEs
  Terms: BEAT, DIV/BEAT, BARS, VOICES, CHANNELS

SECTION 4: LIST OF FUNCTIONS and description of "pages"
  Program outline
  THE MAIN PAGE
    CHOOSE SONG, DRUM PLAY, SYNCRO, PATTERN,
    EDIT Song, NAME, TEMPO, FINISH, LOAO/SAVE,
    COPY SONG, DELETE SONG

SECTION 5: THE PATTERN PAGE
  FILE, REALTIME. TEMPO/FORMAT, DRUM PLAY, SHIFT.
  The Pattern Display, writing Patterns, cursor control
  TEMPO/FORMAT sub-page.
    BEATS/BAR, NO. OF BARS, INSERT (voice), TEMPO TRANSFER
  REALTIME sub-page.
    WRITE, ORUM PLAY, SYNCRO.
  FILE sub-page.
    PUT, GET, ERASE.

SECTION 6: THE EDIT Song PAGE
  Writing the Song List (linking Patterns), setting
  Pattern and Loop numbers, Delete, Insert, DRUM PLAY.

SECTION 7: THE LOAD/SAVE PAGE.
  CHOOSE SONG, LOAD SONG, SAVE SONG. LOAD DUMP, SAVE DUMP,
  NAME, LOAD VOICE.

SECTION 8: HINTS ON PROGRAMMING.
  Use of SHIFT Patt and INSERT.
  DIV/BEAT, Memory use, SYNCRO and multitracking


1 SETTING UP AND LOADING

CONNECTING THE SPECDRUM

  Make sure that the computer is disconnected from
the power supply or switched off at the mains.

  Carefully plug the edge connector of the SpecDrum
Module into the expansion socket at the back of the
computer.

  The audio output of the SpecDrum is through the
connected lead and phono plug. This should be
connected to the input of your amplifier. (If you are
using a hi-fi system, connect to the LINE IN or AUX input
sockets, NOT MIC.) If your input socket is not the phono
type, you will need an adaptor (readily available from hi-
fi or music shops).

  Turn the volume of your amplifier LOW.

  Re-connect the computer power. The screen should
show the Sinclair copyright notice. If this does not
appear, immediately disconnect the power from the
computer, and check that the SpecDrum is correctly
connected.

NOW LOAD THE PROGRAM.

  Type LOAD ""

  LOAD "" should appear at the bottom of the screen
(in case of difficulty refer to the 'Tape Storage
section of the Sinclair Spectrum Manual).

  Press ENTER, then play the SpecDrum tape from the
beginning of side 1.

  When the program has loaded, the main page of the
SpecDrum will appear on the screen, with C choose
song selected automatically.


TO LOAD THE DEMONSTRATION SONGS

  Insert the SpecDrum tape at the beginning of side 2.

  Press key
  C
  Choose song (automatically selected after program loads).
  1 or other selection,
  ENTER
  Song chosen.
  1
  ENTER
  Div/Beat
  J
  Load/Save Page
  3
  Load Dump

  Start the tape. The songs load one at a time, their
names appearing by the red square in the list on the
left of the screen.

  There are 11 songs on the tape. When they have
loaded, stop the tape and hold down the SPACE key
until the red square in the list returns to 1.

  Press R to return to main page.

We have provided 2 extra voices on side 2 of the
software tape. These can be accessed by following
the steps outlined in Section 7.


2 WELCOME - GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SPECDRUM

  The SpecDrum converts your 48k Spectrum into a
programmable Digital Drum System, using digital
recordings of real drum sounds to achieve the degree
of realism found until now, only on specialist machines
costing hundreds of pounds or more.

  A "KIT" of eight different drum sounds is provided;
alternative sounds may be loaded from cassette tape.

  Rhythm patterns can be written using the on-screen
display, or in "REALTIME" by tapping the computer
keyboard, making writing even the most complicated
rhythms quick and easy.

  16 different Songs can be stored in memory; these
may be saved to and loaded from cassette.

  Each of the 16 Songs may contain 64 different rhythm
patterns. A Song is written by writing rhythm patterns,
filing them, then linking them together in order.

