Most songs have some formal structure: intro, verse, and chorus, which is repeated over and over and finished with an outro. Other structures can include a bridge between the two main components. The bridge is often an instrumental solo or a piece of vocal improvisation. 

On installation, the Metronome defaults to display four bars in the most popular time signature of 4/4 time, also known as Common Time.

In the Metronome area, you can set the number of bars to display for the different sections of your creation from a drop-down menu.

A time signature is represented by two numbers, one above the other. The time signature tells us how notes are grouped together in a composition. The top number tells us the number of notes that are grouped in a bar. The bottom number tells us the type of notes (note quality) in the group.

To ensure accurate chord changes on the downbeat or on the beat, ChordWalk offers a Sync option. Select Sync to Downbeat or to any Beat, and ChordWalk will automatically synchronise chord changes to occur on that selection.

In ChordWalk, note values, called Steps, are essential for creating arpeggios and can include Rests (silences). ChordWalk’s arpeggiator lets you mix note values to create varied and complex melodies and harmonies.

Gate settings in ChordWalk control how long each note or rest (step) is played. Common note values, like half notes, quarter notes, dotted notes, and triplets, have specific lengths in beats. You can adjust these lengths using Gate Settings to change the feel of your music, such as making notes short and clipped for staccato effects.

GarageBand or any quality DAW will have drums, percussion and effect sounds mapped to specific MIDI notes in the lower octave ranges. In most cases, these DAWs conform to the General Midi Standard for mapping drums, percussion, and effect sounds

Playing all the notes, or a selection of notes of a chord, simultaneously allows you to play multiple Drum instrument sounds simultaneously. This also applies to any individual instrument supported in your DAW. Remember: You can toggle between Arpeggio and Full Chord selection for Beat creation in real-time.

Drum and percussion instrument sounds are triggered by playing the individual notes that are mapped to each sound. To complement Arpeggios and Full chords generating your beats, you may also trigger, in real time, any drum or percussive sound, or combination of sounds, by selecting a key or keys on the virtual piano keyboard as shown below.

We will now look at a simple set up to create inspiring drum and percussion beats with a single arpeggiator using transpositions.