Alesis Performance Pad, Reference Manual

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played 

(i.e.,

 past the downbeat of the next Pattern), the Performance Pad will return to 

the original Main Pattern. 

Example:

 Suppose an 8-beat A Main Pattern is playing and 

you press the FILL button on beat 4 but hold it down past beat 8. The A Fill Pattern will 
play the last 4 beats, then the Performance Pad will return to the A Main Pattern. 
 
Fills cannot start on the downbeat since a Fill, by definition, starts at some point into 
the Main Pattern. However, anything you record on the Fill downbeat will play on the 
first downbeat following the Fill 

(i.e.,

 the downbeat of the next Pattern). To show why 

this is a useful feature, consider that when coming out of a fill, you'll often want to hit 
something like a cymbal crash on the downbeat of the next Pattern yet not have that 
crash repeat every time the Pattern plays. This way of handling Fills lets the downbeat 
cymbal crash be part of the Fill instead of the Pattern. 
 
A footswitch plugged into the Count/A/B/Fill jack duplicates the FILL button function 
when playing Patterns in Perform mode. 
 

Background  

This way of handling Patterns explains the logic behind having A, B, and 

Fill Patterns. In typical pop tunes, A would be the verse and B the chorus. A Fill 
provides the Fill that transitions from verse to chorus, and B Fill provides the Fill that 
transitions from chorus to verse. Thus, one of the numbered Patterns may be all you 
need to put together a tune. 

 
This structure makes it possible to put together songs in minutes using the Preset 
Patterns. It also makes it easy to play drum parts live. For example, if there's a solo 
happening over the A Main Pattern, you can keep the Pattern repeating until the solo 
is about to end, at which point you select the Fill that leads out of the A Main Pattern. 

3.1

  Record a Pattern 

An empty Pattern defaults to an 8 beat length, with 16th note quantization and swing 
off (50%). If you need to change the length, it's best (though not essential) to do so 
before recording. Other parameters can be changed while you're recording. 
 
To record, select the desired User Pattern. Select Compose mode and press PLAY. 
Remember that you can switch between Compose and Perform while recording. 
 
As you record, the display will show the current beat number and the tempo indicator 
will flash at the current tempo. You will hear any drum sounds already recorded in the 
currently selected Pattern. 
 
To record drum parts into the Pattern, strike the drum pads, or send MIDI data to the 
Performance Pad (sections 6.1 and 6.2) that triggers corresponding drum notes. The 
Pattern will "loop" during the record process so that you can overdub different drums 
on different passes. 
  
To exit Record mode, press STOP. Pressing PLAY while in Compose mode will re-
start the Pattern from the beginning; the Performance Pad remains in record mode. 
 

Note:

 When sending MIDI data into the drums when the Performance Pad is not 

recording 

(i.e.,

 the Performance Pad serves as a drum sound expander module), the 

drum sounds respond to 127 different levels of dynamics. However, if MIDI is used as 
a trigger during the recording process, the Pattern will "quantize" the incoming level to 
the nearest of eight levels—the same eight levels produced by striking the pads at 
various levels.