1. The screen

1. MenuThemes, effects, the mixers, cloud sync and this guide.
2. Rhythm libraryEvery rhythm that ships with the app, and the ones you have saved.
3. The app nameTap it for the version.
4. Timing SettingsSwing, rolls and triplets — section 10.
5. HumaniseHow much each hit varies — section 11.

The grid is the rhythm. One row per instrument, time running left to right.

1. Play / stopThe rhythm loops until you stop it.
2. TempoIn beats per minute.
3. Tempo sliderDrag to change it. Double-tap to go back to the rhythm's own tempo.
4. CallThe phrase that opens a rhythm, or calls a change.
5. ÉchauffementThe fast passage that lifts the ensemble.

2. Play a rhythm

1. 1
   Open the libraryThe book icon in the title bar. Tap any rhythm to load it.
2. 2
   Press playThe green button, bottom left.
3. 3
   Change it while it loopsEvery edit is heard on the next pass. Nothing needs saving first.

3. Write notes

Tap a cell to add a note. Tap it again to change the stroke, and again to clear it.

Djembe strokes. The dununs, bells and shekere have their own.

Hold a cell instead for flams, rolls and triplets.

4. Tracks

Tap an instrument icon on the left of a row to open its drawer.

1. Add a partAnother drum of the same kind, on its own row.
2. Mute trackSilences this part until you tap it again.
3. SoloHear this track on its own.
4. SubdivisionHow many steps each beat is divided into.
5. Track timingSwing and shift for this part alone, down to a single note.
6. Volume & soundWhich drum it plays, how loud, and its tuning.
7. Loop rowsRepeat a few rows of the grid instead of the whole rhythm.
8. Sort rowsThen drag this track's rows into a different order.
9. Add a rowFour more beats on the end.
10. RemoveA row, or the whole track when only one is left.

Sort rows and Loop rows only appear once a track has more than one row.

5. Solos, breaks and variations

Three rows sit under the grid. A solo is a djembe part played over the groove; a break or intro is a phrase the whole ensemble plays once; a variation swaps the standard parts for another version of them.

1. The row's nameTap it for that row's options.
2. A partTap to bring it in, tap again to drop it.
3. LoopPlays each one in turn. Hold it to set how many passes each gets.
4. AddA new empty part for you to write.

Breaks and variations work exactly the same way.

• Add oneThe + at the end of the row. It opens on the solo track, ready to write.
• Remove onePress and hold a part you added, then confirm. The rhythm's own parts cannot be deleted.
• Reorder themPress and drag a chip. Drop it on another to swap the two, or between two to slide it in.
• Queue oneTap a chip while the rhythm is playing and it blinks, then comes in at the end of the pass — so a change always lands on the beat.
• Loop them allThe loop chip appears once a row has two. Tap it to start cycling, and again to stop.

6. Live pads and recording

The pads below the grid play the real drums, so you can try a part with your hands before you write it.

Press and hold a pad to choose which drum it plays.

Recording turns what you play on the pads into notes on a track.

1. RecordStarts and stops capturing.
2. IntoWhich track the notes are written to. Tap it to choose.
3. ClickA metronome while you record.
4. Count-inOne bar of clicks on their own before the ensemble joins.
5. Clear firstWipes the track before recording, instead of adding to what is there.

1. 1
   Choose a trackIts row turns red so you can see where the notes will land.
2. 2
   Press RecordA bar of clicks counts you in, then the rhythm comes in on the downbeat.
3. 3
   Play the padsEach hit is snapped to the nearest step of that track's grid.

Only pads of the armed track's own instrument are recorded — a djembe pad cannot land on a dunun row.

7. Find and keep rhythms

Traditional is the 280-rhythm library. Practice holds exercises. My Rhythms is what you have saved — load, share or import them there.

8. The mixers

Two windows in the menu balance the whole ensemble at once. A single track's own sound lives in its drawer instead — the Mix button in section 4.

• Volume MixerOne slider per part. Double-tap a slider to put it back to that instrument's own default.
• Tuning MixerThe same list of parts, tuned up or down in semitones. Double-tap for no shift at all.
• Reset allBottom left of either window. Its label dims when there is nothing left to undo.

9. Effects

The Effects Mixer, in the menu, gives each family of instruments its own space and echo.

1. On / offEvery family starts off. Tap the instrument icon or the pill beside it; the sliders only work once the row is on.
2. ReverbHow big the room around the drum sounds.
3. DelayAn echo locked to the tempo, so it stays in time when you change the speed.
4. Note valueHow far apart the echoes fall — a sixteenth, an eighth, a dotted eighth, and so on.

At the bottom of that window is the limiter. It rounds off the loudest peaks so a busy rhythm cannot overload and crackle, and leaves everything below that untouched.

• The meterThe bright bar is the sustained level and the paler one above it the peaks. The red bar growing from the right is how much is being held back.
• Limit atDrag the triangle along the scale to set where it starts working. Lower takes more off the peaks; it is not a volume control.

Reset restores an effect's values and never switches a row on or off — that stays your choice.

10. Timing Settings

The two joined notes in the title bar. This is where you shape the feel of the rhythm — deliberate, musical timing that you choose.

• SwingMoves the off-beats. The graph shows where each note lands, and the per-step sliders shape one beat at a time.
• Rolls & TripletsHow a two-stroke roll splits, and how a written triplet leans. Each has a Preview button that plays the figure.
• AdvancedTempo Response fades swing as the tempo rises. Audio Sync lines the screen up with what reaches your ears — useful on Bluetooth.

11. Humanise

The person icon in the title bar. This is the opposite of Timing: small random differences that stop it sounding too perfect and boring.

• Time, pitch and volumeHow much each hit may vary from the one before. The readouts are in real units — milliseconds, semitones, percent.
• DriftThe ensemble breathes: the tempo wanders a little, and the djembes, dununs and shekeres move gently in and out of phase with each other.
• SpreadHow far a part can slide off the beat. At zero nothing drifts at all, whatever the other sliders say.
• SplitWhether the groups slide together or against each other. At 100% the djembes, dununs and shekeres each wander at their own speed, so the ensemble loosens and tightens; at 0% they all slide the same way at the same moment, and you barely hear it.
• Djembe splitSpreads the individual djembes apart from one another, so they weave against each other instead of moving as one. A fixed offset per drum, not a wander.