  The best way to get to know the SpecDrum system,
and to see how easy it is to write your own rhythm
patterns and Songs, is to try it out for yourself. Most
keys and functions are listed on-screen. Refer to the
relevant section in the Manual for full explanations of
the various functions.

IF IN DOUBT, TRY IT OUT!

... you Can hardly go wrong.

You may find it useful to load in the Demo Songs
provided and see how they are made up

HOW TO LOAD THE DEMO SONGS

  Having loaded SpecDrum, wind the tape to the end
and turn it over. The screen shows the MAIN PAGE, the
central section of the program, from which the other
sections, or PAGES, are selected.

  PRESS: 1 then ENTER
    The flashing "?" after CHOOSE SONG will be
    replaced by "1" and DIV/BEAT at the top left of the
    screen will flash.

  PRESS: 4 then ENTER
    "4" will appear after DIV/BEAT and "Song" appears
    next to it in the list of Songs on the left. There must
    be a Song in the list before the LOAD/SAVE PAGE
    can be selected.

  PRESS: 3 for LOAD DUMP
    Now start the tape. As the Demo Songs load, their
    names will appear in the list, When all 11 are
    loaded, hold down the SPACE key until the red
    square showing the current Song number returns
    to 1.

  PRESS: R to RETURN to the MAIN PAGE

  Now the Demo Songs can be played.

    PRESS: C then the Song number, then ENTER
    PRESS: D to play the Song. SPACE to stop.

    Good, eh?

  Read the MAIN PAGE section for a description of the
other functions on the MAIN PAGE, and before going
any further, the General Features section on how to
INPUT numbers and names.

  To see how any of the Songs is built up from its
component patterns,

  PRESS: E to select the EDIT Song PAGE, and you can
    step through the Song section by section. Look at
    the EDIT Song section of the manual to see what
    the numbers mean and which keys to press. Try
    altering some of the Pattern and Loop numbers.

  PRESS: Q for QUIT, then Y to go back to the MAIN
    PAGE

To see how the Patterns in a Song are displayed,

  PRESS: P to select the PATTERN PAGE. Read the
    PATTERN PAGE section to see how to write
    Patterns of your own, and how to GET Patterns out
    of the FILE to look at, listen to, and modify.

  PRESS: Q for QUIT, then Y to go back to the MAIN
    PAGE.

  By now, you should have a fairly good idea of how
Patterns and Songs are written and displayed.

  To start writing a Song from scratch, you must first
create a new Song by CHOOSEing an empty Song
number on the MAIN PAGE:

  PRESS: C for CHOOSE SONG then INPUT (see
    General Features) a Song number (1-16) without a
    name next to it.

  DIV/BEAT: ? will now flash, requiring a number to be
    INPUT. Thus is the no. of time Divisions per Beat for
    the Song (see MAIN PAGE} and cannot be changed
    once chosen. 3 or 4 are good values to start with,
    unless you are feeling ambitious, or silly!

  When you have INPUT your Divisions per Beat, the
name "Song" will appear in the list by its number, and at
NAME. You have created a new empty Song called
"Song", and with a Tempo (speed) of 125 Beats Per
Minute. The NAME and TEMPO can be changed now or
later using the functions on the MAIN PAGE.

  Having created your Song, you can start writing
rhythm Patterns, filing them, then linking and Looping
them using the PATTERN and EDIT Song PAGES. All
you need to know about each Page in the program
can be found in the relevant section in the manual.

  Have fun. and give the neighbours a thought!


3 GENERAL FEATURES and TERMS USED

  All the functions available are displayed on-screen
with the associated keys.

  e.g. N NAME:

  When a function is selected the relevant key square
on the screen turns green.

INPUTing
  When a number is required by the program a
flashing "?" appears by the relevant function.
  To INPUT a number, type it in, then press ENTER
  All numbers required may have up to two digits
except TEMPO, which may have three. After the first
digit has been typed. the "?" is replaced by that digit.
and a line, appears after it. The line shows that the
number may have another digit. A full stop shows that
No more digits may be used.
  A wrongly typed in number may be corrected before
pressing Enter by pressing CAPS SHIFT and 0 to
DELETE.
  NAMEs are INPUT in the same way, but of course
letters, (upper or lower case), are required.

