DK+ Commands Guide

DK+ features a powerful 10 Track step sequencer synchronized to your VST host

each pattern set can hold up to 24 drum patterns (labelled [A] to [X]).
each pattern can vary from 1 to 128 steps in length
each pattern can use up to 10 tracks
each of the 10 sequencer tracks can be routed to any one of the 24 drum pads
the steps are arranged visually in pages, each with 16 steps
each step have contain a drum trigger on any of the tracks

Patterns

to select a pattern - click the selection button [A] . . [X]
to set the pattern length - click on the page button for the multiple of 16 steps,
then on the series of LEDs above the drum pads area.
- - for example, for a pattern length of 40 click page [2] then the 8th LED
- - the display to the left will show the number of steps in the current pattern
- - and the LEDs will light up
to select a page (of 16 steps) within a pattern - click the Page number [1] . . [8]
to copy the content of one page to another - right click the source page button, select the destination page

Managing Patterns

- - a Style is a set of up to 24 patterns
- - a Factory kit can have many styles, while Custom and User kits have one style

- - if you want more than 24 patterns for a kit, then you can create them in the Step Sequencer and save the bank with a different name, for example, "mybank2.dk+", for example, you will be able to see several Perc.Change Kunga banks in your Library
- - or you can save the patterns individually or a as a new pattern set, with a different name, for example "extrapats.dk+ ptn" or "extraset.dk+ seq"
- - if you save a Style (a pattern set) into a Factory Kit folder then that Style will appear in the Style selector the next time DK+ is opened

- - many handy functions for Tracks, Pages and Patterns are available in context menus
to bring up the Patterns menu - right-click the pattern button

to load a pattern - right-click the pattern button >> Load, browse to the desired pattern, select it, click [Open]
to save a pattern - right-click the pattern button >> Save, browse to the desired folder, enter a pattern name, click [Save]
to copy one pattern to another - right-click the pattern button >> Copy to, select the destination pattern
to load a pattern set - right-click the pattern button >> Load all patterns, browse to the desired pattern set, select it, click [Open]
to save a pattern set - right-click the pattern button >> Save all patterns, browse to the desired folder, enter a pattern set name, click [Save]
- - the pattern set contains up to 24 patterns, some may be empty
to export a pattern to a MIDI file - right-click the pattern button >> Export SMF, browse to the desired folder, enter a MIDI file name, click [Save]
to set the colour for the pattern button - right-click the pattern button >> Set Color, choose one of the 6 available colours
- - you can use the colour coding to identify different types of patterns
to delete the pattern - right-click the pattern button >> Clear

- - when the files are saved to disk:

patterns have the file extension .dk+ ptn
pattern sets have the file extension .dk+ seq
patterns exported as MIDI have the file extension .mid

Tracks

to assign a drum pad to a track - click on the slot to the left of the steps, select the desired drum pad
to mute/unmute the track - click [m]
to solo/unsolo the track - click [s]
- - in some skins, the Mute and Solo buttons may be shown differently, the Mute button is the upper one, and Solo is the lower one
to open the voice editor for the pad - click [e]

to set the pad volume - adjust the level control
- - the centre position is 0dB, range in +/-24 dB, this control is a mirror of the Level control in the Drum Pad (Voice) Editor

Editing Steps

- - the steps in the pattern are visually arranged in pages of 16 steps each, so you have 8 pages of steps available
to select a page (of 16 steps) within a pattern - click the Page number [1] . . [8]

On/Off, Velocity, Flam and Double strokes

to set a step On/Off - click it
- - a new drum trigger is added with a default velocity of 100
to change the trigger velocity - drag it up or down

- - there are three types of drum trigger:

single
flam - this is a double stroke where the first hit happens a little earlier than the second one which is on tempo,
double trigger - this is a double stroke where the length of the step is evenly divided in two equal durations, so for example a 1/16 step will trigger two notes of 1/32 each; the two triggers have the same sound level (velocity); this is useful to create rolls quickly.

- -single hits are shown in red, flams are yellow and doubles are blue
to change the trigger type right-click it
- - each right-click changes the trigger to the next type: single to flam to double to single to flam and so on

to undo the previous edit - right-click the pad name >> Undo
- - the step and track to be undone are listed in the drop-down menu

Advanced Steps Editing

- - there are several editing functions that you can use to change the steps on a track

to bring up the Tracks menu - right-click the pad name for the track

to shift the steps one step to the right - right-click the pad name >> Shift right
to shift the steps one step to the left - right-click the pad name >> Shift left
to rotate the steps one step to the right - right-click the pad name >> Rotate right
- - the step at the end of the pattern is moved to step position 1
to rotate the steps one step to the left - right-click the pad name >> Rotate left
- - the step at step position 1 is moved to the end of the pattern
to clear all track steps - right-click the pad name >> Erase

to create a one track pattern suited for kick drum - right-click the pad name >> Random >> random 4/4 kick
to create a one track pattern suited for snare drum - right-click the pad name >> Random >> random 4/4 snare
to change the velocities by a maximum of +/-5 - right-click the pad name >> Velocity >> Variate by +/-5
to change the velocities by a maximum of +/-10 - right-click the pad name >> Velocity >> Variate by +/-10
to change the velocities up or down by 5 or 10 - right-click the pad name >> Velocity, select the desired change
to set all the velocities to a fixed value right-click the pad name >> Velocity >> Fixed, select the desired velocity
- - the available velocities are 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120

- to insert a fill for the track right-click the pad name >> Fill, select one of the 9 available patterns
- - these fills are suitable for Hi Hats or similar percussion parts: ride cymbal, tambourine, maracas, shaker
to insert a humanised fill for the track - right-click the pad name >> Human Fill, select one of the 9 available patterns
- - this applies small random variations to the velocity values
to copy one track to another - right-click the pad name >> select the destination track

to undo the previous edit - right-click the pad name >> Undo
- -the action to be undone is listed in the drop-down menu

Additional Controls

to switch the sequencer On/Off - click [On/Off] button
- - when On, the DK+ Sequencer plays the current pattern in sync with the host

to set the step length - select the desired length
- - the step length is the duration of one step relative to the VST host tempo
- - the available step resolutions are 32, 16T, 8T or 16
- - for example, setting 32 means that 32 steps will fit a 4/4 bar as measured in the VST host
- - at 120 bpm, the intervals are: 32 is 120 ticks, 16T is 160 ticks 16 is 240 ticks and 8T is 320 ticks and

- - the screenshot above (from energyXT) shows the exported MIDI notes in one beat of a 4/4 bar, for resolutions of 32, 16T (highlighted), 8T and 16 respectively

the Swing knob in the bottom right corner provides the typical swing/shuffle groove control
it shifts the timing of every even-numbered step (first step is step 1)
the swing control is enabled only for 16 and 32 step resolutions
the maximum swing is 1 step length
this screenshot shows the effect of swing levels ranging from minimum to (almost) maximum, each vertical division is 1/64th

to set the swing level - adjust the swing control

- - there are three more controls in the step sequencer:

to display some tips about using the step sequencer - click [Hints]
to display each page of the pattern as it is played - click the Follow button On/Off
to export the current pattern to your host - drag the [Export] button onto your host
- - you can also drag the button into Windows Explorer, creating a MIDI file