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Ok, how should you build you beats with regard to the 16 steps vs. the bpm? I have to learn the terms for this stuff... what do you call one 16 part section? Is that a measure? Or is that something else?

Anyways, what I'm wondering is... when you make a beat and you're aiming for a certain bpm should how many beats per 16 parts should you have? Ok, say you're making a hip-hop beat and the basic beat is a "boom-click-pause-da-boom-boom-click" type thing...should that be all in one 16 step part and you slow it down? Or should you only have "boom-click" in the first 16 and then the next you put the rest and then play it fast? Does it even matter? Do you just plan it by how much resolution you need in the drum parts? Like if you want to use 8 quick drum part samples between the bass hits you make it wider and play it back fast but if you are putting a synthy keyboard tone part over it you can just put both bass hits in one 16 part section? Is either way ok depending on what you want to do or is there a "standard" way to build it? Am I making sense?

Does anyone have a general reference for terms related to electronic music so I can explain things better in the future?

The EMX's sequencer is set up to 16th notes, so the 16 pads represent 1 bar.

An EMX pattern consists of up to 8 bars.

Most beat structures are based around 1 bar, usually repeating. There is often a fill, or a different pattern in the 4th bar or the 8th bar depending on the style of music.

If you want more resolution, you can double the spacing and double the tempo, but be warned, that this won't sync up with other MIDI devices unless you program them all the same way.

Many types of music have a standard bpm range, but it's all relative. Things like alot of techno is in the 120-140 bpm range. Like the last post stated though, doubling can give you a higher resolution and sound pretty much the same. I like to stick with the 16ths the electribe has set, and vary tempo based on that. Most of my stuff fits nicely with that, so I haven't run into this issue. Remember, if you double the tempo, you'll need to adjust envelope lengths, delays, etc... to suit as well.

for hiphop use 80-100 bpm
you should have 2 clap/click/snare in each 16 beat measure

for a good hiphop beat use about 100 bpm

B---C-B--B--C---
--H---H---H---H-

B=bass
C=clap/click
H=hihat
-=empty

I usually find for any beat you put a clap or snare on 5 and 13