  The BEAT is the basic rhythmic unit in music. It is the
regular pulse of the music (the one you tap your foot
to). (If you can tap your fingers to the beat of a song,
you can program the SpecDrum.) The tempo of
music is expressed as the number of Beats Per Minute.
  The rhythm Patterns in the SpecDrum are divided into
beats. These are shown on the Pattern Display. The
beats are also sub-divided. THE VALUE GIVEN TO DIV/
BEAT IS THE NUMBER OF TIME DIVISIONS PROGRAMMABLE IN
EACH BEAT OF THE PATTERNS IN A SONG. That is, DIV/BEAT
gives the number of drums that can be fitted one after
the other in the space of one beat.
  DIV/BEAT can be set from 1 to 32. Care must be
taken when choosing the divisions per beat for a Song,
bearing in mind the rhythms you want to program. 3
or 4 divisions per beat are often sufficient, but higher
numbers allow more rhythmic variety and "feel". See
Hints on Programming.

  Most music is also divided into groups of Beats called
BARS. The number of Beats per Bar (BEATS/BAR) is
definable for each Pattern written, and is called the
"tune signature" of the rhythm. However, from a rhythm
writing point of view, this only affects the way that a
Pattern is displayed. At any time when writing a Pattern
BEATS/BAR may be altered: this changes the display,
but not the sound of the Pattern.

  The SpecDrum has 8 VOICES, (1-8), each of which
holds a drum sound. The voices are grouped into 3
CHANNELS.

                SOUND
CHANNEL  VOICE  (STANDARD KIT)
1        1      KICK (Bass Drum)
         2      SNARE
2        3      MID TOM
         4      LOW TOM
         5      COWBELL
3        6      HIHAT Closed
         7      HIHAT Open
         8      CLAPS

  Sounds on the same CHANNEL cannot be sounded
simultaneously. (But see Hints on Programming.)


4 LIST OF FUNCTIONS AND KEYS

  The SpecDrum Digital Drum System has been
designed to be very simple to use, most functions
requiring only a single key press With a few exceptions,
the options available are displayed on the screen with
their corresponding keys. Key labels on screen turn
green to show the selected function.

  There are four main sections to the program,
called PAGES.

  The MAIN PAGE is shown when the program has loaded.
This is the central page from which the other Parts of
the program are selected.

  The PATTERN PAGE displays rhythm patterns on the
screen and allows patterns to be written using the
display and cursor, or by tapping the keyboard. The
Pattern Page has three sub-pages: REALTIME, FILE, and
TEMPO/FORMAT.

  The EDIT SONG PAGE allows the patterns written to
be linked together and Looped to form a complete
Song.

  The LOAD/SAVE PAGE allows Songs to be loaded
from cassette or Songs in memory to be saved. Also
individual drum sounds or complete Kits of eight
sounds may be loaded from tape.


MAIN PAGE FUNCTIONS

  KEY
  C CHOOSE SONG
  Press C A flashing "?" appears after the words
CHOOSE SONG to show that a number is required
INPUT the number (type in number, press ENTER) of the
required Song (1-16). The Songs in memory are listed
with their names on the left of the page. If there are no
Songs in memory (i.e. when the program first loads),
the CHOOSE SONG option is automatically selected.
  Before a new Song can be written it must first be
created. To create a new Song, CHOOSE an unwritten
Song by INPUTing a number which has no adjacent
name in the list. DIV/BEAT at the top left of the screen
will flash. The number required is the number of time
divisions per beat for the Song, that is, the number of
drums which can be inserted between each beat (see
PATTERN PAGE).
  DIV/BEAT must always be defined for a Song before it
can be written. The range is 1 to 32.
  A new Song will be given the name "Song" until a
name is chosen (see NAME).
  A red square indicates the current Song in the list.

