on using hobnox audio tool effectively

a question was posed as to how to set up a song flow using Hobnox's audio tool. Here's a point by point walk through...

Audiotool, much like Propellerheads ReBirth,and of course the original hardware Roland grooveboxes, are all pattern based. The key to make a successful groove template is to build your patterns off of each other.

Lets start for example with the 909 emulation in Audiotool.

start with an empty project, then create the mixing device and a 909. Route the master out of the 909 to one of the channels on the mixer, then route the master out on the mixer to the main output device thats always shown on the start of an empty project.

Click play on the transport, and you should hear nothing but see the red lights "stepping" through on each step on the 909. Your pattern bank should be A, and you should be on Pattern 1.

Select the bass drum, and then put it on the steps you want to hear the bass drum. Then select pattern 2, do the same, pattern 3, the same etc etc. In the end you should have 7 patterns all with the same kick drum popping on the same steps.

Then go back to pattern 2, and add a snare drum. go through the rest of the patterns from 2 on to 7 and add the snare drum.

then go to pattern 3, add high hats, and copy the same high hat pattern on pattern 3 though pattern 7. and so forth - you're basically building your song groove here. Of course this is much easier in Reason or Rebirth, because in those programs you can right click and copy/paste patterns. Audiotool forces you to input patterns the old fashioned way - while highly annoying, you're getting a feel for how the old dudes used to do it :)

The next step is to build transitions - for example drum rolls, or breakdowns, etc. The way that I do this is I set up 4 different drum breaks on the different pattern banks. Because you are forced to work with one mouse, you have to be creative - my solution is to create a drum break pattern and Bank B, and make it the same pattern on all 8 patterns options. this way, if you're recording your song, and you need a drum break, all you have to do is select BANK B to do your drum break, and it wont matter if you're on pattern 1 5 or 7 - since Bank B has the same drum break pattern on all the sequence options, you will hear your drum break. Then click back to Bank A to continue your song. Do the same with different drum breakdowns on Bank C and Bank D.

The next step is of course to add effects chains to your various 909 outputs, and use individual outputs to the main mixer.

Thats it in a nutshell - I will follow up later with more details on how to make it flow when recording a final song.

and here is one I cooked up with today, drums only and a few 303 bits, to showcase what I'm talking about.