  D DRUM PLAY
  Press D to play the current Song. While the
SpecDrum is playing the Tempo may be altered using:

  KEY
  L - Tempo down
  ENTER - Tempo up

  Press SPACE to stop. The new Tempo in Beats Per
Minute is shown at the bottom of the screen, and at
TEMPO bpm.

  S SYNCRO
  Press S to switch SYNCRO on or off. The SYNCRO
function allows the SpecDrum to be synchronized with a
tape recorder for multi-tracking or speed control. When
playing patterns or Songs the SpecDrum puts out
pulses from the MIC socket of the computer. These
pulses may be recorded onto tape. Set SYNCRO ON,
press D for DRUM PLAY, and replay the recorded
pulses into the EAR socket. The SpecDrum will
synchronize itself with the tape, following the pulses.
Care should be taken that there is no spurious noise on
the tape, as this may cause false triggering.

  P PATTERN
  Press P to select PATTERN PAGE.

  E EDIT SONG
  Press E to select EDIT SONG PAGE.

  N NAME
  The current Song can be named by pressing N and
typing the name (up to 5 letters), then ENTER. The name
will appear by the Song number in the list.

  T TEMPO
  The Tempo of the current Song may be defined.
Press T, and INPUT the required Tempo in Beats Per
Minute (1-999).

  F FINISH
  When you have finished writing a Song, pressing F
will "tidy up" the Song, giving the Patterns consecutive
numbers, and optimising the amount of memory used.

  J LOAD/SAVE
  Press J to select the LOAD/SAVE PAGE.

  cs 9 COPY SONG
  To copy the current Song, press CAPS SHIFT and 9
and then INPUT the number of the destination Song

  cs 0 DELETE SONG
  Press CAPS SHIFT and 0, then Y to delete, or any
other key to escape.


5 PATTERN PAGE

  Press P on Main page to select
  Press Q to Quit to Main page

  The Pattern page allows rhythm patterns to be written
using the PATTERN DISPLAY and the cursor.
  The five functions displayed at lower left of the page
are:

  KEY
  F FILE Selects sub-page allowing patterns to be
    stored or retrieved from the Pattern File.
  R REALTIME Selects sub-page allowing rhythms to be
    written by tapping the computer keyboard.
  T TEMPO/FORMAT Selects sub-page allowing no. of
    beats per bar and no. of bars in the Pattern to be
    defined.
  D DRUM PLAY The displayed pattern is played and
    repeated. The Pattern Tempo may be changed
    while pattern is playing by pressing L (slower) or
    ENTER (faster). The new Pattern Tempo will be
    shown at the bottom of the page when SPACE is
    pressed.
  S SHIFT The displayed pattern is rotated to the left to
    allow a new start point to be chosen.


THE PATTERN DISPLAY

  When the PATTERN PAGE is selected a pattern of two
four-beat bars is displayed, with drum 6 (HIHAT C)
inserted on each beat. Bars are equal groups of beats
within each pattern. Patterns are displayed in bars to
help writing in various time signatures. (This does not
affect the actual sound.) The number of beats per bar
(BEATS/BAR) may be altered from the TEMPO/FORMAT
sub-page (see below).

  The Pattern Display shows up to three lines of a
pattern at once. The centre line (white background) is
the write/edit line and contains the cursor (the vertical
black line). The upper and lower lines show the
preceding and following lines of the pattern as
appropriate. Of course, a pattern may be more than
three lines long and the display may be moved up and
down through a pattern using the Cursor Keys (see
Wating Patterns below).


                                PROGRAM STRUCTURE
                         +----------------------------+   +---+   +------+
                         |                            |---| J |->-|      |
                         |                            |   +---+   | LOAD |
                         |          MAIN PAGE         |           | SAVE |
                         |                            |   +---+   |      |
                         |                            |-<-| R |---|      |
                         +----------------------------+   +---+   +------+
                           |            |           |
                         +---+          ^         +---+
                         | P |          |         | E |
                         +---+          |         +---+
                           |         QUIT TO        |
                           V        MAIN PAGE       V
                           |            ^           |
     +----------------------------+     |     +----------------------------+
     |                            |   +---+   |                            |
+->--|        PATTERN PAGE        |->-| O |-<-|        PATTERN PAGE        |
|    |                            |   +---+   |                            |
|    +----------------------------+           +----------------------------+
|        |          |          |
|        |          |          |
|       +-+        +-+        +-+
^       |T|        |F|        |R|
|       +-+        +-+        +-+
|        |          |          |
|        V          V          V
|   +--------+ +--------+ +--------+
|   |TEMPO   | |        | |  REAL  |
|   |FORMAT  | |  FILE  | |  TIME  |
|   |SUB PAGE| |SUB PAGE| |SUB PAGE|
|   +--------+ +--------+ +--------+
|        |          |          |
|       +-+        +-+        +-+
^       |R|        |R|        |R|
|       +-+        +-+        +-+
|        |          |          |
|        V          V          V
|    +----------------------------+
|    |                            |
+-<--|   RETURN TO PATTERN PAGE   |
     |                            |
     +----------------------------+



                          PATTERN DISPLAY
                                                                                END OF
               DIV BEAT 4                  BEAT BAR 4                       =    LINE
                              #                                             =  /
CHANNEL 3 - 6   6   6   6   6 # 6   6   7   6   6   6   6   6   6   6   6   = /
                              #                                             =/
CHANNEL 2 -         2         #     2               2       3 3 3 3 2   4 4 =
                              #                                             =
CHANNEL 1 - 1           1   1 #             1           1   1               =
                              \                                             =
            #       #       #  \    #      |#       #       #       #     |
                   /            \          \                               \
                  /              \          \                               \
                BEAT           CURSOR     BAR LINE                          END
               MARKER                                                      MARKER


  The Bottom (light blue) part of each line shows the
position of the start of each beat (-) and the end of each
bar (|). Above this, numbers corresponding to the drum
numbers (shown at the bottom right of the page)
indicate the positions of the drums occurring in the
pattern.

  Normally a whole number of bars will be displayed on
each line. If a bar is too long to fit into one line then the
display will automatically "squash" itself by using half
the horizontal space for each division.


WRITING PATTERNS USING
THE DISPLAY AND CURSOR

  Drums are written into the displayed pattern by
moving the cursor to the required position then pressing
the number (1-8) of the drum to be inserted. The
number of the drum will appear at the cursor position
and will overwrite any drum on the same channel
already at that position. (Drums on the same channel
cannot be sounded simultaneously). Drums may be
deleted by pressing SYMBOL SHIFT and the number of
the drum.

  The Cursor Control keys:
    ENTER or > (CAPS SHIFT 8 on original Spectrum)
      moves the cursor RIGHT by one division
    L or < (CAPS SHIFT 5) moves the cursor LEFT by
      one division.
    P or ^ (CAPS SHIFT 7) moves the cursor UP to the
      preceding line.
    SPACE or v (CAPS SHIFT 6) moves the cursor
      DOWN to the following line.
    CAPS SHIFT 9 inserts an extra division to the right
      of the cursor, allowing space to be inserted at
      any point, lengthening the pattern.
    CAPS SHIFT 0 deletes the division at the cursor
      position, shortening the pattern.

  If held down these keys will auto-repeat.


THE TEMPO/FORMAT sub-page
(To select press T on PATTERN PAGE)
Functions:
  KEY
  B BEATS/BAR Press B then INPUT number of beats
    per bar required (1-32). NOTE this will not change
    the pattern itself, just the way it 1s displayed.

  N NO. OF BARS Press N then INPUT number of bars.
    required in the pattern. CAUTION: THIS WILL
    CREATE THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF SPACE, BUT
    WILL ERASE ANY PATTERN ALREADY IN THE
    DISPLAY. To increase the length of an already
    written pattern use CAPS SHIFT 9 on the PATTERN
    PAGE.

  If the number of bars chosen would exceed the
maximum allowed pattern length, then the system will
give the maximum number of bars possible. This is
indicated by a black background on the displayed
number.

  KEY
  H INSERT HIHAT Drum 6 is inserted on each beat in
    the pattern.
  K INSERT KICK Drum 1 is inserted on the first beat of
    each bar.

  These INSERT functions may be used to create an
audible guide for REALTIME programming.

While writing patterns the Pattern Tempo may be
changed independently of the current Song Tempo. The
tempo may be transferred using:

  KEY
  1 Transfers Song Tempo to Pattern Tempo
  2 Transfers Pattern Tempo to Song Tempo

  Finally...
  R Return to PATTERN PAGE


THE REALTIME sub-page
(To select press R on PATTERN PAGE}

  This sub-page allows patterns to be written, added to
or edited by tapping the rhythm on the computer
keyboard while the pattern is playing.
  NOTE: If a pattern is to be written from scratch in
Realtime then an audible tempo guide is required. This
may be provided by the INSERT HIHAT and INSERT
KICK functions on the TEMPO/FORMAT sub-page, and
can be deleted later. The two bar pattern provided when
the PATTERN PAGE is first selected has HIHATs (drum
6) already inserted tor this reason.

  One voice at a time may be written in Realtime. Press
keys (1-8) to select the voice to be written. This will be
indicated by the corresponding number (lower right
panel) turning red, and the name of the drum appearing
after the word WRITE.

  Having selected the voice, press

  KEY
  W for WRITE

  The pattern will start playing and will repeat until
SPACE is pressed. The red rectangle (top left corner of
the screen) flashes white at the beginning of the pattern.

TAPPING THE 9 KEY will now insert the selected drum
at that point in the pattern, corrected to the nearest
division.
HOLDING DOWN THE 9 KEY will delete the selected
drum while the key is depressed.

  KEY
  D DRUM PLAY As for PATTERN PAGE. Useful here for
    setting tempo.
  S SYNCRO See SYNCRO section.
  R RETURN to PATTERN PAGE. Rhythms written in
    Realtime will now be displayed (for correction if
    necessary!).


THE FILE sub-page
(Press F on PATTERN PAGE)

  Allows storing, retrieving, and erasing of patterns in
the current Song's Pattern File.

  A song may have up to 64 different Patterns in its
Pattern File. The Pattern Fite is used by the SONG EDIT
PAGE to build up the Song itself. Each filed Pattern is
given a number (1-64). The numbers of the filed
Patterns are listed in the top right window

  To file the Pattern just written (i.e. the Pattern in the
display), press:

  KEY
  P for PUT then INPUT number 1-64 to give the Pattern
    its file number

  After pressing ENTER the number will appear in the
list to Show the Pattern has been filed. If a Pattern with
this number is already filed it will be replaced by the
new Pattern.

  To get a Pattern from the File to the display, press:

  G for GET then INPUT the number of the Pattern
    required. This can now be edited on the display or
    in Realtime without altering the filed Pattern.

  To erase a Pattern from the file, press:

  E for ERASE then INPUT the Pattern number. The
    number will disappear from the list, showing it to be
    ERASED.

  TO ESCAPE FROM THE PUT, GET, OR ERASE
FUNCTIONS IF SELECTEO BY MISTAKE, INPUT 0 AS
THE PATTERN NUMBER.

  R RETURN to PATTERN PAGE.


6 EDIT SONG PAGE

To select press E on MAIN PAGE
To Quit to MAIN PAGE press Q

  This page allows Patterns already filed to be linked
together to form a Song. This is done by forming a list of
the Pattern numbers in the required order.

  There may be up to 255 entries in the list, giving a
Song of up to 255 sections, each of which may be
looped | to 255 times.

  Each section in the Song is represented by two
numbers, the PATTERN number, and the LOOP number
(i.e. the no. of repeats).

  The Song list is displayed horizontally across the
bottom part of the screen. The upper of the two
numbers in each entry is the PATTERN number, the
lower is the LOOP number. If the list is empty two 0's
will be shown in the black central window.

  To set the two numbers in the window to the required
Pattern and Loop numbers the following keys are used:

  KEY
  1 Decrease PATTERN number
  2 Increase PATTERN number
  3 Decrease LOOP number
  4 Increase LOOP number

  Note that the Pattern number must be set first and
that the Loop number is then set automatically to 1
(You cannot nave 0 repeats!)

  KEY
  ENTER or > (CAPS SHIFT 8) Move RIGHT through list.
  L or< (CAPS SHIFT 5) Move LEFT through list.

  To write another entry move RIGHT. This moves the
window to the next entry. (Actually the list moves left). If
the previous entry was the last in the list the window will
again show two 0's. These must be set before moving
right again. Move LEFT to take the window back to
previous entries.

  The number at STEP on the left of the screen
shows the entry in the list (i.e. the section of the Song)
that the window is currently showing.

  Entries may be deleted or extra entries inserted into
the list using:

  KEY
  CAPS SHIFT 0 Deletes the entry shown by window.
  CAPS SHIFT 9 inserts an empty entry (0,0) to the left
    of the window. The window will show the inserted
    entry which must be set before continuing.

  In this way a list of up to 255 entries may be written to
build up a Song from its filed Patterns.

  KEY
  D for DRUM PLAY Plays the Song from the current
    window position in the list. This also enables
    Patterns in the File to be quickly listened to and
    identified without returning to the Pattern Page.
  Q for QUIT The message "Quit Selected? Y" will
    appear. Press Y to return to the Main Page, any
    other key to remain on the Song Edit Page. If the
    "Out of Memory - File not Put" message appears
    after pressing Q, then the list will not be accepted
    unless it is shortened by deleting entries.


7 THE LOAD/SAVE PAGE

The LOAD/SAVE PAGE allows Songs to be loaded
from and saved to cassette tape. Alternative drum
sounds or "KITs" of eight sounds may also be loaded.

  KEY
  C CHOOSE SONG
      Press C then INPUT the number that you wish the
    Song to be loaded to or saved from. Songs cannot
    be loaded to already occupied places in the list. If
    you are looking for a particular Song on tape, its
    name can be specified using NAME (see below).

  1 LOAD SONG
      After choosing the Song number, press 1 then
    start the tape. When loaded, the Song's name will
    appear in the list.

  2 SAVE SONG
      The chosen Song will be saved immediately
    SAVE SONG is selected, so make sure that you are
    recording before pressing 2.

  3 LOAD DUMP
      When 3 is pressed ALL THE SONGS IN MEMORY
    WILL BE ERASED, and Songs from tape will be
    loaded into successive Song numbers
    automatically. When the required Songs have
    loaded, hold down SPACE until the red square
    indicating the Song number returns to no. 1.

  4 SAVE DUMP
      All the Songs in memory are saved in order.
    Again, saving begins as soon as 4 is pressed.

  N NAME
      The name of a Song to be loaded may be
    specified by pressing N, typing the name, and
    pressing ENTER.

  5 LOAD VOICE
      Press 5, then INPUT the number of the voice
    (1-8) to which you wish the sound to be loaded.
    The name of the sound currently in that voice will
    appear and will be replaced by the name of the
    loaded sound. Note that sounds may be loaded
    only to certain groups of voices. The voices to
    which a sound may be loaded are specified on the
    tape.
      To load a complete KIT of eight sounds, INPUT 9
    as the voice number.

  R RETURN to MAIN PAGE.


8 HINTS ON PROGRAMMING

  As you get to know the SpecDrum system, you will
find for yourself various "short cuts" and ways to speed
up writing your rhythm patterns and Songs.
  Here are some tips and general points which may be
useful.

SHIFT
  The SHIFT pattern function on the Pattern Page may
be used in conjunction with the INSERT and BEATS/
BAR functions on the Tempo/Format Page to quickly
insert voices 1 or 6 throughout a Pattern at any spacing
desired. For example, to insert 2 HIHATs per beat:

PRESS:
  T to select Tempo/Format Page
  H to insert voice 6 (HIHAT C) on every beat
  R to Return to Pattern Page
  S until start of Pattern is between 6s
  T Tempo/Format
  H insert again
  R Return to Pattern Page
  S until original start point comes round

  You now have twice as many 6s per beat, spaced
according to how much the Pattern was SHIFTed before
INSERTing.

DIV/BEAT
  It is worth paying some thought to the number of DIV/
BEAT chosen when writing a new Song, especially if the
rhythms you intend to write are complex.
  Bear in mind not only that the number chosen must
be big enough to cope with the FASTEST notes in the
Song, but also that certain rhythm combinations may
require a higher number than is obvious at first.

For Example,
  to play triplets (3 notes per beat) requires
  3 DIVs/BEAT
  to play semiquavers (4 notes per beat) requires
  4 DIVs/BEAT

However,
  triplets AND semiquavers (3s against 4s) at the same
time, or in the same Pattern or Song, require 12 (3 x 4)
DIVs.
  Similarly, 3s and 2s require 6 divisions per beat, 8s
and 3s require 24. The number required is the LOWEST
COMMON MULTIPLE, not just one number times the
other: 6s against 9s require 18 divisions, not 54.
  Although sounds on the same channel cannot occur
simultaneously, the impression that this is happening
can sometimes be achieved by using a large number of
DIVs/BEAT placing the sounds on adjacent divisions,
one after the other. This is best done by trial and error.
Never be afraid to experiment.
  Interesting effects can also be obtained by writing
groups of, say, four (or more) notes consecutively when
using a large number of DIVs/BEAT. For example.
create a Song with 24 DIV/BEAT, then, using the SHIFT
and INSERT technique described above, write a Pattern
with four or more HIHATS at the beginning of each
beat. Experiment with other sounds and combinations.

EFFICIENT MEMORY USE

The SpecDrum, being computer based, has a much
greater storage Capacity than most drum machines, but
it is always worthwhile to use the memory as efficiently
as possible. The extremely flexible dynamic filing
system does much of this for you, allocating as much
memory as required to what is being written without
wasting space on unwritten Patterns or Songs. This
means that all the memory can be used for one (very)
long Song, or up to 16 shorter Songs, as required.
  As a general rule, try not to write Patterns which differ
only slightly and otherwise duplicate each other. If
possible, make a separate shorter Pattern of the part
the others have in common so that this need only be
stored once. For example, if you find you have several
two bar Patterns with differences only in the second bar,
then make a Pattern from the first bar only, and store
only the second bars of the others. You will have more
Patterns in the File, and the Song List will be longer, but
less memory should have been used.
  Also remember that the more divisions per beat used,
the more memory is used for each beat, in direct
proportion.
  Unless you wish to store several long complex Songs
at once, memory space should not be a problem. You
may prefer to write lots of 16 bar Patterns - it's up to
you.

SYNCRO and multitracking

  The SpecDrum does not have separate outputs for
each voice, but using the SYNCRO facility each sound
in a Song can be recorded separately onto different
tracks of a multitrack tape machine, allowing individual
treatment (e.g. reverb, etc.) and mixing, and of course
the use of alternative sounds in the same Song.
  Having written the complete Song, connect the MIC
socket of the Spectrum to the record input of a track of
the multitrack. Play the Song, recording the Sync pulses
onto the track. (Find a recording level which will trigger
the SpecDrum without leaking onto other tracks. If
necessary leave the adjacent track free. This depends
on your tape machine.)
  Next, COPY the Song (CAPS SHIFT 9 MAIN PAGE),
and in each copy delete all the sounds except those
you wish to isolate. (Use the Realtime sub-page.) Then,
for each copy select SYNCRO ON, and DRUM PLAY,
and replaying the Sync track into the EAR socket,
record the output of the SpecDrum onto a new track.
  In this way a tape can be built up with separate
synchronized sounds on each track, ready for remixing.

  THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!

P.S. Watch out for releases of new sets of voices to
add to your system.

 COPYRIGHT 1986. P.HENNIG, A.PATEMAN.

------------------------------------------------------

Cheetah released the following add-on voice packages:
- SpecDrum - Afro Kit
- SpecDrum - Electro Kit
- SpecDrum - Latin Kit